Ashes of Chaos (Legacy of the Nine Realms #2) - Amelia Hutchins Page 0,28

most potion rooms, this one sat nestled into the soil. Examining the room’s contents, I studied the large skulls from unknown creatures marked with runes and other strange carvings.

Stepping closer, I lowered my head to inspect one skull up close, frowning when I felt power pulsing from the inhuman, unproportioned skull. It was yet another gigantic bird or something similar to the skull I found in the village. Apparently, people collected things like these in the Nine Realms.

Another skull caught my attention, sending a shiver down my spine. I moved closer and paused. Swallowing hard against the unease I felt, I placed my hand onto it, frowning as the room spun around me.

I could see images flashing before me of creatures fighting against unseen foes. A man beside me rattled, exposing serrated teeth and claws before the entire world mimicked the sound and a low, eerie purring escaped from those marching toward the dark shadows and mist waiting across the field, preparing for battle.

Blood splattered my face, and I turned, releasing my hold on the skull as a man with turquoise eyes and silver hair stood staring at me. In his hand was the head of a witch whose prone body was on the floor beside me. He stared at me as a rattle echoed from deep within his chest, filling the room as he turned, placing his hand on the skull I’d been inspecting. Grabbing my hand, he held it to the skull, forcing us into the scene I’d just witnessed.

“You are of both lines,” the male whispered, his nose pushing against my hair, inhaling as he rattled, which didn’t call to me, but strangely enough, it was soothing. It lacked Knox’s intensity, but I felt the call to answer him with one of my own.

“Who are you?” I asked, uncertain that I really wanted to know.

“You’re not ready for that answer, Little One.”

“Are you, my father?” I turned to look at him as his lips twisted into a smirk.

“No,” he laughed, and my attention shifted back to the scene playing out before us as magic shot toward the monsters pushing through the witches’ ranks on the battlefield.

A moment before they would have clashed in battle, he pulled my hand away and crushed the skull, freeing the magic it had held. He stepped closer to me, watching as I backed up. His lips curved into a smile as he rattled, and mine answered his.

“You’re not even asking the right questions yet.”

“What is the right question?” I countered, continuing to move backward as he proceeded toward me.

“That’s not it either.”

“What am I?” I demanded, and his eyes danced with amusement.

“That’s closer.”

“Fucking answer me!” I hissed, digging in my heels, refusing to allow this man to back me against the wall.

“Such fire in one so young,” he laughed, smirking softly as his eyes searched mine. “Yet so much anger for what you don’t understand.” His other hand lifted, and a portal unlike one I’d ever felt before opened like a mirror into another realm, wavering, before returning to a solid backdrop. “Come with me, Aria. If you’re ready to know who and what you are, step into the portal and join me. We are the same, you and me. We have the same eyes, which I’m sure you noticed, but you know not why you were born with silver hair, nor why you rattle and wage war with the fire of a million stars burning within you. All you’d have to do to find those answers is to come with me. Are you ready?” More men stepped into sight. All with similar hair and eyes, waiting for me to join them on the portal’s other side.

“The wee little beast is terrified, is she not?” one man asked.

“I am not scared! I am pissed. There’s a huge difference,” I snapped, hiding the fact that I was indeed terrified.

“I can hear the thunder of your heart and smell the sweat dripping down the back of your neck. My creature is chuckling at your fear, Darling. Come with us. You don’t belong here, Aria. You’re one of us.”

The power of the portal felt different and yet pure. It was something I’d felt once before when Knox had stopped time around me on the cliff when we’d first met. It was as if he’d pulled me from my realm and into another, yet nothing around me had frozen in time. My attention moved around the room, noting that nothing moved, which meant I couldn’t know