Proven (Daughters of the Sea #1) (40 page)

I felt the chill of the night air clinging to my skin as I burst from the slightly wavy body of water that used to be a roaring crux. Its churning thunder had been replaced by an even louder silence that sent chills down my spine and tears to my eyes. The entire island spread out before me and I was able to sense Selene immediately. I surged downward toward the place where she stood on the island's rim. As I came closer, the essence thrumming through me was pulled toward another, similar essence. Stasia.  She and Finn, backed by four other Sons and Liam, were slowly sneaking up on Selene from behind. Liam. Something had swayed him. Something was able to bring him back to his true path toward his destiny. A part of me warmed with the knowledge of his choice, but the other part reminded me of a more pressing matter. My destiny.

Selene stood with her arms outstretched and her eyes closed, essence humming through her body, connecting her to two equally distracted Auras nearby. The Aura ring of essence was still intact, and the crux was on its last leg. I had to act. I landed with a soft thud, shocking everyone into silence.

"Fallon!" Stasia shot forward but was held back by a stalwart Finn. I caught a brief moment of suspicion on Finn's face as I realized he wasn't sure he could trust me, whereas Stasia had no qualms trusting me immediately. Without a second thought, she pulled the dagger from her waist and tossed it in my direction. Her voice startled Selene, who twisted around with fury and immediately made eye contact with me. My strengthened reflexes caught the dagger by the hilt with expertise and I faced Selene, who now came towards me with dark vengeance in her eyes.

"This ends now!" I yelled at her. I knelt down as she shot a cloud of silver essence at me; missing by merely an inch. With the witches' binds no longer blocking my access to the light energy of the moon, I dodged her once more and raised my arms to the sky. My eyes burned delightfully as the clouds above opened at my command, revealing a shining moon ready and willing to help me. Selene glanced upward with renewed anger but grinned maniacally in my direction.

"You're a traitor just like your mother." She quickly created a circle of silver essence around us, blocking anyone from getting in. Or out. "You have also forgotten who the true moon Goddess is. I am the single Goddess the moon favors. I am the only one who can harness its full power. You are nothing! You have but a shadow of my power! You dare challenge me?!"

"I don't have to challenge you," I informed her calmly. "I simply have to kill you."

With the moon shining its energy into my body from above, I lowered my arms slightly and shot re-energized lavender essence into the two Auras at our sides. Their silver eyes widened with surprise and I concentrated more essence, shooting it outward and around the circle of Auras along the ridge. I could feel them fight it; try to reject it. But I was stronger. I pulled from their essences and strengthened the thin line of purple essence now glowing around the island. It pulsed with new energy, leaving the Auras shaken and exhausted.

"Enough!" Selene bellowed, sending silver essence in my direction. I could feel its sting, but it did nothing to stop me. It splintered upon hitting me, repelled by the moon's light essence I was emanating. I smiled at her and decided I had gathered enough. I pulled my invigorated essence back towards my body, leaving the Auras broken, weak, and gasping for breath.

Selene's face reflected the purple glow of my now luminous body and I smiled at her. She stepped forward and I shot my arms out forward, sending a wall of lavender essence barreling down on her. It slammed into her with an explosive display of light, lighting up the entire island and charring the ground beneath our feet.

As the light faded, her body collapsed and convulsed as the light essence of the moon overcame her dark essence. Her eyes bulged and widened, now shining a lustrous purple. I stood above her with Stasia's dagger clenched in my right hand.

"Luna..." she wheezed her sister's name. "She took...everything from me." Her face paled and her chest heaved with its last attempt to hold on to life.

I dropped to my knees and drove Stasia's dagger through her chest. Still gripping the hilt with force, I pulled it from her body, blood pouring from her wound as she stared up at me with stunned, dull eyes. Her wicked smile was no more and a trail of blood trickled from the side of her mouth.

"No." I met her weak gaze with confidence. "That's my destiny; not hers."

I drove the dagger into her chest once more, collapsing onto the hilt in exhaustion. When the last breath left her body, I slid to the ground beside her. Something shifted. I suddenly felt incredibly heavy, and even the air around me seemed to press against my body with tremendous force.

"Fallon!" Stasia appeared above me, her languid eyes searching mine. Finn solemnly stepped over Selene's body and jerked the dagger from her chest. "Are you okay?"

I held her gaze and tried to move. Every movement felt like a monumental task, but I managed to smile up at her. Love filled my heart and I felt tears falling down my cheeks. Stasia leaned down and kissed my forehead. "You have the power to save her, Stasia," I whispered.

"What?" Her brow furrowed with misunderstanding. "'Her' who?"

"You can save her. You're the only one who's strong enough."

A tingling sensation swept across my body and I knew it was time. It was time to surrender. The Elysian Fields were calling me. It was time to go home.

"I'll see you soon," I whispered up to her, and closed my eyes in a haze of enchantment.

S
TASIA

After she faded away, I remained on my knees, staring at where she lay mere moments before. I didn't understand what just happened, but at the same time I felt as if I wasn't meant to. Fallon's destiny had been fulfilled. Selene was dead, but so was she. It wasn't fair. I hung my head in defeat.

"Stasia!" Finn blared and rushed towards me with urgency. "Stasia!"

He pulled me up on shaking legs that refused to hold me upright. The crux was gone. I felt it. I knew it. Death would come next. Soon. I could feel it in my essence; a hollow void eating away at my body and soul. "Stasia, you have to move!"

I snapped myself back into the present and realized why he needed me to move. After being used by Fallon and then seeing Selene die, the Auras on the ridgeline were descending upon us; eyes blazing and hungry for revenge.  Finn gave up on my legs and swept his arms beneath me, cradling me in his arms. He set me down near the edge of the cliff and urged me down to the beach below.

I peered downward and noticed Nadia had recovered from Natasha's attack and was in the process of terrorizing my Council and Sebastian. If I had to choose between the Auras and Nadia I would probably choose the Auras, but the side of the cliff wasn't willing to hold my weight and I slid awkwardly; tumbling away from the Auras and the safety of Finn's arms. He turned just as an Aura approached him from behind, and disappeared from my sight. I rolled pathetically down the cliff side and landed hard on the sand below.

A prickly darkness wrapped around me and dragged me across the beach to lie at Nadia's feet. I coughed as sand gathered in my mouth and infiltrated my nose.

"Aren't you tired of being a clumsy bag of bones?" she crooned down at me with sympathy and knelt down next to me. She placed a hand on my arm and I felt her fingers burn my skin. "So restrictive! Luckily, I have a remedy for that. It's called death. I'd like to introduce you to each other."

A commotion several yards up the beach caught her attention and she groaned inwardly before muttering, "That brother of yours doesn't listen very well."

She raised an arm and pointed up the beach, eliciting a scream. I rolled over just in time to see Sebastian toss Carmen to the ground in a heap of pain next to Phoebe, Avery, and Olivia, who didn't seem to be moving at all. He wiggled his fingers ever so slightly as the sand collected around them, snaked across their mid-sections, and hardened. Phoebe cried out as the sand expanded and then contracted; leaving them trapped.

"Sebastian!" I called up the beach to my brother, hoping my voice would spark something in him. He snapped his head in my direction with hatred and I noticed his eyes burning gold. Nadia had taken his soul. I glared up at her. "Let him go!"

"Aww." Nadia gestured for Sebastian to abandon his prisoners and join us. "Do you miss your big brother? How precious."

He strode to her side with ease as if he didn't have a care in the world. An evil glint sparked from his eyes as he smiled down at me with putrid ambivalence.  My heart lurched at his transformation. He was hers, forever. I'd lost him. She had scripted it, just like she said.

"Stasia!" Olivia's strained voice wafted down to me. She knew I was in trouble. She could feel it. But she'd be dead soon, too. I closed my eyes with resolve, but they soon snapped open once more.

"Fight," a voice said in my head. It was faint, but it was there. Finn. "Get up and fight. She cannot win."

Finn. He was right. She had Sebastian, but he still had to be in there somewhere. He wasn't completely gone; I couldn't accept that. I couldn't accept someone as vibrant and strong as Sebastian falling at the hands of an evil Princess having a temper tantrum. That couldn't be his destiny; the ending to an otherwise epic life. A spark of anger lit in my heart and soon spread to the rest of my body. I pushed myself up onto my hands and knees. I almost blacked out from the immense pain that movement caused me, but that just made me angrier.

"Answer me!" Nadia screeched down at me with wild eyes. Thankfully I wasn't listening, nor did I care.

"Achilles." I ignored Nadia and focused my attention on Sebastian. He tilted his head at me with confusion. I spoke with intention and force in an effort to convey the importance of my words. "Listen to me. Your destiny is yours. You choose. Not her." His eyes held mine and blinked several times. I repeated what Finn said in my thoughts. "Fight her, Achilles. Fight for your free will. She cannot win."

"Shut up!" Nadia boomed and kicked me in the shoulder, sending me flying back down to the sand. "Your destiny is to serve me. Forever."

"Achilles." I pushed myself back up again, only looking at him. "Fight. You must fight."

"You don't get to speak to my souls!" Nadia lashed out at me and glanced at Sebastian with a twinge of insecurity marring her expression.

"Stasia," Sebastian spoke up vacantly, seeming to surprise even himself. He blinked once more and I watched his eyes brighten to turquoise before they faded back to gold in the next second. He was fighting.

"Fight!" I yelled at him, my patience spent. "She's wrong! You don't belong to her!" Movement brought my gaze up to the ridgeline, where it looked like Liam, Finn, and the Paradigms were succeeding in their fight against Selene's Auras. That sight strengthened me further.

"I'm never wrong." Nadia grinned down at me. "And neither is a prophecy. It's time to die, just as it said." She lifted her arms and smoke wafted up from her skin as she glared down at me.

"Not this time," Sebastian boomed. He stepped in front of Nadia and a storm of blue essence exploded from him, absorbing Nadia's essence and throwing her to the ground. He stood over her as he lifted an arm to free the girls from their sandy prison.

"Sebastian!" I cried out in elation. He met my gaze with bright turquoise eyes and my heart soared. He did it! A wide smile crept across his face and I quickly crawled to my hands and knees once more.  Unfortunately, I didn't get very far before Nadia was able to toss Sebastian several yards away before setting her sights on me.

"Oh, no you don't," she growled at me. She yanked a dagger from her waist and the silver blade glinted at me with an ancient promise; a destiny waiting to be fulfilled. In one swift motion, the dagger punctured my chest, slicing through my body with unbelievable pressure and halting my ability to breathe.

"No!" I heard Sebastian's cry somewhere far away. He grabbed Nadia from behind and pummeled her to the ground in one motion. I lost my ability to focus on them as the world around me slowed. I peered down at the glittering hilt of Nadia's dagger sticking out from my body. My lungs coughed weakly and spewed blood down my chin and onto my shaking hands. I blinked once. Thick, hot blood poured from the wound and down, puddling in the sand beneath me. I blinked again. Sebastian was too late. The damage was done. Destiny had prevailed. My fate had been sealed. 

You have the power to save her, Stasia.

Fallon's last words echoed throughout my thoughts as my head fell to the side of its own volition, bringing the crux into view. Now it was just a still pond of glassy water, no different from any other body of water. The ghost of a crux; void of power, lost to the ages. I wondered what had become of the blue woman; the protector of the crux. The Beacon. I'd failed her too. Her. I blinked. Her.  You can save her. You're the only one who's strong enough.

A tiny glimmer of hope sizzled in the pit of my heart as I realized my fate may have been sealed, but I wasn't dead yet. I vaguely felt the vibration of Sebastian's feet as he ran towards me. It was time. I cried in pain as I used all of the life force I had left to throw my body to one side, sending it rolling into the water. Into the crux.