Mortal Enchantment (22 page)

Sneaky little thing.

Ariel was sitting on the edge of the biggest bed I had ever seen in my life. It was its own island, made of fluffy white pillows. Her elbows balanced on her knees, her hands covering her face.

“Ariel,” I called out in a soft voice, “Are you okay?”

She peeked up. The bottoms of her eyes were stained with black, dried mascara. Leaping up, she opened her arms and I hugged her neck.

“Everything happened so fast.” Ariel pulled back, so we were eye level, but didn’t let go. “I tried to tell Jarrod and King Orion about Valac, but they wouldn’t listen. Jarrod is convinced that Queen Liana kidnapped your father. Jarrod refused to cancel the attack. When I tried to stop them myself, they locked me in here.” A tear fell down her cheek.

I shook my head. “The castle is basically empty, minus a few guards. Jarrod has taken everyone with him for what I'm sure will be a blood bath.”

Her eyes widened. “There's no way to stop this, is there?”

I wasn't sure. I could only hope. “We need to find my father.”

Ariel paced around the room. “Okay, but how can we do that? I doubt Valac is simply going to hand him over.”

“First, we have to get you out of here.”

“How will we pull that off?” Ariel’s shoulders dropped, she hung her head. “The room has been sealed with magic.”

“That certainly complicates things.”

She sat back on the bed with her hands tucked under her legs. Staring up at me, she said, “I feel like I should have known. I mean, if I had paid closer attention, maybe King Taron—”

“You can’t blame yourself. Neither of us can. All we can do is try to stop this war before anyone gets killed.”

Ariel rubbed the back of her neck. “Finding King Taron won't be easy. We should come up with a secondary plan in case we fail. If we only had some kind of evidence linking Valac to your father.”

“There's nothing other than our word. Valac was very careful with his tracks. Trust me, the only way we're stopping this is to find my father and have him explain what happened.”

“But how can we get him back? We can’t take on Valac by ourselves. We have no idea who else could be working with him.”

My plan raced through my head. “We don’t need to defeat Valac. We only need for him to show us where he’s hidden my father. If you can create a pathway, then I will distract them long enough for you to grab my father for a quick escape.” I held Ariel by the shoulders. “We have to go back to Vegas.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Ariel waved her hands in the air. “You’re making this all sound really simple and this is
not
simple.”

“Yeah,” I replied, shrugging. “But what other options do we have?”

Ariel sighed. “None that I can think of.”

“Okay then,” I said, sounding a lot more confident than I felt. “First, let’s deal with the guards so we can get you out of here.”

Ariel crossed her arms. “Have you forgotten about this little issue with the magical seal?”

“Leave that to me.”

The plan was in place. At first, the guards refused to disobey Jarrod. However, once I explained that the entire court was in danger, they agreed to help us. One guard was sent to find the other council members and make them aware of what had occurred. No telling whether they would help us, but we had to try. Another guard was sent to find weapons in case this got ugly, as I suspected it would.

A short time later, the guard returned with iron swords and blades, which Ariel hid with a glamour. Next, Ariel insisted that I change my clothes since they were torn and bloody from my fall in the forest. She brought me some air court warrior-wear that looked like something straight out of Game of Thrones. I changed into a leather pleated skirt and thigh-high boots. The corset top matched my skirt with the exception of the breastplate, which was strung with chainmail. Gazing in the mirror, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail wondering how anyone would not start laughing hysterically when they saw me wearing this.

Ariel appeared wearing the same thing, except the expression on her face was fierce and confident. My heart kicked in my chest. I fiddled with a knife I had hidden in my breastplate, hoping she didn’t notice my trembling hands. I had no idea if any of this would work. If the plan didn’t work, I prayed everyone would get out alive.

As she approached me, I noticed her eyes were the deepest violet I had ever seen. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

No, I didn’t want any of this. I was scared out of my mind. My palms were sweaty and I wanted to puke. I thought of the simple mortal life I had with my Mom and wished more than anything that none of this were real. “I have to find my Dad before Valac starts an all-out war.”

She nodded.

Ariel put her hand out and a wind tunnel pathway appeared. We joined hands.  I let her lead me inside.

Please let this work.

The pathway opened right in front of the entrance to club privé. Two ladies who must have been in their eighties glanced up from their slot machines and shot us a surprised look.

I nudged Ariel with my elbow. “Impressive. Next time, we should just appear in the fountain out front and really give them a show.”

“That wasn’t me. I had planned for us to land in the alley behind the hotel.” She stared off into space for a second. “If the pathways aren’t stable, it’s likely the elements are unbalanced. We have to put an end to this war as soon as possible or this will spill into the mortal world.”

Brita was correct; the elements were unbalanced. “And the good news keeps rolling in.” I gave a weak smile to the old ladies, but a bell went off and they quickly returned their attention to their slots. I turned around, facing the entrance. The guards weren’t there. I wiggled the knob—the door was unlocked. “I guess it’s time to go say hello.”

I stepped inside the private club after her. My mouth fell open. The once luxurious suite now resembled an empty storage space. All of the furniture, game tables, decor, and carpets were gone. The large room was dimly lit, only two white bulbs hung from a wire in the ceiling. An ashy aroma lingered, yet nothing appeared burned.

“The creep factor just went up several notches,” I said, my voice echoing.

Ariel raised an eyebrow. “What now?”

I was about to answer when a hidden side door creaked open. My pulse raced. One by one, male and female elementals silently lined the walls of the room until we were completely encircled. Although dressed in casual mortal clothes, they marched in unison like soldiers in the military. I wasn't sure how many there were—maybe twenty. Several of the elementals sported tattoos of the blazing fire court symbol on their necks.

It all made sense. Valac was not only fueling the war against the fire court, but also recruiting other fire elementals—all behind Liana’s back—for his planned takeover. This was even bigger than I’d thought, which was only going to make my plan ten times harder. I glanced over at Ariel. I could see beads of sweat popping up on the back of her neck. I clenched my fists, refusing to show fear. The elementals watched us as if they were waiting for a signal to attack.

I crossed my arms to hide my trembling hands.

The crowd parted and I flinched. Valac strolled through with his sister at his side. Selene was intimidating, but it was clear she took her cues from her brother. When I locked eyes with Valac, they both took a few steps to the side. Two soldiers made their way through the crowd with a bloody Rowan in tow. I held back a shrieking scream. Valac pointed at Rowan. They released him, letting his motionless body crumple to the floor with a thump. His eyes were closed, his face bruised, and a line of dried blood stained his cheek.

A lump swelled in my throat and I swallowed hard. It took everything I had not to run to him or to react to seeing him that way. Valac had brought him here to scare me, I refused to give him what he wanted. Just as I was about to look away, Rowan's chest rose and fell. He was still alive. My heart fluttered, but I had to push those feelings aside.

I tore my eyes away from Rowan and glared at Valac. “I've come to offer you a treaty with the air court.”

“Kalin, don't do this!” Ariel begged, playing her part well. A few elementals snickered in the audience, but I didn't shift my attention from Valac. “I've come for my father and Rowan. If you let us leave with them, then the air court will be your ally and support your claim to the fire court.” I concentrated on keeping my voice calm, making every attempt not to appear frightened, even though my stomach was a twisting ball of nerves.

Valac's face was unreadable. “Very well,” he said, gesturing toward the hidden door. “Follow me.”

The crowd cleared a path and Valac strolled through with his sister right behind. He agreed too easily, which set off my internal alarms. I didn’t trust him, but what choice did I have? I met eyes with Ariel, giving her a just-go-with-it look. We followed them through the entryway.

What I saw next made me feel like my chest had caved in. I could not breathe.

Dad was sitting on his knees with his hands behind his back. His canary yellow court robes were ripped, and his normally immaculate brown hair hung clumpy and dirty in front of his face. An iron collar was locked tightly around his neck with charred, bloody skin encrusted around the edges. The collar prevented him from using his power.

Rage fueled me, triggering my power. My muscles simultaneously tightened. I thought about letting loose right here, but I needed to save my energy. I had no idea what Valac might have planned. “What have you done to him?”

Dad looked up and our eyes met for the first time. I placed my hand over my mouth to hide a gasp. He had spent too much time in the mortal world and was aging rapidly. The young man I was used to calling ‘Dad’, now appeared to be in his late fifties. Dark wrinkles encircled the bottoms of his eyelids, his skin was ghostly pale. He blinked several times and in a faint voice, he whispered, “Kalin?”

I wanted to cry and run into his arms, just as I had so many times in my dreams. I took a few paces toward him, but stopped dead in my tracks as Jarrod stepped out from behind Dad and held a knife to his neck.

“Not so fast,” Jarrod warned.

White-hot anger raged inside of me, surging my power. “I can't believe you! My father trusted you Jarrod, and you betrayed him. How could you?”

“How
could
I
?” he chuckled. “Do you really think I’d choose Taron over my own children?”

The force of his words made me take a step backwards. I couldn’t have heard him right. “What?”

“Valac and Selene are my children.”

I stood completely still, dumbfounded by this revelation. “How…is that even possible?”

“Their mother was a fire elemental—she died during childbirth. When it was clear the twins would be fire elementals, I went straight to Prisma. She raised them and she taught them to use their power.”

I wondered if Dad knew anything about this. “None of this explains why you betrayed my father. Why did you attack your own court?”

“It's nothing personal,” Valac said before Jarrod could respond. “Taron would have never passed the crown to him. Father only did what he had to.”

Of course! Valac promised him the air court if he helped him. How very clever.

Jarrod released Dad, coming to stand next to Valac and Selene. Dad winced once before falling on his side. Ariel ran to him. Kneeling in front of him, she put his head in her lap. She tried to hide her hands, but I saw her trying to rub the salve she made on the skin around his iron collar. Smoke rose from the metal touching her skin, but she continued even though I was sure the pain was excruciating.

I needed to keep Jarrod, Selene, and Valac’s attention on me.

Valac waved his hand in the air and a wall of fire encircled the four of us.

I scanned around my new prison. “Nice display of power. I'm sure Queen Liana would be impressed.”

Selene let out a disgusted huff.

“Liana is no queen,” Valac said, voice laced with venom. “She’s a steward of the fire court.”

Seems I found a soft spot. Poking away at him might give Ariel time to heal Dad, or at least get him to a point where she could take him to the portal. I had to keep Valac talking. “She
is
the queen. Your queen, if you want to get into the specifics.”

Valac rolled his eyes. “Rowan should never have passed the throne to her.”

Rowan had given the throne to Liana? That part I did not know. “Who should he have passed it to? You? Oh, right. You were exiled.” I tapped my finger on my bottom lip. “Speaking of exile, how is it you’re still alive?”

Valac chuckled. “We never left Avalon. All this time, our father kept us hidden away inside Taron’s court.”

“Okay, then why not avoid all this drama and just challenge Liana for the throne?” I gripped the knife hidden in my breastplate.

He cocked his head. “Every member of the House of Djin has to be eliminated before the crown could to be passed.”