Curse of Shadows and Light

  Vincent.

  My cheeks grow warm at the thought of him. I can’t even begin to explain that mess to myself, let alone to her. I shake my head. “No. What I’m feeling or not feeling for Kieron has nothing to do with Vincent. He’s just… well… I guess he’s just someone I feel good being around right now. But he has nothing to do with Kieron. Nothing.”

  She nods. “I get it. But I can see why you’d be confused.”

  I sigh and throw my hands up in frustration. “Ugh! Who cares about stupid boys at a time like this anyways? I mean hello! We’re trapped in a magical prison a million miles from nowhere while a lunatic Sovereign angel- demon- whatever negotiates for my neck! My lame love life is the very least of my concerns. This is all such bullshit!”

  Corrine’s eyes widen. “Well, obviously! But I was hoping to get your mind off it for a moment, seeing as how there doesn’t seem to be much we can do other than sit here and wait. We can’t even stomp around in angry circles, and don’t even ask me how bad I need to pee right now!”

  I bury my face in my hands and shake my head. “I’m sorry… this is so crazy.”

  Corrine glances around, suddenly looking worried. “Speaking of crazy, does it seem to be getting darker?”

  We stare at each other. She’s right. If I didn’t know better, I’d say it would be dark any moment now. But that’s impossible. It was morning just a few hours ago—

  Morning in California… on the west coast! But who knows what time zone we’re in now?

  “Liora!” Corrine’s eyes are wide with panic, and with good reason. The first waves of fiery tingles are flashing through my body, and suddenly I’m very tired.

  “She’s coming… she’ll be here any moment. You have to keep her calm and tell her what’s going on. Keep her safe.”

  “No, Liora! Please stay! Don’t leave—”

  Chapter 22. Lucky

  “Don’t move,” a panicked voice begs. “Whatever you do, just stay still until I have a chance to explain everything.”

  Is that stupid Sapie girl trying to talk to me? Before I’ve even opened my eyes? Does she want to die tonight?

  “Lucky, if you can hear me, just lie there and stay calm for a moment. Please. If you try to jump up or something there could be real trouble—”

  “There will definitely be real trouble if you don’t kindly shut the hell up,” I mutter, without opening my eyes.

  “Lucky! Okay, great you can hear me… Look, I’m really sorry, but please don’t be mad.”

  I let out a deep sigh. I could kill this stupid Sapie right now. For a moment I had been lost in that other place, that hidden corner of consciousness that happens for the briefest time while we transition. It’s the only time I feel whole, and my soul is at peace. Sometimes it’s a few moments, sometimes longer. But this time that tranquility was ripped from me. I hear the whiny voice beg again.

  “Please, listen to me! I have to tell you—”

  “Oh bloody hell, shut up!” I open my eyes and start to sit upright. “Do you think I want to hear your yapping the moment I come to? You can’t even give me a second to— wait. What the hell is going on? Where are we?” I look around and groan as I see a hazy green bubble surrounding us. Crap! This can’t be good.

  “What did Liora get us into this time? You have ten seconds to explain.”

  Corrine squints as she scoots away from me. “It wasn’t her fault. This guy tricked us and grabbed us… did something… I don’t know exactly what he did. Just one minute we were on the beach, then all of a sudden he was this hideous giant, then we were underwater going a million miles an hour, then he dumped us here and put some magical seal over us, and it will kill us if we touch it!” She stops to catch her breath, her eyes bulging.

  “Some giant guy on the beach? But the land was supposed to be protected!” I knew I couldn’t trust that witch!

  Corrine shakes her head. “We were tricked past the boundary. This guy acted like—”

  I hold up my hand. “Stop. Spare me the details of your colossal stupidity. Who took us… Light-angels, I presume?”

  She shakes her head.

  “Really, a demon? Do you know what kind?”

  She shakes her head again. “It was neither. He called himself a Sovereign. Said he was a—”

  “I know what they are,” I snap, as a knot starts to grow in the pit of my stomach.

  Wow… A Sovereign? I’d heard of the mythical race of angel/demon hybrids, but I’ve never actually encountered any. I always thought they were more urban legend than anything.

  “His name is Otto,” Corrine says.

  I glance at her. “What?”

  “The guy… the Sovereign. His name is Otto.”

  I stare at her for long time. “Anything that crosses that plane disintegrates, you say?” I narrow my eyes threateningly.

  “Fine, I’ll shut up,” she mumbles and turns away.

  But as much as I’d like for that to happen, unfortunately this Sapie girl is my only link to what’s going on here. I hate to admit it, but I need her.

  I roll my eyes and groan with exasperation. “No, don’t shut up. You’re being helpful. Please go on. Specifically, do you know why he brought us here? Where is he now?”

  Corrine’s eyes reveal her fear. “He brought you here because the Light-angels put a ransom on you to bring you in alive, but then I guess some demons also want you, and they don’t care if you get delivered hacked into a bunch of pieces.” She gulps and looks away. “He went off to see which side was going to give him the better deal.”

  I let her words sink in. “Sounds about right. And you say he took you by water? Like through an ocean?”

  She nods. “It’s by far the craziest thing that’s ever happened in my life. I don’t understand how it happened.”

  Crap. Water, especially saltwater, would completely mask any trace of our journey just in case anyone happened to be trying to find us by following our scents.

  “And you have no clue, no hint as to where we are?”

  She shakes her head. “Liora and I were both at a total loss. My hunch is the North Pole. She thought maybe Alaska or even the Himalayans.”

  “What’s this?” I pick up a red bag near my feet and look inside.

  “Just some food and water Otto left for us.”

  There’s enough in here for a few days at least. But unfortunately nothing that will help me. I pick up a banana and throw it. It disintegrates to nothing the moment it touches the green haze.

  “So what are we gonna do?” Corrine asks.

  I don’t know what to say.

  Because honestly, I haven’t got the faintest clue.

  ********

  The Sapie girl’s asleep… finally. I don’t think I could’ve stood to hear her sobbing a moment longer. As if there’s anything I can do. I’m all but drained of energy, but I can’t give up. There’s only one thing I can think of to try, and I know the chances of it actually working are about as good as me springing a halo and joining the Peace Corps.

  I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and focus my thoughts to a single, direct point. “Tattie… please ,Tattie, can you hear me? Hear my call… feel my distress. I need you... Liora needs you. We’re in big trouble. Please… hear me. Tatiana… Tattie…”

  Finally I roll over on the ground, exhausted. I don’t know why I thought that might work. It’s just that ever since she revealed herself to be a telepath that night when the Light-angels attacked us in the cabin, I’d figured that maybe there was some sort of radio signal in her head that would allow her to hear me. But if there is, I’m not seeing or feeling any indication of it.

  I’m not used to feeling so helpless, and I don’t like it. But I’m growing weaker, and I finally have to accept that there really is nothing I can do to save myself. I know better than to try to blast my way out of enchanted jail cells—I learned that the hard way when I was trapped in the Hlbafa dungeon with Bones, and he ended up a casualty of my ignorance.


  Bones. Oh, Bones… I need you so badly. I miss you so much. I need you more than ever. Bones… Please… please help me somehow… please find a way.

  Slowly the tears trickle down my face. I swallow hard and try to steady my breathing. It’s been pitch black for hours with no stars or moon overhead to cast any sort of light. The only illumination comes from the hazy green orb overhead.

  I’m alone, and with no one who can help me. Maybe I don’t deserve to live. Maybe we’ve proven ourselves to be unworthy one time too many, and this was my last, fatal mistake. In the wild, the weakest of the herd are routinely picked off ensuring only the strongest of the species survive. Maybe this is just nature’s way of eliminating a mistake that should never have happened in the first place.

  Maybe I was never destined to be reunified and whole again and see my babies be born into this world. Maybe my fate was to die here… lost, and unloved.

  Because at this moment, I really don’t see it ending any other way. And I should’ve known. There was never going to be a happy ending for me. Or for Liora. The day the Amazèa killed our friends and shattered our soul, our fate was sealed.

  We remain alone… broken. Never to be what we were.

  Michael and Kayla weren’t the only ones who died that day. We died, too.

  We just didn’t know it yet.

  Chapter 23. Liora

  My neck is stiff and sore, and my back is absolutely killing me. I reach for my pillow, but it’s not there. Confused, I open my eyes. I’m on the ground in a greenish room.

  And then it all comes rushing back. We’re still here, imprisoned God only knows where.

  I roll over and see Corrine curled up in a ball, snoring softly. I don’t want to wake her, so I just stay quietly where I am. It scares me to realize my eyes are puffy and dry. Lucky was crying last night. A lot. That’s pretty much the worst sign I can imagine. I’d been hoping she’d figure a way out of this, and that I’d wake up safe and sound in my own bed at Anastasia’s house with this whole nightmare nothing but a distant memory.

  I catch my breath at what sounds like a light crunching outside the dome. I look over at Corrine, but she’s still snoring peacefully.

  There it is again. Yes! It’s definitely the sound of someone, or something, walking on the packed snow nearby. Otto must be back. I turn my head to look around, but I don’t see him anywhere. Now it sounds like more than one set of footsteps— quicker, closer together. And neither seems like the determined stride of our jailor.

  My heart starts racing, and I strain my eyes to look in every direction. But I still see nothing. It hadn’t escaped my attention that while anything thrown against the inside of the dome was incinerated, Otto had been able to throw the bag of food into the cage without it being zapped. So basically, we are sitting here totally exposed and unprotected if some polar bear or other wild animal decides to come along and make us its dinner. I’d heard stories about Pack wolves in Alaska who stalk and circle their prey while they slowly close ranks, until the victim has no way to escape and is eventually devoured.

  Are we being hunted right now?

  The footsteps become quicker, lighter, and seem to move in several different directions at once. Something is getting closer… closer… I’ve never been so scared in my life.

  Then I hear it, like a whisper in the wind.

  “Liora… Liora?”

  I must be hallucinating.

  “Liora? Are you here? Where are you?” the familiar voice repeats in a hushed shout.

  My hopes soar, although I’m still not convinced it isn’t just all in my head. Because there is no way Vincent is out there saying my name right now. It’s impossible.

  “Liora… Liora!” his voice calls again, echoed by Demetri’s.

  “Corrine? Liora? Are you guys out here?”

  Corrine rolls over and moans. “Can you be quiet?” she murmurs, still half asleep. A second later she opens her eyes and rubs them. Then she suddenly jolts wide awake. “Oh my God, someone was just calling us! Oh, wait— am I just imagining things?”

  “You heard it too?”

  She nods. “Vincent and Demetri.” We both look around but still can’t see them.

  “We’re over here!” I whisper loudly, terrified that somehow Otto will hear me.

  The crunching is faster now, and a moment later I see their faces. Corrine gives a hopeful whimper and clutches my hand. I have to fight the urge to immediately run into Vincent’s arms.

  “Liora… Corrine… are you okay?” Vincent asks.

  “Yes, yes, but we can’t leave or we’ll be disintegrated!”

  He and Demetri stop short and survey our green prison, obviously concerned. They turn and mumble to each other.

  “Oh my God, you gotta get us out of here!” I plead frantically. “We were taken by a Sovereign, and he might be back any minute!”

  Vincent turns back to me and shakes his head, clearly frustrated. “We can’t pull you out of there, and if we go in we’ll be trapped too.”

  “What? Can’t you just reach in and touch me and teleport us away?”

  Vincent studies the green shield again, and regretfully shakes his head. “No. You’d be killed the moment you attempted to leave the plane.”

  “What the hell! You gotta get us out of here!” By now I’m almost hysterical. This can’t be happening.

  “It’s impossible to escape,” Demetri says.

  “Neither one of us has the power to disarm it,” Vincent adds. “That is some powerful magic there. Top level stuff. I’d need a demon sorcerer, and the only one I know is in Thiberoux.”

  “Well get him!” I nearly yell. “Teleport there, grab him, and get back here! Quick, before Otto returns!”

  Vincent clenches his jaw and shakes his head. “Can’t. I barely found you this time. Your signal has been masked and was bouncing all over the place. I’ve been porting nonstop since about thirty seconds after you two disappeared—”

  “But that was hours and hours and hours ago.”

  He nods. “Exactly. I can’t risk leaving here to get reinforcements and then not be able to find you again. I’m not leaving here without you. Without both of you.”

  “But what are we supposed to do, dig our way out?” Corrine asks.

  I know she’s being sarcastic, but I look at them hopefully.

  Demetri shakes his head. “Not unless you can dig through solid ice with your bare hands. But I wouldn’t risk it. That shield is usually created as an all-encompassing sphere. Even if you can’t see it beneath you, it’s probably there.”

  I slump down, crushed. “So we’re just trapped here, and there’s nothing we can do?” This can’t be right. It isn’t fair that Vincent and Demetri should show up out of nowhere to save us, and then say, ‘oops, sorry… can’t’. That’s not how this is supposed to go!

  “How did this happen?” Demetri asks, walking the perimeter of our prison.

  “I screwed up,” I mumble under my breath.

  “Why did you leave the protected area?” I can hear the disappointment in Vincent’s voice, and I sink even further.

  “Because I’m not magical and all-knowing and powerful like you guys are. I’m just a seventeen- year- old girl. Sometimes I screw up. Don’t worry; I hate myself plenty for it right now.”

  “Please,” Corrine whimpers, and I feel my heart break even more. “Please, you’ve got to do something. Anything.”

  Demetri comes and sits down across from her on the other side of the shield.

  “It’ll be okay,” he says softly. “I promise you, no harm will come to you. If the Sovereign wants to get to you, he’ll have to go through us first.”

  Corrine sniffs, but doesn’t say anything. She just nods and continues to stare at Demetri, and he gives her a reassuring smile.

  “Actually, that might not be a bad idea,” Vincent begins, scratching his chin.

  “What?” I ask.

  “Having the Sovereign go through us… as in, when he returns, we l
et him come get you.”

  Corrine and I turn and screech in unison, “What?!”

  “Hear me out,” Vincent says raising his hand. “The Sovereign will return at some point, and he’ll need to take you out of here to move you to another location, correct? I say we wait here, invisible of course—” He nods to Demetri. “And wait for him to return and take down the shield. The second he does, I grab the girls and we all teleport back home.”

  We consider this for a moment. It sounds so simple. So easy.

  “But what if he doesn’t come back alone?” I ask. “What if he comes with whoever is going to claim me as their prize?”

  Demetri shakes his head. “I think it’s extremely unlikely that he’ll let anyone in on his secret spot here. He has this whole place so carefully guarded, it’s a wonder we even found you. Besides, he thinks you’re just a couple of helpless girls. He won’t think for a second that he’d need reinforcements.”

  “How did you find us?” I ask.

  Vincent just gives me an intense gaze and turns to Demetri. “What do you think… ready to become ghosts?”

  Corrine and I exchange nervous glances.

  “So now what, we’re supposed to just sit here and wait like bait?” I ask.

  Vincent looks at me again. “Yes. And so will we. We’ll be right here by your side for as long as it takes.”

  He puts his hand on Demetri’s shoulder, and instantly they both disappear. Of course I know they’re still right there, but I feel very uncomfortable. And nervous. I like Vincent where I can see him.

  “Vincent…”

  “Liora, you shouldn’t be talking to me,” he whispers. “You don’t know when or how the Sovereign will arrive. If he hears us, this whole thing will be blown.”

  “I know, I know. I just really have to ask. How were you able to find us? Otto said he didn’t leave a trail. How did you do it?”

  “Shhh,” Corrine hisses, elbowing me in the ribs. “I think I heard something.”

  We huddle together, and I hold my breath. Then I hear it too. The unmistakable pounding of heavy footsteps on ice. My God, Otto’s here already?