Blood Solstice: Part Three in the Tale of Lunarmorte (33 page)

“
Mother Gaia, Potnia Theron, my lady Hemera. I beseech you,
praying you find me deserving of the great gift of the
trace.”

A
tingling eased the pain in her palm and Caia gazed up at it in
amazement as it began to glow with an ethereal light. Dazed, she
glanced over to the Council and saw their palms too shimmered with
the energy. She gasped as the tingling suddenly grew sharp, turning
hard, as if a hand were gripping it tight. And then she was seized,
watching helplessly as bolts of energy shot into her body, rushing
through her veins as cold as ice crystallising her very insides.
The sensation of falling took over and she blanched as her head
struck something hard. The blurry view of the ceiling told her it
had been the floor. A soft buzzing began in her ears like little
whispers she couldn’t quite make out. And then the whispers grew to
voices, drowning out the buzzing.

And then
voices grew into weapons.

Thousands
of energies poured into her, piercing through her skin like a
million big needles. The pain was agonising.

***

Vanne and
Ryder held Lucien back, whilst Reuben held onto Jaeden and Magnus.
Lucien strained against his friend and the magik’s grip, sweating
and spitting, desperate to get to Caia, who writhed and screamed in
the middle of the floor like a madwoman.

“
Get off me!” He snarled, pulling out of Vanne’s grip only to
be halted by Ryder’s arm hooking around his neck and dragging him
back.

“
They told us it would be like this,” Ryder tried to reassure
him but Lucien could hear the concern in his friend’s voice. The
Daylights all leaned forward in their seats, each wearing the same
expression of horror and anxiety. Oh yes, they had been warned Caia
might show signs of
discomfort
… not screaming her head
off as if she were on fire! He growled again and attempted to get
out of his restraints.

Caia,
he thought imploringly,
I’m wth you. I’m with you.

To his astonishment her screams died to groans and she didn’t
writhe as frantically. His jaw dropped and he wondered if it was
possible she had heard him through the trace.
No.
He shook his head
inwardly,
surely not
. But as her screams grew again he lurched
forward.

Caia! Don’t, I’m here, you’re OK. You’re going to be alright,
just hold on.

Her
screaming dimmed.

I can’t get to you physically because these assholes are
holding me back, but I’m here. Just take a minute, breathe.
Breathe, Caia…

***

As
Lucien’s voice fought its way through all the others, Caia grabbed
tight to it and let its soothing comfort ease the pain. She felt
her body relaxing as he crooned to her, and burning ice began to
thaw a little. Her head still pounded with all the energies,
Daylight and Midnight alike, but concentrating only on Lucien
dulled it, sending it to the back of her skull rather than it being
an all encompassing pain.

“
Lucien,” she whispered and grew still.

After a
few minutes, a face appeared above her. Alfred Doukas.

“
Caia?” he queried, his eyes bright with concern. “Are you
alright?”

His
energy tingled in her veins and she knew without a shadow of a
doubt his concern was genuine. He was a good man, Alfred
Doukas.

“
I’m fine,” she croaked and tried to push up to a sitting
position.

“
Caia!” She turned to see Lucien bounding down the stairs and
onto the platform. He dropped to his knees beside her, his eyes
wide and bewildered.

She
smiled wearily at him. “Thank you.”

His
silver gaze turned to smoke. “You mean it worked? You
heard?”

Her
eyelids drooped. “I heard.”

“
I think you better get her to her bed, Lucien, before she
falls asleep in the court.”

“
Is that it done then?” She heard Lucien ask.

“
It’s done.”

28 – It’s
Between You and Your Gods

Getting
rid of the trace for Caia was just the beginning. No one, not
Reuben, nor Saffron, nor Marion, nor the Council, had approached
her with explanation or understanding of what would come next once
the gods had freed them all from the binding power of the trace.
But as the days turned over and she fought off the painful effects
of having double the trace, it niggled and niggled at Caia,
taunting her and illuminating the fact she would never truly be at
peace until the war as it stood was over.

“
But what can you do?” Lucien quizzed softly as they lay
together on the third morning after the ceremony. Since that night
she had not left his side, now fully comprehending what it meant
for him to be her mate – he was the only one who could quite
literally ease the pain.

At first,
he had still seemed anxious with her, and her guess he was unsure
of her feelings for him after kicking her out of the pack and the
Rose debacle (she was now awaiting trial, sitting in prison as they
spoke) was correct. She wasn’t going to lie, she had been pissed
off and hurt. But so had he. So, Caia had promised him there was
nothing to forgive; life was too damn short and she just wanted to
live it with him. It had not escaped everyone’s notice they hadn’t
left the bedroom since the ceremony, but they would be surprised to
know they spent much of it talking (well mostly).

“
I don’t know,” she replied, frowning. “I just know that even
after tomorrow… this won’t be over for me.”

“
Are you going to stay and fight?”

Her
breath hitched, “Would it be OK if the answer to that question is I
don’t know?”

Lucien
huffed and squeezed her closer. “Of course.”

“
Will you wait for me?”

Chuckling, he rolled her over so he was braced above her on
the bed. “No. I won’t need to.” He laughed again at her scowl and
smoothed it away with his fingers. “I won’t need to because I’ll be
right there with you, fighting anybody you want me to.”

She
raised her eyebrows, looping her hands around his neck and
wriggling provocatively. “Looks like I’ve just been promoted to
Alpha then, huh?”

Lucien
made a face. “Well the job is yours if you want it but I should
warn you that the contract is bull crap. I’ve received none of the
perks that were promised.”

“
Perks?”

“
Oh, you know… a lifetime supply of beer and foot massages, a
harem of women to bathe and clothe me etcetera…”

She
snorted and pulled back from him. “Harem of women?”

He
grinned unrepentantly. “Did I mention my sense of humour is also
greatly underappreciated?”

For Caia
it was a relief to know Lucien and the pack were behind her as she
waded through the murky waters of Daylight politics.

When she
met up with the Council the night before the rite to go through the
details of it she fought to ignore the strain of the trace, and
decided to put forth the question that had been pressing heavily
upon her.

“
So… after this, what next?”

The
Council were seated in Alfred Doukas’ suite, joined by Vanne and
Marion. The frosty tension between those two had caused a little
awkwardness at the beginning of the meeting but everyone seemed
determined to ignore them. Caia threw a quick glance to Vanne who
was resolutely snubbing Marion. She remembered how grief stricken
he had been when he thought she had died. Obviously, he hadn’t
forgiven her for not enlightening him about her plan to deceive
Marita.

“
Next?” Benedict sneered at her.

“
When the trace is gone, what next? We’ll be free, but the war
as it stands will still exist. How do we end this?”

“
We
don’t,” Benedict retorted
sharply. “The details of the war will be left for the Council to
deal with.”

“
Now Benedict-” Penelope began but Caia wanted to speak for
herself.

“
You mean you intend to use me and then discard
me?”

“
No, Caia,” Penelope rushed. “That is not at all the
intentions of the Council.”

“
I think Caia should be put forward for a place on the
Council,” Vanne interrupted.

A place on the Council?
Caia stared
at him wide-eyed. She hadn’t meant
that
as such but… well actually… it
was an idea. If she were a member of the Council she would have a
say in how they went about ending the war. She could have an impact
on the treatment of Midnights and Daylights alike.

The
Council gazed at him open-mouthed for a moment, before Marion
cleared her throat, “I agree with Vanne.”

He glared
at her. “I didn’t ask you to.”

“
Well I do,” she snapped irritably, muttering under her breath
about idiots acting like children.

Benedict
was outraged. “How dare you suggest such a thing?! There are only
nine places on the Council and those have been filled.”

The young
magik, Derren, cleared his throat and everyone turned to face him.
He was an enigmatic man and appeared only to ever speak when he had
something of import to impart. “I agree with Vanne and Marion. Caia
is too valuable a member of the Daylights to throw her back out to
the wolves. She should be an integral cog in our machine, as she
has already proven her worth tenfold.”

Wow, she
must be way cooler than she thought she was because that was mighty
praise indeed.

Shocked
silence settled around the room. Finally, Alfred stood up. “Well…
if it would be the will of the Council I suggest we at least
discuss the possibility of adding Caia to our noble ranks after the
rite has been performed.”

“
Here, here,” Penelope muttered and a round of the same
followed from the rest of them. Well… all except Benedict who was
content to skewer Caia with his gaze.

***

The rite
was not to be performed before the entire Centre as the Acquisition
of the Trace Ceremony had been. It was a private ceremony between
Caia and the gods, and so she was led to the deepest level of the
Centre where makeshift caverns were sculpted into the building like
damp, salty-smelling sea caves. The goddess Gaia, unlike Zeus who
had roamed the skies, preferred enclosed spaces, and so it was
often thought appropriate to perform any rites to Her within
dwellings like a house or a cave.

“
Are you ready?” Penelope asked her softly as they stood
inside the humid space, waiting as the torches were lit around the
area for Caia.

She nodded, shivering a little with nerves. Or cold…
she
was
completely naked beneath her blue robe (significantly missing
the gold Fasces on the left breast).

“
We’ll be back out at the elevator. Waiting.”

She
nodded again and watched silently as Penelope and the two magiks
who lit the torches fumbled their way out of the dark caves. Taking
a deep breath, she turned back to gaze at the almost circular room.
In the middle stood a tripous (Greek for tripod) – a three-legged
sacrificial altar with a large stone basin upon it. Carved into
stone were the names of the living gods accompanied by a prayer to
them to hear her. With great trepidation Caia removed the dagger
from her robes, and then removed the robes themselves, standing
shivering and as naked as the day she was born. Thank goddess she
got to perform this one alone. She actually blushed even though
there wasn’t anyone else to see her.

Well except the gods, Caia
, she
reminded herself.

Tentatively, she approached the altar, wincing a little at
the gritting sand and stone beneath her feet. And, even though she
knew it wasn’t possible, she swore she could hear the rush of the
ocean in the distance. It was so weird.

Standing
before the tripous, Caia raised her hand over the bowl. She was
utilising her other hand this time, the one with the annulet. She
took the dagger and sliced deeper than before, cutting through the
silver symbol on her palm, ignoring the searing pain it caused. The
blood trickled into the bowl. Once there was enough, she morphed
her hand to wolf and back again, regenerating her skin so only a
faint red line was left. Exhaling, she then placed the tips of her
fingers into the blood and pushed a flow of her magik energy into
it.

“
Mother Gaia, hear my plea. I ask that you take back the gift
of trace from your children and let us live liberated in a new
world… forever your undying servants, forever loving.”

Over and
over she repeated the words the Council had advised her to use and
for a while it seemed as if their endeavour was futile. But on the
tenth round of the rite Caia felt the beginnings of an inexplicable
shudder jolting through her. At first she thought the ground was
actually moving, but as she looked down she found it still as
glass. A fierce jerk knocked her back from the altar and she began
to shake uncontrollably. Panic suffused her as her teeth chattered
together and her brain jiggled about in her skull. It grew fiercer
and more painful, feeling as if her very organs were smacking up
against her bones and muscles. And then the eye watering pain
began. If felt as if someone had grabbed a hold of her insides and
were pulling them out of the top of her head, the energy encased in
her body being shunted upwards and out with supreme force. She
thought she might be screaming but the chaos of her body left her
ignorant to anything else. She writhed helplessly on the floor of
the cavern… until a sudden stillness drew the pain to an abrupt
end. Caia sucked in a deep breath, air rushing into her panicked
lungs with joy and relief.