Page 37 of Ace's Ascension

“Aerik, darling where do you want her?” Jalinda asks with a coo in her voice that makes my stomach churn.

“Over by the high priestess temple.”

Jalinda keeps ahold of Liz’s neck and shoves her toward the spot Aerik pointed to. Inside, there is a square table with a green cloth. Drawn in white on the cloth is a circle divided into four quadrants with various symbols etched inside each one. Two backless chairs are set up on one side of the table. On the other side is another chair, a high-backed one painted in a myriad of colors and symbols. Jalinda shoves Liz into one of the two chairs and Aerik takes the other. With a sinister look on his face, he grabs Liz’s hand with her scars and begins rubbing them.

“You know, Elizabeth, all of this could have been avoided if you would have just married me like you were supposed to. I wouldn’t have threatened your brother into cutting your wrists and making you out to be the crazy one. Actually, I didn’t have to threaten him, but I did threaten his addiction. Heroin can make people do crazy things.” He tightens his hold on Liz and pulls her against him. “We would have been so happy together, Elizabeth. This is all your fault. Madeline would still be here if you didn’t tell her what Tomas did for me. I wouldn’t have had to kill the nosy bitch if she would have just given me her blessing to become the high priest by marrying you.”

Jalinda takes a seat across from Liz and Aerik and places her hands on the table. “Mama, what are you doing?” Liz asks, fear trembling her voice.

“What I need to do for this family to survive. You will marry Aerik, have his babies and once he gets a male heir, he will kill you.” Jalinda’s voice doesn’t waver from her words. No regrets, no remorse.

“Daddy?” Liz asks with tears running down her face.

I shift my head slightly to look at the man Liz is pleading with and he too has tears streaming down his face. “I’m so sorry, baby. She took everything from me and I can’t help you.” Hisbottom lip quivers as he casts his gaze back to Jalinda and then lowers it to the floor in a submissive pose.

“Now that you know yourdaddyis a helpless, weak man, shall we begin?” Jalinda asks with excitement in her voice. She takes a pile of bones in her hands and begins to transfer them from one palm to the next. With the bones in her hands, she pressed her palms together and began to shake them as if she were playing Yahtzee. After a minute, she drops them onto the green surface. The bones are glossy and smooth, caramel and off-white color. I don’t know what she’s doing, but the look of rage on her face makes me smile. She scoops up the bones again and repeats the process. Jalinda does this several times until her eyes land on me.

This is his fault.” Jalinda hisses, pointing a perfectly polished nail my way. Tomas grinds into my back making me wince.

Aerik leans forward dragging Liz with him. “Finish this and then end him.” He hisses at Jalinda.

Jalinda closes her eyes and begins chanting something I can’t understand. A cold breeze rips through the shack and wraps around our bodies.

“NO!” Liz shouts in agony. She begins clawing and fighting Aerik. Scratching her nails down his face, punching and hitting him the best she can from her position. Aerik stands up and backhands Liz, sending her spiraling out of the chair onto the wooden floor. Her body hits the unforgiving floor with a thud and she doesn’t move.

“Finish it!” Aerik bellows through clenched teeth. He kneels where Liz is lying and moves her hair out of her face. Her nose is bleeding and her eyes are closed.

Anger and rage thrum through my body from being helpless. I was helpless once and I won’t let it happen again. With renewed strength and darkness pounding into me, I lift myself off the floor with Tomas’ boot still pressing into my back andstand up to my full height. I ball up my fist and slam it into Tomas’s face as hard as I can. His eyes roll back into his head and he drops like a sack of potatoes. I didn’t kill him, but I really wanted to.

I turn facing Aerik who has a hold of Liz by the throat again, this time instead of squeezing it, he has his hands placed so he can snap her neck with a flick of his wrist. The darkness trying to break free pounds away inside of me and I let it go. I don’t hold back as I lunge forward. Just as I reach Aerik, something cold pierces my abdomen. I look down to see Jalinda’s hands move away from my side. There is a silver knife wedged in my side and my blood is flowing freely from the wound.

Liz comes too in time to see her mother stab me and I watch as something inside of her changes. Gone is the peaceful, elegant, innocent angel I’ve come to love and in its place is a powerful, beautiful, sinful woman who takes my breath away.

Liz reaches behind her and with unforgiving strength, she slams her palm into Aerik’s nose, making him bleed instantly. Then she spins on her butt and shoves a foot into his stomach, causing him to bend over and lose his breath. Before Aerik can retaliate, Liz balls up a fist and smashes into his face, knocking him out cold.

“You will pay for this, mother.” She turns to her mother and advances on her so quickly, that it’s all a blur.

Blood is pouring out of my wound, and I try to cover it with my hands unsuccessfully. My body is turning weak and I fall to my knees. Warmth wraps around me, cocooning me in safety as my world turns black. I wish I would have told Liz how I felt before this. I wish I had told her I loved her before all of this went down. Since I didn’t, I’m going to have to face the reality she will never know.

Chapter Twenty-One

Liz

“Help us!” I scream into the small room, hoping and praying someone will come to our aid. Ace is bleeding and I can’t stop it. His eyes slide open for a brief moment before closing again. He’s still warm to the touch, so I know we still have time. This isn’t something I’m capable of taking care of. This is out of my element.

Strong arms pull me out of the way. I protest and fight, not letting Ace out of my sight. “Let us fix this.” I look up into the familiar eyes of my father and brother. The haze and hatred that was clouding their vision are gone. In its place are clear blue eyes like my Pawpaw had.

“If he dies, I will end you,” I warn, taking a chance my dad or brother won’t harm Ace.

“I know, baby girl and I’m so sorry for everything I put you through,” Dad responds.

“Me too. I don’t know what happened to me.” Tomas responds shaking his head like he’s trying to clear it.

I’m shocked and speechless. Were they under some sort of spell?

Stone and Tex come barging into the small room and pull their guns, aiming them at my dad and Tomas, who are working on saving Ace.

“What the fuck!” Stone’s deep growl has the hair on the back of my arms standing on end.

---