He stumbled back a few steps and the fog seemed to clear in front of us. The heavy-bricked wall stretched on and on in either direction. We looked up at the same time. The stone bricks were built so that we could probably climb up it, but we couldn’t see how far of a climb that would be. The wall seemed to rise forever.
“Pick a direction,” Sebastian suggested.
“This way.” I pulled him to the right and we walked along the wall for a long time.
The world was eerily silent. The wind didn’t make any sound and nothing else was alive to offer a soundtrack. Our footsteps seemed to scream through the quiet.
After a while, the wall gave way to a gate. The ironwork had been ripped from the hinges and left to dangle haphazardly. It also began to look familiar.
We stepped through the gate and looked out at the Citadel. Or what was left of it. The buildings had all crumbled to nothing but scattered debris and ruins. The Immortal fountain had been bashed to pieces. And the castle that lay in the distance looked charred, blackened by fire and death.
“What happened?” Sebastian asked. “Is this what will happen if we attack Terletov?”
I walked to the shattered remains of the fountain. I put my hands on the broken stone and the mangled statues that once depicted our equality and history. The remnants whispered through my skin. They brought my Magic to life and jump-started my heart. They spoke to me.
“This is what will happen if we don’t bring war to Terletov,” I told him. “This is what he will do to us. To the world.”
I felt Sebastian’s entire body tense next to me. “He can’t… How?”
“The Magic. It’s in harmony with the planet. But if he… if he infects it like he plans to, then this will happen.”
Sebastian spun in a circle and stared back through the gate. In this vision, we were in one very specific place, but I knew instinctively that this destruction would spread to every corner of the earth. There would be no place left untouched.
We were spoiled as Immortals. We thought our small Kingdom could live apart from humanity and remain untouched. We wouldn’t bother them and they wouldn’t bother us.
But nobody was safe from Dmitri Terletov.
His evil would infect the entire planet, killing Immortal and Mortal alike.
“We have to stop him, Sebastian.”
He turned to me, his hazel eyes sparkling with purpose. “We will, Sera. I swear to you, we will.”
I reached out my hand to him and… fell off my couch.
Oh, shit!
What a vision.
I scrambled to find my phone underneath me. I struggled with the tangle of blankets and the remote to my TV. Finally, I dug it out and peered at it through bleary eyes. Once I pulled up the numbers, I realized I hadn’t added Sebastian’s number to my new phone.
I was just about to call it up in my Magical memory when the damn thing started buzzing in my hands. I screamed at the top of my lungs before I settled down and forced myself to answer the unknown number.
“Hello?” I asked breathlessly.
“Seraphina?”
“Were you there, Sebastian? Was that real?”
“Yes,” he agreed solemnly. “Yes, it was real.”
Several moments beat between us. Neither of us knew what to say or where to begin. There was too much. The task at hand felt too heavy, too important.
“Have you called Kiran?” I asked him after a long while.
“Only to get your new number from Eden.”
“You should call him.”
“I will.”
More silence. I didn’t know where to begin or what to say. I didn’t even know if there was anything to say. But I didn’t want to hang up. I didn’t want to lose him to his busy life where I didn’t know what he was doing or if he was in danger or not.
As if he read my mind, he said, “I want you with me.”
“You do?” I sounded spitefully skeptical and I wanted to eat my words.
“For the, uh, for your visions. It would be easier if you were with my team and me.”
“A bunch of Titans? No thanks.”
He snorted a derisive laugh. “Bloody hell, Woman! I’ll call in the old team for this one. Obviously.”
“Sebastian, we don’t work well together. We can’t stand to be around each other. And you basically hate me. If I have another vision, I’ll just call you.”
“Please, Sera. I need you.”
He should have started with that. I had no defense against “please.”
“Where are you?” I whispered.
“Where are you? I’ll send a plane.”
“Seattle.”
More weighted silence before he said, “What’s in Seattle?”
“Um, my house.”
In a clipped, impatient tone, he snapped, “Keep your phone nearby. I’ll text you an airport and departure time.”
And that was that. He hung up on me.
I set my phone down on the coffee table like it had just bit me. Holy hades. Sebastian and I working together? What had I just gotten myself into?
Chapter Seven
Sebastian
I paced in front of the fireplace anxiously. What had I done? What the hell had I done?
I’d gone on one trippy doomsday subconscious walk-about with Seraphina and impulsively invited her along? On this mission?
I couldn’t decide what bothered me more. Bringing her with me and placing her in all kinds of danger? Or putting myself in close proximity to her for the foreseeable future?
Was I a complete idiot?
I was a complete and utter idiot.
I looked around at the small hotel room I’d rented for the week. We were near Gabriel’s old place, but I couldn’t bring myself to stay there.
Not after…
God, I wanted to murder Terletov. More than anything.
Titans littered every sitting space in the small suite. I wanted them out of here, but that didn’t seem very leader-like. Especially since we were in the middle of plotting our next move. They needed my guidance and I needed their experience.
I didn’t want to do this whole interim thing, but it looked like I would be strapped with it for a while.
Damn you, Talbott and all your wedded bliss.
Someone opened the door and loud, boisterous conversations died into nothing in a second. I blew out a breath of relief. I had expected Seraphina to show up first. I couldn’t have been more thrilled that she hadn’t.
Xander, Xavier, Titus and Jericho walked into sight, followed by Olivia, Ophelia, and Roxie. My team. My real team. Not these Titan imposters.
I mean, sure Titans were trained since birth to fight and go on missions, but they had nothing on these guys. The Titans took an oath and lived in special training camps. But how could that compete with the Resistance?
Obviously, it couldn’t.
“Look who decided to finally show up.”
“And look who took a step up in the world,” Xander called back.
Nobody looked impressed with my “promotion.” Not even the new girls. And they didn’t know better! They were supposed to be impressed by default.
Of course, one of them was dating Jericho, so clearly she had questionable standards.
“I’ll be requiring your utmost respect and unquestionable obedience moving forward. You may now refer to me as Sir.”
Crickets. Nobody said anything.
Best to lose the people I actually led before this became truly embarrassing. “Guard, you’re relieved for now. We’ll reconvene in three hours to hammer out tomorrow’s details.”
The robot army stood freakishly in sync and departed silently from my room.
“They’ve always creeped me out,” Titus announced.
Xavier pushed him. “Because when they look at you, all they want to do is stab you straight through your animal heart.”
Titus shoved him back. “That’s the exact same feeling I get when I look at you.”
“They?
??re not like that anymore,” I defended them. Bloody hell, one week with the Titans and I already felt loyal. No wonder Talbott was such a hardass; it came with the job description.
The entire group gave me a look that said they knew better. I just let it go. No use in arguing with this lot.
“So what’s up?” Jericho asked casually, as if we were discussing the weather. He had his arm around his girlfriend, Olivia. A twinge of jealousy pinched in my chest, but I brushed it away.
It wasn’t Olivia in particular I felt envious of. Although, she was lovely and he was a very lucky man. It was more the ease and comfort in their relationship that I coveted.
I wanted that.
I could admit that.
My friends had all settled down and I wanted to as well. I had lived a lifetime of volatility and uncertainty. I wanted to enter into the next phase of my life- the calmer, more stable phase. And I wanted a girl by my side and plans of a future together, of a family.
I wanted everything Seraphina and I had talked about but never acted on.
Only, I wanted it with someone else.
Someone who didn’t hate me.
I cleared my head of those thoughts and went on to explain what Seraphina and I had been up to of late. I filled them in on St. Stephens in Vienna and then the Dream Walk vision I’d shared with her.
This of course, brought on a bevy of crude comments that I laughed off.
“So, tell us again how you ended up in bed with the ice queen?” Titus laughed. “I thought all future dealings with Seraphina were null and void?” He looked around the room. “Those were his exact words, I kid you not.”
More laughter at my expense.
“We ended up in a dream together, hardly the roll in the hay you’re painting.”
“But it was so hot. So, unbearably scorching hot.” Seraphina’s voice cut through the room and we all jumped at the sound. “Sebastian couldn’t keep his hands off me in between the prophesy about the end of the world and the death and decay all around us. I have never been more turned on in my life.”
I hung my head. No way could I get out of this one. She’d walked in at the worst moment. The very worst moment. This was always how things tended to work out for me.
Was bad timing a talent? Because I had it in spades.
“Seraphina, I-”
“Don’t bother,” she sighed. “I’m too tired to go to battle.”
She flopped down on one of the couches next to Roxie. They shared one of those silent girl conversations with just their eyes and frowns. I wanted to know what went through both of their heads! It felt like they were gossiping about me, but they hadn’t said anything.
Impossible women.
“So what’s the plan, Boss?” Jericho pulled us back to the task at hand.
“We are headed to the City of Kings at dawn. We’re going to investigate the ruins and decide if there’s anything there for us. Obviously, we know there is a source of Magic somewhere near the ruins, but it has yet to be determined if it’s hidden on the mountain or somewhere nearby.”
“Machu Picchu,” Jericho explained to Olivia and I watched her pale a little.
The mountain was where we’d found her sister and her. I wondered if being back here freaked her out at all or if she had adjusted enough into her newly Immortal skin to be able to funnel all that anger and vengeance into something useful.
Probably the latter, Olivia was a fighter.
“And if it’s not there?” Roxie asked.
“Then we keep looking. We are working under the assumption that Terletov has not found it yet. We have no evidence to support this, but we do have hope. And we have a determination to find it. Once we do, we will leave Titans to protect it while this particular team moves on to the next source. After a conversation with Angelica, Ileana, and the Monarchs, we have decided there are precisely seven Sources of Magic around the globe. India and Romania are taken care of as Eden now holds those Magics. Vienna is now in Terletov’s control presumably. That leaves this place, Morocco, Siberia and Mali.”
“Mali?” Ophelia spoke for the first time.
“More specifically, Timbuktu.” Her eyes grew especially wide with that declaration. I suppressed a smile. If this girl hadn’t traveled much, she was about to get a crash course in the Immortal jet-set lifestyle. Which meant, flying around the world nonstop and trying to find bad guys.
It wasn’t exactly glamorous.
“There could possibly be another in North America and a ninth option in Indonesia. But we are saving those for last resorts as nobody knows the exact location of either.”
“This sounds impossible,” Roxie grumbled. “And how are you going to protect every spot with Titans. You’re going to run out at some point. You don’t exactly have an unlimited supply.” Roxie’s tough expression hardened even further as she spoke. She was right. And we all knew it.
“We have to try, Rox. We have to do something. And maybe while we’re doing something, we’ll run into these guys and stop them.”
She pursed her lips and nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”
“Listen, this has to stop. Countless Immortals have died and now humans are becoming victims as well. Our friends are dying. Our friends and family aren’t safe anymore. We have to put a stop to Terletov and his nefarious plans. And we have to do it soon.”
“We need a leg up,” Jericho said. “We need something that’s going to put us a step ahead of them instead of the other way around.”
I shared a look with Seraphina. “Well… it looks like we might have one actually. Seraphina’s vision of the end of the world wasn’t her first. She’s been getting them more frequently. I’ve asked her along in case another one has as prodigious timing as the first two. She’s the reason we knew to go to Vienna in the first place. She’s the reason we know any of this stuff.”
“Why the visions now, though?” Xander asked. “What’s changed?”
I opened my mouth to give my theory, but Seraphina spoke before I could. “I think it’s the Magic. Maybe it’s finally trickled down to me or whatever, but I’ve been having more and more visions of late. My powers come easier and I have no problem accomplishing mindless tasks that used to take up not only time, but energy.”
“I’ve noticed this too,” Jericho put in. “But I thought it had something to do with Liv. Maybe it doesn’t. Or maybe it’s both.”
“I’ve felt it too!” Titus exclaimed. “I mean, nothing really happened. Bu the other day I swore I could have turned into a polar bear if I wanted to.” When we all just stared at him, he said, “Guys, I’m a grizzly! That’s a big deal. A really big freaking deal.”
“So, anyway.” Everyone looked back to me and I tried to move us beyond whatever… that was. “This is all fantastic news. We’re in a good place. We just have to keep pushing forward, keep doing what we know how to do. This bastard is going down. And we’re going to be the team to take him down.”
They smiled at me, completely bloodthirsty and murderous. God, I loved them.
“Assignment for tonight?” Xavier asked.
“Just get some rest. We’re leaving at precisely five in the morning. Be ready.”
They nodded their agreement and ambled off to find their respective rooms. Seraphina lingered behind and while the rest of our team said goodbye to me and tried to talk my ear off, I worked up an apology in my head.
Only, I had way too much to apologize for. I didn’t know whether I should start with asking her on this mission? Or the conversation she’d walked into.
And then I remembered that she’d bought a house. In Seattle. And a flood of irrational anger filled me from top to bottom.
I wanted to pick a fight with her and watch her squirm. I wanted to make her hurt like I hurt. I wanted her chest to split open and ache like mine.
Finally, the two of us were the only ones left. She played with her purse straps and glanced at the door several times before finding the courage to meet my eyes.
“So, I??
?m here,” she said timidly.
Everything I wanted to say dissolved into ashes and cowardice. My mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out.
She waited patiently while I pulled a thought together. “Thanks for coming. We need you on this one.”
“Because you needed me on all the ones before this one?”
I swallowed against rocks that had suddenly been shoved down my throat. How to go from here?
I took a step toward her and lowered my voice. “Sera, you have to know I wanted to protect you. I’m not all wickedness and misery.”
She turned her head away and lifted her chin. Defiance personified.
My heart kicked to life in my chest. Such a firecracker. She intimidated most men. Hell, she intimidated all men. Even my once betrothed cousin. Kiran was the King these days, but he had no idea what to do with Seraphina when they’d shared their brief engagement.
Fire and brimstone, this one. She knew what she wanted and went after it with unwavering resolve. She also didn’t give up on anything.
Well, almost anything.
There’d been that brief interlude when she’d left me. But other than that, this woman fought for those things she believed in and didn’t stop until she had what she wanted.
While other men felt intimidated, I felt nothing but alive. She brought something out of me that would naturally stay buried. She spoke to my spirit in ways no other person could. And not just because of our Magical connection. No, Seraphina could look at me and I would feel the call of her challenge.
At times, I found her infuriating. We did nothing but bicker and fight until our claws were bloodied and gorged with each other’s flesh. Metaphorically speaking of course.
But then there were times when the challenge between us turned to passion and I thought I would drown in this woman. Happily. I would give up breathing air to breathe her. Give up living alone to stand by her side for the rest of eternity. I would do anything for her. Even if she hated me.
Even if she destroyed me.
“You’re not,” she agreed with me. “Sometimes your selfishness and thoughtlessness too.”
I looked at my feet and tried not to smile, although I did not quite succeed. “Stop before you make me blush.”