When Silver Moons Rise (Lost Immortals Saga #2) (21 page)

He nods and moves back from my sister…our sister. She removes the silver heart locket given to her by the lead sacred dancer and places it over Seth’s head. He fingers the metal as tears escape both of his eyes this time.

Touching her face, he sighs and gives me one final look. The pain in my ankles fades. I rotate my feet and shuffle to a standing position.

He shakes his head and grins at me just before he spins around and walks out the entrance doors, shoving them open without even touching a handle. His power not only turns out to be exactly as Father described, but it’s something like no Son of Gabriel has ever had before. Not even the TriGate alchemists have power over the element of fire. He is the son of a king, and his mother is a servant of Bernael. Dark rage mixed with the power of the silver light.

The world as I knew it changed that day. And the relationship between Father and his daughter was never the same, again. The curse placed on my sister is the worst one of all three of us. Any man who falls in love with her will die.

And the one hope she had left, the only person who is immune to the magic because of his own curse, is Seth, the brother who belongs in this house just as much as Asa and me.

Chapter Twenty Four

The Healer’s Dance (Chela)

The sacred music playing at the rebel’s celebration affects me in a way like I’ve never felt before. We’re inside of a large clearing in the woods. The place has been decorated with solar lights. Strange white lanterns lit up by candles sit along the edges of the dance area.

A large cart serves sweet deserts and real meat to the attendees. Back home we eat soy-based everything. The smell I’m experiencing now hits my stomach in a different, but good way. The drum-filled beat creates a mysterious atmosphere. The short black dress I wear shows off more skin than I’m comfortable with, but that doesn’t even bother me after I see what the other girls are wearing.

Lilith was right when she told me this was going to be an experience I’d remember for a long time to come. These rebels could teach the strict Conservancy members back home a thing or two about how to have some real fun. But I have to admit, it’s nice to be included in something that doesn’t require me to fight or kill someone I love.

I glance across the way at Seth who has caught the attention of every female in the clearing. He almost shines among all of the attention he’s getting. But that’s his way. Every so often he searches the area until he finds where I’m standing. And then he gives me one of those half smiles that highlights his dimples.

He’s right. He does make me think of Faris.

Moving over to the punch bowls, I pick up a glass and pour myself a full cup of the sweet liquid. The drink tastes so good I almost think it’s dancing on my tongue. I want more. All my life I’ve been forced to take medicine that tastes like sour fruit, and to eat meat that’s grown inside of a field. I can’t get enough of this drink. So I gulp it down, and pour myself another one, ignoring the slight dizziness I’m beginning to feel.

“Better ease up on the sweets, fancy girl,” Lilith says as she comes to stand beside me. “Your delicate little tummy isn’t used to all that heavy flavoring. Don’t wanna see you puking all over
my
pretty dress.”

“I’ll try to remember that,” I say, looking around to see where Seth got away to.

“Your friend’s cute,” she says, propping her head over on her fist.

Oh boy. Here comes the hook up request.

“And he knows it. So, don’t go there,” I say. She stares at my profile, making me feel uneasy. How many times did Lexa get asked to set someone up at school? Too many. I know exactly where this conversation is going.

“Are you and Mark a couple?” she says.

Okay, so, now I’m getting annoyed.

“Who’s Mark?” I ask and immediately catch my slip up. That’s Seth’s fake name. “Fortunately, we’re not together.”

“Think you can maybe, uh, you know—”

“Hell no!” I blurt and stare her down.

“Whoa! Are you sure about that last answer? You know the one where I asked about you and Mark as a couple.” An amused look crosses her face. I back down. I mean, why should I get all worked up because another girl has asked me about Seth?

Umm, maybe because he’s a Tainted and you don’t want to see another nice person hurt by him.

“I’m just saying. I don’t think he’s really your type.” Okay, that statement probably came out all wrong.

Lilith gives me a sarcastic face, and says, “Wow, you really know how to throw a punch with that mouth.”

A tune with a heavy bass line and a beat that makes the world disappear inside the sexy rhythm starts playing. The sticky sweet deserts and drinks have taken hold of me, making me feel high from digesting so much sugar at one time.

“Here, let’s help you relax, fancy girl.” She takes my glass and sets it down on the table set up for refreshments.

“Don’t call me that,” I say and grab another sticky bun.

“Sorry. Got it, now come on. Out here, fun is a good thing.”

I suddenly want to try out Lilith’s healing dance, the one she taught me how to do, so I’d be accepted by the other rebel girls. This world with its weird food, seductive music, and sugary drinks makes me ache for Faris in a way that’s hard to explain.

I slink out to the dance area, a gravel-covered circle decorated with spikes and cans along the outside edges. This place is a world away from the fancy ribbons and colorful fabric used to decorate the Shack back home in Castle Hayne, but it’s still very intriguing. Plus, the cans and odd decorations match the short black dress I’m wearing, the one that has spikes sewn inside of a triangular mesh area covering my chest.

If you slip up and fall on those spikes, you’re going to be a dead doll pinned inside the dirt, Prizeon
.

My mind spins as I rock my hips to the grinding beat and shimmy my shoulders in a way that I know is exaggerated by the super sexy dress I’m wearing. I’m the rebellious daughter of a traitor. Tonight, I plan to fully embrace that image.

The boy I love waits only a few miles away from this place, according to Jade. Seth and I only have to cross the Forest of Sorrows to reach him.
Easy enough, right?

“Can I have your attention please, lovers and friends?” Lilith’s voice says over the speaker system that her brother, Lionel, developed. “Time for the ceremonial dance. Tonight, we have a special guest being inducted into the Groove. Miss Chela Prizeon, our Nation of Corunum’s Champion. Give her a hand!” Lilith waits for the applause and cheering to calm down before she continues. “Who will be the lucky guy to end up with her hand in the dance, tonight?”

The grinding bass begins playing along with a violin and a slow drum beat that rocks my soul. Lilith steps toward me and takes my hand. She wears a long gray skirt and a short tee shirt that shows her toned midriff. Since she leads the Groove dancers, she’s my first partner. I take another bite of the sweet cake I grabbed while Lilith wasn’t looking and toss it aside. We dance to the beat and I spin and roll my head and give in to something I never even knew existed inside me. I feel temptation flowing through my bloodstream and I’m loving it.

I love everything about this new Chela.

Lilith abandons me. The music hits a light spot, and the heavy drums stop playing. Several guys step forward. They’re shaking something that sounds like cymbals. Zeke moves in my direction.
Oh no. Not him. Anybody but that thug.

I almost lose the mood; but he stops just before he reaches me, his eyes glued to the spot beside me. I look to my left. Seth has come to my rescue, yet again.

Zeke narrows his eye at him. Seth taps his left one, a mockery of the patch Zeke wears, the one that’s there because of whatever Seth did to him. The thug holds his hands up and backs away from me, bowing to my rescuer as he does so. But his eyes burn with angry fire, a dangerous one.

“What are you doing?” I ask Seth.

“Trying to earn a dance with the new inductee. Take my offering.” He bows down before me and holds up his cymbal thingy for me to take. All eyes are on the two of us. “Do you prefer Zeke over me?”
Um, no.
I take his gift at once.

Seth takes my free hand and laces his fingers with mine. Spinning me around slowly and in perfect tune with the beat, he pulls me to him so my back is against his chest. He lowers his lips down to my right ear, and says, “You make a most excellent rebel, Lotus. That dress becomes you.”

“I guess if you like spikes, then it’s okay.”

“You could wear a bag and make it look gorgeous,” he breathes against my ear.

Dressed in the all black silk shirt and pants, he reminds me so much of his brother that I scream inside. Why am I doing this to myself? You know he belongs to the enemy group. Yet, I ache for the boy I love, the one who is so very much like the person standing behind me.

You walk a risky path, Chela Prizeon.

It’s in my blood. I crave danger, just like Father said.

All of the world crashes in around me. My body becomes a vessel, something that’s no longer my own. Seth takes me in his arms, and we sway to the beat. I can’t pull away. Why won’t I pull away? This is insane, and I’m starting to think maybe I’m crazy.

Faris. Seth. Faris. Seth.

Both of their names fly across my mind, clouding it and pulling me into a black void. I plunge deeper into the haze, and Seth’s hold on me tightens. But it’s Faris’s face that I see: the silvery eyes, the long dark hair, the way he smiles with a crooked twist of his lips, driving me wild and insane and everything else the human body is designed to feel.

“I can sense the darkness inside you. It calls to me,” Seth says softly in my ear. Tempting words. Poisonous words. Don’t fight the rage, Lotus. Surrender.”

“No,” I say, shaking off whatever thing is trying to make me believe there’s truth in what he says. The music stops. Applause soars through the air around us. I pull away at once without looking at Seth and head back to the bar.

“Now, I totally get it,” Lilith says as she comes to stand beside me and then leans over on the bar.

“What are you talking about?” I ask, feeling annoyed and nauseous.

“Why I got rejected by Mark. Boy, does he have it bad. You two were practically having musical sex,” she gushes. “You should’ve just told me.”

“It’s not like that. You don’t get it. Seth Alton doesn’t have it bad for anyone but himself,” I say and steal a quick glance at Seth who watches Zeke with a murderous gleam in his eye. I can’t explain why Seth really came to my rescue without giving away our cover.

“Yeah, that might be true for other girls in his life. But I know guys. And that one would kill or die for you. I’ll take one of those if you happen to run into another one,” Lilith says and grabs a sticky bun off the tray the boy tending to the bar has placed on the counter. “I like that name Seth, too. It suits him much better than Mark. Does he have any brothers?”

“Don’t even go there,” I snap, realizing I just told her his real name.
Crap.

She gives me an O-face and says, “Yeah. So, I gather from your kinda bitchy response that he does have one. What are you? Doing two brothers at the same time? Because if you are, then I’m impressed. Especially if the other brother looks anything like that one.”

I’m going to scream if I keep standing here with this girl. I lie and tell her I’m not feeling well. And then I sneak away from the celebration. All the sugar I devoured sits heavy on my stomach. So my statement isn’t a complete lie.

I slink back up to Lilith’s room, fall into the covers, and wait for the place to stop spinning. Suddenly, my head fills with the echoes of a girl’s voice calling my name.

I tear through a tunnel filled with a strange light. I know what’s happening because this is the same kind of sensation I experienced when I met Faris for the first time in a dream. I land inside a cave. Candles line the white walls. A bed sits on top of a huge aquarium positioned at the front of the room. The intriguing scent in the air reminds me of the honeysuckle I used to smell when my powers worked the right way. A shuffle from the right catches my eye. A girl steps into view. Long, dark hair cascades over her silver and white dress. Her face seems familiar and watching her rips me back to another place I feel like I should remember.

“Hello, Chela,” she says and comes to sit in front of me. “We haven’t much time. So I must speak quickly.”

“You know my name?” I croak. She smiles, a beautiful and hypnotic one. A familiar smile highlighting her dimples and that carries over into her silvery-gray eyes. Right away, I know this girl. She’s the same one I saw floating over a lily pad, the person who gave me an orb the day I ventured into the Ruins three months ago. “Asa? How?”

“I speak through your bond with my brother,” she answers. I can’t help but to wonder which one she means.

Her smile widens. “Faris’s connection with you gives him strength to survive. It is a strong one. A true Protector’s bond built on the love you have for one another, and not simply a feeble vow. All of the descendants of the Lost Immortals must stand together again, Chela,” Asa says, her eyes sad, and her voice filled with desperation. Her features remind me so much of her two brothers. She has Seth’s strong, noble beauty; but there’s no doubt that her light gray eyes remind me of Faris. “Keep Seth safe. If he dies, then all three of us die. Do you understand? This curse placed on my brothers and me connects all three of us. Bury your hatred. Rekindle the love that fuels the power inside you. My oldest brother can help you find the way. I have faith that he isn’t the monster he wants to fool us into seeing.” Her image begins to fade, and the room darkens.

“Wait! I have more questions,” I call out to an empty space. My eyes fly open, and the tears fall out. Asa said Faris suffers; but my love gives him the will to survive. That doesn’t help to ease the pain in my heart. I strengthen my resolve to leave this place, with Seth by my side. I’ll do whatever it takes.