Under an Onyx Sky (Elemental Enchanters Series Book 4) (6 page)

Thomas landed a punch on Donovan. Donovan collapsed to the floor with a hard thud. He didn’t move, and Thomas returned to his spot in the crowd, his lips curling into a cocky smile.

They’d been training, or beating the crap out of each other as Ava saw it, for two weeks. It got old because they all tried defeating the Elementals, but had no luck. The bullying stopped, but they still hated the Elementals.

Ava was bored, and each day she tried to figure out a way to kill Havok. Even if they killed him, they still had thousands of Cimmerians to fight. They had to bide their time, getting to know the Cimmerians so that maybe they could convince them to switch sides. A tall order, but Ava was ready for the challenge.

Xavier was her prime focus. And she already had him eating out of the palm of her hand.

“Havok is happy to see your strengths. Now, he wants to test your allegiance,” Xavier said, nudging Donovan with his boot. He rolled his eyes as Donovan still didn’t move. “We have prisoners.” As he spoke, the doors opened and people marched into the room in a single file line. “They kidnapped the Elementals and we are the ones to punish them.”

Anais rolled her eyes and shook her head. She knew what really happened. There were hundreds of Cimmerians watching Ava and the others agreeing to join Havok. They all knew the truth. Weren’t Havok and Xavier afraid someone would spill?

Once the prisoners came into the light, Ava recognized them. A woman with messy black hair, her face covered in cuts and a bruised eye, her hazel eyes glaring at Ava as she walked past. She had a swollen lip, and there was an intense anger in her stare. Behind her was Moira. She’d lost weight and her face was just as bloodstained as Natalia’s.

Then Ava met Gabriel’s crystal blue eyes. Instead of his sweet, caring gaze, he stared at her with such hatred. His fierce glare paralyzed her. The long gash across his cheek had left a scar. His beard and mustache had grown back. His now shoulder-length hair was disarrayed and he appeared skinnier. He had his beard and mustache back. His clothes were filthy, and as he passed her, she barely caught a whiff of juniper. It was so heavily masked with a mildew smell.

Nothing stirred inside Ava. She knew them and knew what they were to her, but her heart was a stone. She watched them enter with no emotion, like she’d never met them, and they meant nothing to her.

“We captured these Enchanters as they tried to attack us,” Xavier said. “Obviously, it was a lost cause. We torture them as prisoners.”

“How does this test our allegiance?” Thomas crossed his arms.

“I’m glad you asked. You all were friends with them at some point. They brainwashed you. They know you, so having
you
torment them will hopefully teach them a lesson. Also, Havok wants to be sure you’re on his side. Benjamin isn’t negating their powers so they can fight back.”

Ava noticed Xavier never mentioned that their minds had been erased so the prisoners presumed the Elementals willingly punished their friends. What a cruel game Havok played.

“So, who’s up first?”

“Me,” Ava said. She wanted to get it over with as fast as possible.

“Great.” He unbound Gabriel’s hands and pushed him forward to face Ava. Of course, Gabriel had to be the one she tortured.

They stood for a second, staring at each other, and she knew Xavier and everyone else watched their interaction. But Ava felt nothing. She pretended to be angry that the Enchanter who stood before her kidnapped her and attacked the Cimmerians.

She waited for him to make a move. She noticed a green glowing ankle bracelet. Maybe that was to prevent him from teleporting. But couldn’t he still stop time?

When he didn’t budge, she conjured water and shot it at him. But in a second he moved to her left and the water pelted Anais.

“You stupid bi—.”

“Shut up,” Xavier cut her off.

Okay, so Gabriel could teleport, just maybe not out of Caprington. Ava attempted to blast him again, but he’d stopped time and moved out of the fire line. She’d have to use her mental projection. She wondered why he didn’t stop time for a minute, but if they had the same interaction the last time he stopped time, she would be found out in a heartbeat. They had kissed, but then Cimmerians had pulled them apart. She couldn’t risk that again.

She twitched, making him think she was going to shoot water, but then imagined Gabriel under water. Rough waves crashed over him. She froze the water, blocking him under a thick sheet of ice.

Gabriel collapsed to his hands and knees, coughing up water. The veins in his neck swelled as if they would pop any second. Agony etched on his reddened face, and he clenched his hands into tight fists. His stomach heaved. He stared at Ava with the same icy stare as before. She knew she would feel the repercussions later, and the more she punished him, the less likely he would forgive her. But she couldn’t stop hurting him. She didn’t know why. It was almost as if she enjoyed torturing him.

“Enough,” Xavier said nonchalantly, and Ava stopped. He moved to Gabriel and gripped his shoulder. “Again,” he told Ava.

She envisioned Gabriel in the water, and he coughed it up, spilling onto the floor. He gasped for air, but he never begged her to stop.

Xavier held up his hand, and she stopped.

“Again,” Xavier demanded.

They went through the motions a few more times until Gabriel was flat on his stomach, his face pressed to the floor. His eyelids drooped, and she could have sworn she saw a lone tear fall down his cheek. But he never fought back.

“Get him up and take him back,” Xavier told a Cimmerian. The brawny man grabbed Gabriel by the shoulder and jerked him to his feet.

Ava went back to her spot, but gave Gabriel one last look before he left. The hate, despair, and confusion in those eyes would haunt her.

“Okay, who’s next?”

Thomas moved to the front and Xavier forced Moira to face him. Tears filled her brown eyes, and her chin quivered.

Ava wondered if Moira had had any more visions. And if so, what would they be? She didn’t want to watch what was about to take place. She had to look bored.

Xavier pushed Moira to her knees. “Go ahead,” he told Thomas. Was he using his shadow ability so the prisoners couldn’t see in order to fight back? She thought Xavier wanted the prisoners to fight back. Maybe he had changed his mind.

Thomas’s hands lit like hot coals, and then flames appeared. He flicked his wrist, and fire shot toward Moira. The flames latched onto her body, and she screamed.

Everyone looked at the scene in pure horror. Had they not seen anything like it? They killed people all the time. How could this shock them?

The fire enveloped Moira, and Ava knew that any minute she would die. But no one made a move. They all watched the flames consume Moira and heard her shrill screams shatter the silence in the room.

Within seconds, hushed voices turned into shouts, and soon they cheered for Thomas like he had just scored a touchdown. It sickened Ava. She couldn’t watch much longer.

She doused Moira, the water healing as much as it could, but most of her clothes had been singed to her skin, which was now charred and bleeding profusely. The flames had only gone as high as her shoulders, and the water had healed the skin on her neck and shoulders and little bits elsewhere.

Several people stared at Ava, including Xavier, with disbelief. Xavier clenched his jaw and crossed his arms. Apparently, they weren’t allowed to interfere.

“Sorry, I’m not a fan of smelling burning flesh,” Ava said and folded her arms.

“Touché,” Xavier said, and then turned to Thomas. “This time, just use your mind. Again.”

Thomas stared at Moira, and Ava saw his jaw twitch. He had to keep his emotions turned off.

Moira clutched her chest and screamed. Tears streamed down her face as Ava knew Thomas’s projected mental images and sensations of burning alive tore through Moira’s mind.

“You coward,” Moira said, her breaths labored. “I can’t believe you’d give up so quickly.”

“Again,” Xavier told him.

Just like with Gabriel, Xavier made Moira suffer, and Thomas gave no sign of recognition or emotion. And just as Ava suspected, the prisoners had no idea the Elementals had had their minds erased. But they hadn’t. So the Elementals really were torturing their friends willingly. Would they ever forgive the Elementals once they found out the truth?

After a few minutes, they took Moira away and continued down the line. Melissa repeatedly poisoned Joss causing her to collapse. She narrowed her beautiful violet eyes at Melissa, and then everyone else.

“I can’t believe you!” Joss yelled. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head and sweat ambled down her face. She heaved and swallowed, but then heaved again and threw up forcing the crowd around the railing to groan in disgust.

Several of them looked away, completely grossed out.

“Ugh, what did you do?” Anais asked.

Melissa lifted a shoulder. “Atropine poisoning.”

Donovan dropped his jaw. “You can do that?”

“Yeah.”

He tried hard not to appear impressed, but Ava saw it in his eyes.

“What is that?” Gillian asked.

“Makes you hallucinate and temporarily lose memory. It comes from the belladonna plant.”

“Where am I?” Joss frantically scanned the group. She had no idea where she was or who anyone was. Ava glanced at Eric, but like a rock, he showed no emotion.

“Someone clean this up and take her back,” Xavier said.

One of the Cimmerians carried Joss away and one cleaned up the mess.

“Let’s continue.” Xavier crossed his arms, impatiently waiting.

Gillian moved to the front as Natalia was pushed toward her. She manipulated Natalia to stab herself over and over with a knife. Blood spurted out all over the floor from the several gashes that tore her stomach open. Then Jeremy’s intense wind ripped Zhan’s skin leaving it hanging in sheets. And Lance absorbed Konstantin’s ability and telekinetically raised his body in the air and dropped him with a sickening thud. His leg cracked, but he never made a sound. Ava remembered when Havok did that to her in a dream. The intense pain had consumed her as her leg broke. She couldn’t think of anything else but the throbbing agony. She wasn’t sure how Konstantin remained silent.

Katarina poisoned Aaron with her radiation disfiguring his face. His skin boiled and bled through. Ava could barely watch. The skin around his eyes had peeled away. His hair had fallen off and blood seeped through his flesh. Ava saw one of the girls look away and try not to vomit.

They wanted to see what the Elementals could do. Ava knew each one of the Elementals had pulled out all of the stops, but how would they feel later? She wasn’t sure she wanted to feel her emotions after what she had done. How would they get through this? Would they live like emotionless creatures for the rest of their lives? She didn’t know how she or the others could keep torturing their friends and loved ones.

Gustav was next, and Ava knew Anais would be his punisher. Anais looked at him like he was a disgusting roach. She crossed her arms and smirked. Had she known that he was her father? She shook her head. “An Elder. You don’t look so powerful.”

Gustav took his punishment without a word or movement. None of the prisoners fought back. Why didn’t they? Were they trying to prove something? They didn’t know that Ava and the others’ minds were supposedly erased. Were the prisoners testing Ava and the rest?

The second round of torture began as Peter, Link, Nicole, Donovan, Eve, Eric, and Kira tormented the prisoners again. Ava didn’t want to think about what they had to hold onto in order to survive. She knew they were all incredibly strong, but she didn’t know how they were able to take it all without a fight.

A few hours had passed, and Xavier called an end. The bloody, anguished prisoners were returned to their cells. Ava wondered how they would be healed. They had to; otherwise, they would die in the middle of the night from blood loss. But no one asked Ava to heal them. Maybe they had healing potions like Savina had. How else could they heal themselves all these years without Savina’s help? Ava held onto that fact as she followed Thomas and the rest of the group out of the training hole.

“Do you all wanna refresh and regroup tonight?” Lance asked.

“Sure,” Thomas said. “Sounds great.”

But Ava knew it was code for going to Klaus’s secret room. She walked fast to her room, waiting to turn on her emotions, if only for a little bit. When she reached the door, someone called out to her.

Ava looked up and saw Xavier.

“Are you in a rush?” he asked, one eyebrow cocked.

“No. I’m just really sweaty and disgusting.”

He chuckled. “I understand. See you at the tavern later?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Turning the knob, she opened the door and then quickly closed it. She rested against the door for a second, and as she tore down the mental wall, she raced to the bathroom.

All the food she had eaten that day was gone. The first time she saw Gabriel in probably a month, she abused him. Made him drown several times, choking up water. Again and again. Her heart ached as she clutched her stomach. She curled up into a ball on the bathroom floor, squeezing the rug near the toilet.