Page 65 of Eternal Sacrifice
A hand shot out of the water, using an icy grip and long-taloned nails to wrap around my neck. My reflection smiled at me, showing the pointed teeth, this time stained with blood.
I smiled back even as her grip tightened.
“This is foreplay where I’m from,” I croaked before lunging into the water.
The grip around my throat disappeared when my head plunged beneath the surface. My reflection had vanished as well.
I looked into the murky waters, making out darkened shadows on the lakebed. My arms and legs power me toward the bottom. The vague shapes became a small plot of tombstones. They stood in a watery grave with a small metal fence on the perimeter.
Air escaped my lips and floated toward the graveyard. I kicked my feet harder, propelling myself after the bubble, and the world shifted. I swam up, emerging from a small puddle, gasping for air. My hands grabbed at the loose stones on the bank. My body felt like it was coated in metal, weighing me down as I pulled myself out of the water.
When I looked down through the waters of the puddle, I saw my reflection.
She grinned, waving goodbye.
I got to my feet, finding my clothes dry as I looked around. The graveyard stood ten feet in front of me. It was desolate, as abandoned as it had been underwater.
The metal gate had vertical bars with sharp points of varying heights in a square around the plot. I went through the gate, shutting it behind me. It turned into a thick wooden door as I stepped into a candlelit mausoleum. A green flamed torch flickered from the wall. I grabbed it. A place like this looked like it should smell of dirt, but only stale air greeted me as I traveled into the center of the room.
A glass coffin sat in the middle of the space. Jax’s perfectly preserved body lay inside.
My stomach bottomed out, and my heart jumped into my throat. I wanted to run to the coffin, shatter the glass, and see his sea-foam-green eyes look up at me. But I approached cautiously, taking my time to circle around and check for spells or runes. I came around to peer down at him directly. His eyes were closed as if peacefully sleeping. His hands rested on his stomach, his fingers entwined with each other.
A scar ran through the inked runes of his throat.
“What would you give?” a voice asked on the wind.
“Everything,” I said, offering truth.
“Everything?” the voice repeated in a taunting tone. “All?”
“All. To make my family whole, I’d tear down the veil. Set you free,” I whispered as my hand touched the cool glass above Jax’s body.
“For this one?”
“Yes,” I breathed, trading in honesty.
“The veil is a pitcher beneath a stream, already saturated. So near to bursting should the flow increase.”
I waited for more, but the room fell silent except for the beating of my heart.
Jax’s eyes opened.
Myeyesfocused,andJace’s smiling face came into view. All the air inside my lungs came out in a rush while Jace crushed me to his chest.
“I was getting worried there for a moment, Love.”
He released me, and I saw Wren standing a few feet away, her foot tapping like a jackrabbit.
“We need to hurry.” She turned, heading down a sand path in the middle of barren land. Dead trees with empty branches thickened as we walked until Wren stood in the middle of the trail, blocked by a wall of tangled and thorn filled vines.
“I got it,” I said, snapping my fingers and setting the dry branches ablaze. The fire obeyed me the same as it did inside my body, and I realized I could have been using power the entire time.
I cleared the path before extinguishing the flames, not even leaving smoldering embers.
Wren looked horrified, turning to face me as if asking why.
“You said we were in a hurry.”
