Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (17 page)

She lifted her hood, covering her head as she nervously headed toward the door.

Rosalinda’s eyes filled with panic. "Mama, don’t go. Take me with you." She grabbed her sleeve desperately.

Rosa looked at her coldly, shaking her hand off. "Don’t be such a baby; you are a Warrior now, a
Circle
, so act like it." She grabbed her arm roughly. "You must stay here and gain their trust. You are no use to me without the
Book of Eternals
," she spat with venom. She coughed again, this time spraying fine dots of blood all over Rosalinda.

Rosalinda recoiled from her wrath. "I’m sorry. Don’t be angry. I will stay and help you."

Rosa caressed her face and smiled sadly. "I’m sorry, sweet Rosalinda. I’m being way too harsh with you. It’s just that your mission is so very important. Hannah and I need you; you are the only one that we can trust now. Go back to the castle, and tell no one about us. Learn everything that you can, and I will contact you when the time is right."

"But how can I stay with them knowing that they are evil and liars?" Rosalinda said angrily.

Rosa looked at her proudly. "Because if all goes according to the plan, you will stand side by side with me and Hannah, as we will rule all the
Eternals
. Pay attention to all of the training, and learn all you can. This knowledge will be of great use to us. But also remember that you cannot trust anyone, not even your friends."

She kissed Rosalinda softly on both cheeks, then hugged her tightly. Rosalinda pressed her face into her hair, filling her nose with the familiar scent of roses. Rosa abruptly released her, striding quickly to the door and out of the barn.

Rosalinda shivered, suddenly cold from the cool night air. Her mother needed her, and if there was a choice between her mother and her friends, the decision to stand by her mother would always be her choice.

With hatred filling her heart, she spat, "The
Eternals
are not my concern anymore. I will do what is necessary to fight by my mother’s side. No matter what it takes." She ran out of the barn and into the cold night at top speed.

chapter

ELEVEN

Hannah’s eyes darted
along the tree line edgily as she peered through the thicket.
What’s taking her so long?
The portal would stay open for only but so long. She mentally kicked herself for trusting Rosa to complete such a critical job and not sticking to her guns and doing it herself.

After all, their whole plan hinged on Rosa convincing young, naive Rosalinda to steal the
Book of Eternals
. Plus, the fact that Rosa’s behavior had been very erratic lately was causing her some great concern about her commitment to their cause. All this combined with the fact that she didn’t think Rosa had the stomach to do what was necessary to get the job done, which included sacrificing her own daughter, if necessary.

She, on the other hand, would feel absolutely no remorse in doing whatever it took to bring down the
Eternals
, and if that meant sacrificing lives, including Rosa’s, oh well.
All is fair in blood and war.
She chuckled menacingly.

She had waited far too long, planned way too hard to let anyone or anything get in the way of what was rightfully hers, and that was bringing the
Eternals
to their knees. She flicked her hand out quickly, marveling at the visible, pulsating black energy that twirled and danced around her fingertips. It made her absolutely giddy with power.

She smiled with satisfaction. Her powers were growing stronger and stronger every day. Even without her scarlet pendant, her powers had grown by leaps and bounds. She had made many sacrifices, and many promises, to the Underworld, and she had been handsomely rewarded threefold with more powers than any of the
Circles
could ever imagine.

In comparison, Rosa had grown weak and sickly without the powers and gifts that her scarlet pendant had once provided. When they were expelled from the
Circles
, Rosa had worried annoyingly about them losing their gifts, but she, on the other hand, couldn’t care less about such trivial matters when Ralem, a
Daemon
from the Underworld, promised her so much more.

"They will feel the wrath of my full powers real soon," she whispered venomously. Just the thought of the
Circles
filled her with pure rage. Expel her? Take away her scarlet pendant and cut her off from her gifts, her powers? They would pay, and pay dearly, for their hasty decision. She sneered when she thought about the night they, her sisters-in-arms, confronted her and cunningly betrayed her without a second thought, with the ultimate betrayal committed by her closest friends, Victoria, Olivia, and Jessica. Her jaw tightened when she thought about the night it all began.

She stormed back and forth
, absorbing the powerful magic of the cavern with relish. "Who would have thought that all of this was hidden right under the cover of New York’s Central Park? And right under the noses of the
Elementi
and
Eternals
."

Suddenly she stopped midstride, momentarily distracted by the throbbing pain in her side.
What’s taking him so long?
she thought angrily. Maybe he changed his mind, or worse, he got caught and was leading them straight to her to escape the punishment of death.

She had paid the price to get this secret location. She carefully pulled her clinging T-shirt away, tracing a finger over the black and blue splotches along her waist as she whispered a healing spell. She smiled when her skin slowly transformed from bruised back to its ivory perfection.

She berated herself for not taking them down before being forced to retreat and leave the book. Under better circumstances and better odds, she should have fought to the death, but she knew that they would have slaughtered her without remorse and chalked it up to another
Eternal
Warrior gone rogue. She chuckled evilly, for she knew that the truth was that they had failed in their duty to protect the
Book of Eternals
from falling into the wrong hands, her hands. And now she was so very close to bringing the destruction of their world, the very thing that they feared the most.

Her pulse raced when she remembered the feeling of the
Book of Eternals
and its magical pull. To have all that great power at the tip of her fingers, magical spells and incantations passed down from
Eternal
to
Eternal
for centuries—spells and incantations that could summon the most powerful angels, spirits, and
Daemons
that the world had ever seen—and it would be all hers very soon, if only he would get here.

"
Normals
," she spat aloud with despisement.

Her body tensed at the sound of heavy footsteps running toward the entrance of the cavern. Pulling her sword deftly from its sheath, she was raring for battle. Her eyes narrowed, then relaxed when he burst into the cavern anxiously.

Her fingers lightly brushed her long chestnut brown hair away from her face, with a warm smile lighting up her face with excitement. "I’m so happy that you’re finally here, Jacob." Her eyes quickly dismissed him, focusing on the black bag slung across his body.

His wide brown eyes sparkled with excitement as he smiled back, striding toward her; strands of his long, dark hair whipped across his face quickly as the cool air whirled around him.

"Me too,
Circle
Hannah. I thought that I would never see your face again." He smiled eagerly, displaying a cracked tooth that marred his otherwise perfect smile. "I made sure to follow your instructions carefully."

Hannah laughed huskily as she sauntered over to him, allowing her gaze to caress his tall, muscular frame with appreciation. "Are you sure that you were not followed?" She allowed her long, delicate, pale fingers to trail along his arm.

He nodded his head insistently. "I’m sure. I made sure that I covered my tracks just like you taught me. We’re safe."

Hannah looked at him quickly. She wasn’t naive enough to think that they were safe from the cruel hands of the
Eternals
. She knew them too well. By now the Trackers had been dispatched to bring her back for punishment, or worse, kill her.

She stared at him intently. "Did they question you?"

He fiddled from side to side uncomfortably. "Yes, but I told them nothing." He looked at her nervously. "But they said some pretty horrible things about you, Hannah." He swallowed nervously. "Did you really kill an
Elementi
?"

She looked at him coolly. "Yes."

Jacob stepped back, anxiously clutching his black satchel protectively.

Her eyes narrowed on the black satchel cunningly as she grabbed his arm. "But I had to, Jacob. I tried to reason with him, to convince him to be a part of the rite and allow us to borrow his immortal essence, but he threatened to expose us." She blinked tearfully.

He looked at her with shocked eyes. "They said that they found his body completely drained of all his powers." He gulped nervously. "Killing an
Elementi
is against the blood oath. Besides, you said nothing about killing, nothing."

"Why do you even care about the blood oath anyway? You’re a mere
Normal
." She patted his cheek scornfully. "Just leave
Eternal
business to me, okay?"

His face turned beet red. "I know what I am, Hannah. And remember that this mere
Normal
risked his life to steal for you."

"What do you want me to say?" She gripped his shoulder painfully. "There is a price to pay for power, Jacob. Sacrifices have to be made. Grow up."

Jacob stiffened defensively, backing away toward the cavern’s exit. "But killing? I didn’t sign up for that."

Hannah smiled quickly, touching his arm. "Don’t be like that, Jacob. I did what I had to do so that we could be together. That’s what you want, right?"

His eyes narrowed with concern. "I thought that’s what
we
want, but—"

She smiled at him seductively as she licked her lips with anticipation. "Of course that’s what we want. Come, Jacob, let’s not waste time. The faster that we do this, the quicker our union will be." She stormed over to the middle of the large stone floor and walked around in a circle, examining the area intently. "Okay, this will do," she mumbled aloud. She walked around the perimeter, tracing a large pentagram with precision using the sharp tip of her long silver sword.

When she was done, she inspected the outer perimeter of the pentagram carefully, ensuring that she did not step anywhere near the inside. She snuck a peek at Jacob to see if he noticed her carefully avoiding touching any part of the pentagram, but as usual, he was looking at her with that ridiculous adoring puppy dog expression.

She knew that one step inside, or even slightly touching it, would trap her inside like a sacrificial lamb, and that would never do. She stopped long enough at each point in the pentagram to tap the sword briskly, stirring the dirt on the ground—this was the seal to ensure that once he stepped in, there would be no way of getting out.

She smiled at him coyly. "It’s ready. Give me the
Book of Eternals
."

He hesitated, looking over at her uncertainly. "Are you sure that you can do this? I mean having enough power to make me an
Eternal
like you, so that you and I can be together forever?"

Silly boy, does he really think that I’m remotely interested in spending eternity with a twenty-one-year-old Normal who follows me around like a sappy puppy dog?
she thought with irritation.

She wiggled her fingers impatiently. "The book, Jacob?"

He looked at her apprehensively as he reached into his bag and pulled out the large, ornate gold book.

She smiled reassuringly. "Trust me, Jacob." She was mere seconds from snatching the book from him, but she knew that would have dire consequences. The book belonged to the possessor; therefore, it had to be willingly given over to her.

"But…" He fidgeted anxiously as he clutched the book to his chest.

"Look, do you want this or not? I cannot promise you more than the darkness is willing to give. That’s the deal, so are you in or out, because I can always get another
Normal
that would be more than willing to oblige."