Demon's Trust (The Chronicles of Arcayos #1) - Raven Dark Page 0,131
ever really believed in a god of any sort, but seeing something like this makes my mind want to explode.
“Champion,” Lanzere drawls in a voice that makes the ground tremor. He offers me a curious glance but then turns his eyes back to Arcayos.
The disdain in his voice takes me aback, but Arcayos doesn’t even seem to notice. “Have you told her?”
“I have not. I’ll leave that to you.”
“So you do keep some of the Champion’s secrets after all.” He sighs and nods to me, gesturing with his hand. “Come forth, Cassidy Morgan of Earth.”
My breath catches. “Okay. Not every day a girl talks to an Angel.” My stomach flutters with nerves. I swallow, looking at Arcayos.
The warrior puts his hand on the small of my back and nods. “It’s all right. Go.”
I step up so that I’m one stair below the Angel. Lanzere seems to glow with an inner light, and his presence fills my head, pressing on the inside of my brain. It’s almost painful.
“So you are the one chosen to be the Gidan of the Champion. And you do not want him?” His gives me a sardonic twist of his lips.“ I do not blame you.”
Arcayos growls.
“No, it… it’s not that simple.” The question makes my heart hurt “I—”
The Angel nods impatiently. He clasps his hands before him. “There is but one way to break the Gidan Hudar.”
“But you can break it?”
“Yes. If we are to undo the Bond, you will no longer belong to the Champion, but you must understand, with the doing and undoing of magic, there is always a consequence.”
“What will you do? How will you break it?”
Lanzere pauses, searching my face. Then he nods. “Va’halzoret will have to turn back time.”
32
Cassidy’s Choice
Shock strikes me dumb. I blink at the Angel incredulously.
“Turn… turn back time?” I glance from Lanzere to Arcayos—who is smiling, probably at my shock—and back to Lanzere again. “She can do that?”
Lanzere spreads his hands. “She is the Goddess.”
I blow out a breath. Then my brain slowly begins to unstick itself, and a chill races through me. “Wait. How… how far back will she have to go?”
“She will have to reverse time back to the moment the Gidan Hudar was triggered.”
“Which is when?”
Lanzere nods to the Champion.
“Arcayos?” I say.
The warrior sets his foot on the bottom step, and his head lowers before he meets my eyes with a steady gaze. “The moment I saved you the first time, I set in motion the process that created the Bond.”
“So, she would have to undo the past year,” I say.
“Yes,” he says.
My heart gives a horrible jolt. I look to the top of the steps. “But if she does that, I won’t have found Saffron.” My throat chokes. “She’ll be back here, imprisoned by Hazuldar.”
The Angel nods. “The Goddess will put you back before the events unfold that made it necessary for the Champion to save you. Thus, all the events that happen after will never have occurred.”
Weakness spreads through my legs. My knees threaten to fold. I turn, and Arcayos is suddenly there on the steps with me. I clutch the front of his cloak. He caresses my cheek with his finger, his touch infinitely gentle.
I glance back at the angel. “If Va’halzoret reverses time to before he saves me, I could die this time.”
“No, you won’t.” Arcayos cradles my nape with his palm. “Va’halzoret will send me first. I will kill the demons before you ever show up.”
“So we won’t meet.”
He shakes his head. “Once the Goddess reverses time, neither of us will remember anything that happened.”
“But wait. Lanzere, we won’t remember, but we will get a do-over, right? I might still meet Arcayos later. We could still find a way to save Saffron.”
“Perhaps.” He shrugs. “But every event that is undone leaves another opportunity for things to go wrong.”
God damn it. Once again, I feel like I’m split in two. The choice is too big, too complicated to fit inside my head. It seems cruel and terrifying.
Life with Arcayos, a life of lies and deceit, or the risk of losing Saffron forever.
“You must both agree to this,” Lanzere says, cutting into my thoughts. “Arcayos, are you certain this is what you want?”
Arcayos rubs my back, and then his hand slides away. The loss of his touch is painful. “I want it for her. If this is what she wants, yes.”
Oh, God. He’s willing to lose me in order to make me happy. My eyes close. I hate this.
“Cassidy Morgan,” Lanzere says. “Will the Goddess undo the past year, or will you stay at his side for all time? The choice is yours.”
I shove my hand through my hair. “Can I think about it?”
Lanzere nods. “You have one hour.”
There is a flash of white light, a flapping of wings, and then a crack, and he’s gone.
Almost an hour later, I pace in front of the entrance to the cave, my thoughts tearing themselves apart. My chest is tight, my fists clenching and unclenching.
Arcayos stands up from a boulder where he’d been sitting and cups my face in his hands. His eyes are heart-wrenchingly gentle. “It is time.”
I nod, looking at my feet, twisting my hands. God, I feel like I’m going to bawl my eyes out. “Arcayos…” I trail off, not even knowing what to say. No matter what I choose, I stand to lose too much.
He tips my chin up. His eyes are warm. “Whatever you choose, my Cassidy Morgan, I will make it happen. And in my heart, you will always belong to me.”
Oh, no. I wish he hadn’t said that. I blink and hot tears splash my cheeks.
I’m not sure who hugged who—if I put my arms around him first, or if he pulled me to him—but suddenly I’m in his arms, pressed hard into his warmth.
After a long moment, he draws back and cups my face. His eyes are dark and full of pain. He presses a kiss to my forehead. “We have to go. What is your choice, my love?”
I whisper my choice into his chest.
His arms envelop me in a crushing embrace, and he nods. “So shall it be.”
Minutes later, we’re still ten feet from the pedestal when the white light flashes above the steps. A crack shatters the room’s silence, and Lanzere is there, wings drawing in behind his back.
Arcayos sets his warm palm on my nape, and I walk at his side, my heart a lead weight in my chest.
Lanzere puts his hands together in front of him. “What is your decision, Cassidy Morgan of Earth? Will Va’halzoret reverse time, or will you belong to Arcayos forever?”
I draw a huge breath. Then I glance at Arcayos, making sure he understands all the ramifications of my choice.
He nods, and I link our fingers.
“I am his forever.”
The End of Book 1 of
THE CHRONICLES OF ARCAYOS
If you enjoyed Arcayos and Cassidy’s story, please leave a review! And stay tuned for Demon’s Truth, Book 2 in
THE CHRONICLES OF ARCAYOS
coming soon!
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