Each time I took a breath, I waited to wake up from this nightmare, but nothing changed. Everest was passed out on the cot, her screams echoing in my ears. I refused to let go of her hands, afraid somehow that meant I was really letting her go.
But that mark on her side… I knew when Radnak attacked her, it did something to her, affected her somehow and all this time, she’d hid it from me.
“Slade, let me see it,” Mahlia said, her voice shaking.
I squeezed Everest’s hands one more time then laid them by her sides and moved to lift her shirt to reveal the mark that was burned into her ribs.
The exact same mark that was on my arm, placed there by one of Radnak’s Blood Moon Priests. Somehow, he’d marked her in the last attack.
Marked her because she jumped in front of the attack. That should be on me right now. Draining me of life. Taking everything I had.
“We have to get it off her,” I whispered harshly. “It’s draining her, making her weak. Sick.”
“I’ve never seen a mark like this, not until you came back from the Fell Gates.” Mahlia ran her fingers over it, stopping when Everest grimaced in her sleep. “I have no idea how to remove this. This… this is beyond my magic. It’s blood magic, Slade. I doubt anyone here can stop it.”
This was all my fault. That attack was meant for me. Guilt slammed into me, followed by anger at her for keeping this a secret from all of us. She let it hurt her day in, day out, and endured whatever it did to her until she couldn’t take it anymore.
I refused to lose her and saw the mutual feeling in Mahlia’s eyes.
“I’ll gather the witches, see what we can do, but Slade…” She choked back a sob, shook her head, and said she’d be back with whatever she could find. She kissed Everest’s forehead then hurried off, Amelie following after her, both women wiping at their eyes.
“She’s going to live,” I told myself, as well as the others who had gathered around her bedside. “She’ll make it, you’ll see.”
Tank brought me a chair, and I sat down, taking the shirt he handed me next.
“Thanks,” I mumbled and as soon as I had it on, I took Everest’s hand back in mine.
“You said it yourself, she’ll make it,” he said encouragingly, patting me on the shoulder.
“Why wouldn’t she have told me?”
Tank sighed as he sat on the cot beside Everest’s. “You were dealing with the other clans, and our kidnapping a Black Diamond, and accepting the fact that the truth was out,” he said. “I don’t know, man, I guess she thought she could handle it.”
Every time she avoided my gaze, or disappeared, she’d been in pain, and I missed it. I hung my head, begging silently for her to open her eyes and tell me what to do to get rid of that mark. Or have her yell at me or scold me. I wanted to hear her laugh, just one more time… just in case.
“Slade,” Jenny called out as she ran toward me. “What happened?”
I pointed to Everest’s side, and she frowned. “She never told me,” I growled.
“Radnak, is he draining her life?” she asked horrified.
“I don’t know. She was fine and then she started screaming,” I rambled on. “She was in so much pain and then she was clawing at it, trying to get rid of it. Mahlia gave her something to knock her out, but I can’t…” I bit back the rest of the words and sucked in a deep breath, furiously rubbing my eyes. “I—uh, I’m sorry I just… I could’ve dealt with her just being sick or something, but now, I don’t know what to do.”
She squeezed my arm in sympathy. “I don’t know either, but she’s in good hands. And I know this is terrible timing, but Charlette is here.”
“The Council?” I snapped bitterly. “They finally replied.”
“And they will be arriving within the hour. I know you don’t want to leave Everest, but we need you down there. No one else can show them what you can,” she said. “I’m sorry.”
“No, no, I’ll be there.”
“Take your time, you still have a few minutes at least.” She took a breath like she was going to say something else, then stopped and walked away.
Everest’s breathing was steady, but that mark on her ribs was bright red and angry as if she’d been freshly burned.
I sat on the edge of her cot and smoothed her hair back, smiling down at her despite the fear threatening to strangle me. I thought I knew what it felt like to lose someone I loved, but right now, it was like someone dug around in my chest with a dagger, attempting to remove my heart. I hated to leave her, but Jenny was right, no one else could show the Council the truth I could.
“You always did have great timing,” I whispered to her. “I have to go, but Tank here is going to keep a close eye on you. And if anything happens, I’ll be right back, I swear it.” I rested my forehead against hers; it was burning up again. I softly kissed her lips and fought against falling apart completely. “You come back to me, Everest. You and I are far from done with each other. Got it?”
“If anything changes, I’ll send for you,” Tank swore. “I won’t leave her side for anything.”
I tried to thank him, but the words wouldn’t come. My eyes lingered on Everest, but the Council would be arriving, and I needed to be standing beside the clan leaders when they did. After a couple of backward steps, I turned around and walked toward the portal, not allowing myself to look back for that one last look.
I’d come back, and she’d be awake, and everything would be fine.
Everest would be fine.
The portal created by the Council was brighter than normal, and I winced, shielding my eyes.
I stood in the town square beside Charlette, Quinto, and Orella, but mentally I was back in the base with Everest. I trusted Tank to come fetch me if the situation got worse. I hated wasting time on these bastards, but my hands were tied.
“You sure they won’t come out ready to kill me?” I muttered to Charlette.
“Faith, Slade. Besides, they don’t even know you’re supposed to be here.”
“Doesn’t mean they don’t know.”
“Don’t put so much confidence in them. Many of them are well beyond their years to think clearly and the sixth, well, that’s why you brought him along.” She pointed to Jared standing off to the side with Jenny, Preston, and Aiden. He hadn’t looked so bad until I told him what happened to Everest as I caught up with him here. “His father will listen to him, I’m sure of it.”
“And if you’re wrong and this plan goes south?”
Charlette waved away my worries. “You think too much, Slade. Time to let go and see where the chips fall, eh?”
That was not at all close to what I felt like doing. I glanced at the other portal leading to our base again, and Charlette smiled softly as she patted my hand.
“Everest is a Descendant, and she’s strong as hell. That girl will not go down easy.”
I knew she wouldn’t, and that worried me just as much. How much pain could she endure before it destroyed her mentally? She was being tortured from the inside out, and there was not a damned thing I could do to stop it.
Two figures emerged from the portal followed by two more, and two more, until the entire Council spread out in a line before us. Their guard was right behind them, a mix of thirty dragons, witches, and warlocks, in all. The portal stayed wide open, and I wondered how many guards they had waiting to charge in at a moment’s notice.
I realized, as Charlette stepped forward, representing us as we agreed a few days before, I only knew one name amongst the six standing before me: Jared Winchester II, also the youngest out of them all. I kept my gaze lowered, but I sensed the instant they realized who I was, and who the other dragons were scattered around the town square for my protection were.
“Charlette,” Mr. Winchester snapped as their guard drew their swords as one. “What is the meaning of this treachery? You dare bring that bastard here? You dare bring any of them here?”
“Yes, I dare,” Charlette replied calmly. “I dare for very good reasons.”
“Take him into custody,” one of the other men called out. Several guards moved forward as if to snatch me up and carry me away, but Preston and ten Shadowguards emerged from beneath the trees and surrounded me. “Take them all.”
“You will not touch them,” Charlette warned and snapped her fingers. “You do, and you will be facing more than just a little treachery on our part.”
The guards brought by the Council were quickly surrounded by Emerald Petites, Hollow Wells, and Sphinx dragons, cutting off their retreat back to the portal, too.
I stared each member down as they all, in turn, glared at me.
“You, you’ve done this,” the same man accused me.
“No, he didn’t Thornhill so shut up for five minutes, or I’ll make you shut up,” Orella said sounding bored. “Some of you have been keeping this truth from us, and the rest of you failed to mention that Black Diamonds and Blood Moon Priests were the ones who actually attacked you.”
All six of them didn’t even try to lie about the second part of what Orella said, but it was the way Thornhill and the black-haired woman both suddenly took a half step back that lifted red flags in my mind.
“Those two,” I stated loudly and pointed. “They know.”
“Bethilda and Thornhill,” Charlette called them out loudly. “You have much explaining to do.”
“We know nothing,” Bethilda, insisted. “All I do know is we were attacked in our dimension by him and the rest of his horrid clan.”
“I was trying to save you all,” I argued, remembering how Everest had been involved in that fight too, and all that she did to protect me and the others. “You covered up the truth. And what else have you known for years and done nothing about? What else?”
Mr. Winchester, the other man, and the two women, closed in around the two members of their Council. “Answer him,” Mr. Winchester said calmly, but it was that tone of calm that indicated there was trouble coming. “Now.”
“You can’t honestly be listening to him. He’s a Shadowguard,” Thornhill pointed out, as if it wasn’t obvious already.
“He’s not just that,” Jared said, stepping forward and standing right in front of me. “He’s the Lost Heir.” He crossed his arms, and I worried for a second, he’d lose his nerve when his father turned that steady gaze to his son, but instead, Mr. Winchester’s eyes softened, and a flicker of regret appeared. “He’s brought the clans together to try and put a stop to a war that never ended.”
“Jared, I suggest you get your son under control,” Thornhill demanded.
“You know, I think I’ve heard enough from you for the past few years,” Mr. Winchester said as he turned back to the warlock in question. “I’ve heard enough from you and Bethilda constantly shoving your own agendas down all of our throats.”
Jared’s arms fell to his sides, and when I stepped forward, I saw the stunned look he was giving his father.
“After we were attacked, I asked you, all of you, if you had any idea the Black Diamonds were still alive. Each and every one of you said no.” He was a few inches from Thornhill now, and the much shorter warlock was visibly shaking. “I said when I first joined the Council I wanted to make changes, to stop this cycle of violence and for years you beat me down until I gave in and swallowed all your bullshit. No more, none. I will hear this Lost Heir out, and I will listen to my son. You two, you should be locked away for what you’ve done.”
Bethilda reached for the other two women who immediately pulled back in disgust. “Selma? Morana? Please, you have to understand why I couldn’t tell you.”
“You couldn’t tell us that there was still a war going on?” Morana, the Hollow Well snapped.
“They were killing each other, and we wanted both clans gone. It was an easy win,” Bethilda went on, and my blood ran ice cold. “There was no reason to get involved, and there still isn’t. They are not our problem. Not anymore.”
Morana’s hand moved faster than I could follow, but I heard the sharp crack as she slapped Bethilda across the face, sending her to the ground in a heap. “You… you horrible witch. We brought up changes to how we treated the Shadowguards so many different times and each time, you swore up and down they hadn’t changed. You are a disgrace. You and Thornhill.”
“We are the two oldest Council members,” Thornhill stated, his chin thrust high in the air. “You can’t just get rid of us.”
“We have four clan leaders standing before us, claiming to have proof of your crimes,” Selma told him quietly. “That is more than enough for us to disband you both, forever.”
“What proof? There is no proof,” he bellowed.
I stepped forward. “And if there is? If we can show you without a doubt that what we say is true?”
“How do you plan on doing that?” Thornhill tried to reach me, but Jared and Mr. Winchester both moved to stop him before my guard even took a step.
“My memories, and Charlette’s. We want you to see what we’ve seen.”
Selma looked to Morana, Mr. Winchester, and the other man whose name I didn’t know yet. “Are we all in agreement to see what they have to show us?”
They all nodded as one and Charlette, and I stepped closer as she beckoned us.
“Lost Heir, let’s start with you,” she said as she raised her hands to my temples. “Take a deep breath and relax. This will not hurt, but it may feel odd.”
“What’s going to happen?”
“I’m going to project your memories for all to see. Hold still and remember everything.”
I closed my eyes, taking a few slow breaths to try and relax, but it was hard when I was worried about this meeting going according to plan, and Everest suffering back at that base.
Selma’s hands stiffened and then pressed harder against my temples. I gasped at the wiggling feeling that something was crawling around inside my mind, but there was no pain at least. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know what they were seeing.
My last few moments with Everest at the base, hearing her scream all over again. I dug my nails into the palms of my hands to fight back my rage and willed the memories to move on, but they lingered around Everest. The few kisses we shared here, falling asleep with her… and then I heard a dragon’s roar. Radnak’s. There were several gasps of disbelief around me, but my eyes remained shut. I heard Everest’s scream as she was attacked, and then we were back inside the ritual chamber, and the scream turned to Charlette’s as they tried to rip out her soul. The memories went on and on, farther back than I ever tried to remember, until they were seeing my time before I left the dimension of my people far behind. So much death and pain, so much it made my knees buckle being forced to remember it all.
Selma sank to her knees with me, and when her hands finally pulled back, I fell forward on my hands, shaking my head to try and clear away the horrid memories that would haunt me forever.
“So much… so much hurt,” she whispered, tears streaming down her cheeks. “You poor dear, your clan… your family and friends.” She reached out and rested her hand on my head, and I felt a warmth rush through me before she stood. “That is more than enough proof for me. Take them away. Now.”
“Agreed,” three voices announced.
Thornhill and Bethilda yelled and struggled as their own guards turned on them, tying their hands behind their backs and dragging them through the portal. Once they were gone, their yelling finally cut off, an eerie silence surrounded us. Jared held out his hand and hoisted me back to my feet.
“You good?” he asked.
“Yeah, just… those are not the times I like to remember, but now it seems everyone finally knows the truth.”
Mr. Winchester, Selma. Morana, and the other man with golden eyes like a Sphinx, came over to stand before me. “It appears there is much we have to discuss,” the man said, holding out his hand. “Robert of the Golden Sphinx, at your service.”
I shook his hand firmly. “There is plenty to talk about.”
“First, that mark on Everest’s side,” Selma asked me softly, “it matches the one on your arm.”
“Yeah, and I don’t know what it’s doing to her, but she’s in so much pain,” I whispered harshly. “Can you do anything for her? Please?”
“I would like to try if you would allow me.” There was genuine concern in her eyes, and I nodded, waving Jenny forward.
“Take her to see Everest, please, and if you can, send someone to let me know how she’s doing.”
Jenny bowed her head then walked with Selma to the portal leading back to our base.
Once they were through, I squared my shoulders and focused on a situation I could do something about right now, and that was explaining to the Council all they missed for the past few hundred years.
“All this time,” Mr. Winchester said, breaking the quiet in the town hall, “we were told the Black Diamonds were merely extinct. And all they did was retreat to dimensions we knew nothing about. How could we have been so blind?”
He’d warmed up to me even more after Jared explained my sister had died trying to protect his daughter. There was so much they hadn’t known, but the more I talked, the more I saw all their attitudes change.
“To be fair, you weren’t there for this part,” I reminded him, and he half-smiled. “None of us were. From what I was told, the war got to everyone, and people were desperate for it to end.”
“But the Shadowguards, why did they keep fighting?” Robert asked curiously.
“That I don’t know, not even my parents did, but what I do know is the Black Diamonds managed to control our clan somehow, and even when they wanted to end it, they couldn’t.” I picked at a splinter on the edge of the table, wishing I knew more than I did. I had told them every little detail I could remember of what my parents told me, as well as the condition the Shadowguards were in now.
“You said he controls three dimensions, yes?” Morana asked.
I nodded. “And the Fell Gates, he’s there too, but I believe it’s still controlled by the Blood Moon Priests.”
“And you have no idea how they came back into being?”
I started to say no, but then remembered a brief conversation I’d had with Morg. “There is a theory that Radnak used the Descendants he turned to bring them back from the dead.”
The dragons at the table snarled. “That is black magic,” Morana hissed. “He tainted them.”
“He did, and he almost got Everest, too, but she didn’t let him. Helped get Charlette out.”
“And you showed your true colors to do it,” Charlette sighed from across the table. “I still can’t thank you enough.”
“I’d say I regret it, but how can I when the clan leaders are together with the Council, and my clan… my clan actually has a shot at being free?”
There were regrets in what happened since, especially with Everest. I swallowed hard, checking the time. Selma had been gone for nearly two hours, and no word had come, not yet. I was anxious to get back to her side, but we had yet to discuss what our next official move was going to be.
“With the Council on our side,” Charlette said loudly as if reading my mind, “we would like to proceed with our next course of action.”
“And that would be?” Mr. Winchester asked Jared, who was seated beside his father where he should’ve been all along.
“Attacking an encampment they control here in the human world,” Jared explained and pointed to the map. “There are portals there that would lead us to the Fell Gates, and we think the other dimensions. If we can attack it and hold it, we’d have access to everywhere Radnak could be.”
Mr. Winchester nodded slowly. “And the defenses of this encampment?”
“Scouts have been sent,” Preston informed him. “They should be returning soon.”
They’d been gone longer than we anticipated, but I refused to send anyone else in case those scouts had been caught and killed. My gut rebelled at the idea of losing any more of my people, but we needed eyes on that camp again if we were to attack it and win. It wasn’t the dragons there who concerned me, but the Priests. No one living knew much about them or what they were capable of. After what I’d seen at the Fell Gates, I was going to proceed with as much caution as we could afford.
“You said you also have a prisoner in your charge?” Robert asked. “A Black Diamond commander?”
“Nikolai. He’s Radnak’s main instrument of torture,” I sneered, wanting to pummel the bastard all over again for all those memories fresh in my mind. “He’s talking, but not telling us what we need to know. Like what this ritual with souls is about.”
Morana tilted her head, and her eyes narrowed. “You said he’s only after the souls of the clan leaders, yes?”
“As far as I could tell, yes. Why?” I sat up eagerly, seeing the gears turning in her mind.
“There has always been the notion that clan leaders are physically stronger. They’re harder to kill, heal faster, and have a certain connection to each and every dragon in their clan. Perhaps Radnak has found a way with these Priests to use that.”
“But how?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I will have to talk to Selma more about it.”
I wanted to at least keep discussing it, thinking an idea might come to life that would lead us in the right direction, when the doors to the hall burst open.
Benji sprinted in, not stopping until he ran right into my chair, grabbing my hand.
“You have to come.”
“Benji? What’s wrong?” I was already on my feet and moving with him toward the door.
“Everest, she’s awake, and she’s asking for you.”
I spun around, searching for the other dragon that should be there just in case… no, no I wasn’t going to even think it. “Aiden. Everest’s awake.”
He was on my heels a second later, and the three of us took off for the portal back to the mountain base. We stepped through, ran down the short hall that connected the portal entrance to the main living quarters, and I heard Everest before I even saw her.
Mahlia and Selma were by her side, staring at the mark on her ribs, but Everest’s eyes were wide open.
“Everest!”
“Slade?” Her voice was so weak it cut me deep, and I rushed to hold her hand. “You… you made it… that’s good.” She glanced at Aiden. “Hi.”
Aiden kissed her forehead, and I saw him choking back his own tears. “Hey, sweetheart.”
“Well? Can you do anything?”
Selma pursed her lips and lowered Everest’s shirt over the mark. “I’m afraid I can’t. I honestly don’t know how this mark hasn’t killed her yet. Slade… there’s nothing we can do.”
My entire body went numb before I was growling, shaking my head, yelling at her to do something to save Everest. I couldn’t lose her, I wouldn’t lose her. Not now.
Tears slipped from my eyes as I stared down at those dimming yellow-green eyes, so bright days before. Radnak was literally stealing away her life, and all I could do was watch.
“No,” I whispered. “You can’t leave me. I won’t let you.”
“I’m sorry,” she replied, gripping my hand as hard as she could, but there was no strength left in her. “But you have to keep fighting.”
“No, not without you.”
“Slade, your clan needs you… that’s why… that’s why I did this.” She winced, and her other hand went to her side. “You have to kill him. If not for your clan then for me, right?”
Mahlia sobbed quietly across from me, Aiden holding her close as they watched their daughter fade away. Even Selma was failing at holding back her tears.
The entire base had fallen silent as those Everest had helped since coming here moved closer, crying and staring in stunned silence.
“Everest please,” I begged, “if you leave me, I’ll forget who I really am. I won’t have you to give me that push when I’m being an idiot, or… or have you make me laugh when the world gets too dark to go on. You’re stronger than I am, I can’t do this without you.”
She lifted her hand to my cheek, and I leaned into it. “You have to. I’m sorry, Slade… so… sorry.”
“Everest? No… no.”
Her hand fell limp to the cot, and I grabbed her shoulders, shaking her gently, needing her to open those eyes, but she went completely still. Her breathing slowed and then stopped altogether.
I yelled in anguish, holding her close, pleading with the gods to send her back to me, but she remained limp in my arms.
“Wait,” Selma muttered and was on her feet. “Slade, wait.”
“What? What are you doing?” I snapped as she rested her hand on Everest’s forehead. Her brow furrowed, and her jaw dropped. “What’s happening?”
“She’s… she’s not dead,” she whispered.
“What do you mean? Look at her.”
She grabbed my hand and pressed it to Everest’s neck. There was a slight thud about thirty seconds apart.
I laid her back and waited to see if her chest rose or not, and after holding my breath until I thought I would pass out, saw it rise just enough to let me know she was breathing.
“Whatever’s happening to her,” Selma said slowly, “I can’t see, but she’s changing. And there’s a force within her,” she placed her hand at Everest’s temple, “it’s… it’s fighting back.”
I rested my hand on the necklace at her throat and flinched to feel how warm it was. “The necklace, it’s warm.”
Mahlia sniffed hard, wiped her face on her sleeve, and leaned over to feel it. “She told me the necklace, it reacted in ways I never experienced. It warned her of danger… talked to her in a way.”
“Is it possible it can heal her?” I asked desperately, looking from Mahlia to Selma.
“It’s possible her power shut down her body, so it could work on repairing the damage done to her physically and mentally,” Selma replied, “but it could be days before she wakes. Months even.”
As long as she woke, I didn’t care. “I want someone watching her around the clock,” I ordered Jenny. “Everest is never to be left alone. Not for a second.”
“I’ll see to it,” she promised me.
I refused to let go of Everest’s hand for the rest of the day, only leaving her side when nature called. Tank brought me something to eat, and after I turned it down the first few times, he threatened to shove it down my throat, warning me I needed to keep my strength up for the fighting ahead, and for Everest when she woke again.
And she would wake.
She had to, otherwise, what was the point in being here anymore?