Kissed by Krista Street

Chapter 4

~ AVERY ~

My scream rang around me, echoing through the cave as it bounced off the walls. I scooted back on the rock, getting as far away from the grotesque thing as I could because the warlock that stared back at me made gargoyles look like fluffy teddy bears.

He wasn’t natural.

He wasn’t supposed to exist.

Sorcerers who turned this far dark were no longer products of nature.

They were abominations, a perversion of magic twisted so savagely that they were worse than demons walking in the underworld.

I finally stopped screaming, my throat dry and tight, but my chest still heaved. Fuck, fuck, fuck! I needed to get out of here!

The warlock watched my attempts at scrambling away with barely controlled glee. He obviously enjoyed the response he’d caused.

Sick fucker.

But how could I have stopped it? He was hideous, and everything about his appearance was created to provoke horror.

Blood-red veins crisscrossed his face, and his skin was a mottled gray and purple that looked like death. Sunken eyes with solid pitch-black irises watched me eerily from a face that resembled a skull. His skin was so thin that he looked like a walking corpse. And when he smiled—as if done just to terrify me further—I was awarded a view of needle-like teeth that appeared decayed and rotten, yet I had a feeling that they were strong enough to tear through flesh.

He was the thing of nightmares.

A twisted curse of death and magic.

I knew that I was facing a sorcerer who should have died long ago. Only terrible magic could explain why his soul still walked in this realm and how his body hadn’t turned to rot.

“How old are you?” I finally managed through my raw throat.

His grin grew. “More centuries than you would probably believe.”

“Are you as old as him? As that elf lord?”

His gaze grew sharper, colder, and all humor left his face. “You do not speak of my lord.”

I swallowed, but it did nothing to relieve the sandpaper in my throat. The pounding picked up in my head again, my headache returning with a vengeance, and for the second time, I thought I was going to be sick.

“How?” I whispered. “How is it possible you’re still alive? No sorcerer can live thousands of years.”

“But I’m not a sorcerer. I’ve evolved. I’ve become. We all have.” He waved toward the cavern behind him.

In the darkness, a group of obsidian eyes flashed.

My jaw dropped. Oh Gods! They’re all here.

Roughly a dozen set of eyes watched from behind the hideous warlock crouched in front of me.

I dragged my gaze back to him. “You’ve all turned to dark magic to stay alive.” I shook my head, the horror of that realization making me want to puke my guts out. “But that would take hundreds of human or supernatural sacrifices, even thousands of sacrifices to wield that kind of extended life and power.”

He laughed. “Perhaps.” But as quickly as his dark laugh came, it went.

Energy flashed behind him. Nobody said anything, but I could feel them there, watching and waiting.

But waiting for what?

A bolt of fear ran down my spine as goosebumps pimpled my skin and dread filled my belly. My breathing kicked up. My instinct told me something bad was about to happen. “What are you going to do to me?”

The warlock’s mouth turned into a thin line, all idleness vanishing from his demeanor. “No more questions. You’re coming with me, Goddess incarnate, and we’re finally taking that great power from you.”

His hand snaked out brushing against my wrist, but I whipped my arm back just in time.

With a growl, he lunged for me, but I jumped up from my seated position and dashed to the side. Fear propelled me, making me faster than seemed humanly possible.

Suspended fairy lights abruptly burst to life, illuminating the entire cave system. The other warlocks rushed forward, and my eyes widened as terror coated my belly in churning acid.

I had to get out of here.

I couldn’t let them perform a ritual on me.

Who knew if I would survive it or not, plus I had a feeling that if they harvested the godly power inside me, it would be very bad news for everybody. Not just me. It could destroy this entire realm.

I darted to the edge of the cave, my side colliding with the damp, sharp rock as I called upon the power inside me. It broiled and simmered, like a volcano ready to erupt, but as soon as it pushed to the surface of my skin, something doused it, as if a fountain of water drenched me and sizzled its crackling flames.

“I told you it wouldn’t work.” The warlock tried to grab me again, his pitch-black eyes so cold and empty, but I managed to evade his attempt.

Knowing I couldn’t use the goddess’s magic to fight him since it was bound by the elf lord’s spell, I crouched lower as the other warlocks formed a semi-circle around the divot I’d slept in.

“The Lord will not be happy if we magically subdue her.” One of the warlocks crossed his arms, looking entirely unperturbed.

I bared my teeth, still on the balls of my feet as I readied for their next attack.

One of them swiped out, but I dashed away, bumping into the back wall. I was cornered, quite literally, but I wasn’t going down without a fight.

“This is growing exceedingly annoying,” another snarled. “Grab her.”

Four of them came at me at once.

Instinct took over.

When one grabbed for my wrist, I dipped and rolled, then hissed in pain when the sharp rock floor needled my back, but I didn’t let it deter me.

Another snarl of displeasure came from the warlocks as they tried to capture me, but I darted a foot out, catching one of them completely unaware as I swept his feet out from beneath him.

He fell with a groan, hitting the rock hard, and I shot to my feet.

Before the others could react, I kicked, catching one of them in the chin, before dipping low and coming up with a sharp uppercut to the stomach, right in the solar plexus.

A strangled breath escaped that one, and he stumbled back.

Somewhere inside me, I was vaguely aware that I was fighting these men. Truly fighting them.

Wyatt had said I’d been trained to fight at the SF even though I didn’t remember it, but some part of me must have been aware. I didn’t question my instincts. I followed them as I tried to claw my way out of this pit.

“Enough!” one of the warlocks yelled.

He swirled his hand, and a blast of magic seized me midrun, freezing me in place. Pain flared my nerve endings, and the goddess’s power rumbled and exploded inside me, but as before, I couldn’t work it free.

“The Lord will be most unhappy that you did that.” Another warlock crossed his arms. The sleeves of his robe drifted up, and I got a glimpse of mottled skin with crimson spiderweb veins crisscrossing over his wrists.

“Perhaps, but the effects will wear off soon enough. Then we can conduct the ritual.”

I remained immobilized, suspended mid-air. Only the tips of one of my toes touched the ground. The warlock’s immense magic had literally frozen me.

My lips tried to twist into an ironic smile. Only days ago I’d frozen them. But I couldn’t move my mouth. I couldn’t move anything other than my eyeballs.

I fought against his paralyzing binding spell, but I didn’t stand a chance. Dread again welled up inside me. With the goddess’s power trapped and unable to be accessed, all I had were my wits and the apparent fighting skills I’d once been taught. But unable to move my body, I couldn’t use my fists or legs.

“Move her to a more secure location. I will confer with the Lord as to when we will reconvene for the ritual,” one of the warlocks said.

All of their robes were still securely in place, so they were merely the gravelly, chilling voices that spoke through the dark cave of their hoods.

My body lifted farther from the ground, and I swallowed a scream of terror. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of hearing my fear.

I floated in the air under their command. Trickling water trailed down the cave walls, and my eyes widened when the entire cavern came into view. Tunnels dipped in every direction. Nooks and crevasses appeared down others. We were far underground. I knew that much.

Good Gods. I was truly trapped here.

The warlocks dispersed, most leaving down a tunnel in the opposite direction from the way I was being floated.

Only two warlocks accompanied my hovering body, neither of them speaking. My eyeballs frantically whizzed around as I searched for a way out.

One of these tunnels had to go up. One of them had to lead out of here.

I didn’t know when they would release the binding spell, but the second they did I would be fighting and running again, which meant that I needed to get my bearings.

The dream I’d had at Shrouding Estate—the feeling of floating above the fire while seeing my body empty and cold beneath me—came back to me. Had that been a ritual?

If the ritual went ahead, I knew I’d be a goner. I couldn’t let it happen.

The warlock in front of me abruptly took a turn down another tunnel in the cave. He maneuvered through a narrower portion, my body floating behind him.

A flash of color on the right caught my attention, and I managed to catch a glimpse of something lying on the floor in another divot.

A shroud.

The outline of a body.

Then it was gone.

“What was that?” I called shrilly, my words garbled since I couldn’t move my lips.

Neither warlock answered. They continued down the tunnel, their footsteps silent, as if they didn’t even touch the ground.

“Who’s under that sheet?” I screamed.

One of them tsked. “So many questions. It is most annoying.”

The other one grunted.

I screamed again. Who had been under that sheet? And how long had they been down here? Were they dead? Alive?

I clamped down on my frustration. If I wasn’t alone down here, that meant they’d abducted others. But why? Were there others in this realm who harbored powers from the gods? Were they going to harvest their powers too? Perhaps the ritual they wanted to conduct on me, was only one of many.

Shit. Shit. Shit. I had to escape.

The warlocks stopped when the tunnel walls grew too narrow for us to continue.

The one commanding the spell moved my body with a wave of his hand, and I glided over to the wall before being laid down in another divot. Similar to the area I’d woken up in, the ceiling in this area was low and round, yet sharp rock grazed my skin.

“Leave her, Malis.” The taller one spoke in a gravelly voice similar to the one who’d woven the spell over me.

With a grunt, the magic evaporated.

My arms shot up, the magic no longer restraining me. With a jolt, I was on my feet. I lunged for them, but at the last moment, a shield erupted.

I slammed into an invisible wall, pain shooting through me. I hit it so hard that I bounced back and landed on my butt.

The sharp rock cut into my pants, poking my skin painfully. I still bolted to standing again but approached the invisible barrier more carefully.

The warlocks turned away, as if not giving me a second thought.

“Where are you going?” I yelled after them.

Of course, they didn’t answer me, but at least I could move again.

I reached forward, then hissed in pain when my fingers connected with the shield they’d put around my newest prison cell.

I snatched my hand back, but my skin still burned. At least the binding spell no longer held me frozen, but I didn’t understand what had just happened.

I’d been certain that they were going to take me to whatever ritual they’d spoken of, but then they’d cast that binding spell on me when I’d fought back. One of them had sounded displeased about that. He’d said something about the Lord, about how he wouldn’t like the setback.

So what did that mean?

It felt as if my brain was moving at one million miles an hour. Panic creeped into my chest again, and I struggled to breathe.

No. Stay calm. Think!

I took several breaths of the dank, humid air and tried to piece together what I knew.

I’d fought back. They’d cast a spell on me. That had created a setback.

Okay. So warlock spells cast on me caused problems for them. Good to know. As for why that was, no idea, but I could definitely cause all sorts of problems next time they came back, which would force them to cast another binding spell and hopefully postpone the ritual again.

I just needed to keep fighting. Sooner or later the SF would find me, so I needed to stay alive until they did.

And if the SF didn’t—

No.

I couldn’t think like that. One step at a time.

Knowing I wasn’t completely helpless quenched some of my fear. And thankfully, the pounding headache had abated, allowing me to think more clearly.

So what else did I know?

Before ending up here, I’d been at Shrouding Estate with Wyatt.

Wyatt. My heart squeezed. Where was he now? Did he know I was gone?

Yes! More memories slammed into me, not quite as fuzzy as before.

I’d been in the Whimsical Room with Nicholas. We’d been waiting, talking, and agonizing over all that was happening on the estate.

But then . . .

Things grew fuzzy again. I cocked my head, trying to remember.

We’d had something to eat and drink. Right?

Yes!

Oh Gods, the fairy beverage. We’d been drugged.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to concentrate, but everything after that turned murky. I only got flashes and feelings.

Arousal. Lust. Someone kissing my neck—no, sucking my neck. Nicholas must have drunk from me.

Then the door had banged open. Someone’s rage had coated the room. Oh Gods, that was Wyatt. Then I’d been flying up and up, around and around. I’d gone outside. A battle had been waging around us. Wyatt had been holding me, but he’d been cursing. He’d been angry. So angry.

Wyatt had handed me off to someone, telling them something about getting me away. And then other hands had grabbed me, and I’d been flying again.

My skin chilled.

That’s when the elf lord took me.

We’d whizzed through the forest, Wyatt calling for me. Wyatt had almost caught up with us, but then the trees stopped him and something pricked my neck, stinging me, and then everything had gone black.

The sting! That’s when the elf lord had placed the curse on me that bound the goddess’s power.

I lowered myself to the cave floor, my heart pounding as I realized that I’d first been drugged by Marnee and then spelled by the elf lord.

Gods. WTF.

Neither of them had the right to do that to me.

I stomped my foot on the ground. If only I’d never been in that damned Whimsical Room. If I hadn’t, I never would have been drugged, and then maybe I could have fought back using the goddess’s power.

I swallowed the urge to scream in frustration. But dammit, if only I hadn’t been in that damned underground room.

Fucking hell, Wyatt. Why did you guilt-trip me like that?

It didn’t help that I didn’t know if my friends had survived. For all I knew, Charlotte, Nicholas, and Bavar were all dead.

Fear clawed up my throat, but I forced it down and focused on my anger. I seethed inwardly, cursing Wyatt and his stupid overprotectiveness. Even though my body innately desired him, I was royally pissed at him.

Nostrils flaring, I stood again and approached the invisible barrier. The goddess’s power buzzed inside me. If only I could reach it and use it. Her power was strong enough that I could smash my way right out of here.

Closing my eyes, I mentally reached inside my chest to where her power resided. It was there, swimming in its potency. I tugged at it. Pulled. Called. Clawed. Begged.

But as before, it didn’t rise past my skin’s surface.

“Shit!” Panting, I opened my eyes and cursed every single swear word I could think of.

Then I began pacing, needing to do something.

It didn’t help that I still didn’t fully understand how the goddess’s power had gotten inside me, and I had no idea how to use it. But according to Wyatt, it infected me after the Safrinite comet shot past the fae lands, and then weeks later, it’d erupted, her power being born within me when the planetary alignment occurred.

I ground my teeth together at my lack of memories. I still didn’t remember any of those details. Instead, my memories only started from the moment I’d woken up in the field outside of the capital with Wyatt and Nicholas hovering over me.

An image of Wyatt appeared in my mind again, snagging my attention. His dark hair, brooding moss-green eyes, and square jaw formed so readily.

“Wyatt,” I whispered, my feet grounding to a halt on the rough rock floor. An ache hit my chest, despite my absolute irritation with him.

Because even though I was so mad at him that I could spit, I still craved him.

Mate.

That’s what he’d called me. His mate. So did that mean my body also felt he was my mate?

How typical. So not only did I have no say in what I could or couldn’t do around the SF, but I also had no say in who I got to be with?

Red-hot annoyance flared inside me. I wanted to shake my fist at the universe and all of her controlling mate-driven antics, but more than that, irritation hummed through me that was one hundred percent self-directed.

Because despite everything that had happened, I still had an irrational desire to be with him when all I wanted to do was slug him in the shoulder.

“Gods.” I abruptly sank to the ground again, my fingers digging into my hair.

So much had happened in the past few days. I still didn’t remember my life or the people I cared about. I still didn’t know who I was or why I’d been chosen by the goddess. But I did know that I had to fight to get back to the life I’d once led, even if I didn’t remember it.

A memory of Wyatt’s tender embraces and soul-shattering kisses stole over me. Fucking mate bond. Even here, when I was possibly waiting to be executed in some sick ritual, my body still drifted to him.

How was it possible that in only days I’d begun falling for him? Even though I didn’t remember him, I was drawn to him as if I’d always known him.

As though my body remembered what my mind could not.

Shivers danced up my spine.

“I have to get out of here!” I lurched to my feet once more from the cold stone floor.

Vibrations from the invisible barrier skittered along my skin, making goosebumps rise. Just use her power. Call upon all of it, and break through the elf lord’s spell!

The goddess’s magic pulsed inside me despite the binding spell trapping it. I closed my eyes, concentrating again on her power. It flowed through my chest, down my limbs, and awakened my senses. Power strummed along my arms, growing and growing until electric energy crackled along my nerves. I just had to grasp it.

Heart beating fast, I concentrated on extending her power outside of me to the barrier. I imagined it hurtling out of me, into the glass-like wall and shattering the magic that kept me encased.

Breaths coming quick, I opened my eyes and coiled her power, letting it build and build, growing and burning, until it felt like it was going to explode.

Now!

I threw her magic with everything I had, arcing it through my body, to my hands, and out of my fingertips. Hope exploded in me that for once maybe I could control it. Power rushed through my limbs as fast as lightning traveling across water.

Yes!

An explosion of her power reached my fingertips and—

An invisible shield slammed into my senses, knocking the goddess’s power back inside me with so much force that I blew clear off my feet and was thrown to the back of the cave.

I hit the wall, my head cracking against it so hard that I saw stars.

Falling to the ground, my vision went dark before I slumped into nothingness.