I inhale deeply, still disoriented from the lingering effects of dream magic. I look around, and as early morning light seeps under the door, I realize I must have been asleep for hours. “Ari, we have to run.”
She shakes her head, placing her hands in her lap. “So Cecilia and Eliana can die along with Mother and Father?” she questions. “The Harvest sacrifices are chosen using blood magic.”
Dragging my fingers over my eyelids, then down my face, I try to figure out a way to stop this. To save both her and Drake, but the ancient magic ties every possibility into a dead end. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why?”
“If Drake and I hadn’t destroyed the statue, then none of this would have happened.”
Weaving blonde strands through her fingers, she plucks out a leaf, then sighs. “The God of Death would have chosen me, regardless.”
I close my eyes. “I don’t think so.”
“Why do you say that?”
“He’s done this to punish me,” I admit, my chest heaving.
His brows knit together. “Why would he want to punish you?”
“Father didn’t tell you,” I realize and lean forward. “I met him yesterday out on the shoreline. He’s a fucking monster, but we made a deal. I must leave Dahryst, or you won’t be the only one in danger,” I explain, as my thoughts turn to our two younger sisters.
“I don’t understand. What did you do to offend him so?”
I wiggle my fingers, the decay magic darkening the tips. “He found out.”
She blows out a soft sigh. “I see. Where will you go?”
“Don’t worry about that. We have little time left.”
“For what?” she asks.
Goosebumps spread over my arms, as the icy reality of what’s about to happen washes over me. “To prepare you, Ari, for The Harvest.”
“How? We leave at midnight.”
Nausea climbs through my stomach, knotting itself into a ball. “Listen to me, when you brought Cecilia back from the dead—”
“Shush,” she whispers, wide-eyed. “I did no such thing. I healed her, that’s all.”
“I know what I saw. Until now, I didn’t want to think about it. Because we know the dangers of possessing such forbidden ethereal magic.” I pause and she lets out a shaky breath. “But this is life or death, and you have to use everything you have to win this.”
She leans forward, fingers gripping into the silk crimson of her dress. “If I win, then Drake loses.”
“No,” I say, then clamp my eyes shut and try to think of a way to save them both. “I won’t let that happen.” I lift my fingers to my temples, attempting to massage the throbbing ache from my mind, then stand. “Leave that problem up to me, okay? You must win. For our parents, our sisters… and for me.”
Slowly, she lifts her bloodshot gaze to meet mine. “We both know I don’t stand a chance.”
“You have Creations’ power,” I state, and she winces. “No, listen, you must embrace it. What if you can bring yourself back from the dead?” I ask, but the theory falls as quick as it formed. If she’s already dead, then she can’t perform the magic. And my decay magic doesn’t work on myself.
“What happened when you saved Cecilia?” I ask, choosing my words carefully. “How did you feel?”
“Tired,” she says, “well, actually, the most exhausted I’ve ever been in my life. I couldn’t stay awake after.”
Biting my lip, scenarios of my sister being who she is and saving people’s lives, flit through my mind. “That’s a problem. You moved on instinct that day, correct?” She nods and I continue. “You can’t do the same on Tenenocti. It’s a game of survival and bringing anyone back just means killing them later. Besides, if you were as drained as you say you were, you won’t have the energy to defend yourself after using that power.”
Silence hands around us for several seconds. Slowly, she lifts her eyes to meet mine, then whispers, “I’m afraid.”
I pull her into my arms and hold her tight, closing my eyes as I breathe in her jasmine scent, committing it to memory. “Don’t be. I’m going to teach you how to survive. “
“I’ve never thought much about death,” she admits as I withdraw, her eyes flicking to the ceiling as if she can somehow glimpse the Everlands from here. “Now that it is so close, that’s all I can think about. I don’t want to die.” Her soft, violet gaze lands back on mine. “What if I go to the Darklands? Or worse, what if the abyss some speak of is actually true? What if our souls wander, lost in darkness, forever? I don’t like the dark, and I…” her breaths quicken, her chest quaking, and I stand, grabbing her arms.
“Breathe, Ari. Slowly. You’re not going to die. I won’t let that happen. I’ve always made good on my promises, no?”
She nods, pressing her lips together in an attempt to suppress the building tears.
“Right,” I say. “Then trust me when I tell you I will get you out of this.”
She falls into my arms, and I stroke her hair as she rests her head on my shoulder. Her whisper sounds in my ear. “I wish I was like you. You’re never afraid.”
“Not true,” I admit. “I’m terrified of losing you, our sisters, and Drake.” I grip her tighter, feeling everything I love slipping away. How the fuck am I going to get us all out of this alive?
SEVENTEENCalista
I’m undone by Drake’s embrace, and the tears I’d held back throughout the day fall down my cheeks. Pulling back, I peer into the foyer of the house through the open door, and then sigh.
“It’s going to be okay,” he says. I watch as he drags his fingers through his dark, tousled strands. My eyes widen as his tattoos morph from the horrors that could happen during The Harvest to various images of the Incarcuri and the woman who tortured him.
“I won’t let you die,” I promise.
