When Silver Moons Rise (Lost Immortals Saga #2) (24 page)

The invisible tattoos, the same ones that appear each time Faris and I connect, form on my arms. The scrolls and circles don’t just stop at my upper body. I can feel the design as it creeps along my skin, burning me, reminding me of Seth’s promise that this bond would be painful. Whatever mystical force creates the tattoos must either be angry with me, or it’s giving me the final push I need to rise from within the ashes of the girl I used to be. I can even feel the heat radiating from inside me and filling the room. What will happen now that I have unlocked the fire in me?

At once, Seth lifts his mouth away from my neck. I wait for the raging emotions to stop, but a million sensations continue to rush through me. I fall out of his arms, down to the floor, and onto my back, staring at all of the books on the library’s shelves.

Finally, the wave of sensations releases my body. I wait for the world to stop spinning. A warm wind drifts through the room, and everything moves in slow motion. I glance toward Seth and try to understand what his lips are saying to me. I only know the air around us has gotten extremely hot. The blobs I haven’t seen since the day I entered Seth’s dream come next. Only this time, the faces of people I love float inside the dark shapes hovering above our heads.

I cover my face with my hands. From inside the void, I hear Seth’s voice say, “They’re not real. Put your hands down.” I don’t listen. I believe him, but doubt his words at the same time. Like me, Asa thinks he has good in him. She better be right. Or I’ll have made the biggest mistake of my life.

“I said they-are-not-real. Make them go away. Stop hiding and face your fears,” he orders. Even though a large part of me doesn’t want to listen to his voice, something takes hold of me, and I find that I need to obey, to do as my new Protector says. I lower my hands and stare down the demons inside the blobs.

“Now finish destroying them,” Seth hisses.

I lock my gaze on the blobs, narrow my eyes, and pass every bit of anger and frustration and fear inside me toward the shadows that have hovered over me ever since I was a little girl. The shapes start to tremble. The heated wind makes the entire room feels as though it’s on fire. I scream through my teeth. The blobs explode, leaving nothing but a rotten odor lingering in the air. Gasping, I stare at the ceiling where the shapes disappeared. A long, silent moment passes before either of us says a word.

“Told you I could help you make them go away,” Seth says in a calm, smooth tone as he moves over to where I lay and leans over me. Caressing my hair, he stares at me with those empty eyes. Wait. They’re not completely blank right now.

“Are the blobs gone for good?” I ask, still trying to catch my breath.

“The lost souls will stay away as long as you exercise your power over them in the right way. You are one amazing little flower,” he says, a slight smile on his lips.

“Your eyes are usually so dark, so empty. Something about them is different now. Why?” I ask.

“There hasn’t been anything interesting enough for me to want to fill them with. That is, up until now. I think you’ve reduced that debt by a significant amount. Congratulations.” He moves his lips closer to mine.

Oh boy. Time to turn away.

I try, but I can’t move my head.

The entrance door to the library flies open. Footsteps shuffle over to where Seth is leaning over me, and then stop suddenly. “Oh, okay. I’m interrupting something,” Lilith’s voice says.

“Yes, you are,” Seth answers, lifting his body away from mine and releasing me from his smoldering gaze.

“No, you’re not,” I say, shaking off the mental hold Seth has on me as I scoot all the way out from under his body.

“Take her back up to the room,” Seth says to Lilith, his chains rattling as he shuffles back over to his spot between the poles. “She’ll need to rest a while before she can face your challenger.”

I manage to shuffle to my feet. Lilith is there beside me in a flash. Placing my arm across her shoulders, I don’t dare glance back at Seth. For someone who faces death, he seems pretty comfortable with the way he orders Lilith around. My mind storms with doubts and insecurities about the decision I just made; and my body still feels the pull of the new bond I’ve created with a person who can easily be considered my deadliest enemy.

Love creates the greatest tests, the steepest sacrifices. I chose my offering long ago, when I was willing to give up my life to save my brother. I challenged a crazy girl that day on the cliffs; and now, I am bonded to the one person she sent to destroy me, giving him the power to easily do so if he wishes. But in the end, I’ll be able to save Asa and Faris—a test of my faith and a sacrifice for my love.

Lilith and I make our way back up to her room. Questions swim inside her eyes. I’m not ready to answer anyone else’s queries, so I look around the room, doing my best to control the storm of emotions raging inside me. I’m scared, but not afraid. I want to scream, but at the same time, I want to laugh. I go with sitting on the edge of Lilith’s bed for the moment. That’s what I am, a little lost flower sitting at the edge of a burning forest.

“Jade says you’re some kind of goddess savior. The keeper of some kind of light that’ll knock these angel boys on their asses.” I feel her staring at my profile. So she knows about Jade’s supernatural abilities. I wonder if Lilith has some kind of power, too. “Is that what you are, Chela? Are you a goddess savior who has come down to save us all? That’s really cool, you know… if it’s true”

“I’m not a goddess. And I’m certainly not anybody’s savior,” I snap. “I’m just a seventeen-year-old girl. A kid who misses her family and friends,” I say, my last few words breaking under emotion. The damn tears burn my eyes, wanting to escape down my face. I knew the little monsters would show up at some point. My body heaves, and I feel as though I might choke on the knot in my throat.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” Lilith says, coming to sit beside me. “I understand. I really do. Trust me when I tell you that.” She places her arm across my shoulders, and I lean my head on hers.

I’m reminded of the time a few weeks ago when Lexa allowed me to do this same thing. Thinking of my best friend destroys the barrier I’ve held up for so long. One tiny bit of kindness is enough to send me spiraling over the edge and straight into the fire. Sobs shake my entire body.

“I miss him so much,” I say, my voice cracking as I think of Faris’s face the last time we met in our dream world.

The tears do fall this time, and I welcome them.

Chapter Twenty Eight

The Silver Moons Rise (Faris)

It is December 21st, the night when the Silver Moon will rise. I keep my gaze aimed toward the one skylight in the ceiling of my cell. Over the past few months, I’ve grown immune to the bleeder. The iron shackles that Olivia places her blindsided faith in won’t hold the creature inside me. So I wait.

Freedom. One of the simple pleasures in life that people take for granted the most. All of these years I’ve lived by my own rules, my own game. I vowed to never fall in love. I made sure I would never lose anyone the way I lost my family, and even my brother, the Tainted and confused soul who bears a curse just as I do.

Freedom—a simple word, a complex idea. But in a way, freedom is a reward to those who are worthy.

Am I deserving of its blessing? Damn right, I am.

I finally understand my worth. I have to work for my release, though. Life doesn’t place everything on a gold platter. Even the privileged and royal-blooded must earn the mark of the honorable man. And for me to do that with a clear conscience, I have to make a self confession. I need to own up to the mistake I made that put my people in danger. The thing I have kept buried for so many years, crippling me in every aspect of my life. The most painful memory of all for me.

The day I lost my father.

I close my eyes and drift into the deepest recess of my mind, going back almost sixty human years.

It’s the first day of the celebration of the Silver Moon in Jardan. As usual, our palace makes the ideal party setting. Mother’s decorating and organizational skills are untouchable. Women from all over Bardonia come to get lessons on creating social gatherings from her. Sometimes I hear them whispering in the corners, though. They speak of the time when the king, my father, once consorted with a dark witch, Seth’s mother. Even though this happened before he married my mother, the gossip lives on.

Asa and Father still haven’t spoken to each other since the day we learned he was our brother. Something in my sister seems diminished since Father banished Seth months ago. She fiddles with the silver eagle ring on her hand, staring at the thing that Rabia uses to remind Asa she is cursed like the rest of us. Seeing her this way pains me. I love my sister. Still, I can’t help but to feel a touch angry because she doesn’t seem to acknowledge that I exist anymore.

What else was there for me to do besides taking matters into my own hands?

I move over to where she sits in her chair beside our mother’s seat at the head of the ballroom. “A dance, my lady?” I bow and hold out my arm for her to take. She gives me a hint of the smile I used to see on a daily basis. It’s a start; so, I don’t push things. We move toward the dance floor; but I keep walking and lead her toward the entry to the dining room located in a hallway just off the ballroom.

“Faris, what is this? Where are we going?” she asks, but I see the excitement lighting up her eyes again. In return, my heart beats faster.

“Stick with me, and be quiet. Everybody will hear us. That won’t be good. Just trust me,” I say and lead her through the kitchen, out the back door, and into the courtyard. She nods and gives me a large grin. Yes, I know I might regret my decision. But my sister’s happiness comes first.

We head deep into Mother’s sculpted garden. Eventually we arrive at the water fountain, the one topped by a mermaid, Mother’s favorite sea creature. I take in a deep breath and cover my sister’s eyes. She makes a little jump and says, “What’s going on, Faris. Now, you’re just creeping me out.”

“Patience,” I whisper in her ear and wait until I see the bushes shuffle. Slowly, I remove my hands from my sister’s eyes. She opens them and glances across the way.

“Can’t be,” she whispers, her eyes wide as her gaze moves over to where Seth stands. They run toward one another and embrace. I do everything to bury the aching sensation in my chest, the one telling me that I’ve made the greatest mistake of my life by letting the protection veil down, the one surrounding our palace and shielding the leaders gathered inside the house.

But I love my sister. She loves Seth, her brother. Therefore, I’m probably blind.

“He’s your brother too,” the little annoying voice reminds me. I shake it off. Asa’s heart is pure and her soul completely untainted. She reminds me so much of our mother in that way.

“It’s really me,” Seth says, moving back from my sister and then kissing her forehead.

“How did you get through Mabry’s veil?” Asa asks.

Seth glances in my direction. Something twinkles inside those deathly eyes of his. The anxiety in me increases. “Faris, you set this up?” Asa turns to me with the biggest smile on her face. I nod. She runs over to me, grabs my hand, and pulls me toward Seth. She reminds me of a child, a naive and wondrous one who’s willing to believe the devil can be her friend.

Taking his hand in her free one, she pulls us together and says, “The three silver moons are all together again. Right?” Her gray eyes are filled with wonder and happiness, and yes, even a few questions. I can tell she’s just as nervous about this meeting as I am. And I still have the stiffness of my broken ankles to mark our last encounter.

Seth and I exchange bittersweet glances while my sister isn’t looking. I steer this charade back to the main reason I have risked Father’s anger.

“Tomorrow, Father and I ride out to the outer islands,” I say. Seth narrows his eyes. “A keeper of the Light has something to give us.” I wait for his response. Nothing. There isn’t a Tainted alive who can resist the chance to get their hands on something owned by the Light Keepers, the descendants of the seraphim class of angels.

“Now, I understand why you set this mini-party up for me. You need my help in convincing the Ferryman to let your ship pass through. This isn’t about
our
sister at all, is it?” Seth’s amused voice says. His smug face annoys me, because he’s right. Asa glances at me, her smile fading.

Seth is talking about a man cursed to watch for ships crossing the Adoral Sea, someone who doesn’t belong to any of the three main races of celestials. The Ferryman’s birthplace and history is a complete mystery. He only answers to certain words whispered by the fallen, people like Seth. And he only watches for ships that attempt to sail to the island called Genlarka, a place that many of our people have died trying to reach. The myths say only Bardonian kings possess enough influence over the Ferryman to convince him to allow their passage. No king has ever risked his life by attempting to make the journey himself.

Father is counting on his inner powers to help us get past the Ferryman. Mother worries that he’s sailing straight into a trap. I think so too. But he feels the thing he needs to get from the Light Keepers is more important than his safety.

“If you agree to do this, then I’ll give you a hint about what the Light Keeper said,” I offer. It’s a simple compromise, I know. But it’s not like I have a bunch of Tainted buddies I can ask instead of Seth. I’m hoping his curiosity wins the better part of him and he gives in.

This request also gives Seth one final chance to redeem himself in Asa’s eyes. My sister will be happy. Maybe even our Father will decide to lighten his punishment. And then, all of my family will be speaking to one another again. I might be insanely stupid for doing this. I don’t know. He tried to kill Father. He could easily tell his other Tainted friends.

Or maybe a small part of me wants to understand how someone related to me in this way could be so different from his siblings. Maybe I miss the idea of having another guy around more than I realize.