Destiny Gift (The Everlast Trilogy) - By Juliana Haygert Page 0,81
genuinely dead. And if we don’t find his scepter soon, he will die. Forever.”
In her mind, Ceris acted out of love and for that I couldn’t blame her. Nevertheless, I was furious. She had made me suffer. She had tricked me. She had orchestrated my life for more than eleven months.
“So now, to survive, we have to find our scepters?” Micah asked.
Ceris glared at him. “You’re on your own now. And, honestly, I hope you die.” She looked skyward. “Time to go.”
“Where?” I asked.
“You, I don’t care about,” Ceris snapped. “You served your purpose. Now forget about us and return to your pathetic life.” She approached Victor, who tried to retreat but was prevented by magic. “Imha is getting close, love, and she won’t be fooled by the circle.”
“You think I’m going with you?” Victor asked.
She leaned toward him. “I’m certain you are going with me.”
“I’m going with Nadine, and you stay away from me.”
My breath caught.
Shocked by his statement, Ceris opened her mouth and gaped. “After all I did for you? You’re my mate. You choose to go with a mortal over your own goddess?”
“Yes,” he shouted. “After all, in case you didn’t notice, you killed, you lied, and you betrayed our rules, claiming it was for me.”
“I did those things because I love you,” the goddess whispered.
“Perhaps it’s time for you to revise your definition of love.” He crossed over the circle and headed in my direction. Instantly, screeches and ruffling of wings sounded overhead.
“By the Everlast, they’re already here.” Ceris turned to me. “Goodbye, Nadine. I hope the Fates don’t treat you well.” She waved her hand toward Victor, producing a vortex of pink wind that enfolded both him and her. Quicker than a blink of an eye, the vortex was gone.
And so was Victor.
I didn’t have time to process it. Bats landed around the edge of Grandmother Rock, and I was alone with Micah.
For a second, I thought he would leave too. Instead, he came to my side and helped me stand. I was grateful for not being alone but I wondered how we would survive against the dozens of bats and other demons that climbed up the rock.
I kept myself frozen in place, hardly breathing, to avoid any rushed attack. I needed time to think, to come up with a plan, but I had no idea what to do.
The bats and demons formed a circle around the edge of the rock with us in the center. I tried not to flinch, but it was hard not to as they growled, shrieked, scratched their claws on the ground, and slobbered all over.
My muscles tensed when some of them started closing in on us. Micah held my arm and kept me close. I didn’t relax when the creatures moved aside so something or someone could come up the trail onto the rock top.
“Hello, Micah. Hello, Nadine.” Brock approached us, an artful sneer on his face in between his reddened cheeks.
My mouth went dry. “You!”
“Yes, me. Am I late? I thought all of your friends would be here too. Where is the third one?” As if we would answer him. “All right, let’s change the question. What are you three?”
Micah snorted. “Power Rangers, ever heard of them?”
“Amusing.” Brock paced before us, his tone not amused. “You see, if you don’t answer to me, I’ll have no other option than to take you both to Lord Omi.” His eyes showed interest in that threat. Perhaps he was into torturing. He turned to me and I shivered. “Will you be a good girl and answer my questions?”
“Never,” I snapped. If I’d been a guy, I would have spat on his feet.
Brock shook his head and stepped closer to me.
Micah put himself in front of me and snarled, “Leave her alone.”
“I’m afraid we’re going for a ride.” Brock snapped his fingers and the demons advanced.
Micah did his best to keep them off us, off me, but there were too many. In seconds, we were pulled apart.
Fear clawed inside me, making my body shake.
“No,” Micah yelled, trying to get to me.
The bats closed in on me. I turned around, looking for a space to crawl through, and ended up face-to-face with Brock.
Then a fist met my face.
***
I woke with a loud gasp, only to have a blow to my stomach take the air out of me. I recoiled in time to escape a second kick.
“You’re awake,” Brock said. He knelt before me as I scrabbled backward until I hit a wall.