“I’m humbled and thankful,” I replied, offering a curt bow.
“If the Exiled Maras did something terrible, it is our duty as Daughters to address that. Besides, we may not be as powerful outside of Eritopia, but we can still make any creature cower in fear before us,” she said.
The Daughters joined the others, while Nova gave me a brief nod and rushed to the side of the platform. I had to admit, I was impressed.
We had a fearsome crew with us. And we were all extremely pissed off.
“Are you ready?” I asked Sofia.
Draven, Serena, Phoenix, Ibrahim, and the witches got into the capsule, and Viola began chanting the spell.
Sofia gave me a warm smile, squeezing my hand. “I’ve left our kids in charge in The Shade, and I’m about to go on a recovery mission with you, my love. Of course I’m ready.”
“Good, then let’s go get our people back and whip the living daylights out of whoever did this,” I replied, then chuckled softly as she pulled my hand and took me inside.
I found myself breathless.
The interior of the capsule looked infinitely bigger than the exterior. It was made of a sturdy metallic framework, with a plethora of greenery in its enormous glass walls. The witches had put together an entire ecosystem inside the capsule, along with the basic facilities required for long hours of travel. The photosynthesis from the onboard plants delivered oxygen into the capsule’s air ventilation system, aided by spells, and there were preservation charms in place on our food supplies.
Beams of white light crossed through the ceiling and the floor. The front of the capsule held a massive screen, doubling as a glass pane, through which we could see outside. Ibrahim and Corrine got to work on the keyboards mounted on both sides of the screen, just as Viola came inside.
“Okay, everybody stand still,” Ibrahim said, pressing several buttons. “The airlock is on.”
A hiss and a loud clang announced the hatch door had closed. Now sealed and prepared, our capsule was ready to go. Viola went to the front, positioning herself before the screen, then muttered the last lines of the spell.
Bright white light exploded outside. It engulfed the capsule.
The hum was familiar. I’d heard it before when the Neraka team’s spell had taken off.
It was our turn to fly away. Only this time we weren’t going to Neraka to investigate or explore. The entire crew sat down on metal chairs attached to the glass walls, complete with seatbelts, and buckled up. Corrine had picked up a few tricks from the humans’ space travel technologies.
“We have to be prepared for anything,” she said, noticing my frown as I stared at my own belt. “I asked myself a lot of ‘what if’ questions when we put this ship together. What if the spell fails for some reason? What if we hit something that sends us tumbling away? And so on.”
“No, no, I completely understand,” I replied, squeezing Sofia’s hand. “And I agree. Better to be prepared than get caught with our guard down.”
The giant sphere of light swallowed the capsule whole.
“We have liftoff,” Corrine announced.
For a second, we were all weightless, though strapped to our seats. The capsule left Luceria and shot through the sky.
Minutes later, it broke through the atmosphere and took us deep into the cold darkness of space.
Several hours later, Neraka’s galaxy glimmered ahead.
Heath cursed under his breath, drawing our attention. Out of everyone with children potentially stuck on Neraka, Heath was, by far, the angriest.
“Heath, our kids are strong,” Grace tried to comfort him. My heart broke a little more, because I could hear the tremor in her voice. She was as worried as the rest of us, no matter how hard she tried to hide it. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
Heath scoffed, shaking his head slowly. “You said Maras can be killed by fire, right?”
Jax’s wards all stared at him, equal parts scared and impressed. The other Maras were on edge, as well, but none were as impressive as the wards. They’d seen Heath and Blaze in full dragon form, months ago. They’d seen what the father-son duo could do. They had every reason to be in awe of Heath, as well as the other dragons joining him. There were ten of them, in total.
“Yes,” Draven replied, holding Serena’s hand in his. He pressed it against his lips for a moment, as he looked out through the front glass screen. “Fire, sunlight, or decapitation.”
“Good,” Heath grumbled, crossing his arms.
Hazel let out an audible sigh. “What do you think they’re doing now?” she murmured, staring at the plethora of stars whizzing past us.
Pippa chuckled nervously. “Knowing my Scarlett? Surviving, for sure.”
“Fiona is quite good at breaking bones,” Benedict replied, the shadow of a smile fluttering across his face.
“And Harper is pretty much the definition of a killing machine when she has to defend herself and the people she loves,” Tejus chimed in, a proud smirk stretching his lips.
Despite the anger and the underlying despair, I could see the sliver of hope. We all beamed with the faith we had in our younglings. We’d raised and trained them to be fighters. To always question and debate. To hold their ground and tear into anyone or anything who threatened their livelihoods.
“Okay, now, everybody! Hold on,” Corrine announced, as some of the temporarily loosened seatbelts clicked back into their slots. “We’re about to attempt entry into Neraka’s atmosphere.”
“Wait, it’s there?” I asked, then leaned forward to get a better look.
My breath hitched. A collective gasp emerged from the entire crew.
“It is. Sort of,” Corrine muttered. “It’s shielded. We couldn’t see it through the telescope.”
“Good grief,” I murmured, my eyes widened with shock.
There was an empty slot between the third and fifth planets in the galaxy of three suns, just like we’d observed through the telescope. But it wasn’t literally empty. The vacuum of space rippled around it, in the form of a giant sphere. Three moons orbited the seemingly empty space. There was an occasional glimmer across the invisible planet, the result of sun reflections.
“It’s there,” Sofia breathed.
“It’s cloaked somehow,” Draven said, staring at it.
“Hold on,” Corrine said again, as the capsule hummed, then hurled toward the shielded planet. “We’re going to try to pass through the shield now. Viola, get ready!”
Viola nodded, then unfastened her seatbelt and slid down on her knees, placing her palms on the metal floor.
The capsule headed straight for Neraka. We could hear the interplanetary spell whirr and whistle as it shot through space. A bright flash erupted before us. It blinded me, temporarily.
I heard Viola grunt, then mutter a swamp witch spell under her breath. She was affixed to the floor, connected to the capsule itself.
“Dammit, it won’t go through!” Ibrahim snapped. “Corrine, help me keep it steady for Viola!”
I blinked several times until the image of those around me came back into focus. Viola’s hands glowed a brilliant pink, fluorescent fuchsia veins stretching out from beneath and covering the entire floor.
The interplanetary spell crackled and shimmered, like a glitching TV screen, after having made contact with whatever shield was keeping Neraka hidden. Viola worked her combination of swamp witch magic and natural abilities as a Daughter of Eritopia, while her sisters murmured in the background.
Only then did I noticed the same fluorescent pink veins spreading out across the walls and ceiling, originating from beneath their naked feet. They were helping her, along with Ibrahim and Corrine, to override the original spell and steer the capsule onto one of Neraka’s moons.
The white one was the closest. We shot toward it, the interplanetary spell groaning beyond the capsule walls, as if taking a life of its own and protesting the change in direction. The moon didn’t have an atmosphere, so our landing was rather… wei
rd.
The speed with which we came through was enough to hurl the capsule into the dusty white ground. We bounced around several times, turned upside down and back and forth. By the time the spell bubble stilled, we were all pretty pale and nauseated.
But at least we’d made it safely to one of the moons.
It took us a while to recover. Phoenix jumped out of his seat and rushed to take Viola in his arms. She was tired and covered in sweat, as she removed her hands from the floor. She’d put in one hell of an effort to get us to land on a moon.
“It’s a cloaking spell of sorts,” Viola murmured, rubbing her face as Phoenix held her close and dropped kisses on her forehead.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and stood.
We could see the seemingly empty space from where we’d landed. The sun’s rays shimmered across the invisible surface.
“You mean swamp witch magic?” I asked, feeling my blood boil.
“I think so. On a literal global scale,” she replied. “It’s massive. Nothing else makes sense. Otherwise the interplanetary spell would have taken us through. Only swamp witch magic can resist or reject swamp witch magic.”
I exhaled sharply, and Sofia got up and joined me in front of the screen. One by one, the rest of our crew stood and stretched their limbs.
“How do we get in?” Sofia asked Viola.
“I’m not sure yet,” she replied, then looked at her sisters. “Any ideas?”
None of the Daughters had an answer—only shrugs.
“You should keep translating that book,” Saphira suggested. “Perhaps there’s something in there, somewhere in the last pages.”
“This is serious swamp witch magic, though,” Draven interjected with a frown. “Not the charms and mojos Rewa claimed the delegation swamp witch left them with. This is heavyweight stuff.”
It hit me then, knocking the air out of my lungs.
“You mean to tell me this could’ve been set up by a swamp witch?” I muttered.
“Or maybe they got a lot more out of the delegation swamp witch to begin with,” Draven replied, giving me a concerned look. “The delegation never came back in the first place. Now that we know we’ve been lied to, perhaps it’s time to ask. What if the Druid delegation never got off Neraka?”
It was my turn to curse under my breath.
“This is getting even more complicated. All we’re getting are more questions. Zero answers,” I said, no longer able to hide my frustration.
“I’ll dig through the tome, in the meantime,” Viola offered, motioning for the duffel bag beneath Phoenix’s chair. He fetched it for her. “Let me see if we can do something about that shield.”
A thought crossed my mind, and I shifted my focus back to Draven.
“Can you try Telluris again?” I asked him.
He nodded, then closed his eyes.
“Telluris Hansa!” he called out. A minute later, he tried again. “Telluris Harper!”
Nothing. He shook his head.
“You can’t feel them?” Serena replied.
“No answer. I haven’t truly felt them since they first left Calliope,” Draven reminded her.
“Then what do we do?” Sofia asked, resting her palms on my chest. “We’re not leaving here until we get the kids back.”
I thought about it for a few seconds, then looked at Viola.
“You’re right, Viola. Keep searching through that book. There must be something there,” I said. “In the meantime, the witches, the Druids, and the Daughters can work together on alternatives. We will stand by, ready to intervene and rip heads off the shoulders of Exiled Maras, if that’s what it takes to get our people back!”
Everyone agreed. Heath, in particular, his brow permanently furrowed.
“It’s fine, Derek. We’re all here,” he muttered. “No one takes our kids away from us and gets away with it.”
One of Jax’s wards came next to him, placing a friendly hand on his shoulder as he looked at me.
“Our Lord is down there,” he said. “We’re getting him back, one way or another.”
“We’re getting them all back,” added Tejus, his arms wrapped around Hazel.
“This is war,” I said.
Staring at the empty space where the hidden planet lay, I cemented my resolve with an extra layer of anger.
Heath was right. No one got away with causing any kind of pain to our people. To our friends and allies. To The Shade or Eritopia, for that matter.
There would be blood, soon enough.
Ready for the FINAL book of Season 7?
Dear Shaddict,
Thank you for reading A Snare of Vengeance.
The next book, ASOV 59: A Battle of Souls, is the thrilling FINAL book of Season 7!
A Battle of Souls releases April 28th, 2018.
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Bella x
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Read more by Bella Forrest
HOTBLOODS
(New supernatural romance series!)
Hotbloods (Book 1)
Coldbloods (Book 2)
Renegades (Book 3)
Venturers (Book 4)
Traitors (Book 5)
THE GIRL WHO DARED TO THINK
The Girl Who Dared to Think (Book 1)
The Girl Who Dared to Stand (Book 2)
The Girl Who Dared to Descend (Book 3)
The Girl Who Dared to Rise (Book 4)
The Girl Who Dared to Lead (Book 5)
The Girl Who Dared to Endure (Book 6)
The Girl Who Dared to Fight (Book 7)
THE GENDER GAME
(Completed series)
The Gender Game (Book 1)
The Gender Secret (Book 2)
The Gender Lie (Book 3)
The Gender War (Book 4)
The Gender Fall (Book 5)
The Gender Plan (Book 6)
The Gender End (Book 7)
A SHADE OF VAMPIRE SERIES
Series 1: Derek & Sofia’s story
A Shade of Vampire (Book 1)
A Shade of Blood (Book 2)
A Castle of Sand (Book 3)
A Shadow of Light (Book 4)
A Blaze of Sun (Book 5)
A Gate of Night (Book 6)
A Break of Day (Book 7)
Series 2: Rose & Caleb’s story
A Shade of Novak (Book 8)
A Bond of Blood (Book 9)
A Spell of Time (Book 10)
A Chase of Prey (Book 11)
A Shade of Doubt (Book 12)
A Turn of Tides (Book 13)
A Dawn of Strength (Book 14)
A Fall of Secrets (Book 15)
An End of Night (Book 16)
Series 3: The Shade continues with a new hero…
A Wind of Change (Book 17)
A Trail of Echoes (Book 18)
A Soldier of Shadows (Book 19)
A Hero of Realms (Book 20)
A Vial of Life (Book 21)
A Fork of Paths (Book 22)
A Flight of Souls (Book 23)
A Bridge of Stars (Book 24)
Series 4: A Clan of Novaks
A Clan of Novaks (Book 25)
A World of New (Book 26)
A Web of Lies (Book 27)
A Touch of Truth (Book 28)
An
Hour of Need (Book 29)
A Game of Risk (Book 30)
A Twist of Fates (Book 31)
A Day of Glory (Book 32)
Series 5: A Dawn of Guardians
A Dawn of Guardians (Book 33)
A Sword of Chance (Book 34)
A Race of Trials (Book 35)
A King of Shadow (Book 36)
An Empire of Stones (Book 37)
A Power of Old (Book 38)
A Rip of Realms (Book 39)
A Throne of Fire (Book 40)
A Tide of War (Book 41)
Series 6: A Gift of Three
A Gift of Three (Book 42)
A House of Mysteries (Book 43)
A Tangle of Hearts (Book 44)
A Meet of Tribes (Book 45)
A Ride of Peril (Book 46)
A Passage of Threats (Book 47)
A Tip of Balance (Book 48)
A Shield of Glass (Book 49)
A Clash of Storms (Book 50)
Series 7: A Call of Vampires
A Call of Vampires (Book 51)
A Valley of Darkness (Book 52)
A Hunt of Fiends (Book 53)
A Den of Tricks (Book 54)
A City of Lies (Book 55)
A League of Exiles (Book 56)
A Charge of Allies (Book 57)
A Snare of Vengeance (Book 58)
A Battle of Souls (Book 59)
A SHADE OF DRAGON TRILOGY
A Shade of Dragon 1
A Shade of Dragon 2
A Shade of Dragon 3
A SHADE OF KIEV TRILOGY
A Shade of Kiev 1
A Shade of Kiev 2
A Shade of Kiev 3
THE SECRET OF SPELLSHADOW MANOR
(Completed series)
The Secret of Spellshadow Manor (Book 1)
The Breaker (Book 2)
The Chain (Book 3)
The Keep (Book 4)
The Test (Book 5)
The Spell (Book 6)
BEAUTIFUL MONSTER DUOLOGY
Beautiful Monster 1
Beautiful Monster 2
DETECTIVE ERIN BOND (Adult thriller/mystery)
Lights, Camera, GONE
Write, Edit, KILL
For an updated list of Bella’s books, please visit her website: www.bellaforrest.net