Blood Oath (A Gabby Girls Adventure Novel, Book Two) (19 page)

Victoria looked at her coldly. "Our blood oath is to protect the
Elementi
and guard the Gates. Our powers and gifts are only binding through them."

"
Elementi
? They’re the thing of the past. They’re cowards hiding in their castles, waiting for us to fight a war that they don’t have the stomach to fight anymore. Power is all that I care about, and I"—Hannah looked at them like a cobra ready to strike—"I for one will not wait or beg the
Elementi
for the right to use my powers as I please. I will take what is mine; I will take all the powers that are due to me."

"Even if it means that you have to sell your soul to the Underworld for it?" Olivia asked woefully.

Hannah looked at her with disgust. "Yes, goody two-shoes, even it means my soul is no longer mine. See, unlike you cowards, I am not afraid to do what is necessary."

Rosa looked at them nervously. "This is not right. We must request a meeting before the Royal
Elementi
Conclaves and let them hear all sides. For goodness sake, give Hannah a chance to tell her side of the story. She has the right to be heard before them."

"Then it is done. We must do what is best for the
Eternals
." Victoria’s waist-length brown hair flew haphazardly around her as she strode over to the mouth of the cavern, marking the air with her fingers as she drew the shape of a door in the air.

Hannah watched mockingly as a stream of
Circles
strode through the portal solemnly, among them High Priestesses Celeste and Priscilla.

Rosa ran her hands through her jet-black hair agitatedly, her peach-colored skin flushed with anger. "Wait, Hannah is right. Why do we live in service to the
Elementi
? Our blood oath to protect them has chained us, and I no longer want to live my life in servitude to them."

Jessica rounded on her angrily. "Are you serious? We are talking about our binding oath to protect the balance of the universe; this is what we were born to do. This is the only reason we have any powers at all. It is our path and oath."

Rosa looked around wildly, standing back to back with Hannah. "Well, I stand with Hannah, and I will not back down."

"Rosa, no, you are not thinking right." Olivia reached to grab her hand.

Hannah snarled at her like an animal, "Leave her alone. Don’t you dare touch her." She flicked out her hand, sending a black burst of energy that shimmered and danced, stopping Olivia dead in her tracks, shoving her hard onto the ground.

"Enough!" Victoria screamed. "Hannah, don’t make me regret not following the Conclaves’ orders to slay you where you stand."

The
Circles
quickly clasped hands, forming a large circle around both Hannah and Rosa.

Hannah swung around, looking at them wildly. "You can’t be serious? You think that you can get rid of me by casting some weak banishing spell and without a fair trial before the Conclaves? You have no right. My scarlet pendant and gifts belong to me. I promise you, you are all finished—you hear me, finished!" she screamed.

Victoria’s eyes narrowed. "There is no love between us, Hannah. I’ve seen your cruelness up close and personal and would take absolute pleasure in wiping you off the face of this earth."

Hannah smiled cruelly. "And I know you all too well, sister. It must have taken all of your strength not to kill me given all the dark secrets I know about you."

She looked around with desperation. She knew that it was useless to even try to use her powers to break free from the middle of the circle. Once the circle was cast, there was no breaking free of the boundary of pure, concentrated power. But she tried anyway. She ran full speed across the circle, but as she reached the outer edge, she slammed hard against the invisible force of energy. Her body went limp. like a rag doll, as it bounced into the center of the circle.

Rosa looked at Olivia with tears glistening. "Please, don’t do this."

Olivia wiped away her trail of tears before looking away.

"Please, Jessica, this is not right." Rosa looked at Jessica with pleading eyes.

Jessica looked at her with hard eyes.

Rosa’s eyes pleaded with Victoria. "Vicky, please?"

"I wish things were different, Rosa, but this is out of my hands now." Victoria looked at her sadly.

Coldly, Hannah looked at them. "Don’t waste your time, Rosa. The die has been cast, and they are not moved by your weak pleas."

Victoria looked at them unemotionally.

The
Circles
chanted in unison, "We stand together for the goodness of the
Circles
. We stand together for the goodness of the
Eternals
. We stand together for the blood that we have spilt for the
Elementi
. We open our minds, transcending our powers, revoking all evil, and binding your lives. Your scarlet is useless, your powers denied, expelled from our circle and binding your lives."

Jessica reached out her hand, flicking her fingers quickly. A brisk wind sailed through the cavern, ripping Hannah and Rosa’s scarlet pendants from their necks, then sailing them back through the air effortlessly and dropping them into the center of her hand.

"It is done." Olivia shook her head sadly.

Hannah laughed scornfully. "You
Circles
are seriously weak. You think that this is the end? Never. This is only the beginning." With pure hatred in her eyes, she rubbed her hands together, quickly generating black sparks that sputtered and sizzled from the tips of her fingers. She closed her eyes tightly. "Darkness, come to me. I serve you faithfully."

They gasped as a dark cloud enclosed first her hands, then slowly engulfed her entire body.

"Oh my Athena, the darkness is here!" Jessica screamed furiously.

With distain, Hannah looked at her. "Yes, and the world that you know is about to change." She laughed chillingly. "My vow to each of you is that, with my last waking breath, I will break the
Circles
and
Eternals
." She looked at Jessica, Victoria, and Olivia scornfully. "And you three will be the first to be destroyed, and then your daughters. This I solemnly swear."

She lifted her arms, casting a dark cloud around Rosa and herself, and when the cloud disappeared, so did they.

She snapped back
from the past when she saw Rosa scurrying toward the trees. She approached her smiling with satisfaction.

"So?" Hannah looked at her sharply.

"My sweet Rosalinda has agreed to help us. I told you that she would."

"You’re very lucky that she did. Our whole plan is hinging on her help." Hannah’s face distorted cruelly. "And I’m still not convinced that she is strong enough to do what is necessary, but that’s your job to ensure that she does."

Rosa looked at her. "Don’t worry about me holding up my part of the bargain. What about your part?"

"Oh, my part is coming together very nicely. Our dear friend should be feeling the effects of the dark spell as we speak, and soon her soul will be locked away in Hallowed Eternity, before they could even think to react."

Rosa looked at her with worried eyes. "And what about the other part of the plan?"

"That, too, is coming together nicely. The
Eternals
are on the brink of war, and the queens are divided. It’s just like we anticipated." She looked at her threateningly. "But the most critical part of our plan relies on your daughter. And if she does not complete her task, we fail in our mission, and that will not do."

"Then we will not fail." Rosa looked at her with confidence.

Hannah sneered. "We better not fail, for I assure you that the first person to pay will be your daughter."

"What does that mean?"

She smirked. "That means she will be quickly eliminated, and so will you."

chapter

TWELVE

When we got
back to our room, we were majorly tired but totally excited about what the morning would bring, given that we were actually starting real Warrior training. As comforting as their company was, I needed to have some alone time, and a hot shower was just the ticket.

I walked into our huge private bathroom and marveled at the over-the-top opulence. The walls were decorated with a tile mosaic of tumbled stone and handcrafted tile, and a fireplace roared in the corner. I peeled off my jeans, then hurriedly raised my T-shirt, my fingers hesitated a little too long on Justice’s shirt. Something about wearing it seemed too intimate, too personal. I huffed with annoyance; I was getting all sentimental over a guy who hated me.

I peeled off his T-shirt, swiftly tossed it onto the heap of dirty clothes, then quickly stepped into the glass-enclosed steam shower. I let the steaming hot water beat onto my body, easing all the stress of the day and mercifully allowing my brain to turn off and just relax before reluctantly stepping out of the shower. I briefly allowed my feet to luxuriate on the floor warmers as I wrapped a warm, fluffy white towel around me before striding over to the foggy mirror and wiping it clean. I grimaced; my face was drawn and tired. My eyes were half closed with weariness as I rubbed a towel through my curly brown hair and twisted it into a loose ponytail.

After getting dressed, I walked back into the bedroom, flopped down onto the bed, and half listened to Brooklyn’s rapid-fire rehash of all the latest gossip at Transcendence while Jessica and Zora sat beside her with rapt attention. It was nice to see even Zora getting wrapped up, enjoying the gossip. I started to drift off into a deep sleep when someone banged on our door.

I jerked nervously, quickly sitting up, looking over at the door. The last time there was banging on the door, there was major trouble.

We all just stared at the door, frozen, as it swung open slowly to reveal a tall, leanly muscular woman standing in the doorframe, looking at us impatiently. She wore all black, her jeans hugging her body, accentuating her curves. Her black hair was cut into a stylish, sleek bob.

Brooklyn cleared her throat noisily. "Good order, peace, and justice,
Circle
Petra."

Her brown eyes narrowed. "Good order, peace, and justice," she responded gruffly, her eyes immediately focusing on me. "
Neophyte
Gabrielle, come with me. Your presence has been requested by the council."

Brooklyn, Jessica, and Zora looked at me nervously. I could see it in their eyes—we were so busted for sneaking into that secret
Eternal
meeting. But why was I the only one being punished?

I scooted off the bed, pulled on a pair of jeans and my sneakers, then walked over to the door quickly. I didn’t care; they could tie me to a pole, leaving me out in the desert. I was not going to rat out my friends. I’d been in trouble before, and I would take all the blame for sneaking into the meeting.

Circle
Petra briskly marched me out of the castle and across the courtyard without saying another word. When we finally reached the other side of the castle, she stopped in front of a huge, bold, ornately carved gold door, pushing it open briskly.

"Follow me."

I looked around in utter amazement as the warm air, lightly scented of vanilla mixed with cinnamon, greeted me pleasantly. Warm torches flickered invitingly with every step we took across the shiny wood floors.

I almost jumped when we walked past the life-sized statues of Warriors holding huge jewel-encrusted swords at chest level. As I walked further, I noticed that some of the statues had huge wings protruding from their backs, in different stages of opening. So creepy, I could almost feel their eyes following me, stalking me as we walked past.

Petra abruptly stopped at a heavy oak door, pushing it open quickly. "You’ll get dressed in here. Be quick. I don’t have all day." She lightly pushed me in, shutting the door firmly behind her.

I didn’t know whether to be annoyed or happy when I looked around the ultramodern room stuck in the old casing of a castle. The large, shiny crème floor tiles expanded the entire length of the huge room with a large fireplace on one wall, large glass sliding doors on the other, and the object of my affection, a large flat-screen TV anchored to the wall in front of a large L-shaped chocolate leather and suede sectional couch. This was the kind of room that I would have loved to just veg out in while gorging on junk food and watching music videos and reality shows, like, all day. But I knew that this was not a social visit. It was far from it. I had been summoned because I was in whole lot of trouble. It seemed the grown-ups were pissed.

I walked further in, spotting a formal-looking black dress draped across the back of the couch.