Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (35 page)

"The only thing that I care about tonight is you and me." His eyes flashed possessively as he touched her cheek, allowing his fingers to trail across her face. Akasha leaned into his hand, breathing in wistfully before pulling back sharply with eyes flashing. My body tingled as I sensed the heaviness, the burden of love and hate that coursed through her.

"Even now you are trying to use your powers to make me yours. The power of enthrallment and the use of charms will not make me love you, Fire King."

He sneered at her, "It would, if the goddesses had not interfered with
Elementi
business and my powers over you."

"Is that the only thing that upsets you? That you cannot manipulate what the goddesses have made?" As if she couldn’t resist, her hand reached out to touch him, then stopped, dropping back to her side slowly. "Proteos—Fire King—you must stop this. It is cruel. More people do not deserve to die because of your selfish need to possess me. So, my answer is still no; I will not give myself to you, ever, not in this life or in the next."

He grabbed her arms, pulling her roughly against his body, laughing cruelly. "Then as I have sworn, more people die until you bend to my will." He grabbed her chin. "I will never stop wanting you, not in this life or the next. Akasha…" He said her name with such longing that even my heart squeezed from the intensity of his stare. "This is my blood oath to you."

Regardless of the fact that he was majorly evil, he was also majorly gorgeous. His long golden blond hair fell to his shoulders in silky waves, his piercing gold eyes looked way too sexy, and his body was muscular but lean. So, I kind of didn’t know how Akasha could resist.

Her apple green eyes narrowed sadly. "Wanting? Wanting is temporary; needing is forever." She sighed softly, "But this has always been the problem, Fire King…even after all this time, and all this death and destruction, you cannot move past the wanting and move towards needing and loving. If you had, then we would not be having this ugly standoff."

His gold eyes turned crazed. "What difference does it make? I can give you the world, if you give me your blood oath to become mine."

Tears welled up in her eyes as she pulled away from him quickly. "No, Proteos, I do not love you. I could never love a cruel man such as you."

I felt her pain to the core of my body. I knew that she was torn, conflicted by the love that she felt for the Fire King. How could she deal with such a burning pain? More importantly, how could she love a man who was obviously filled with darkness and cruelty? My thoughts were stopped by the whirl of snow, first soft, then hard, that spun around my body. It was so sudden, so violent that I knew the Fire King had manifested it, showing his anger at Akasha like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

His face twisted into something dark and ugly as black tendrils of energy rose from this body, snapping at the air like hungry, feral animals. "Then, my beautiful Akasha, if I can’t have you, then I will ensure that no other man will, in this life or the next."

He flicked out his hand, sending a black wave of energy that slithered through the air like a python. I gasped with horror as its mouth opened to twice its size, latching on to her neck for what seemed like forever. She did not utter a word as it held her paralyzed, draining her body of energy. Abruptly it released her and disappeared into thin air.

Akasha crumpled to the snow-covered ground with stunned eyes.

The Fire King hovered over her with disdain in his eyes. "What a waste. And for what? Your stupid pride? Your unwillingness to love a man like me?"

She crawled to her knees, looking at him proudly as she wobbled to her feet. "You know nothing about love, Fire King." She looked up to the sky, her beautiful face twisting cruelly. "By the goddesses above, I curse you and your Kings of Kings to the elements from which you came. I curse you and everyone that comes after this life as cursed creatures in bondage to the realm of the Underworld, never to be undone until amends have been made."

"Please, Akasha, your spells and incantations do not work on me. I am the Fire King, king of the Royal
Elementi
Conclave, keeper of the elements. You and your people bow to me." He laughed coldly before flicking his hand, sailing bursts of flames through the village, burning everything in sight. "Such a pity," he spat before storming away.

She looked around with despair as everything he touched burned with such furiousness that it was hard for even me to watch. Akasha’s body rocked with despair as tears streamed down her face. She screamed at the top of her lungs like a wounded animal, and in response, the ground shook as if an earthquake rocked it.

"There is nothing left. Not of my people, not of my soul, I am truly empty." With a loud sob, she ran away from the village.

I looked at Kassandra and Echo angrily. "This is so not right. Why have you brought me here?"

"It is not done, Akasha reincarnated. Follow us," they said in unison, then abruptly turned on their heels and walked away.

A chill ran down my spine. Something was not right. I could feel it in my bones. Part of the story between the Fire King and Akasha was blatantly missing, and I was only seeing a snippet. Reluctantly, I followed them, finding them looking at Akasha with great interest. Something about their interest irked me. Why were they so interested in a story that had nothing to do with them and everything to do with me?

I stood by them quietly and watched as Akasha stood at the tip of the mountaintop, looking toward the sky with heartbroken eyes. Her long midnight black hair cascaded down her back like a beautiful cloak. She raised her arms in the air. "Goddesses, why have you allowed this? I stood by you faithfully as the Kings of Elements taught our women forbidden magic, spells, and incantations, and our men the art of warfare."

A painful sob escaped her lips. "I stayed loyal to you when these teachings sent my people into a state of destruction, causing war between us. I stood by as they greedily lusted after the daughters of our leaders, taking them as wives against their will."

She balled her hands into fists, shaking them violently. "I even stood by while the Fire King demanded me as his wife and, when I refused, cursed my father and people with sickness, then death. Why have you not answered my pleas for help? Do you not love me, your creation?"

A faceless woman’s voice pierced the stillness of the sky.
"Your faithfulness has not gone unnoticed, spirit daughter."

I gasped as the star-studded sky parted as if a curtain had been pulled aside. A beautiful woman with long white hair floated down from the sky, appearing before Akasha. She smiled lovingly; her violet almond-shaped eyes sparkled with joy as she softly touched Akasha’s cheek. It was Goddess Ananke.

Her voice tinkled, dotting the air musically. "Akasha, our daughter, never question our love for you. It is just not in our will to meddle in the business of
Normals
or go against the
Elementi
."

She pulled Akasha away from the tip of the mountain, walking calmly across the snow-covered bluff.

Tears tinted in gold flowed down Akasha’s cheeks. "But I am not just a
Normal
; I am more. I am born from the stars and sky that you have created. You have gifted me with the powers of the goddesses. And I look to you when everything that I am has crumbled." She stopped, looking at Goddess Ananke with desperation in her eyes. "What use are my powers if they could not save me or my people from him?"

The woman sighed softly, "Was the problem truly that you could not, or is it that you
would
not save yourself and your people?"

Akasha gasped with shock, in her eyes hurt.

"Look within yourself, spirit daughter. Ponder the choices that you have made and not made, and then you will discover how you can save yourself and your people."

Akasha spoke softly. "But how can I undo what has been done?"

The Goddess smiled wistfully. "Because we love you so, our gift to you is redemption—for you and your people." She touched a finger to her forehead, pulling away a shimmering golden string of light that clung to it caressingly. She touched her finger to Akasha’s forehead and attached the string of light to it. "We fill you with the element of spirit, killing your mere shell of a body, sending your soul to ascend into immortality in wait to be reborn."

She tugged the string of light, causing it to disappear. "It is done. Remember this gift in this life and the next."

Akasha’s body swayed. I could feel her soul leaving her body, lifting with light airiness.

Ananke leaned down and picked up a handful of snow. "We bind the kings to their elements—air, earth, fire, and water—in punishment for their unspeakable deeds against the universe, only to be released if your spirit is never reborn or is killed by the darkness." She blew the snow away. It floated away slowly, hovering, then completely disappearing. "Your fates are now tied, the kings to you and you to the kings."

"I thank you, Goddess, for the gift of rebirth. In the next life, I will not disappoint you." Akasha fell to the ground with a soft thud, her eyes shutting softly, her last breath escaping from her heart-shaped lips.

As her soul ascended from her shell of a body, I felt her joy, her happiness, and yes, sadness.

Kassandra and Echo looked at me silently. "This is what you must understand. Keep it close to your heart, Akasha reincarnated, for if you do not learn from it, you are doomed to repeat it." Echo’s voice was soft, almost pleading.

Something about them was softer, kinder, but I was still suspicious. "Why are you showing me this?"

Kassandra’s eyes narrowed coldly. "Because we have been here since the beginning of time as the keepers of all history. And even though we would
love
to see the
Eternals
and
Elementi
eat dust for their arrogance, this would only result in the destruction of a world which we happen to love."

I shook my head with disgust. There it was, rudeness back in full effect. I knew it was too good to be true.

Echo looked at Kassandra admonishingly. "What my sister is trying to say is that we must do our part in reminding the
Elementi
and
Eternals
of their torrid past. And if they conveniently choose to forget it, they are tragically doomed to repeat it. The winds are changing in your world, and not for the better. We had to show you the way because
you
are the only one that can save them."

Kassandra mumbled some ancient-sounding words softly as she traced in the air with the tip of her sword. A shimmering oval shape appeared. On the other side, I could clearly see the classroom, with students peering through with fascination.

Kassandra rolled her eyes with annoyance as she casually walked behind me. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Okay, so now that this stupid ‘I love Akasha’ show is over, good-bye, Akasha reincarnated."

She promptly shoved me hard, practically tossing me through the portal with a hard thud.

chapter

NINETEEN

I rushed out
of Defensive Magic and across the courtyard. I didn’t want to be late for my first training session with Veda. I was already really anxious about Veda’s expectations and whether she would even like me, which for some reason was very important to me right about now. Veda had left word that we should meet in the Themis Sanctuary, which Brooklyn described sarcastically as meditation city.

I ran through the castle and down a very dark, narrow hall, skirting anxiously to stop at the bottom of a steep set of stairs. Hesitating, I looked up at the large, imposing white marble statue of Themis placed at the top of the stairs, the base of which was decorated in reliefs sculpted in the stone.

Putting on my "I can do this" face, I climbed the stairs, staring at the walls that surrounded the magnificent gold door with intricate filigree work. As if they were compelling me to touch them, I ran my fingers across the walls sculptured in reliefs, extending over the total length of them, each relief depicting some epic battle. My fingers tingled as energy of the reliefs flowed into me. I smelled the fear, the blood of the people depicted; I also felt their sadness, their fear. My body quaked as the walls rumbled with power, causing me to jump back with shock. It felt so real, like the walls warned of the folly of war.

Wiping the sweat that now trickled down my face, I stepped back, hovering anxiously before pulling open the massive gold doors and peering into the darkness of the main hall. There was a multilevel altar centered on the wall across from the door, with a statue of Themis standing in the center of the top level. On the lower levels were candles and incense burning, a huge ornate glass jar filled with rich, dark soil, and another huge ornate glass jar filled with water. The walls were painted with various depictions of the
Eternals’
life.

My body froze as I teetered between running the other way and stepping into the unknown. It wasn’t that the main hall was scary, but it just had a weird vibe thing going on that made me feel that, with just one step in, life as I knew it would completely disappear. And this was something, quite frankly, I wasn’t sure that I was prepared for.