“I’m going as fast as I can!” Aiden gasped.
Arron had the clear advantage, with no weight to carry but his own. I looked around wildly at the sea of treetops beneath us in hope of spotting the Hawk carving.
“The carving is too short! It won’t show among the treetops!” I panted. The ceiling of leaves was far too dense.
A gust of wind blew down on me from above, and to my horror, I realized that Arron had caught up and was now hovering over us. Trying to keep Ben safe with one hand, whilst holding on for dear life with the other, I was incapable of even a feeble attempt at fighting him off.
A pain shot through the nerves in my lower back. I looked up again and saw Arron’s talons covered with blood. My blood. The weight of Arron’s attack made Aiden falter in the air and for a moment I thought he was about to lose all stability.
He’s playing with his prey before the final swoop. Arron positioned himself for another attack. Perhaps this time he would pierce right through my midriff.
Abruptly, Aiden took a nose-dive back down toward the treetops. I closed my eyes and wrapped Ben even tighter against me as we once again made contact with the leaves and branches. As soon as we had made it through the layers of leaves in the ceiling, we reemerged in the open area of the city, Arron popping out from the leaves just a few seconds after us.
“Faster!” I urged.
Initially I didn’t know why Aiden had chosen this particular spot to duck back down beneath the leaves, but as we hurtled further downward, I saw it: the carving.
As we reached the first level of the Lower Layers, Aiden let out a scream as he miscalculated a dodge and a branch dug right into his wing. Our dive halted to a violent stop. I was flung against a branch as I struggled to make sure it was my back that landed against the bough rather than Ben. Feeling dizzy, I looked around and saw Sofia hanging from a branch just next to mine. She looked just as out of breath as I felt but she managed to swing herself up to safety.
Then we both looked up. Aiden’s wing was caught on a sharp branch. It had pierced right through it, leaving him hanging and writhing.
“No!” Sofia shrieked.
Arron dropped down through the leaves and hovered next to Aiden, laughing at his helpless state.
It was then that I registered the absence of Rufus and his passengers.
“Traitor!” Arron snarled in Aiden’s face. “You know what we do to traitors in Aviary, don’t you?” He cackled as Aiden struggled more violently. Then he looked down at Sofia and me as we watched helplessly. “But wait there for now.” He chuckled. As if Aiden had any choice but to wait. “I’ll deal with your insipid family first. It’s quite convenient actually. The Hawks will be in need of a hearty dinner after all these long meetings we’ve been having.”
He made his way toward me first, I assumed because he thought I was weakest—carrying a newborn in my arms. But Sofia was having none of it. The moment Arron touched down on the branch, she lunged for him. She swung herself onto his back and gripped her legs around his midriff. Then, to my surprise, sharp claws shot out from her hands. She slid them next to his throat and dug them in a little. Then she opened her mouth and as she tilted her head back, her beak and wings disappeared as fangs emerged. It was as though she was breaking through her disguise by calling upon her weapons.
“One single movement from you, bird, and I will dig deep,” she growled. I had never witnessed such intensity in Sofia. I was taken aback probably more than Arron.
She was a lioness. A lioness protecting her cub.
Sofia nodded as if to say she had Arron under control. Aiden was still dangling and grunting with pain as he hung from his wing. I began to climb up to assist him when a rustling of leaves caused my heart to pound. What if Arron already contacted other Hawks for backup?
But then Rufus landed on the branch—our three friends still clinging to him. They all had gashes and bruises covering their bodies, but at least they were alive.
Rufus climbed up to Aiden and, holding him by the waist for support, separated his wing from the tree. Aiden groaned as he closed his wing behind him. It hung disjointedly compared to the other one.
“Now what?” I said, looking at Sofia.
Time was slipping through our fingers. I had lost my watch during the struggle with Arron in the sky and I didn’t even know how much time we had left before all hope of escaping this nightmarish place would be gone forever.
It was Rufus who responded while drawing a long curved dagger out of his belt. “Reach the gate. Get out of here before it’s too late. Escape forever. And hurry.”
“Rufus!” Arron spluttered. “You dare to…”
His voice garbled and then quieted as Sofia applied more pressure. A drop of blood trickled down his throat.
“I told you, no movement. That includes speaking,” Sofia said.
“I don’t know how long I’ll be able to contain him,” Rufus continued, “or any other Hawks who might have become aware of all of this commotion…”
“Kyle and Ian,” I said, “help Aiden keep up with us. We need to reach the ground as quickly as possible.”
With that, Rufus placed his long blade exactly where Sofia had been positioning her claws.
Ben was still crying in my arms. I kissed his forehead, then tightened the blanket around me that I had formed into a carrier for him. We began the climb back down to the jungle floor.
“Careful of the snakes!” Sofia warned, pointing to one hanging about five meters away from us. Aiden groaned and grunted as he made his way down. Even with Ian and Kyle’s help, he was slow. Too slow. Anna had climbed onto Sofia’s back since she seemed to have sprained an ankle.
The air became steadily moister and the darkness increased as we descended, with less sunlight able to escape through the leaves. It seemed that we had been clambering down for at least an hour, but having no watch, I could not count.
“This journey seems so much longer than when we climbed up,” Sofia said.
“I know. We have to move faster,” I replied.
I almost cried out with relief when my foot finally hit solid ground.
“Shh, it’s okay, baby, we’re nearly home,” I whispered to Ben, who was still expressing his discomfort.
Once everyone had joined me, planting their feet firmly in the undergrowth, Sofia and I led the way toward the gate.
I scanned the area, expecting to see the black hole in the jungle floor we had emerged from. But instead I beheld a vision that should have belonged only in a nightmare.
A tall dark figure.
Long razor-like claws outstretched.
Red eyes glinting in the fading daylight.
Chapter 36: Sofia
Kiev.
A monster I’d hoped to never see again for the rest of my life. I had no idea how he could have survived being in this place as a vampire, or how and why he’d come here with my son, but none of it mattered.
He looked first at my baby cradled in Derek’s arms, and then at me. As soon as our eyes met, shivers ran down my spine. I considered that we should just attempt to run right past him and jump through the gate, but with Aiden and Anna injured, and Derek one-handed due to holding Ben, we could be slashed by Kiev’s claws if he chose to run at us with his strong muscular build.
“After I went to such pains to bring the infant here, you’re just going to take him away? Really? Just like that?” His voice rumbled through the jungle like the beginnings of an earthquake.
“Step aside now and we might just spare you, snake,” Derek responded for me.
But Kiev didn’t even acknowledge Derek’s presence, much less his threat. He took a few slow steps forward, scanning my body as though he was ravishing me from a distance. Then his blood-red eyes settled back on my face.
“So they turned you in the end,” he muttered. “You know, Sofia, you’re more beautiful than even I had imagined you would be as one of my own kind.” His face contorted, as though looking at me was causing him pain.
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“You heard my husband. Step aside!” I managed to find my voice. I slid Anna off my back and placed her on the ground, then extended my claws in front of him.
A frantic scream pierced the atmosphere, drifting down from the trees above.
“Run faster! I lost hold of him! Arron is coming! And others are follow—”
I trembled as Rufus’ voice cut off midsentence.
Kiev smiled. “But why would I want to do that, darling? If I delayed you just long enough for the Hawks to recapture you all… who knows, I might even be able to convince Arron to give you to me. He’d kill Derek for sure and probably also your father, but I’m sure he’d spare your son, whom we could raise together…”
He began pacing up and down.
“Please! Kiev, please let us go.” I resorted to begging. There was no time left to consider matters of dignity.
Leaves rustled overhead and boughs creaked. The Hawks were drawing nearer by the second.
Kiev’s eyes were still fixed on me, never wavering. I looked back, willing him to find some speck of mercy in his black hole of a heart.
“You know, I think I could make you happy, Sofia.” He continued to indulge in his fantasy, speaking slowly and thoughtfully, as if time was of no value. Then, without warning, he left his guarded position by the gate and walked right up to me, gripping my shoulders and bending down so that his face was within inches of my own.
I struggled against his grip, but I’d become too weak from the sun and the climb to stand a chance against him. He eyed my lips hungrily as he said, “I could even let the others go and just keep you. Maybe you’d be faster at forgiving me that way.” He looked around at Derek and the others and nodded toward the direction of the gate. “You’re free to go if you wish.”
They all remained still, eyeing the gate. Derek couldn’t approach Kiev in case Kiev lashed out at Ben. Aiden could barely support his own weight. We were all too worn down to be any match for Kiev.
The Hawks clambering down the trees had come within a few meters of us now. I looked frantically around and screamed at Derek, “Go! Escape with Ben! Just leave, all of you!” I stared at my husband, my eyes begging him to take our son, to keep him safe. His blue irises were wide with terror. “Go, Derek! You fool, stop standing there! LEAVE ME!”
Tears streamed down my cheeks and my vision blurred. I couldn’t make out if they had indeed saved themselves, or if any of them still waited stubbornly for me.
“Hurry!” Arron shouted overhead.
“Or… am I a better man than that?” Kiev whispered into my ear.
I blinked rapidly to clear my tears and looked into his deep red irises, wondering if my ears were playing tricks on me. He loosened his grip on one of my shoulders and lifted his hand to my face. He ran his fingers gently against my cheek. Then he pressed his lips against my forehead in a chaste kiss, and let go of me.
I stumbled back, in a state of shock. Despite my orders, neither Derek nor any of the others had moved yet. But, as soon as I was free from Kiev’s grasp, they lunged toward the gate.
We pushed Aiden through first and he disappeared into the strange starlit tunnel, then Anna, then Kyle, Ian, and finally I pushed Derek through. Before I took the leap myself, I turned around one last time to see the Hawks hitting the ground and rushing toward the gate.
I lowered myself into the hole, gripping the edges tightly to fight the suction pulling me down, and looked up at Kiev.
He gazed down at me, his eyes suddenly filled with a sorrow that knocked the breath out of me. He nodded slowly before I let go and hurtled down into the abyss.
Kiev was a mystery I would never unravel.
Chapter 37: Sofia
After I landed on the marble floor, my first instinct was to bellow, “Destroy that gate now!”
I didn’t even know whom I was yelling at since I hadn’t had a chance to look around the room yet. I sat up and saw Derek lying nearby with Ben held above his chest, and the others scattered around, all still recovering from the fall. Ibrahim and the Ageless stood over us.
They heeded my words and began their spell. Within a minute the marble floor had sealed over, the gate to that nightmarish realm now closed. Forever.
“Thank heavens,” Ibrahim breathed out as he turned around to survey us panting, dirty and sweaty.
I scrambled to my feet and rushed over to Derek and my distraught baby. I eased the blanket away from Derek’s body and lifted Ben into my arms.
“There, there, darling. Shhh. Mommy’s here. Mommy’s here now,” I whispered, wiping dirt away from his face and kissing his soft cheeks. I sat cross-legged on the floor and let the tears welling up within me fall. At last, Mommy’s here for you.
Derek crawled over to me and, wiping my tears, held my face in his hands and kissed me hard. “We did it, Sofia. We did it,” he whispered into my ear, a smile creeping across his exhausted face.
“Derek,” Ibrahim called from across the room. He was bending over my father’s torn wing.
Derek got up and walked over to Ibrahim. Now that Derek’s back was turned to me I could see the deep wound in his back inflicted by Arron. His shirt was covered with blood.
I got up and walked over to the corner of the room where the Ageless was standing silently.
“Hey, you,” I said, not bothering to show respect she didn’t deserve. “Will you help Derek out? He’s got a nasty wound on his back.”
Before she could answer, I walked over to Derek and, interrupting whatever conversation he’d been having with Ibrahim, I tugged on his shirt and walked him over to the Ageless.
Holding Ben—who had now calmed down considerably—with one hand, I helped Derek out of his shirt with the other. The Ageless looked disdainfully at me, but then heaved a sigh. She ordered Derek to lie down on the floor and began some kind of healing ritual.
Satisfied that Derek was being taken care of, I walked across the room to check on Aiden. He had stopped groaning and the huge tear in his wing seemed to have closed up. He was also sitting upright.
“He’s healing up nicely,” Ibrahim said.
Aiden beamed on seeing me. I rushed into his arms and he held both Ben and me close to his chest, nuzzling the top of my head with his beak.
“I love you so, so much, my darling,” were the only words he could muster through his tears. It was hard to believe that just a few hours ago I’d thought that I would never see my father again. And now here I was, wrapped in his embrace.
“Can I hold him?” Aiden asked, looking down at Ben.
I placed my baby in his arms and Aiden’s eyes lit up the way only a proud grandparent’s did.
Then I took the opportunity to check on Anna. She sat in a corner, leaning against the wall, clutching her ankle with her hands. Both Kyle and Ian sat next to her, looking concerned. I pulled each of them into a tight hug in turn and said, “Thank you. With all my heart, thank you.”
They all smiled at me. Anna brushed a strand of hair away from my face and said, “Oh, stop being so formal, Sofia. You don’t need to thank us. We’re family.”
Chapter 38: Derek
The floor felt uncomfortably cold against my chest. I shivered even more once the witch started her healing. It felt like a hundred needles prickling my wound at once.
“It’s done,” she said after barely a minute.
The pain had indeed vanished. I ran a hand over my back and felt the skin now smooth where the cut had been. I stood up and looked into the witch’s cold eyes. I breathed nervously before asking the question that had haunted me ever since she’d first proposed to help us eliminate the gates back in Costa Rica.
“And what now?”
She paused, her gaze on the ground.
“We leave. And we erase our own gates.” She sighed.
“But why? Why wouldn’t you want to keep your gates open just in case? If it’s true that you’re no longer powerful enough to create new gates, then…”
“Aviary and Cruor both know we ha
ve our own gates. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re not already strategizing how to storm our realm and reenter yours through them. It just makes us even more of a target than we already are.”
“And once you’ve destroyed them, you’re all gone forever?” I asked, barely daring to believe.
“Yes. At least, I’m not aware of a single witch in our realm who has retained such powers from our Ancients. It’s true that we have grown somewhat complacent over all these years…”
“All these years of piling your troubles onto us poor mortals.” I finished her sentence for her.
She cleared her throat and turned to face the opposite direction.
“Ibrahim!” she called. Ibrahim was now bending over Anna and healing her ankle. He left her and walked over to us.
“What?”
“It’s time we left. We’ve dragged out this mission long enough,” she said.
Ibrahim looked at her for a moment before saying in a low voice, “I’m not returning with you.”
“What?”
“You heard. I’m staying here.”
“But, Ibrahim, why? You’re my best…” she stuttered.
“The Sanctuary is no longer a place I can consider my home. You and its other residents… I can’t see eye to eye with any of you any more.”
“But…”
“And besides, Odelia.” Ibrahim cut her off again. “I’m in love with Corrine. I… I want to marry her.”
The Ageless’ brows rose as she gazed at Ibrahim, her mouth agape. I couldn’t tell how much of her surprise came from Ibrahim addressing her in public by what I assumed was her real name and how much came from his confession.
The silence lasted for several moments. The Ageless struggled to maintain her composure but couldn’t hide a look of hurt that flickered in her eyes.
“Very well,” she said eventually. “I see you’ve made your mind up. In that case, we’ll return without you.”
“We?” Ibrahim asked.
“Ibrahim, you brought with you a dozen other witches.”