Ryker nodded. “Pema.” His hand lifted to his throat, his fingers tracing the faint scars there. “She had a gift, the ability to ‘see’ things: past, present and future. She foresaw me wielding the flaming sword, a weapon that has been lost to us since Uriel and Eva left the earth, and the only weapon known that can destroy Lilitha. She was determined to find it, and when she heard the elders talking of a hidden monastery in the mountains, she thought that’s where it was being held. No one would listen to her, though, and so she, my brother Seth, her best friend Lana and I set out to try and find it.” Ryker’s voice turned bitter and his lip curled. “We were young and stupid. It wasn’t long before we were discovered by Emperial troops. My half-brother, got away, while the rest of us were captured and taken as slaves. I eventually broke free, but by then I had no clue where Pema or Lana were. . . I’m still trying to find her. She’s the key to setting my people free.”
“Yoursister will be fine. . .”Ari’s words drifted back to me, threads of cold seeping through me.
“H-how does Ari know about your sister?”
Ryker’s jaw clenched. “Because she made a deal with me and the other men who were trying to kill you. Pema’s life for yours. Ariadne was the reason I was at the festival in the first place.”
My heart squeezed in my chest as I struggled to find breath. “That doesn’t make any sense.” The foliage began to spin around me, and Ryker shot forward, his hands gripping my arms to steady me.
“She’s the one who arranged your assassination. My people do want you and your whole family dead, but they weren’t prepared to do anything about it for many years to come. After I escaped captivity and returned home, I was determined to rescue my sister. I was able to narrow down her whereabouts to Lunara city. Several men accompanied me, desperate to find my sister, and the means of our deliverance, but we were captured before we could rescue Pema. Ariadne caught wind of it and sought us out. She didn’t give us a reason, just a promise that she would insure Pema’s release and provide the way into the palace, all we had to do was guarantee your death.”
“No,” I whimpered, fighting back the burning in my eyes. “Ari loves me. She wants you and me to be together, and she specifically picked you out—”
“Kaleah,” Ryker murmured, his arms wrapping around me in a tight embrace. “She never wanted us to be together. She wanted me to kill you.”
“No!” My voice broke, tremors wracking my body. I didn’t want to believe what he was saying, but there was no reason for him to lie, and the more thought I devoted to his reply, the less I was able to deny it. Ari’s strange lack of care over my lies. Her insistence to get Ryker and me alone together and her uncouth behavior around him.
It all finally made sense. The only remaining question was:Why?
I didn’t get a chance to ask. With the next beat of my breaking heart, Alex’s shout resonated from behind us, cutting off midway. Cassie’s high-pitched scream followed.
24
Sacrifices and Shortcomings
Blood.Somuchblood.It crept through the water like living tendrils. I gagged but didn’t stop running alongside the edge of the pool. I couldn’t see clearly through the reeds lining the water, but Cassie’s intermittent screams still filled the air. I ran faster than I’d ever run in my life, heart pounding in my throat. Ryker was already ahead of me by several paces, his longer legs more suited for the task.
Rounding the side of the pool, my heart stopped. A half submerged form floated unmoving in the water by the edge of the hot springs, a spear sticking out of their back. Alex. My knees buckled beneath me, and I crashed to the ground, vomiting.
“Get away from her!” Ryker’s shout ripped my attention from the horrific scene. Not far from Alex’s body, Cassie struggled on the bank, an Outlander straddling her as he shoved her head under the water, cutting off her screams.
The man’s head shot up, a black band painted over his face, making his gold eyes gleam. “Ryker?” Confusion crossed the assassin's face. Ryker reached his side, his fist connecting with the other man’s jaw, and the killer careened backward.
“She’s pregnant!”
The assassin dropped Cassie’s still form, letting her slip under the water. He rose to face Ryker, working his jaw. “One less demon spawn to kill. Did you sell them your soul to get your voice back?”
I jerked to my feet, terror lighting my veins and lunged, tripping into the blood filled water, grappling with my sister’s limp body. Dipping beneath her, I wrapped my arms under hers and resurfaced, dragging her to the edge of the pool, red rivulets of water running down our skin. She still didn’t move as I hauled her body onto the mossy shore and fear unlike anything I’d ever felt gripped me.
“Please don’t die,” I sobbed, pressing my ear to her chest. Nothing. No! Forcing out Ryker and the other man’s shouts as they faced off a few paces away, I closed my eyes, pressing shaking hands to Cassie’s chest, just above her heart.
Taking a shuddering breath, I struggled to grasp the divinity flowing within me. Slowing my breath further, determination filled me, and I gasped as the energy gathered, surging through my hands and into my sister with a rush. I pried my eyes open, tears blurring my vision. White light filled Cassie’s veins, her back arching off the ground. A heartbeat later, she choked, water pouring out of her mouth.
“Cassie!” Letting my power fade, exhaustion leached at me, but I shoved it away, helping my sister sit up. “Are you okay?”
Her body stopped heaving and confused blue eyes found mine. “Ka-leah?” Her eyes widened, and she tore away, scanning around us.
“Alex! No!” She screamed, a tortured, broken sound, scrabbling back over the mossy rocks towards the pool.
“Cassie, don’t—”
“Demon!”
I spun just as I secured my sister’s shoulders to keep her from diving in after Alex.
“I will eradicate you and your darkness!” The assassin stalked toward us, leaving a bloody Ryker behind him on the ground. My breath caught in my throat, my fear growing. Was he dead?
“What did you do to him?” I whimpered, releasing Cassie who collapsed, sobbing on the edge of the bank. I stood on shaky legs and a sneer stretched across the assassin's tan face.