“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Amazing, actually,” Ash replied, looking confused. “Better than I ever have. A bit like I’ve never expended an ounce of energy in my life. Do you feel any different?”
I ran a mental check down my body, but in all honesty, I felt far from okay. My muscle ache had eased off a bit since being in the water, but mentally I was exhausted.
I shook my head, smiling. “I think all the water magic went to you—I feel like I could sleep for a month.”
Suddenly, Ash’s expression changed. He was looking over at the other side of the chamber, and I turned to follow his gaze. I couldn’t see anything.
“True Sight?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He nodded. “We have company.”
It took a while, but eventually three of the Impartial Ministers came into view. I suspected, though couldn’t be sure, that these were the same three we’d left in the immortal waters when we’d taken the others back to the palace.
“What do you think they want?” I hissed at Ash.
“No idea…though I suspect we’re in some kind of trouble.”
I scoffed. If one of them even mentioned the fact that only Impartial Ministers were privy to the waters, I would drown them in there myself.
“Easy.” Ash smirked at me. My fury must have been obvious. I smiled at him sheepishly, waiting for them to approach.
“Emperor of Nevertide,” one of them called out, his voice sounding like the crumbling of dry leaves. These guys were so old—perhaps even more ancient than the two back at Memenion’s palace.
“Welcome to the brotherhood of the Impartial Ministers.” Another one greeted him with a small nod of his head.
I looked up at Ash, confused.
What the heck does that mean?
They came closer, their cataract-ridden eyes taking us both in. I stared back, trying once again to guess how old they might actually be. Centuries old? Or was it millennia?
“Who would have thought, the kitchen king made emperor, joining our kind,” said the third. His tone was far crueler than the others, his lip curled up in a sneer. Instantly, I was on the defensive—kitchen king? Ash was the one saving their kind from complete destruction!
“What are you talking about?” I snapped.
“Emperor Ashbik has been healed by the waters of Immortalitatem. Those blessed by its powers are capable of living many lifetimes,” the first minister replied, “thus joining our brotherhood and becoming an Impartial Minister—those, like us, who have lived so long we have no vested interest in the outcome of Nevertide’s politics, and so remain impartial, able to teach lesser men.”
I burst out in laughter at the old man’s statement.
“No vested interest?” I scoffed. “What about your support of Queen Trina? How you denied that she’d killed Hadalix, and supported her rise to power?”
All three of the men glowered at me.
I didn’t care—it wasn’t like I was looking for their approval, and any vague respect I’d had for them in the beginning, more due to their age than anything else, was rapidly vanishing. They were relics of a past that no longer had any role here. They had gotten crusty and arrogant, thinking that they could control the future of Nevertide through manipulation and game-playing. With the rise of the entity and its army, their time was over.
“We did what we thought was best,” the first minister replied.
I’d heard it all before.
“I’m not interested in joining your brotherhood,” Ash replied coldly. “I have a vested interest in the outcome of Nevertide, and I hope I always will. If we survive this war, that’s how this land will be run in the future—by people who care. Lock yourselves away in this monastery if you want, hoping that the entity won’t find you, but your time of power and influence is over.”
The Impartial Ministers looked affronted. The third looked furious—his face darkened and his staff trembled in his hand.
“If we don’t have a role here, Nevertide will not last long,” he spat.
“We’ll see about that,” Ash replied levelly. “Come on, Ruby—we need to get out of here.”
We walked away from them, but I could feel their glares resting on our departing figures. I was glad to be out of there, but I wanted answers. What did it mean that Ash would now live many lifetimes? Was he immortal now, or was that only if he continued to use the waters in the same way that the ministers did?
“Ash,” I whispered before we left, “don’t you think we need more information on what just happened? The waters obviously changed you somehow—”
“Don’t worry,” he replied swiftly. “We can talk to the other ministers when we get back. I’m not interested in talking to them, and I don’t trust them to tell me the truth. Not really.”
“Okay,” I replied. I wondered if it was pride getting in the way of Ash asking them questions. I understood if it was—the disdain they felt toward him was obvious. I just hoped he would seek out the answers when we got back to the palace. If my fiancé was suddenly immortal, I wanted to know about it.
We started making our way back down the narrow passage, following the trail of blood that we’d made on our way in.
“Guess I was injured pretty badly,” Ash commented dryly.
I nodded. I wasn’t ready to joke about it. I half wanted to scream that he’d nearly died on me—it wasn’t something I’d get over any time soon.
He paused in the passage, turning around to face me.
“Ruby, are you okay?” he asked.
No.
I tried to smile reassuringly up at him, but I faltered.
“That was the most terrifying couple of hours of my life…I thought you weren’t going to make it.” My voice had come out raspy and high-pitched, and I squeezed my hands into fists, embarrassed that I wasn’t holding myself together, knowing that he’d been the one injured and at death’s door, not me.
He moved his hand to my cheek, wiping away a tear I hadn’t even realized had fallen.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize,” he whispered.
“You don’t need to be sorry,” I replied. “You were the one hurt! I just—it was scary, that’s all. I’ll be all right in a minute.”
“You don’t have to be all right, Shortie. You’ve been through a lot—we both have.”
I nodded, brushing away my tears hastily. They kept falling down my face, not caring that I was commanding them to stop.
“If our roles had been reversed,” he continued, “I don’t know what I would have done, so don’t get angry at yourself for being scared. I would have been terrified—I was. When the creature ripped through me and I fell to the ground, my only thought was that I wasn’t going to be able to protect you, and that image came into my mind—from the mind-meld, you standing at the door of our house, with your baby bump. The thought that we wouldn’t get that—the thought that we wouldn’t get our future together—that pain was worse than anything the creature could have done to me.”
He held me close, and I buried my head in his chest. His words were comforting. I realized that I wasn’t alone in this. Ash was safe. I was safe. Our survival was all that truly mattered to me right now. Even though everything else felt uncertain, my feelings for Ash weren’t—they were the one thing that I could cling onto, no matter what was coming our way.
“Thank you,” I whispered, smiling up at him, a genuine smile this time.
“Are you ready to face your parents and Mona?” he asked.
“What?”
“They’ve just arrived,” he replied, nodding his head in the direction of the valley.
We made our way out of the passage, coming face to face with Mona and my mom and dad, waiting by our bull-horse. They’d obviously heard us coming, as I could see the relief on all of their faces.
“Ugh! Thank God you’re okay!” My mom enveloped me in a fierce embrace, and then moved to let my dad do the same. “And you, Ash—how are you feeling?” my mom asked with conc
ern, her eyes darting over his miraculously healed wound.
“Better than I’ve ever felt, to be honest.”
“The water worked then?” my dad asked, also staring at Ash’s unblemished chest.
“Impressive,” Mona murmured.
My mom turned to Ash, clearly shocked at his swift recovery. “I guess there’s no need to turn you then.”
Mom!
Ash instinctively took a step back, his expression horrified. I rolled my eyes.
“That wasn’t really an option,” I reassured him hastily.
Ash nodded mutely, his gaze zoning in on my mom and dad’s teeth.
“Let’s get going,” I sighed.
Ash
A vampire?
Was that what Ruby’s mother meant?
I didn’t really understand the logistics of it, but I’d heard Ruby mention the phrase ‘to turn’ when she was explaining GASP to me, and the supernatural nature of her family. Partly, I was flattered—I’d wanted Ruby’s family to accept me, and I supposed you couldn’t ask for more acceptance than an offer that loosely translated into, ‘Hey, come and be part of the family for eternity.’ But I didn’t know how sold I was on vampirism. Obviously, there were benefits—the speed, the strength and the immortality—I guessed that was a double-edged sword, and one that I might just have been gifted anyway, if the Impartial Ministers were to be believed…I wasn’t entirely convinced that they were.
The concept of ‘turning’ was a lot to digest. I still didn’t understand the transformation process, and wasn’t even sure that sentries could be turned—though the GASP organization certainly contained a lot of supernatural cross-breeds like the half-Hawks and human-fae. I supposed I would have time later to consider this, and it would be something that Ruby would have to decide as well. She’d made no secret of her ambition to eventually join her vampire clan, and I didn’t want to dissuade her…but I’d never for a moment considered joining her in the transformation.
I shoved the thought aside and tried to compose myself. I didn’t want Ruby thinking that the idea shocked me too badly, and I didn’t want to cause her family offense. Plus, we had more pressing matters to attend to.
“What happened in the battle?” I asked as we prepared to depart.
Claudia sighed and Yuri and the witch looked downcast. Whatever the news was, it wasn’t good. I’d thought because all three of them had taken the time to come and find us, everything might have gone well. Clearly not.
“There were quite a few casualties,” Yuri replied. “We couldn’t defeat the shadow—or the entity. We’ve retreated back to the palace.”
“The only good news is the barrier,” Claudia interjected. “Something that Hazel and Tejus made—none of us know how. But it was powerful enough to repel the shadow, and escape the entity.”
I nodded, jumping up on the bull-horse with a heavy heart.
“How are they?” Ruby asked.
“Hazel and Tejus? They’re fine. So are the rest of GASP.”
Ruby nodded, still looking as despondent as I felt. I was glad that none of our friends had been injured, but a retreat wasn’t good—and neither were the deaths of Nevertide’s people.
“Let’s go, Ruby.” I held out my hand to pull her on to the bull-horse, and she clambered on in front of me.
“We can take the bull-horse too, if you want to come with us,” Mona informed us. “But if you are going to ride, Tejus said to avoid the forests, stick to the main roads.”
I nodded. There was no danger of me going anywhere near a forest.
I looked at Ruby, wondering which method of transport she’d prefer.
“Let’s go with Mona. I want to get back as soon as possible.”
I nodded, and we all formed a circle with the witch.
“Can we stop for a moment at the cove?” I asked. “Only if it’s safe. I want to check the state of the portal.”
The witch nodded, and a split-second later, we appeared on the main road, at a safe distance from the cove. Above the trees that blocked the shore from view, I could see the shadow. It remained in one spot—swaying in the breeze, but very determinedly hovering over the ocean.
“Look at it,” Claudia murmured, gazing in the direction of the water.
“Why is it remaining there?” I breathed. “Everyone’s at the palace, right? Why hasn’t it continued to attack?”
“I just don’t know,” Yuri said. “The entity has all the power. The shadow would have annihilated us during the battle had it not been for Tejus and Hazel. But it must realize that Tejus and Hazel would be too weak to try the barrier again so soon—at least Jenus would realize that.” Yuri shook his head in confusion and frustration.
I asked them both for details on the barrier. I’d never heard of such a thing happening before, and when they described it to me I was even more confused. The white light could definitely be attributed to the immortal waters and their weapons, but that much power? It seemed impossible that they could do such a thing.
Looking back in the direction we’d just traveled from, the sight of burnt-out farmhouses and land that poured into the earth depressed me. Even if we were to survive this, what hope did Nevertide have? How would it ever come back from this? We had a small fraction of the villagers from the five kingdoms at Memenion’s palace. The others I presumed had scattered, perhaps hiding out in abandoned castles or seeking shelter in the remaining villages that were still standing. We hadn’t come across any of the people from Seraq’s kingdom—not ministers, guards or villagers. I wondered if they were still alive, or if they too had suffered at the hands of their queen.
It would take a lot of time and a lot of work to get the land back on its feet. I glanced over at Ruby. I hoped that she would eventually realize that Nevertide needed her as much as it needed me. When Tejus had made his speech before the battle about the loving queen they would receive, my heart had swelled with pride. I couldn’t imagine anyone better suited to the job—if she was willing to take it.
“We need to get back to the palace,” I muttered. “I don’t think the shadow’s going to remain above the portal forever. We’ll be under attack again before we know it.”
Claudia nodded. “I agree. And we’re just as powerless as we were before—especially if Hazel and Tejus don’t understand what they created. If they can’t do it again, we’re in trouble.”
We gathered around Mona once again, and the cove vanished from view.
Hazel
“This isn’t going well,” I sighed, dropping my arms down. The muscles in my biceps ached, and my head was pounding from the exertion. We’d only been trying for about an hour, but my mental energy was quickly depleting, even though I was syphoning off Tejus, at his request, while we worked.
“I know,” he muttered. “I just don’t understand it. What happened in the first place? How were we able to do something like that? Not knowing is making this all the more frustrating.”
“Let’s take a break.” I gestured for him to sit down next to me. We were practicing in one of the more remote parts of Memenion’s garden. The flowers and bushes were overgrown and overrun with weeds. I was perched on the edge of an old marble fountain. Its waters had long dried up, leaving green stains running down the image of a bird in mid-call, his beak where the spout was supposed to be.
Tejus wearily took a seat. I could see perspiration beading at his temples and along his shoulder blades and back. He was wearing a GASP tank provided by my great-grandfather Aiden—the material far more advanced than anything they had in this land, especially when it came to training and battle.
He reached out a hand and clasped mine tightly, his thumb moving in circular motions over my skin.
“We’ll find a way, don’t worry,” he murmured. He moved my hand up to kiss it softly, his eyes fixed on some point in the distance ahead, distracted by something else.
“Do you think it was desperation?” I asked, trying to recall what had happened during the battle—anything that mi
ght help us better understand what led up to the creation of the wall. “As in life-or-death pressure—you know how people get adrenaline rushes and lift vehicles off babies, things like that?” I asked.
“Not specifically, no… I don’t actually know exactly what you mean by vehicles, but I understand the gist. It could be that.”
He looked doubtful, and to be honest, so was I. Adrenaline could have explained some of what happened—perhaps the intensity of the barrier, reaching all the way back to the castle—but it wouldn’t explain all of it. Not the white light and how it was the only thing that the entity didn’t seem to be able to overcome.
“And that energy from the other sentries,” I mused, “do you think that explains it?”
“I’m not sure about that either. I’ve been in battles before—I haven’t experienced anything coming close to our power surge. I’m starting to wonder if it’s all you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused that he’d even consider that my ‘baby’ sentry powers could create something so radical.
“Well, you’re the only unknown factor. A human-turned-sentry. Your energy has always been so potent. I wonder if you have additional abilities that haven’t been explored yet.”
I considered what he was saying. As much as I’d have liked to believe him, it didn’t really ring true. I hadn’t felt the power coming from me, or specifically from Tejus. As far as I could recall—and my memories of the event were hazy at best—in the moment, I’d felt like I was tapping into another energy source.
“I don’t know, Tejus. It seems unlikely,” I countered.
“Does it?” He turned to me, his eyes gleaming. “Sometimes I think that you’re capable of anything—you’ve transformed me utterly, changed my entire world, just by being you.”
He shifted on the edge of the fountain so his body was facing toward me. He placed a hand on my hip, moving me toward him.
“You’re an unexpected miracle, Hazel Achilles,” he breathed, moving a strand of hair that had fallen across my face. His dark eyes had grown blacker, the pupils dilating as he gazed down at me. Once again I was completely distracted, this time finding it difficult to breathe.