Liam tapped my wrist. "Try having him stay in spirit form."
Having heard Liam, Kit dissipated until he was completely transparent. Chameleon-like, he blended with the background; only a hint of vapor allowed us to follow his movements. I closed my eyes to look through his. The world was a maze of grays, but objects were distinguishable by acute eyesight and individualized scents. Something seemed off with the room, frozen in bubbled glass than lent a reflective light over all that it contained.
Kit shook his head, uncomfortable with his surroundings, and whined. He wanted back into the safety of my body. I agreed wholeheartedly, but knew that something was amiss. Only his love for me kept him searching. He glided across the splintered wood, his body hanging low to the ground, waiting for the threat to reveal itself. His nose sunk into the mountain of dust my hands had sifted through earlier, and he sneezed. A speck of electric blue light glared through the dust.
Leaning up, I blew the dust away from Kit and watched through his eyes as the scroll was revealed. Knowing that the scroll was there gave me the will to push through the illusion to grab the scroll in my hands. It solidified, taking comfort in its true form. His job done, Kit burst from the bookcase and sank gratefully into my chest.
Liam lifted me down from the chair I had been standing on and placed me on the ground in front of him. "You okay?" His concern was genuine, but I was in a state of shock at the evidence held within my hands.
Izzy left her perch on the desk to stand at my shoulder. A small hum and wide eyes told me she wanted me to read it, but I was afraid. My life was a tilt-a-whirl of risky turns, unpredictable events, and a dark hood placed overhead, keeping the light from tangling in my face.
Crowding together, the five of us peered at the rolled-up scroll made from canvas. From the little wording I could see without unveiling the body, it was written in blood. A shiver passed through each of us, a wave that descended from one member to the next without pause.
Drumming bombarded my mind, drowning out all else with the single notion that what I held could change my life forever. Izzy had wanted me to find it, but how had she known it was here? Why was it imperative that we read it, and how did it apply to me? I wanted these answers and more, but talking to her was futile. All I would receive would be the piddling sounds of a young bird capable of conveying needs only through delicate sound, abhorrent resonance, and uneasy movements that were more terrifying than understandable.
Light touches of Izzy's wings brushed against my shoulder and lay against the length of my back. Isis shied away at the iridescent feathers in her vicinity, moving more closely to Griffin and further from me.
I sighed and rested my head on the heaviest part of Izzy's wing, but was startled when her hand reached for mine. The simplicity of holding my hand was enough to make coherent thought spiral out of my mind. It was a human gesture, one meant to comfort me the way a friend would. I wasn't sure, but she seemed to remember me more with each passing second. Izzy still seemed lethal, but a kindness unique to her was beginning to make its way through the fires that had burned away her memories.
I handed Griffin the scroll and asked him to open it. He cleared his throat and stretched his arms out to allow the canvas to open in the center of our huddled group.
The scroll contained a border of runes, which I supposed were the inscriptions that hid it from my view and touch. The words were written in calligraphy, making it difficult to ascertain the content. The fingerprints of smudged blood didn't help matters either.
Isis narrowed her eyes and bent to gain a better view. "What does it say?"
Griffin's voice was dry of patience. "I might be able to tell you if your hair wasn't blocking the thing."
"Here." Liam grabbed the scroll from Griffin, moving away from our group and towards the skylight. "It's not written in any language I've ever seen." Crossing over to him, I saw that he was right. The scroll was written in a bizarre language that was closer to a combination of several I had seen in the ancient books of witches.
"It says something about a prophecy."
I turned at the words, looking at Isis in bafflement. "How do you know that?"
Isis rolled her eyes and pointed to the first sentence. "I know a lot of languages. I can't read most of it either, but I know that word means prophecy or foretelling." She shrugged. "What, I can't be smart and beautiful?" A proud smile lit up her face before she looked over Liam's shoulder at the scroll once more. I moved to the side, allowing her a better view.
Isis pursed her lips, "It's Latin, I think." Isis sounded out the words, but none of us found meaning in it. "Superius et inferius gigni per daemones ardent. Innocentia Caelo texta est,, ipsa servabitur intra coven. Natus ex tria, est quarta, quamvis prophetia punctibus debitum Aquilonis. Conspectu erit gratiam illam, sed Mors sequi relinquere nil nisi tristitia. Contritio lecticis eam via, sicut oculos vigilemus cum inescatis halitum. In latrunculorum lusu suppetit, quos eludere est. Angelica, spawn est tamen impignorantur. Negat in paucis, ut tradit om. Fugere hostes sociosque et erit, tuebantur hostium electus. Scissum est medium mundi nondum enim fatis huc armis." Her eyebrows drew together, studying what she had read, and I vaguely wondered if she was keeping the full meaning to herself.
She was barely finished reading the prophecy, when a deafening blare of noise made its way through the doors. At first, I thought that we had somehow set off an alarm and were about to be arrested. I didn't know what the punishment was for breaking into rooms in this place, but I knew that I didn't want to find out. Liam handed me the scroll while he and Griffin scrutinized the hallway outside. Suddenly, Rafe barreled into the room with Maloc.
The old warrior took us in and shot Rafe a reproachful stare. "It's not safe to be here. We need to leave." His voice shook and I wondered at the old man's fear. He had the look of having weathered many storms. What could possibly scare him?
"Why?" Griffin and I spoke at the same time, exchanging glances before I took the lead. "What's going on? What is that sound?"
Rafe answered as he shuffled all of us into the room towards the skylight. "We're under attack and some of the wings have caught fire." He pulled a desk under the skylight and looked back at us. "Unless you want to be burned alive or skewered, I think the questions can wait."
I was speechless. Everyone had made this place sound impenetrable. Who was attacking, and why? The look on Maloc's face was grim, but I knew whatever was attacking this safe haven was here for me.
"What is it?" My voice was barely a whisper. I thought of Maye asleep in the medical ward and Ash wandering the halls. Were they safe? How could I be expected to leave my family behind?
"Come on." Rafe gestured to Isis. She climbed atop the desk and he folded his hands together to give her a boost. She held onto his shoulder for support, grabbing the edge of the skylight with her other hand to heft herself up.
I crossed my arms. "I'm not going anywhere until you answer my questions."
All four men turned to face me. Maloc and Rafe exchanged wary glances, but Maloc answered me. "Creatures that I have never seen. Before the warning sounded, one of the guards spoke over the radio, describing a massacre that was taking place. His voice cut off before he could tell us more."
At Maloc's silence, Rafe took up the explanation. "A friend of mine then melded his mind to mine. He showed me a creature made entirely of fire one floor above us. Guards, prisoners, and civilians had burned in the chaos. The creature was sucking all oxygen from the room and it was difficult to breathe. He passed down orders that we were to get as many out as possible."
"I have to go." I ran to the doors and tried to pry them open, but Izzy slammed her body into the door, while Maloc and Liam dragged me away from them. "You don't understand,” I cried. “Ash and Maye are up there! I have to help them!"
But I knew I wasn't going anywhere.
Liam grabbed my face, forcing me to look in his eyes, "We can't do anything for them. Just hope they get out. If we go after them, we're as good
as dead. I care about them too." The pain in his eyes got through to me.
I nodded. "Okay, alright." I smiled, trying to show that I understood the situation, but Liam didn't seem to believe I had given up. Spying Griffin near the desk, looking up at Isis's face leaning down in the skylight, I demanded that he get to safety first.
"Hell no! You think Ash would forgive me if I protected my own ass and something happened to you?" Griffin's upper lip peeled back from his teeth in disgust.
"Isis is up there by herself. I have plenty of people down here to protect me, but no one is up there with her." The logic behind my words sank in and Griffin readied himself to climb through the skylight. He was just through when a sound that was a cross between a freight train and echoing footsteps rained on my ears. We braced ourselves, facing the doors, knowing that whatever was out there would be upon us in a few moments.
"Go!" Liam shouted back at me, wanting me to choose the safety that the skylight had to offer.
I shook my head. This was my battle and there was no way that I was about to allow others to fight it for me. "I'm not going anywhere unless you go first."
Liam looked back at me, then at Isis and Griffin. "You’re one stubborn princess, you know that?" In a movement that was almost as graceful as Kit, he leapt onto the desk, his feet barely grazing the wood before his arms were pulling him through the window. Isis and Griffin helped pull him up.
A large boulder of liquid lava crashed through the doors, disintegrating them upon impact. The fire began to spread throughout the bookshelves, seemingly alive as it jumped from one piece of furniture to the next. A darkness that cloaked areas was set into the giant mass of fire, giving it the illusion of a face. Its eyes lingered upon mine before it noticed the scroll in my hand. A sound of war erupted from its core and it came flying towards me.
Rafe's body took on an icy sheen, repelling the fire before it could harm his skin. Maloc altered until he seemed to be made of hardened lava himself. Neither of them were harmed by the blaze. They took turns taunting it, driving it away from me and Izzy. Rafe jumped sideways against the wall behind the creature, then dashed up the bookcase, using the shelves as though it were a ladder.
Izzy hissed at the creature when a fireball flew towards me, catching my abdomen. She quickly put it out with her hands, pressing until the fire disappeared. It was agonizing; the wound felt more on fire than it had when it actually had been burning. Looking down, my skin was charred and burnt away in an exposed, raw-white wound. Izzy's hands hadn't been affected by the fire.
Maloc was growing tired. His breathing came in heavy pants as he danced with the creature, keeping its attention divided and away from the rest of us. Maloc's hardened skin had softened to a peach hue, the creature wounding him with minor burns.
"Get up here!" one of the guys shouted from the skylight. Handing Izzy the scroll, I rushed up, but nearly fell when I stretched my hands towards Liam. Pain shot through my abdomen, causing me to keel over.
"I can't!" I screamed through the blaring noise of the creature and the alarms in the distance. Izzy grabbed my lower legs and lifted me to the skylight. Griffin and Liam each grabbed a hand and pulled me through. I looked down at Izzy's helpless face. She stood below, her eyes moving from the warriors back to us. With one last look, she disappeared from my sight. "No!" I nearly fell reaching for her, trying to keep her from going head to head with that beast.
Rafe's voice was faint but direct as he ordered Maloc to leave. "Get out of here. You're tired and they need someone to protect them."
"I didn't fight all these years to go down as a coward, boy!" Maloc hissed back, his hands raised with a blinding white light propelling towards the creature.
Rafe shouted, "Dammit! It doesn't make you a coward, it makes you a protector! Our orders are to protect them, not argue!" He flipped over the creature’s head and landed on the other side of it. His fist connected with what seemed to be its face. I thought it was strange that he was able to physically touch it.
"Why don't you go then?" Maloc shot back, shoving the light across the creature’s belly, eliciting a painful groan. Izzy tossed Maloc aside just in time to prevent liquid lava from pouring down on his face.
"I can keep this up longer. It gives them more time to get away. Now, go!"
Maloc sat stunned on the floor as Izzy took his place in the fight. The creature had begun to gain ground as Maloc had weakened, but now was forced to give up ground once more. Grumbling, Maloc climbed onto the roof with the rest of us. "Come on, we need to get out of here."
My feet remained rooted. "What about Izzy and Rafe? We can't leave them with that thing." I wasn't going anywhere without them. I had already been forced to abandon Ash and Maye.
Maloc glanced at me with a miserable cast to his eyes. "Rafe is right. We're a liability. Rafe and your friend are the two most capable of taking on a fire creature. If we stay, we will all die."
When I still refused to move, Maloc walked closer. I noticed a limp in his step that hadn't been there before and some slight burns around his throat and cheeks.
"Rafe will know where to find us and he will bring the phoenix. You're not saying goodbye forever, but we need to get moving before another creature catches our scent."
I looked through the skylight at the scroll. Izzy had discarded it when she had gone to confront the creature. I knew I couldn't take it. Lifting my gaze to Izzy's, I sought reassurance that this wasn't permanent, but she was distracted. Her wings were slicing into the creature, tearing through its exterior to reveal softer insides. Rafe took advantage of those vulnerable spots, sliding low to the ground and jamming his dagger into them. Together they were quite a pair, terrifying, but capable.
I parted ways with my best friend and family in a single moment. Following Maloc and the others, I smelled fumes of both the fires, and something vaguely like chemicals. The sound of battle and the termination of lives boxed us in. The guys halted at the edge of the roof; Isis held back with me, placing a comforting arm around my shoulders. I sank into it gratefully. When we reached the edge of the roof, the reality of our situation crashed down on my shoulders. The grounds surrounding the Ether were flooded with supernatural creatures from the haven, fighting for their lives against creatures born of nightmares.
The cool night air was a welcome relief from the intense heat inside the compound. The breeze carried embers towards us, stinging not only our eyes, but our flesh. Tears that had begun to dry were now covered in the ashen tracks of new ones. I could taste the bitterness around us, the pandemonium taking place before the gods laying waste to the grounds, drenched in blood.
CHAPTER 11
WILLOW
Kali ushered me into her domain, hurrying me along with a smile until I was standing beneath a giant willow tree. The cascading branches fell around us in a nurturing embrace, capturing the warmth of the room and encasing us within it.
Everything about Kali's room was either the polar opposite to Ivy's or exactly the same. She, too, had plants, but they weren't the deadly kind. A few miniature animals wandered around – chipmunks and squirrels – not the sort that made me want to faint. Her bed was a pile of feathers and petals beneath the willow tree, with normal pillows and silken cases. Trails of stone led throughout her garden-like domain to the center of the room and to the farthest wall, which drawers were built into.
Kali's eyes lit up with unspoken laughter. "Going crazy yet?"
"Sometimes I think I am, and other times I feel more sane than I ever have in my entire life. Does that make sense?" I smiled, thinking of my conversation with Death, and frowned.
"More than you will ever know," she said solemnly. "At least you're getting some gifts. It could be much worse. You could be forced to room with Ivy." She shrugged and sat against the tree trunk with her legs extended and crossed. "Sit down." She motioned to her bed.
Luckily, the bed was more comfortable than it looked. I had been worried that the feathers would poke me, but they seemed to be sof
ter than the feathers that wore through the pillows I had grown up with. With my legs bent, I pulled them to my chest and wrapped my arms around them.
Staring at Kali over my knees, I hesitated before speaking. "You know, I don't think Ivy is as horrible as she wants everyone to believe."
Kali gave me an appraising smile and nodded. "It depends who you are. I've never gotten along with her, but I have seen a different side to her. She seems to have a soft spot for Calla and occasionally lets Bay in." Her eyes looked off into the distance for a moment before she continued. "She respects Aria enough to listen most of the time, but otherwise she has a ... corrosive attitude."
"That's an interesting way to put it. Her domain fits her perfectly."
"Please tell me she put Brass away before you got there?" I shook my head and shivered at the memory. "Figures! What did she give you?"
"A slow Loris named Nyx. I didn't even know that such an animal existed! She's really cute though." I bit my lips, warring with myself. "Have you ever been inside Death's domain?"
The warmth left her eyes, and a cold fury swept through the room. "No." A tempest built within the sanctuary of the willow tree, causing the branches to rush around us, lashing against my back. "Why?"
The winds died down, leaving me terrified to answer her question. "I was just there. It was unique, but we don't need to talk about that." I rushed through my explanation and hoped she would take the bait. I didn't know what animosity hung between her and Death, but I didn't want to get in the middle of it.
Kali's jaw tightened. "Right, something else." She let her anger be carried away on the sigh of breath that escaped her. "What do you think of our lair?"
The question took me by surprised. I suggested the change of conversation, but thought she would stay on topic by giving me my gift or her name. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had hinted about my upcoming transformation. Small talk about the lair was one of the last things on my mind. Still, it was better than being the focus of a Hellhound’s anger.