The League of Illusion: Destiny Read online

  “Aren’t you going to say anything back?”

  “What?”

  “I just told you I’m in love with you, don’t you have anything to say to me?”

  “I don’t really think this is the right time to be discussing this.”

  “It’s exactly the right time. What if we don’t have any other time? What if this is the only time we have?”

  Despite the situation, he smiled. Drea was as feisty as they came. “Drea, I’m in love with you.”

  “Good,” she said. “Now get me the hell out of here.”

  He climbed up into the hollow of the beast. He could now see the pain she was in. Sweat slicked her skin as more blood trickled down the cords. Her cheeks were sunken, and she looked ragged, not the vibrant woman he’d seen only days ago.

  He wanted to hold her, to kiss her tears away, but now was not the time. He had to get the damn bloodsucking cords out of her first.

  Carefully, he gripped one, inspected it, trying to figure out how best to remove them without hurting her even more. They were made out of coiled metal. It was hard, stiff, un-malleable, and impossible to break or cut though with a regular blade. He was going to have to melt them with his magic.

  After removing the arm plates, he wrapped his hands around the cords just below Drea’s hands. “Hold still, darling. I don’t want to burn you.”

  “Grab them!” Acari screamed at the morrigan. “Grab them now!”

  “Hurry,” Drea begged.

  Closing his eyes, Sebastian gathered every molecule of power inside him. He let it build up, then he let it out slowly through his hands. His skin grew warmer by the second, until it was scorching hot. If someone were to touch him, the person would sustain burns for sure.

  “It’s working,” she said.

  He opened his eyes, to see the metal growing red and dripping down to the metal floor. It looked and smelled like a smithy inside the morrigan. After a few more moments of squeezing the cords, they were melted all the way through. He released his hold, and helped Drea drag her hands down. He made sure the edges of her ruined palms didn’t touch the molten metal. Although the heat might have helped in cauterizing the wounds.

  Once free of her chains, she threw her arms around him and wept. “I knew you’d come. I knew it.”

  He kissed her. He had to. There was nothing more that he wanted than the feel of her lips on his. But their reunion was short-lived as the morrigan reached inside the hollow of its body to try to grab them. Its metal finger just brushed by him.

  They wouldn’t be able to evade its reach for long.

  He looked out across the battlefield. “Do you trust me?”

  “Yes, of course. Always.”

  “You’re not safe here. But you won’t be able to climb down.” Her hands were a mess of blood and gore, and looking at them made his heart ache. “I’m going to throw you off.”

  “You’re going to do what now?”

  “I’ll catch you, don’t worry. I won’t let you fall.”

  She nodded her assent.

  He scooped her up in his arms, then, swinging around, he tossed her off the side of the morrigan. She screamed on the way down. Sebastian cast out a hand toward her, his magic reaching desperately for her.

  Relief surged through him when he felt the invisible hand of his power catch her in midair. He could see her floating above the ground about twenty feet away. He struggled to hold her still and hold her gently. His magic wanted to squeeze together, to implode on itself. He couldn’t let it. He couldn’t kill another person he loved because he lost control.

  The pain in his head exploded as he slowly lowered Drea to the ground. His hands shook violently. He could no longer feel the one he was holding on with. Something warm dripped out of his nose and over his lips. The same sensation was in his ears. Blood made a path down his neck. Slowly, gently he set her on the ground. When he saw that she was safe, he dropped his hand. He did it. He saved her.

  Now he needed to kill the morrigan.

  The next time it reached in, he let it lift him up. Clutched in its fingers, he was able to get a better look at its head.

  “Crush him!” Acari shouted.

  The elf was still alive, still bleeding from several wounds. Rhys loomed over him, intending to end it. Sebastian silently urged him on. But Acari’s demand had already been given and he could feel the pressure of the morrigan’s fingers as it squeezed him.

  He had one shot and he couldn’t miss. He reached behind him for the blunderbuss with his shaking, numb hands, and instead of firing the electricity, he filtered his magic inside the gun. Holding his breath, he pulled the trigger and prayed.

  A bright green stream of power shot out from his hands, through the gun and toward the morrigan’s eyes. He had the pleasure of seeing it hit, right where he wanted, before it released him and he was falling twenty feet to the ground.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Drea watched in horror as Sebastian dropped. He bounced off the beast’s leg, and then landed face-first on the ground.

  “Sebastian!” She ran as fast as she could to him.

  He wasn’t moving. On her knees, she rolled him over, tearing at the armor. There was blood all over his face and it soaked the collar of his shirt. His eyes were closed and she put her finger in front of his nose to see if he was breathing. The light tickle of air on her skin sent a wash of relief over her.

  “Sebastian?” She stroked his face. He didn’t stir.

  All around the battle continued. She could hear the metal clanking of steel on steel, the shouts of anger, the cries of pain, but she didn’t care. All that mattered to her now was Sebastian.

  Gingerly, she ran her ruined hands down his body, checking for broken bones. Every touch shot pain through her arms but she bit down on her lip and continued. His left leg was bent the wrong way and a few of his fingers looked damaged. She pressed on his chest and felt something poking out. He was definitely damaged inside. She could heal his leg and his fingers, but not his insides. This was out of her expertise.

  Leaning down, she pressed her lips to his. She could taste her tears on his skin. “I love you, damn it. Now wake up.”

  She sensed movement behind her and she glanced up to see one of his brothers looking down at them. She could tell he was Sebastian’s brother; they shared the same fierce gaze. His gaunt face was streaked with dirt and blood. One of his pant legs was soaked red.

  “Is he...?”

  She shook her head. “But I can’t fix him.”

  A woman came to stand beside the brother and took his hand in hers. “There’s something wrong with the morrigan. It looks sick.”

  The metal monster was swaying dangerously on its feet. It stumbled to the left, nearly stomping on one of the elves, who already looked close to death. Then it stumbled back and the elf wasn’t as quick to get out of the way in time. Drea cringed at the crunching sound.

  The beast had one of its heads in its hands, holding it like it had a headache. It moaned, the sound drawn out like a siren. It vibrated inside Drea’s chest. Then the red lights in its eyes started to fade. It stumbled backward again, then it fell.

  When it landed on its side, it was as if the earth moved. The tremor was so strong, Drea actually lifted off the ground. When the morrigan didn’t move again, she turned back to Sebastian. His eyes were still closed.

  The battle was obviously over as his other brother, favoring his side, and the blonde woman, who had a gash on her forehead, joined them. The blonde woman dropped to ground next to Sebastian. She made a similar exam of his body that she had done.

  “You’re a healer,” Drea said to her.

  “I have some knowledge.”

  “But not enough.” Drea didn’t have to see her face to know she was right.

  I
nstead she looked around at the carnage. Acari was dead, one of his companions too, the other elf looked on his way. The female elf was still alive and looked to be drawing in the dirt. The sorcerer, the fancy one, looked injured but still alive. She wished she could take all the life they had left and put it inside Sebastian. The fact that they still lived and he was going to die ripped her in half.

  “If we can get him back, I know Druid healers who could save him,” the blonde woman said to the brother touching her shoulder.

  “We need a portal.” The other brother marched over to the fancy sorcerer, grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and dragged him over. “How were you getting back? I know you, you wouldn’t come if you couldn’t get back.”

  “Why should I tell you?” The sorcerer crouched and spat out a thick gob of dark red blood.

  “Because I’ll spare your life, although you don’t deserve it.”

  “The elves. They can make portals.”

  The brother dragged the sorcerer over to the female elf. “Open this portal,” he demanded.

  She stood and tossed down the stick she’d been using to draw. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “I need a certain type of blood, and lots of it.”

  “She’s lying.” The sorcerer pushed away from the brother, who scrambled for him, but the sorcerer managed to reach around and unsheathe the sword from the brother’s walking stick. Drea held her breath as he swung the blade.

  The tip of the steel drew across the elf’s stomach, nearly slicing her in half. Her guts opened up and spilled over the circle she’d drawn in the dirt. There was a loud popping sound, then a rush of hot wind. Above the circle a light seemed to unfurl itself to form a speck and then into a large swirling hole.

  The sorcerer threw down the sword and collapsed to his knees. He coughed again, and it was foamy and wet.

  The brothers gaped at him.

  “The bitch deserved it.” He sniffed. “Don’t tell my father. Tell him I died trying to gut you like a pig.”

  “You don’t have to die here alone. You can come back with us. We’ll take you to your father.”

  “I don’t need your charity, Rhys.”

  “Fine. Although you don’t deserve it, I hope you find some peace, Darin.”

  He returned to Sebastian’s body. Together the brothers lifted him up and carried him toward the portal. The blonde woman turned to her.

  “Are you coming?”

  Drea stared at her, numbness creeping up on her. But she couldn’t go numb, she couldn’t go blindly into the light. This was a huge decision. The most important one she’d ever make in her life.

  “Will he live?” she asked.

  “I don’t know,” the woman answered. “Our healers are gifted, but...”

  Drea nodded. She knew the but—his injuries were dire. There might not be any way to heal him. He might die regardless. There was no guarantee that if she went through the portal to another world, a world she most likely would never be able to leave again, that Sebastian would live. Her father had once told her the only guarantee in life was the inevitably of death.

  She’d be leaving everything she’d ever known, everything and everybody who ever mattered to her. Her friends, her aunty, the people she was obligated to heal now that her father was gone. A healer’s life. That was all she knew, all she’d been trained for and all that was expected of her. She’d be leaving that forever.

  “The portal’s closing,” the woman said. “If you’re coming, you have to do it now.” She reached a hand for Drea.

  Taking it would mean taking the biggest risk of her life on a man who might die. But when she thought about that man, Sebastian, she realized she couldn’t go on without him. She had to take the leap of faith that he would live and she’d be there for him.

  She took the woman’s hand and together they walked into the swirling ball of light. And when the light encompassed her, all she could think of was her destiny and the man she loved.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Still slumped forward on his knees, Darin watched as Skylar and the Blairwood woman vanished inside the portal. Once they were through, the light collapsed into itself and disappeared. He was now alone in the dark, in the middle of a field with four dead bodies. He would make number five.

  He hacked again, his body convulsing. It knocked him forward onto his hands. He spat out a thick glob of blood onto the ground. Slowly, he rolled over onto his side, then onto his back. There, that felt better. Now he could lie there in relative comfort for the last few moments of his life.

  He stared up at the multitude of twinkling stars in the black sky and contemplated dying. Rhys had wished him peace but he knew he’d never have it, not even in death. After all he’d done to the Davenports, he was surprised Rhys had even offered it. Darin couldn’t fathom what peace would be. He’d never had it as a man, didn’t remember it as a boy. Except for maybe when his mother had still been alive. Although he couldn’t picture her in his mind, he could glean a sense of what it had been like to be around her.

  It had been the only time he’d ever felt true love. The kind that had no conditions or strings attached. Once she died though, his father had both beaten and frozen those emotions out of him for good.

  It was that feeling he clung to now as the life slowly bled out of him. He wasn’t a spiritual man but he hoped that if there was an afterlife he would see his mother there. And she would forgive him for becoming the man he did.

  One by one, the stars winked out, until there was nothing but infinite dark. Closing his eyes, Darin let the blackness come, and he didn’t fight as it swallowed him whole.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The shock of traveling through the portal was nothing compared to the reality of the place called London. Sebastian had told her briefly what it was like, but it paled in comparison to what Drea experienced.

  When they came out of the blue swirly light it was into a small room in a church, a cathedral, Skylar called it. It was the grandest building she’d ever seen until they went outside. There, grand stone buildings surrounded them.

  Thankfully it was full dark when they came through and there weren’t many people out to see them skulking through the streets carrying a wounded, comatose man. And they wouldn’t see Drea’s astonishment when two horseless carriages stopped for them. The driver helped put Sebastian in one with Jovan and Rhys. She, Skylar and Corina rode in the other.

  Drea was still in shock as they pulled up to a large four-story marble building and rushed Sebastian inside. She barely noticed the opulence of the place. Once inside, two men and one woman in long fancy robes ushered Sebastian into a room and shut the large double doors. Drea and the others were led into another room, where their wounds were taken care of.

  A tall man with long white-blond hair, hard face and fierce eyes attended to her hands. Jovan called him Lord Soren. Skylar called him Father.

  As Drea watched him clean her wounds, she could see the resemblance between the two. Her hands shook as he blotted them with a clean towel.

  “What’s your name?” he asked her.

  “Drea Blairwood.” She hissed as he poured an astringent over her hands. It burned something bad.

  “How did you get these injuries?”

  “The morrigan.”

  Lord Soren turned his intense gaze onto Jovan. “You were instructed not to mess with the balance of the worlds.”

  “It couldn’t be helped,” Jovan said.

  “She’s from this other world.”

  Rhys interjected, “She’s with Sebastian. We couldn’t leave her.”

  “We have much to report, Father, about the elves and Darin Hawthorne,” Skylar said.

  “I will ready the council.” Lord Soren spread an ointment over her palms, then wrapp
ed them in cloth. She could smell many familiar herbs. Rosemary and thyme. It reminded her of home and her father. Tears came again.

  “I want to see Sebastian,” she demanded.

  “You can’t. Not until the healers do their work,” Lord Soren said, then he softened and touched her arm. “They will fix him. Have faith. In the meantime, you will be my guest in my home here in London.” He glanced at his daughter. “Skylar, make sure Drea is properly cared for.”

  “Yes, Father.” Skylar came to her side and put an arm around her. “Sebastian is strong. He’ll make it through this.”

  For the next sixteen hours, Drea washed, changed clothes, ate, rested. And waited. She spent those hours inside Vanguard Hall with Skylar and Corina checking in on her every now and then. They were both sweet women but she couldn’t stand the looks of pity they gave her. So she chose to spend most of the time by herself, roaming the house and the grounds, trying to acclimate to her new surroundings, her new world. It wasn’t easy.

  When she went to wash, the indoor plumbing nearly made her immobile with indecision. Until she figured how to work it. Then she gloried in the hot water that poured out the tap in the large claw-footed tub. Skylar had informed her how it worked by heating the water up with steam in the basement, then the water was drawn up a metal pipe to the washroom. It baffled her regardless.

  But that wasn’t nearly as bewildering as the floating ship she saw while out in the garden. It floated past, suspended by ropes connected to an enormous oval shape that was silvered. Fire blew up into it and she thought for certain it would explode, but instead it just went higher and faster in the sky.

  The sight of it brought her to her knees and she spent the day digging in the soil of their garden, trying desperately to ground herself. Trying to find purpose in her damaged hands again. It was almost too overwhelming. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle the changes in this world. Everything was too fast. Including the people. They were always moving. Always going somewhere. It made her head dizzy.