“You’ll never get away...”
“What are you doing to him?” Kade cried out in agony, clearly affected by my pain through our empathetic link.
“What’s this?” Erik cried out gleefully.
“It is exactly as I foretold, sire,” Sindri replied. “I told you the Cauld Ane would be at their weakest and behold. Their own king is an empath to my apprentice.”
“You’ve done well, Sindri. Your powers of sight have served your king and you shall be rewarded,” Erik said.
Brodie and Alasdair rushed to help Kade, and Connall rushed to help me but Sindri stopped them.
“Don’t touch them or I swear I will kill your women,” he said, raising a hand high, before turning to Connall. “I don’t have to read your thoughts to know what you’re thinking,” he said, his lips forming an evil grin. “But, even if you could reach the circle in time, no person, either of Kalt Einn or human blood, can break the circle once I’ve closed it.”
The burning intensified and I desperately tried in vain to reach Isla. I was too weak and Sindri’s magic too strong for my thoughts to penetrate the circle.
“Wait a few moments longer, and this will all pass,” Sindri called out to everyone. “Arric and Kade are merely dying. That’s all.”
Well, he may have been a total dick, but he wasn’t exactly wrong.
“If the king dies—” Connall growled.
“Relax, your empathetic little princess will be just fine,” Sindri taunted. “In truth Kade onlyfeelslike he’s dying. Arric Mann will soon be dead.”
The barrage of memories continued to rip through my psyche. The pain and isolation of each birth and eventual death of every human I’d taken memories from over the years tearing me apart from within. How long had I roamed the earth like this? A passenger in my own body, a prisoner locked within my mind.
My tattoos glowed with a bright white heat so intense I felt as though my bones would turn to ash and I screamed in agony as I was born into this world, once again.
I lay on the ground unaware of my surroundings in complete silence, until I heard a single voice.
“Rise, Ketill Feilan.”
It was the voice of my master.
“Rise, my apprentice. The time has come for us to form a new council of oracles. To fulfill the prophecy.”
I stood.
“Yes. Come and claim your reward my obedient apprentice. Take your rightful place by my side and together we will usher in the new dawn of the Kalt Einn.”
I did as Sindri commanded, joining him, alongside the others.
* * *
Isla
“What’s he doing?” I mused out loud, my heart breaking, and my heart was breaking because even though I couldn’t reach him telepathically, I could still feel his emotions. He was entirely too…calm.
“Can you get to his thoughts?” Mum asked.
I shook my head. “Just his emotions. Something’s wrong.”
“You always were the smart one,” Catriona droned.
I gave her a gentle shove with my shoulder. “No, likehe’snot right. Gah! I can’t figure it out.” I closed my eyes and focused. “Oh,” I breathed out. “He’s calm, but there’s something more. Something I can’t get to.” I clasped my hands at my chest. “I hope he’s okay.”
“Let’s see if we can put our powers together,” Mum suggested. “Charlotte, let’s use our sister powers, huh?”
“Wonder Twins?”
