Chapter Twenty-Four

 

 

 

 

Shade

 

I blinked. The darkness remained, but I was no longer falling into the abyss of nothingness. Where was I? Had I died? Had I been returned to the mind prison? Had Aveta been real or just a figment of my dark imagination?

All those questions gave me a sharp pain in my head, and I squeezed my eyes closed, pressing my temples until the ache turned down a notch or two.

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” Aveta grunted from somewhere nearby. “Time to get out of this tomb and again, unfortunately, only you can open it.”

I blinked, letting the little light in this new prison sharpen my vision. Aveta was on her feet and now looking straight down, scrutinizing me.

“Where are we?” I mumbled, still groggier than I’d expected. Aveta didn’t look like she’d been knocked out, so why did I feel so heavy?

“We’re in a sarcophagus chamber. You must know where we are from that; it’s from your memories, not mine.” Aveta waved her arm toward a broken sarcophagus, its stone lid shattered on the floor.

“This is Arthas’s prison. I put him here after he killed you.”

Aveta actually appeared impressed as she scanned the chamber, a small grin hooking the edges of her lips. “I never thought he could be contained, but you did it. Why is he not here then?” She turned toward me, and I avoided her glaring, daggered eyes. “You let him out, didn’t you?”

“I had to. Kilara was dying and made me search for the Heart of Fire and Ice. I had no leads without Arthas’s help.”

Aveta shook her head but waved her disapproval away. “No matter. At least we know we can defeat him. Now, it’s time to get out of here.”

I groaned, struggling to my feet. My body ached, a symptom I had not felt since I was human. I touched my arms, feeling a chill.

“Are you cold? Ancients do not feel things as petty as temperature.” Aveta gaped at me, her eyes wide, black saucers.

“I do feel cold. I feel aches and pains, and emotions now too. I have no idea why.”

Aveta narrowed her eyes at me, and I could see her thoughts running wild inside her mind, evaluating what I was and what I was becoming.

“You’re the blessed of Faerie. A half-blood who managed to become an Ancient. I don’t think anyone has ever achieved what you have. You’re a different kind of creature for sure.”

I wanted to scream. Why was nothing ever just straightforward for me in Faerie? I couldn’t just be a normal Ancient. I had to have strange deviations and obstacles. It would never be easy, would it? I sighed and studied my surroundings. She was right. Nothing mattered except getting out of here and resuming our lives.

I held out my hands and closed my eyes, willing the sarcophagus chamber to open. A door swung open a moment later, and dust and the acrid smell of iron spilled in from the abandoned underground tunnels beneath New York City. I couldn’t be sure, but this felt real and not just another part of my mind prison. Going into that pit had somehow made me jaunt away from Arthas. My consciousness was back in my real body.

“Such a ghastly place you chose. Reeks of iron.” Aveta coughed, quickly weaving a glamour around her body several times over to keep the iron sickness at bay. As I watched, the iron made my skin feel heated, a bit like standing in front of a fire, but it didn’t burn. I inhaled the noxious air, but it didn’t affect me.

I was surprised, but I decided to think on it later and instead headed out the door and into the dark tunnels. We had a bit of a walk to the surface. I didn’t want to try jaunting away just yet. I still felt weak, and I wanted to see the sky and regain my bearings.

I reached to the ground and picked out a smooth rock, lighting it in my hands as I created the witchlight from its core. I smiled, feeling my magic settle into me as though turning into an Ancient had been nothing but a hiccup in my life. For once, I finally felt more normal.

If being a Faerie Ancient could ever be called normal.

I turned toward Aveta, who was smoothing down her black dress and muttering complaints under her breath about the stench and the dirt. I was sure she was missing the Withering Palace with a vengeance now.

I gasped at the thought.

“Whatever is the matter with you? The iron doesn’t seem to be doing a thing to you, so why are you all jumpy? Let’s get out of here.” Aveta stomped past me, her long, silky black hair swaying.

“Your palace… it’s not yours anymore since you died.”

Aveta stopped in her tracks and turned toward me. “What the hell do you mean by that?”

“My sister, Anna… she’s been given control of it since I became an Ancient.”

Aveta closed her dark eyes and inhaled. I felt a shiver of magic in the stillness of the tunnel’s stale air, as though a nonexistent wind had passed by us. Goosebumps rose on my arms, and I hurried to rub the eerie magic away. Aveta was stronger than I was when I was a human, but now I was supposed to be more powerful than her. From the way things felt, it didn’t feel like I was that much more powerful.

“I see. However, the palace is my domain again. It has sensed me, and your sister is nowhere to be found there. She has relinquished control of the palace. She can never return to Faerie.”

“What?” I hurried to catch up to Aveta, who had immediately begun marching away. “It’s true that she’s not there right now, but only because she needed help from the human world. She grew too ill to remain in Faerie. That doesn’t mean she relinquished control.”

“It does. She can’t return, so she can’t rule the Withering Palace. Simple as that.”

“So you’re just going to take it back? Just like that? My aunt and her husband are guarding it in Anna’s absence. They won’t surrender easily.”

“They won’t have to.” Aveta grinned, holding her head up. I swore if she got any cockier than she was now, I was going to swing a fist into her face. “You’ll tell them to step aside when we get there.”

I scoffed. “Who says I’m going to go there with you? I’m not going to help you become the evil queen of Faerie again. I’m not stupid.”

“You will do this for me. I helped you out of your prison. You will give me back my palace, and on top of that, for taking care of Arthas—since we know how to do it now—you’ll help me with one more thing. After that, I will never bother you again.”

Aveta’s face was so close to mine, I could feel her hot breath against my skin. I chewed on my lip. What could I say that would make her change her mind on any of this? Would she truly leave me alone?

“And my family? If I help you with those two things, you’ll let them all be for as long as you live?”

Aveta smirked and took a tiny step back. The scowl on her face told me she wasn’t into this deal at all, but after a few moments, I could see her facial muscles relaxing, and her shoulders slumped slightly.

“Fine. I will let your family be if you return the power of the Withering Palace to me and help me with one last task.”

I swallowed down the tight lump in my throat. Please don’t let me regret this.

“Agreed. But what is this thing you need me to do?”

Aveta began walking again, but I was already matching her pace. When she finally broke her silence, I was left utterly shocked.

“You will move the stones beneath my castle and reopen the labyrinth gate to another part of Faerie. I can only access it from the depths of the rocks.”

“And what’s down there?” Did I even want to know?

“It doesn’t matter to you.”

“I get it, it’s none of my business, but since we’re in all of this together, why don’t you indulge me?” I held my breath and listened to her swishing steps crunch across the old debris and gravel of the tunnels. We would be outside soon, and I could hear her breathing quicken as the iron stench became stronger. It would be unbearable outside for her.

“If you get me out of this forsaken city and back to my castle, I’ll tell you.”

I tried to hide my smile from her, but my lips quivered.

“If you’re going to gloat, I won’t tell you a thing,” Aveta snapped.

“Sorry. I swear that once we leave these tunnels, I’ll give you a lift back to your palace. Just tell me what is buried beneath it already.”

Aveta laughed. Again, it sent a shudder through my body. That woman did not need to laugh for any reason at all. It was downright terrifying.

“My love is down there. I lost him when my mother collapsed the entrance to the Labyrinth of Fears, and I cannot move the rocks. There are too many. You have control over all the elements. Use your earth powers to help me, and I’ll leave your family alone for as long as I live.”

We continued in silence as I let her words turn over in my mind. Aveta had once been in love? Her mother must have been truly horrid to have severed her connection to her love forever. I was suddenly pelted with longing for my own daughters. I would never treat them in such a manner.

The tunnel began to brighten, and after one final turn, we were free. As the setting sun glared into our eyes, I held out my hand to my former enemy.

“Just hold on tightly, and don’t let go.”