Mortal Enchantment (23 page)

“Do we really have to kill Rowan?” Selene asked, cringing as if she was expecting to be hit. “If Liana’s dead, couldn’t we force him to rescind the throne again?”

Valac narrowed his eyes at Selene. “You would show him mercy, Selene? The one responsible for our mother’s death?”

Everything Valac said was a lie. He never wanted Rowan to join with him. He was trying to get to him while he had his guard down. “How could you kill your own brother?” I asked, totally disgusted.

Fire ignited from Valac’s fingertips. “The throne belongs to me. I would kill
every
elemental in Avalon if necessary.” He clenched his fists, putting out the flames. “With Rowan dead and Liana following soon behind, there is no one left to challenge me.”

Sweat trickled down my spine. We heard a noise that sounded like scraping metal. Valac lowered his hand and the firewall dropped to waist level. Without knowing we were watching, Ariel removed the iron collar from Dad’s neck. His eyes opened and I had to hold back the tears.

“Destroy her!” Valac yelled.

Guards closed around Ariel and she leaped to her feet into a crouched position. A sword appeared from behind her back. When she reached for it, I could see her palms were badly burned. She winced when she gripped the handle. Without missing a beat, she swung it out in front of her as a warning.

A wild roar came out of nowhere, shaking the floor beneath us. A Gabriel Hound. He raced over, positioning himself in front of Ariel and my father. The hound was protecting them. When two of the guards moved toward them, the hound jumped on top of them. They screamed in pain as he ripped them apart. The other guards didn’t stand around watching. They ran for the exit. What I was seeing made no sense at all, but it didn’t matter as long as Ariel and Dad were protected.

With the attention on the rogue hound, I figured I had about ten seconds.

This was it.

I had to act.

I pulled the hidden knife out of my breastplate, quickly plunging it into Jarrod’s chest. He grimaced in pain, but he managed to hit me with a backhanded slap across the face. I stumbled from the shock of the blow.

Valac came toward me, and before I could register what was happening, he punched me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me. When I bowed forward, I took a kick to the face and fell to the ground. Blood spattered onto the floor and my vision was spotty.

Jarrod pulled him backwards by the arm. “She's mine.”

Valac laughed but he didn't seem as satisfied. He was ready to come back and inflict more damage. “I’m not done with her.”

Jarrod put his hand on Valac’s shoulder. “I should be the one to kill her. It’s
her
family’s crown I’m taking after all.”

Valac paused, then backed away. “Very well, Father. She’s all yours.”

Jarrod growled as he slid the blade out of his wound. The knife
clanked
when it hit the ground. “You're going to pay for that, little bitch. I'd planned to kill you quickly, but now, I'll take my time with you.”

As he resumed his attack on me, my muscles seized up. I tried to ignore what was going on and ignite my power, but the pain made it impossible to concentrate. Jarrod kicked the sides of my body over and over again. I curled into a ball, turning away from him, trying to block his assault. My breaths were short, possibly from broken ribs. I tried to protect myself, but it only made his attack more vicious. Now he was stomping on my back and shoulder blades. Wheezing and writhing, my strength lessened by the second.

Jarrod stopped. Apparently worn out and needing a break. He said something to Valac, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying over the sounds of my own choking and hacking.

In between heavy breaths, Jarrod asked, “Do you hear that sound?” He looked around as if he was searching for something. “It's the sound of your impending death.”

Jarrod turned his back to me to gloat some more. My eyes caught a flicker of light. It was the shimmer of the metal blade. During the attack, my knife had somehow slid only a few feet from where I lay. I concentrated all of my remaining strength on my wind magic, pulling the weapon to me. I moved as fast as I could. I leaped to my feet, plunging the blade into his ribcage. I twisted it to make sure I had pierced his lung, then pulled it back out.

Jarrod fell to his knees, I whispered in his ear, “I guess it wasn't
my
death you heard, asshole!” I pushed him and he landed on his face. Winds swirled around his body at a rapid pace. His skin turned to powder and what was left of him floated into the skies.

“No!” Selene screamed. She motioned like she was about to pounce.  Just as I prepared for the attack, the hound growled. The floor shook as he leaped through the firewall, landing on top of her. His jaws clamped around her arm, ripping it out of the socket. She wailed in pain.

“I’m going to kill you!” Valac screamed at me.

We circled one another. I didn’t have enough strength to fight him, so I had to get creative. Rowan taught me how to suck the air out of a fireball, I wondered if it would work on another elemental. I grabbed him as he prepared a fireball in his hand. Putting my palm over his mouth, I used my power to suck the oxygen out of his lungs. He leaned forward, gasping for air, and I pushed him onto the floor next to Selene.

I blew another gust of wind as I ran through the wall of fire that Valac had created.

My adrenaline kicked in and I could barely feel the pain of my injuries. Ariel was still fighting some of Valac's guards.

A few lay on the ground as they slowly burned to ash. Damn, she had some serious skills with a sword.

The power inside me was so strong that my fingertips burned. Ariel caught a glimpse of me and leaped out of the way. I closed my eyes, concentrating on the remaining guards. Holding my hands out in front of me, I imagined I was pushing the power out from my shoulders through my hands.

A thrust of energy released, knocking me off my feet.

I opened my eyes.

Black blood ran down the farthest wall. On the ground below, some of Valac’s guards appeared to be unconscious while others struggled to stand.

Holy shit, I had smashed them all into the wall!

I tried to get up, but I was weakened by the beating I took and the amount of power I used. Without my power, the pain of the fight returned. My muscles felt bruised just like the time I’d gotten in a car accident with some friends from school.

“Ariel, open the gateway now!” I shouted out with as much energy as I could muster.

The hound appeared at Ariel’s side. She held onto Dad’s hand as if trying to channel his power to help her. A swirling gust of wind appeared; she’d done it. Surprisingly, Dad stood up. She put his arm over her shoulders and guided him through the portal.

I got to my feet, but my muscles ached so much I wobbled.

I couldn’t stop, no matter what. The longer we stayed here, my father continued to age. Most important, both Dad and Rowan needed immediate medical attention. I staggered over to Rowan. The hound sat next to him as if he was preparing to be mounted. There was no time to check to see if Rowan was still breathing. I put Rowan on the hound’s back, following close behind as he hauled him toward the portal. Tears of pain streamed down my cheeks, but I willed myself to keep going.

“Rowan, please stay with me.”

He didn’t move.

Once inside the portal, a cool breeze rustled my hair. I trudged forward with every ounce of strength I had left.

When we reached the other side, I was ready to collapse. The portal brought us to some kind of infirmary, much like the one we had at school. Instead of medical supplies, the cabinets contained glass canisters filled with green and brown herbs. The room was lit by white candles resting on large marble pillars and smelled of vanilla. I struggled to get Rowan off of the hound and onto one of the hospital beds.

Rowan was unmoving, but he was breathing. Within moments, the crisp white sheets were stained with blood and dirt. Every part of my body hurt as if I’d been pulled in every direction all at once. A sheeted curtain opened and Ariel appeared out of the side holding a red stained cloth. Both of her hands were bandaged.

“How is my father?” I asked, trying to hide the panic in my tone.

“King Taron is stable and resting,” Ariel said, her eyes scanning Rowan’s bloodied body. “I’m more concerned about Rowan right now.”

Nerves filled my stomach as I watched his chest rise and fall in short breaths. “Can you help him?” My voice shook. “He hasn’t responded at all.”

Ariel came over and opened one of his closed eyelids. “He’s been poisoned by iron.” She made her way across the room, opening the top drawer of a white cabinet. When she came back, she had a syringe and a clear bottle of liquid. She tightened a rubber band around Rowan’s arm, and a vein popped up.

“Isn’t there anything else we can do for him?”

“Normally, yes, but Taron isn't ready to use the amount of power it would take to heal him and neither are you.” In one quick movement, she punctured the rubber cap of the liquid bottle with the tip of the needle.  She inserted the medication inside the syringe, and then plunged the needle into his arm. “This will go through his bloodstream and prevent the poison from killing him.”

My hands were shaking. “What do we do now?”

Ariel retrieved a glass jar from a cabinet, then sat on the bottom corner of his bed. “
We
treat those injuries of yours.”

“No.” I glared down at Rowan. “He needs your attention more than I do.”

Ariel’s eyes widened as she looked me over. “Kalin, you're really hurt. Let me help you.”

Rowan’s eyes were still closed and his expression was solemn. I put my head on the pillow so his face was only inches from mine. His hair was sweaty and dirty, yet still felt soft between my fingers. Underneath the putrid smell of burned flesh, I took in the faint cinnamon aroma of his skin. “I don't want to move.”

She sighed. “You'll help him more by helping yourself.”

I sat up and she began applying some kind of salve. It smelled like butterscotch, but it burned as she coated each wound. I winced as she applied it to my face and ribs. I couldn't stop thinking about Rowan. “I just wish I had been able to get there sooner. Maybe if I would've told him about the vision, I could have―”

Ariel squeezed my wrist. “Hey, you did what you thought was best. No one can fault you for that. And, by the way, what you did back there, you were amazing!”

After she finished patching me up, I went over to Dad’s bedside. A silver bowl sat on a nearby table, filled with red liquid. Ariel must've cleaned his wounds before we got here. His eyes were still closed, but the coloring had returned to his face.

Ariel said, “It will take some time, but I expect him to recover.” She ran the cloth over his cheeks. “Unfortunately, I can do nothing about the aging, although, I think he looks quite distinguished.”

I ran my hand across his cheek and kissed his forehead. Knowing he was safe and alive filled some of the emptiness I’d been carrying. Each of his breaths came out slow, but steady. It was comforting to watch. It somehow made the world feel peaceful.

I turned around to say something when I noticed the hound standing by Ariel.  She nuzzled against his head and said, “Thank you.”

“Do you have any idea why he helped us?” I asked, pointing to the hound.

“Before we left the castle, I asked one of the guards to get a message to him. I told him where I’d be and he came to help.”

“But why?”

She smiled at him. “I hope it’s because he loves me.”

I thought back to what she had said at the Ball. “Wait, the guy you’re in love with is a Gabriel Hound?
What
? I really didn’t see
that
coming.”

And just when I thought the surprises were over, the hound shifted back into his mortal form, which happened to be a completely naked—and very ripped—curly, brown haired Latino guy. I looked away as he searched for some clothing inside the cabinets.

“You can turn around now,” he said. He’d found a pair of black drawstring pants. There was a riot of cuts and burns across his chest. One of his wounds was seeping blood—it must’ve been deep. “I’m Marcus, by the way.”

Ariel got right to work on the injuries with some kind of liquid antiseptic. As she cleaned each one, he flinched. “Stay still while I patch you up.”

Then something Rowan had said clicked in my head. “You’re Rowan’s best friend, aren’t you? The one who tore off his—”

“Yes, I am.” Marcus lowered his head. “It was the worst moment of my life.”

I looked at Ariel. “Why didn’t you tell me about—?”

“Because of me,” Marcus interrupted. “I asked her not to tell anyone about us. I didn’t want her parents to find out.

I returned to Rowan. He appeared as if he hadn’t moved a muscle. I curled up next to him, careful not to touch his body. I bit my lip when all I wanted to do was scream and cry.

Ariel, as if reading my mind, said, “No matter how bad you think this looks, you saved all of us. They would both be dead by now if it wasn't for you, Kalin.”

Then it hit me. All this time, I had been burying my feelings because I had to be strong. Those emotions bubbled into my throat and I could barely breathe. I sat up and tried to pull my knees into my chest and I winced in pain. I definitely had broken ribs. Burying my face in my folded arms, I released the tears I’d been holding back. Ariel sat next to me, placing her arm around my shoulders.

Marcus sat in a chair next to Rowan’s bed. He squeezed his hand and said, “I shouldn’t have left you, brother. I’m sorry I wasn’t there, but I’m here now. I’ll never leave you again.”

Seconds went by like hours without any response from Rowan. The only sound in the room was the intermittent drops coming from a leaky sink. A cold chill filled the room and I rubbed the pimpled bumps on my arms. Each time I blinked, my eyes felt swollen and burned from the tears. Ariel never said a word, squeezing my shoulder to let me know she was there.

I heard a strained whimper. Marcus waved us closer. A second later, Rowan twisted onto his side. I crawled up next to him and his eyes opened. Relief immediately spilled over my shoulders. I pushed a few sweaty strands of hair out of his face. Rowan reached up and squeezed my hand.