Page 77 of Called By Fate

So many souls.

The circular glass encases them from all sides so there is no escape for them. The way they’re moving reminds me of the portal to the In-Between. The real question is, how did the Elders manage to get this many souls?

And why?

Is this what’s keeping them invincible?

Guess that was more than one question.

“Holy fucking shit,” Elian says, trailing in behind me, studying the room.

At the sound of his voice, the swirling souls become agitated, knocking against the glass, desperately trying to get out.

“We have to do something,” I say, getting closer. It’s like I can feel their pain and agony inside of me. There’s no telling how long these poor people have been trapped in there.

My hand almost touches the glass when Elian yanks me back. “Have you lost your mind?” he demands. “You have no idea what sort of protections the Elders have put in place to protect this thing.”

Admonished, I shake myself out of the trance the souls put me in. "Fuck, you're right. I don't know what happened. It’s like they are calling to me. I couldn't stop myself..." I turn my gaze back to the souls, unable to look away.

Elian brings my face to his and looks leery for a moment before it’s gone, and his normal mask is in place. “We’ll come back once we get everyone out and try to determine a way to let them free, okay?”

Elian leads me from the room and the souls try harder to escape. My own soul aches for them, but I know Elian is right, we have to think of the living first.

When we emerge from the building, we join everyone outside and find Matilda is already working on portaling everyone out. The guards from earlier are nowhere to be found so Elian’s fear trick must’ve really sent them on a wild goose chase. Part of me hopes they lose their way out in the woods. It would serve those assholes right.

“Hey, Matilda. Glad Reed’s message made it,” I say, crossing the distance to her.

“I’m just glad you found them all in one piece. I guess we can say that’s one plan foiled, right?” She shoots me a wink and it dissipates some of the heartache and uneasiness created by our discovery downstairs.

I laugh. “I guess so.”

The line seems to be dwindling rather quickly and so far, there’s no indication that anyone is any wiser about what we’re doing.

I should know better than that by now though.

There are about thirty or so people left when a terrible feeling strikes me straight in the gut. I wrap my arm around my stomach. Elian winces, feeling an echo through the bond, and immediately leaves his conversation with Niall to come check on me.

Even Malachi cocks his head and asks, “You okay, Shadow Girl?”

Elian rubs his hands up and down my shoulders. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Something’s not right,” I respond when another awful feeling washes over me.

The ground beneath us begins to rumble, slowly at first. There’s only a slight quake beneath our feet, but it’s enough for us to notice. I look from Elian to the ground in confusion. Then out of nowhere, a crack splits the earth. It starts from the building everyone was housed in and heads straight for us and where Matilda is hurrying people through the portal.

The patch beneath my feet cracks open and instinctively, I jump off it. It grows wider, like it’s trying to swallow me whole. I don’t panic, but I do catch Matilda out of the corner of my eye. Her concentration breaks and she’s forced to shut the portal down as chaos begins all around us and people begin screaming as the crack splits even more.

Everyone scatters like ants and runs in opposite directions. Elian is laser focused on me and grabs my hand as we run. When the ground eventually stops rumbling, I look back and find a giant abyss separating us. Somehow Elian, Ash, Niall, Malachi, and I end up on the opposite side from Matilda and her portaling abilities.Fuck.

The next thing I know, the building explodes, and the glass case of souls shoots out of the hole before the place implodes on itself. The souls hover menacingly above the wreckage, and the blast is enough to knock us off our feet, sending us flying. I hit the ground beside Elian with anoomph,and he throws up a shield, using Kaos’ magic to protect us from the debris. He recovers faster than me and says something, but I can’t hear anything over the ringing in my ears.

That’s when the panic starts to set in, but I don’t let it control me. I take a few deep breaths like Elian taught me, and when the earth stops shaking, I get to my feet alongside him and help Ash to hers. Niall is knocked out cold, but the rise and fall of his chest indicates he’s still breathing. Malachi bends to check on him.

This is bad. So fucking bad.

Carnage is all around us. Most of the remaining shifters and Weavers are laying on the ground. A few of them are dangling off the edge of where the earth split and as much as I want to help them, my focus is on the three figures emerging from the cloud of dust with not a spec on them, those stupid robes of theirs billowing in the breeze.

Elder Vogt has his hand in the air, controlling the ball of souls as he walks. Reginald has a gleeful smile on his face, which I’m sure he thinks is seductive, but it merely turns my stomach. Vald is impassive and looking ruthless as usual. The moon shining on them gives their already ominous features an even more sinister look. None of them spare Niall a glance. He’s truly dead to them.

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