Released Souls (28 page)

“You’re glossing
over all of the lives you’ve taken. It’s blood money,” I growled. The anger was running so rampant through me that I felt like I was on the verge of madness.

“Maybe so
.” He laughed. “But if it wasn’t us buying the politicians and world leaders, it would be someone else. This is the first time in history that we’ve had any say in anything, and you want us to toss it away? The ground we’ve broken with corporations is incredible. They are selling products based on our age-old recipes that do nothing but create addicts out of consumers. They’ll always come back for more. It’s really quite genius. And the fairies, pointing us where to harvest next… our good old allies and the key to immortality always —”

“Do you ever shut up?” I asked, feeling the heat begin to spread through my body. Now was not the moment. I had to maintain control.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a twitch of movement from Logan, but I continued to stay focused on Eben. The fury I was feeling began to be replaced with tiny seeds of hope.

“It’s not gonna happen. Sorry.” I flashed him a grin. “I like my vision for the covenhood better.”

“And what is that?”

“
Allowing the covens to thrive the way they were meant to. Our community has a purpose, which is to help the world, not destroy it.”

“You’re so naïve.” He shrugged.
“Immortality shouldn’t be wasted on such a fool as yourself. And now you have gotten me one step closer.” He held the silver button up. My gaze fell to the floor as I realized he thought the
Circulus Desideriis
had something to do with immortality.

I wat
ched as several dark sorcerers stepped from behind the red velvet curtains, completely surrounding us.

I could hear the chanting beginning from outside. I flashed a dubious smile at my grandfather.

“Do you hear that?” I asked. “I think they’re chanting for our victory.”

Eben roared to life with laughter echoing off the walls as he heard the chanting become more aggressive.

“Like I care,” he snickered. The
Praedivinus
order is —”

“Missing a
Divinus
witch I’d say.” Within two large steps, I was hovering over the old man. His eyes were wide with a mixture of horror and admiration.

“That’s impossible,” he stuttered.

“Apparently not,” I hissed closely to his ear. “You’re right. It seems only fitting that I become the leader of an organization that shares my abilities. It’s time I start repairing all the shattered souls my family has created.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I’m not asking you to, but I do want you to understand that on your way out of this world when you’re attempting to find your way to that light, I’m going to ensure you never reach it.” I narrowed my eyes on him and grinned widely. “When I end you, I’ll make sure you’re trapped between this world and the next.”

A
n unfamiliar laughter began rumbling from my belly as I felt my palms warming. Logan slowly brought his head up as my laughter overpowered everyone in the room.

My father’s voice boomed from the back of the covenstead. The doors flew off the hinges and crashed across the room.

“No more,” my father shouted. “I won’t let you turn to that side of life, Triss.

I turned around to see him standing in the entry, glaring at his father.

“You don’t have the guts to end me,” Eben snarled, and he turned his attention back to me. “She’s the very one you abandoned. You don’t care about her, but I do.”

With one quick movement of my fist, I shot a line of flames to my left, engulfing the black sorcerers
that were ready to pounce on my father. The louder their screams, the more obedient my flames became. I watched their robes ignite, as they called to my grandfather for help. He offered none, turning to the other side of the room, nodding at the untouched sorcerers to come at my father and me.

I ran past Eben
, pushing the, now seemingly decrepit, old man to the floor and jumped over the steps, landing next to Logan. The adrenaline was pulsing through my veins, and I understood the power I held to be very dangerous but useful in moments like these. Flipping my palms out, I created a ring of fire around Logan and me as I untied him.

“I’m gonna get you out of here.”
The sorcerers’ shadows surrounded us, and I gave one last pull on the rope, releasing Logan.

“I told
Trevor not to—” his voice was weak.

“Shh. We’ve got this.”

The flames were getting taller. I closed my eyes and allowed myself to imagine exactly what we needed next. My skin immediately became dewy as I controlled the pipes up above. The water began spraying in every direction.

Logan immediately jumped from the chair, over the dying flames
. The sorcerer nearest to me, lunged at me, and I dropped to the ground, shouting
“Non Impetus,”
freezing him in place. My fingers began to pool in all the right places, and I reached up, touching the frozen sorcerer. I watched as the silver began traveling up his leg.

“Who’s next?” I asked, watching th
e remaining sorcerers fall back slowly.

My father was towering over Eben, when suddenly the building began to violently shake. I looked down at Eben’s
eyes and they were glowing red, as his lips moved slightly.

“I
’ve already summoned
Praedivinus
members around the globe. If you think killing me will stop what’s already begun, you’re gravely mistaken,” Eben yelled.

“
I’m on the verge of immortality,” Eben now sounded hysterical, popping anything off to stop what was about to take place.

The building began shaking again
, and I watched as the remaining sorcerers ran outside. Unfortunately for them, they’d run right into Trevor’s territory.

The floor cracked next to Logan and me. My father
whispered something in Latin, and Logan flashed me a look.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Logan yelled at me.

“I’m not leaving here until I’m sure Eben is destroyed.”

“Your father’s taking care of that, Triss,” Logan whispered. “We need to leave.”

“Triss,” my father’s voice boomed. “I love you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t who I should’ve been for you or your mother. I heard your wishes before I entered here. I’ll make sure he never finds that place of peace in the afterlife. Logan, get her out of here now and take care of her.”

I couldn’t move. My father had redeemed himself. I couldn’t let him do this. I couldn’t let his soul be trapp
ed in the forever after with his own father’s.

Logan grabbed me, but I struggled free from his grasp, running to my father’s side.

“Get her out of here,” my father shouted.

I looked down at my grandfather
and grabbed the
Circulus
Desideriis
from his fingers.

“I love
you,” I whispered to my father, but he had already begun the process.

Everything was in slow motion as the floor continued
to shake, and the spirits began to be released. My father glanced at me one last time, his eyes bright silver before turning away to face Eben. I began screaming as I watched my father commit his own soul to an unforgiving destiny to ensure that Eben would be stopped. Logan wrapped his arm around my waist and hauled me outside, my attempts to struggle from his grasp finally stopping once we reached the outdoors. There was a huge crowd of witches. I saw that Trevor had already taken care of the black sorcerers who’d tried to escape.

“Immortality?”
Logan questioned as he set me on the ground. “Is that really what Eben was after?”

I avoided his gaze.

“That could be our answer to keep you alive,” he continued, excitement in his voice.

“It’s not that simple,” I finally answered.

“It is that simple,” he countered, following my stare to the Witch Avenue Covenstead.

The building began to crumble in the corner
where my father was. Tears filled my eyes as I watched the devastation continue. The walls of the covenstead began to fall, collapsing the roof in that area. The only part of the building affected was the Elder’s Den. The rest of the building stood strong as the earth below my father and Eben opened up to swallow them whole as my father finished his call to the underworld. Eben’s soul would never migrate from this world to the next. It would always be stalled between the worlds. And so would my father’s.

“We can’t let my father’s sacrifice go to waste. We have to stop the
Praedivinus
from growing. We’ve taken out their top leaders. Now’s our chance to finish it off,” I told Logan, leaning my head on his chest.

I couldn’t believe my father had given his life to save mine. I can still hear him
saying he loves my mom and me. It just keeps replaying over and over in my mind. In order to see Eben into the underworld, he sacrificed his own soul to an eternity of turmoil.

“Please…” Logan’s
voice was solemn, interrupting my thoughts.

“I can’t do it. The consequences are far too dire. I just can’t,” I whispered, touching Logan’s hand.

“Do you even know what the consequences are?” he challenged.

“I know some of them.”

“But this would ensure you’d be okay after your twentieth birthday,” he begged.

I felt the crowd closing in around us and shook my head at Logan.

“Not now,” I whispered.

“There are very few people
who would turn down immortality,” he said in a hushed voice. “Especially in your circumstance.”

“You don’t need to remind me of what I have to look forward to on my twentieth birthday. I
think about it every minute of every day. But what we are up against isn’t just about me.” I lolled my head on his shoulder, whispering in his ear.

“You make me feel crazy, wild, and free. And that’s
what happens to me with just one glance at you,” his voice was low, silver flecks igniting in his eyes. “I’m not going to let that go easily. I’m sorry, babe. But I’m going fight until your dying day to break the curse of the
Divinus
witch.”