Exaltation (23 page)

Chapter Twenty-One

Rydell really thought he had felt every kind of pain in existence, that it was nothing he couldn’t endure. But Revelin had proved him wrong.

One thought from Revelin slowly began to shred Rydell’s soul as if it were nothing more than paper. He tossed him into the pit Rydell was in just after Rydell blacked out.

Rydell assumed because he was still alive Revelin wanted him to die slowly, or beg for mercy. But Rydell was too stubborn to do either. 

The howls of the damned souls around him were sickening; they knew Rydell was on the edge, that he would be one of them at any moment. Rydell even heard them laugh and beckon him to succumb to the agony.

More than once Rydell strained to grasp their energy, thinking that if he had just a little he could get out of this pit and plot his next move.

He had to figure out exactly where he was first…

For all he knew this was an illusion. His forevermore prison.

Right as Rydell grasped a cloud of malicious energy he heard someone say, “Tell me you are not thinking of digesting that?”

It was Britain.

He was standing at the top of the pit Rydell was trapped in. Rydell was covered in mud that smelled far too foul to be part of the earth. Britain was dressed to the nines in one of his classic suits.

“It’s about survival, is it not?” Rydell spat out. That second Rydell felt his body pulled forward.

He was now laying at Brittan’s feet.

Awesome. I’m out of the pit, goal one accomplished.

“Trouble in paradise?” Britain quipped.

“No, not at all. I fell. It was an accident,” Rydell said as he rolled his eyes.

Britain crouched down beside Rydell and glanced over him once. “If you look this raw I would hate to see the shape Revelin is in.”

“Are you trying to get a rise out of me? It’s not going to happen. Let me give you a friendly warning. I’ve been breaking my bond with him for a long time so he may be weak right now, but not this weak.”

“Odd that you were able to break a bond, don’t you think?”

“Never been one to follow the norm.”

Britain moved his head side to side as if Rydell were a fool.

“Do you realize how close you are right now to becoming one of these beings?” he asked, as he glanced at the dark fog screeching past them. The energy was so dark, so stripped it couldn’t even take form anymore. “I don’t even sense a connection between you and Revelin any longer. He may assume you have already become one.”

Rydell rolled his head so he could glare up at him. “I’m not climbing out of one cage and into another, if that’s what you’re offering.”

Britain could save Rydell’s life with a mere thought. And then use him to taunt his line’s old allies. That would stir up a nest of destruction, a First leaving one line to join another.

“Flattered, but you’re far to playful to be one of us.”

“Not these days. Downright dark and serious.”

“Girls can do that to you.”

Rydell mustered enough strength to prop himself up on his elbows.
How in the hell did he and Revelin know I was interested in a girl?

“No idea what you’re talking about.”

“Right,” he said with a wink. “Do you want to live or not?”

“What’s the price?”

“I don’t really have one. I dislike your sovereign. The sweetest revenge would be to uplift what he discarded.”

Very cunning plan. “Why did the alliance between the lines cease?”

A menacing smile emerged across Britain’s lips. “For all I know there was never an alliance in the first place, we were just playing nice. Yet, now we are weaved together. Revelin knew the line of obsession was weighed down with the King of Fear and Shock’s curse. He decided to cut us loose to save his own tail.” Britain lifted his chin. “He tends to cut a lot of souls loose when they no longer serve his purpose.”

“He didn’t cut me loose. I left him.”

That knowing stare peered into Rydell once again. “You’re in this war. And I’m curious as to why. I wonder if you figure out this web if it will help me with me and my own.”

“Figure out what web?”

“Web of hearts and souls, my friend. Predestined fate is rather boring if you ask me. And King, you have always been one to break the mold. I have a feeling if you were not seconds from death now you may very well have been the one to break a pattern that has haunted me time and time again.”

“Which is what?”

Britain leaned a little closer. “The way I see it, a soul was divided in two because it wanted to be, because it sought something more. Everyone else believes those souls will rejoin for power, and that power will overtake us. I wonder if one of those divided souls joined with another force, if that would bring forth an even greater power.” He tilted his head slightly. “What if the bad guy gets the girl?”

“You have a fever for someone,” Rydell said, finally confirming the rumors about him.

“Perhaps.”

“How’s that working out for you?”

“Let’s just say I call it a win when she decided not to kill me at the last instant.”

“A Witness?” Those were the beings that hunted Escorts. They were warriors for the souls made of light.

“Worse. The Selected.”

This conversation just got deep. The Selected were the souls that the
new
sovereigns were said to come from. They were walking regal figures who had the crest of their royal life branded on their soul. Rydell had never seen one. Honestly, he thought they were myths. But Britain never took the time or energy to lie to anyone. Truth was always in his words. How you took his words, right or wrong, was your own preference.

“We truly are in the same boat,” Rydell said as he let himself fall.

“Similar ones, no doubt. Which is why I’m interested to see how this little torrid affair you’ve started works out.”

It was hardly torrid. It was the most innocent thing Rydell had ever engaged in, but Britain knew the old Rydell. The one that used women to not only feed on their rush but to cover up the pain of emotions his mortal life had left him with.

Rydell felt a vibration of regal vim soar through him. He was almost his old self. He was definitely cleaned up, no more mud or pain, and he was facing Britain.

“You look better.”

“I did not accept this.” The last thing Rydell wanted was to be in Britain’s debt.

“And I did not restore you completely. This is your advantage. Revelin thinks you’re gone, imprisoned. You’re not. You have a very small window to contemplate your next move. I would use it wisely.”

“You expect to gain something from this?”

“An education. From what I gather your girl is untouched, born on the side of darkness. She knows no other. If the two of you happen to make it, your story will be the words I use as a weapon in my own feat.”

“You think she will not wake up and realize that she’s destined to kill me?”

“No, but I’m curious. You’re in this for a reason, Rydell. I just can’t comprehend why.”

Seriously? I’m a First. Of course I’m in
this
. How could he not see that?

Rydell gave him a nod of gratitude, ready to head back to his faction.

“King,” Britain said as he raised his chin. “You’re but an element above mortal at this moment. Tread carefully.”

Meaning get fed. Easier said than done. Revelin had made him regret every recent meal he’d had.

Rydell vanished from his sight.

Apparently Rydell was so grateful for no longer being in pain that he didn’t size up how weak he really was. He appeared in the home he had rented just outside the Quarter only to collapse on the couch.

He wasn’t sure how long he was out, but what woke him was the sensation of vim soaring through him. Power returning. He opened his eyes to see Dagen’s concerned gaze poring over him. He had both hands on his shoulders and was pushing an intoxicating level of exaltation into his soul.

“I’m good,” Rydell said as he urged him back and sat up. Rydell wasn’t all the way good, but he was close enough and he couldn’t afford for Dagen to be weak right now.

“I have plenty. I’ve been giving you vim for hours.”

“Where are you getting it from?”

“Our old haunts. Same old people.”

“We have to stop that.”

“You’re insane, King. This is not the time to change our diet. Things got real when you were gone.”

“How real?”

“First, tell me what happened to you? I sensed the line of obsession on you? What team are we playing for right now?”

“Ours. Revelin wanted us home. I declined. He shredded my soul. Britain pulled me from the pit.”

“Why?”

“I really don’t know,” Rydell said as he glanced at the clock, then hung his head and leaned forward on his knees. It was three AM, on what day he didn’t know. What he did know was that he had stood up Raven. And he had no excuse he could give her.

“What got real?”

“Benjamin got real. He attacked.”

“What!” Rydell asked as his head shot up.

“Something is up with him. He had far too much power behind him.”

Rydell shook his head as a murderous expression came to him. He got it now. Benjamin was giving Revelin information. Why he would do that made no sense.

“Tell me
exactly
what happened.”

“He rode into town on a storm bad enough to shut the school down, then approached Raven in the hall. An entire army did.”

Rydell was on his feet, his soul pulsing with rage.

“Calm down. Her father got her out and I faced off with Benjamin.”

“Is he alive?”

“Yep, he ran from me, from all of us.”

“And you let him?”

“Yeah, I let him because you told me to.”

“I did what?”

“As far as I knew you were done. I could have sworn I even felt you die. You told me to keep her safe. Benjamin was trying to draw us out of this town. I wasn’t going to let him.”

“I’m back now. You send everything we’ve got after him.”

“You want to explain to me why he’s so jacked up on power right about now?”

“Revelin must be fueling him. He never came out and said he knew about Raven but he knows enough.”

“And he thinks you’re dead?” Dagen clarified.

“Right now he does. It will take him a bit to heal himself.”

“Then we need to be calculated about this. Draw Benjamin to us.”

At that moment someone started to beat on their front door.

They looked at each other and then to the vibrating wooden door. One second later it opened and power surged into the room.

“Rydell King,” the man said.

Dear Creator, this man could have been Revelin’s twin,
Rydell thought. “And you are?”

That was the last response Jamison wanted to hear from him. He had spent hours with Saige and Evanthe going over all he knew. Raven’s boy was in the Veil…Kenson, now called Rydell King, Reveca’s boy, was right here.

With all their ages of wisdom, with each book of shadows and prophecy they had, they didn’t have a solution. Saige was sure she could get Reveca to search for a way to get Raven’s boy out. It would take time, a lot of it, and there was no telling what kind of deals the coven would have to make to get it to happen. That was one problem.

The other was awakening Rydell King to who he once was. The only solution was one Jamison was not prepared to engage. He needed him to live.

That battle today was mild but held promise of a greater threat. Bottom line, right now Rydell King and his faction of Escorts were Raven’s best chance at avoiding a faceoff with Revelin before she was ready, before she was whole.

Jamison had some hope Rydell would look him in the eye and remember on his own, see how twisted this was. Clearly that wasn’t going to happen. Jamison was going to have to find a way to encourage him to protect Raven and discourage him from the idea he had a fever for her at the same time.

Jamison knew the last thing Rydell King needed would be another sin to answer for when he remembered who he was in his mortal life. When he remembered what he’d lost, and how.

Jamison strolled into their living room, slamming the front door with a thought.

“Call me a concerned parent.”

Couldn’t be
. Dagen and Rydell glanced at one another then to the man.

“My daughter seems to be quite taken with you,” Jamison said as his eyes met Rydell’s. A second later he appeared just before him. “Enough so that the shield I had her under was shattered,
twice
.”

Rydell and Dagen both stayed silent.

“She’s a smart girl. I trust her instincts,” Jamison continued.

“She’s brilliant,” Rydell managed to say.

Jamison clenched his jaw when he heard devotion in Rydell’s tone.