Once their curiosity was satisfied, the creatures flitted about as they pleased, just as numerous as swarms of gnats in the middle of summer.
Arianna kept looking for more Dark Fae, half expecting them to emerge from the shadows at any moment. Yet she also felt at peace, her magic rejuvenated by this ancient place. What did that mean exactly? Was Vairik even responsible for trapping the Guardians here, or had they done it themselves? Perhaps itwas their only defense against the male who’d made it his life’s mission to change things implemented by the gods themselves.
The guardians didn’t show themselves, but Arianna could sense their presence. They were watching. Waiting in the shadows. She glanced toward Talon and the others, each pensive, staring into the trees with their hands on their weapons. She couldn’t blame their caution, given the abysmal creatures they’d just escaped. Perhaps the Guardians remained hidden until the group was more rested so they wouldn’t frighten those within her company.
Their party continued trudging up the mountainside, ducking under thick boughs and crawling over gnarled roots until a small wooden cabin entered their view. Saoirse whispered a prayer of thanks to the gods and followed her little brother right up to the front door.
Talon and Gavin followed too, both eager to get Ellie inside so she could rest. Raevina lingered outside, looking over their surroundings. And Arianna—she’d stopped dead in her tracks, unable to step even a foot into the small circular clearing that surrounded the structure.
Pain lanced through her chest, shattering like a javelin thrown against a stone wall. She hit her knees gasping, clutching at her midsection. Someone called her name, but everything was blurring, shifting, spinning.
Shadows crawled across her vision, leeching all color away from the world, streaking and staining everything she’d ever known with inky blackness.
Then that familiar sharp current jolted through her body. Arianna tried to yank her upper arm away, the limb on fire. Why—Arianna turned her head, desperately searching for the source. Violent tremors ran down her arm, leeching the strength from her body. Images melted with the shadows, turning them from black to muted gray tones.
Her head ached, gods why did it always ache, why was she always at the tipping point of nausea? Why couldn’t she get a grasp on who she was, what this was that kept assaulting her?
Arianna forced her eyes to open amidst the crippling sea of sights and sounds. A waterfall of moving parts echoed before her. Bodies she couldn’t distinguish, faces she didn’t recognize, scenery she couldn’t place.
Every muscle fiber in her body protested, but Arianna reached out anyway, hoping to catch even one image before it disappeared again. She just needed one thing to lock onto. One moment that would allow her to ground herself back to reality.
Arianna’s fingers brushed the first image, but it sailed by too fast, clipping her fingers so hard she was certain it had shattered every joint. The impact sent her careening all over again, but Arianna reached for another, desperation clawing up her throat, threatening to choke her.
Her magic sparked, the creature within sensing her distress, yet it too seemed confused. As if it couldn’t quite grasp whether she was really in danger. Cold trickled down her spine, the magic rising from her core and fanning out. Arianna forced herself to reach for another image, shooting out tendrils of magic, hoping to freeze even one picture in place. Hope blossomed through her when the image paused, but it shattered a fraction of a second later, rejoining the sea of images it had come from.
The grip on her shoulder tightened. Arianna gritted her teeth.Stop touching me, stop touching me, stop touching me.She couldn’t ground herself with him around, yet every part of her body yearned for his proximity, his gaze, his scent—no, no, no, no.
Her world spun again, upending entirely. The hand on her shoulder squeezed painfully, then an image burst before her with perfect clarity. Her breath shuddered. One milky eye with ascar across the brow blinked at her. Then a cruel smile lifted a set of thin lips at one corner.
Crippling fear snaked down her spine. Arianna tried to back away, but the shadows reached out, tangling around her limbs, trapping her like a moth in a spider’s web. Those gnarled fingers reached for her temple and her eyes went wide. She knew the pain that awaited with a single touch. She couldn’t let him. Not again. He’d tear through everything precious to her. He’d strip her bare until she knew nothing but the grinding of her own bones. He’d taken something last time, tainted the thing she’d held most dear with his vile magic. She couldn’t let him do it again. Ellie. He’d take Ellie. Ellie was all she had left. Ellie was the only one she could trust.
Arianna latched onto her power. He was a hair’s breadth away. The shadows tightened their hold.
Then the world exploded around her.
The shadows unraveled from her arms as the blast sent them upward, solidifying into giant, unsteady arcs that reached toward a never-ending abyss. They tottered a moment, balancing on the edge of an invisible blade. Then the monumental statue leaned to one side and fell down, down, down gaining momentum until it shattered all over the dark floor.
Her prison shattered with it, summoning forth light from the real world beyond. Ice cocooned Arianna’s body and she finally,finallyhad something solid to hold her feet in place.
The jagged surface thickened beneath her, around her. The images slowed. Faded. Breath came a little easier as she focused on the power within her grasp. The one thing she had control over. Arianna let that power pour from her body like the water that crashed down from Elview Falls. It cascaded over her skin, the coolness pleasant and familiar.
She breathed deep, letting that same icy stillness wash through her lungs.
Safe.
The headache vanished. Her body aches were nothing more than a passing sensation. She was … free.
Light washed through every heavy part of her soul. She kept her eyes closed, relishing it. She might have remained here forever if it wasn’t for the vibrations tugging her away from her sanctuary.
Arianna furrowed her brow. The vibrations grew louder. Louder. Someone was screaming her name. Panic. So much panic in that familiar voice.
It’s okay Talon,she wanted to say.I’m fine. Just a little longer.
His voice echoed as if underwater. The vibrations continued, growing harsher with each passing second.
Her world snapped into focus, the shift so sudden her ears popped in response. Arianna saw the bluish white shards beneath her hands first. Hoarfrost covered her skin from her fingertips to just past her elbows. Her breath clouded in the frigid air.
Safe.
