Kissed by Krista Street

Chapter 9

~ AVERY ~

Lord Godasara stood over me, his hands hovering above my chest. Bone-clenching, all-consuming fear exploded through my body when something abruptly ripped me apart. I screamed, yet no sound came from my lips. I clawed and fought, but I didn’t move.

Instead, a fracturing feeling sawed me in two, splitting my chest at the breastbone as searing pain engulfed me like fire.

I was being cleaved.

Hacked apart.

I was dying under his spell and couldn’t stop him.

I thrashed and yelled again, the pain so great it threatened to annihilate every fiber of my thoughts. It burned. Oh fuck, it burned! Such raw flaming torture scorched my soul that scream after scream of agony ripped from my lungs, but as before, no sound came out.

An explosion rocked my chest.

The goddess’s power erupted to the surface of my soul, bathing me in her strength as the force of the Gods seared my being.

A moment of hope surged through me. Her power was free! It was no longer contained.

I stretched and reached for it. If I could manipulate her power again, I could stop time. I could run away. Escape. Break free.

But my mental efforts only clawed air.

No!

And that was when I understood what he was doing.

The elf lord had ripped my soul from my body, yanking it from my flesh and bones until I hovered as a spectral entity above my lifeless form. Yet without my body, I couldn’t wield the goddess’s magic. I was simply a vessel. My soul would transport the goddess’s power to them, but I couldn’t use it.

A sob wracked my chest, but it was only an emotion, a feeling. Without my body, I was nothing but an entity that was weak and powerless. I wasn’t a goddess. I couldn’t fight back. Not like she had done all of those millennia ago.

What was happening now was just like the dream, only now, I wasn’t a spectator. I was the victim, and damn if that didn’t make earth-shattering rage consume me.

My spectral form rose higher and higher, drifting toward the warlocks and fire pit, clearing the air above their heads. On the other side of the pit, a figure lay on the ground draped in the sheet. Their chest rose.

Alive. That person is alive.

A flash of awareness shifted in me. The goddess’s power yearned for what lay under that sheet. I could feel the body beneath calling to it, begging the power to enter its form.

Oh Gods. I’d been right.

It’s her. Verasellee is under that sheet.

But as soon as that thought came to me, it went. I was drifting closer to the warlocks now, heading toward the fire. The lord and warlocks continued to chant and sway, and I knew that when I reached the apex of the fire it would be all over.

I would be dead. My soul would be obliterated, and the elf lord would have won. The goddess’s power would transfer from me into him, and then darkness would cloak this realm as he rose to power.

I wanted to close my eyes, so I wouldn’t have to witness the destruction of myself and this world, but in this spectral form I had no control over anything, and I continued to see it all.

A flash of movement came from my left. Then my right. Then all around.

An explosion of beings shot toward the circle—werewolves, fairies, witches, sorcerers, a half-demon, and a vampire. They moved so incredibly fast that they blurred into a motion of color and fur.

It happened so quickly that I barely had time to process it just as a warlock fell. A huge wolf had jumped onto his back and ripped his head clear from his body in less time than it took to blink.

Then another warlock fell when a fairy yanked the hood from his head, revealing the awful skull-like face and mottled skin. A blade glimmered in the moonlight, then cleaved the warlock’s head clear from its body. Black blood gushed from the decapitated warlock before he slumped to the ground amidst flashing fangs and sword-wielding hands.

My spectral soul slammed into a wall before I reached the apex, as though hitting a concrete block.

Behind me, another wolf—this one even bigger than the last—leaped onto the elf lord, a blur of fury and snarls. My eyes bulged when a sense of knowing, of recognition, nearly overwhelmed me.

Wyatt!

I’d never seen him in his wolf form before, at least not that I could remember. I screamed internally for him, hoping he’d see me, but no sounds came out.

Wyatt took the elf lord down, his massive jaws going for his throat. Like the others, he was using the element of surprise to his full advantage, going for the kill shot immediately and not taking any chances.

But at the last moment, the elf turned and Wyatt tumbled to the ground, turning into a ball of rolling fur before he was back on his feet and attacking the lord again.

A blast of magic shot from the elf’s hand, yet Wyatt surged to the side as the curse shot past him and exploded into the ground.

Rage erupted inside me just as my spectral form moved unexpectedly toward my body, my soul naturally seeking my corporeal form now that the elf lord no longer commanded me.

And then I slammed into it.

∞     ∞     ∞

I awoke to the sound of snarls, screams, and the potent scent of magic. Life breathed back into my body as my eyes flashed open.

The elf lord and Wyatt were battling next to me. They were a blur of dueling magic and potent alpha power as each tried to tear the other apart.

Waves of alpha energy rolled from Wyatt, hitting the lord again and again.

To his credit, the elf lord didn’t fall. He stayed on his feet and continued to shoot curse upon curse at the massive werewolf intent on destroying him.

Wyatt dodged each spell, his movements impossibly fast as guttural snarls rose from his throat again and again.

But despite Wyatt being incredibly strong and a gifted battle strategist, I knew he wouldn’t win. The elf lord’s dark magic was too strong, too powerful. The element of surprise was wearing off. He kept pushing Wyatt back, gaining the upper hand. But then a shift of movement suddenly came from the north.

I sat up, my limbs finally in my control again.

Another hint of motion came from the north. The trees. They were . . .

Dear Gods, they were moving.

A massive branch from a tree abruptly shot out. It swiped into an SF member, knocking him clear off his feet as he sailed fifty yards through the air before landing with a bone-sickening crunch.

I leapt to my feet, not realizing that doing so would distract Wyatt.

An ear-piercing yelp reached my ears, and Wyatt fell to the ground just as a burst of bodies came from the trees as more trees shifted and fought.

It was absolute chaos.

But then I caught sight of Bavar’s orange hair, which shone auburn in the moonlight.

A sharp sense of relief stole over me. He was alive, and he was here!

Wyatt and the elf lord continued to battle just as Bavar’s sword rose in his hand. The long metallic blade glinted in the moonlight as the fairy commander’s other hand raised his dagger.

He and a dozen other SF members leapt into the skirmish just as the elf lord drew his arm back. A curse was balled in his palm.

“Wyatt!” I shrieked in warning.

Wyatt dodged at the last moment, my scream alerting him to the curse that had been aimed at his head.

Another thump came from behind me when a tree walked—actually walked—into the fight. Its giant roots heaved from the ground as the monstrous forest became alive, working as a silent army.

Good Gods!

A head rolled from a warlock when Bavar sliced it clear off his shoulders from behind. The fairy arced through the air, his body moving and twisting in a graceful dance as Wyatt rushed the elf lord again.

I whipped back and forth, not knowing which way to look or where to stand. No matter where I turned, bloodshed was spilling all around me. I scrunched my eyes closed, willing myself to pull on the goddess’s power.

Come on, come on, work!

It burned and zapped inside me, but like when I’d trained with Charlotte, I didn’t know how to readily pull it to the surface to use. At least it wasn’t bound anymore. Whatever spell had trapped it before was gone, the ritual no doubt needing it free.

But I still couldn’t readily control it.

My eyes flew open. Dammit!

I searched for a weapon or stick, or something that I could use to fight with. I grabbed a partially burned branch from the fire. Even though the end was burned, it felt sturdy. It would have to do.

Hackles raised, Wyatt leapt again at the elf lord, catching him square in the chest.

The lord stumbled back, but dipped at the last moment and avoided Wyatt’s snapping jaws.

I circled them, looking for a way to jab at the elf while avoiding getting in Wyatt’s way, but they were moving so fast.

Wyatt snarled, his wolf crouching low again as his snapping teeth went for the lord’s ankle.

I screamed when the elf lord threw another curse Wyatt’s way, and in retaliation I slammed my stick into his back. It was enough of a surprise for him that the spell misfired, missing Wyatt by inches.

Wyatt lurched out of the way, just as the elf rounded on me, but then Wyatt lunged upward in a frenzied burst of speed, clamping his jaws down on the elf’s hand.

With a vicious tear, he tore the appendage clear off the lord’s arm as blood sprayed across his muzzle.

My jaw dropped as a wretched cry rose from the lord’s throat. Another cursed spell balled in his good hand. Red murderous fury shone from Lord Godasara’s eyes.

Wyatt jumped back, his lips curled in a ferocious snarl as the magic grew around the elf.

I tried to hit the elf with my stick again, but another tree moved and dipped, blocking me. Branches suddenly came from everywhere, shifting and hitting at the SF members who were fighting so valiantly that I would have cried at the beauty of it if it wasn’t for the threat to their lives.

I ducked at the last moment when another branch came at me, managing to avoid being hit, but a small female vampire wasn’t so lucky. A tree’s wickedly sharp branch impaled her clear through the stomach. Her eyes bugged out, her face paling in the moonlight.

Another tree swung, hitting Bavar from behind, catching him completely unaware.

The fairy commander pitched forward, righting himself at the last second just as a warlock threw a curse at his chest.

I hurtled my stick at the warlock, knocking him in the head as I screamed a warning to Bavar.

The warlock hunched forward, but it didn’t stop his curse from flying.

Bavar spun, his body dipping just as the curse shot past him, missing him by millimeters. It exploded into the ground, leaving a black crater full of rock shards and crystalized dirt in its wake.

Rage again bubbled up inside me at how closely a friend had come to death. Energy zoomed down my arms and through my senses, and that deep, all-consuming power vibrated inside me. But still it wouldn’t unleash.

Fucking hell!

The trees didn’t stop coming. They continued to move, advancing toward the group, and I suddenly remembered that Bavar had said that the ancient elf lords could commune with the forests.

They could control them.

Another snarl tore from behind me. The elf lord lifted his arm, the stump a mess of congealed dark blood. Despite the vicious wound, he didn’t appear weakened or deterred. Already the bleeding had stopped as he continually battled Wyatt again and again.

Each curse, each spell, each movement from every participant in this fight was designed to murder and kill.

There were no second chances here.

This battle was for blood and vengeance.

And only the side that won would have any living left.

Wyatt leaped again, his massive body twisting and spiraling in a powerful explosion just as the elf lord unleashed another curse.

My scream got trapped in my throat when the curse kissed Wyatt’s fur, alighting one side of his body on fire. But it didn’t stop Wyatt. He slammed into the elf lord, knocking him clear off his feet as his wolf opened its mouth, intent on going for the throat again.

Flames licked one side of his body, the scent of scorched fur followed by flesh reaching my nose.

But Wyatt wasn’t letting that stop him. I knew he’d let himself burn to death if it meant saving me from the elf lord.

Panic suddenly birthed itself inside me, feeling like death.

Before I knew what I was doing, I was running toward Wyatt, leaping and dodging the spells and branches that hurtled through the air like explosive confetti.

A deep, primal instinct rose inside me to protect him, to protect what was mine, and a fury unlike anything I’d ever felt rocketed down my nerves, over my skin, and into my pores as though giving birth to life itself.

A rattling and vibrating sensation grew in my chest. The ancient, terrifying power that had been locked in my veins skittered and skated along my nerves like electrical currents rushing over my skin.

The elf lord’s remaining hand clamped down on Wyatt’s jaws, just as Wyatt bit into the elf lord’s neck.

A chilling whine rose from Wyatt as the lord’s hand singed his fur and skin, more flames crawling up his body as they both tried to destroy one another.

Over his bloody muzzle, Wyatt’s eyes met mine.

Time seemed to slow even though I knew I hadn’t done it.

A keen intelligence reflected in his wolf’s irises, and I knew it wasn’t just his wolf I was looking at. It was Wyatt. A millisecond of silent communication passed between us. He was going to die to save me. He would take the elf lord down now, but in the process, the elf would kill him too.

And that knowledge of Wyatt’s intentions birthed a flurry of speed and rage through my soul and into my body until the world became a blur around me.

A blast rocked my chest as the goddess’s power erupted out of me of its own accord. Purple light bathed my sight. Ire blossomed like blooming petals of hate and malice.

The realm stopped.

Time ceased.

Movements froze.

All-consuming power washed over me again and again.

I flew through the paralyzed world until I reached Wyatt and the elf lord. The goddess’s power roiled from me in steady waves. I soothed the flames on Wyatt’s body, dousing the fire which would have killed my mate if I hadn’t stopped it. The flames were silent and unmoving, not one flicker as time held still. With a burst of my power, I managed to smother them completely.

Because Wyatt was my mate.

He would die to protect me, and I would die to protect him.

That thought was there and then gone.

I pried Wyatt’s massive lupine body from the elf lord’s grip, picking his wolf up as if he weighed two pounds instead of hundreds. In a blur of movement, I darted to the far side of the mountain, my stomach churning when the scent of Wyatt’s scorched flesh and burned fur reached my nose. He was hurt, injured. Perhaps beyond full repair, but he would live.

Still, he could be scarred. And he’d done that all for me.

I’m sorry.

Laying him down gently, at least fifty miles away from the battle, I breathed heavily from the exertion, then raced back to the mountain’s base.

One by one, I removed the SF members from the scene, whizzing and running in movements so fast I knew I was a blur, all while keeping this realm frozen in time. My body ached and my mind screamed for rest, but I wouldn’t stop.

Because I was time itself.

A goddess incarnate.

And nothing would stop me from protecting those I loved.

I carried them all, over and over and over. Miles of land passed underneath my soles. Then hundreds. There were twenty-five SF members to transport, and I would move them all, living and dead, until every last one of them was out of harm’s way.

When the last member of the squads was safe, I returned to the silent scene, knowing that my work wasn’t quite done. Fatigue rolled through my body, but I didn’t slow.

The sheet was still draped over the body that had been placed on the other side of the fire—the body that some kind of ancient instinct told me was her.

Slowly, I approached the draped form, and the power inside me hummed and swelled. Yes, it seemed to say, yes, go to her.

I pulled the sheet from the body, my breath catching at what I would find underneath.

A woman lay as still as stone.

Her chest no longer rose, but a part of me knew that was because time had stopped all movements in her, too. Because her powers were not in her body. They were in mine.

My gaze traveled over her brown skin, the glossiness of her black hair, and the perfect shape of her features. She was beautiful. Magnificent. Utter perfection cut into flesh and blood. A beauty that was not to be possessed by mortal man or magical supernaturals. Her beauty was reserved for the Gods and the Gods alone.

A fierce protective instinct surged through me.

I wouldn’t allow her to die, not at the hands of such evil beings who threatened to cleave my soul in two and rip her otherworldly power away from its rightful owner.

Bending down, I lifted the goddess in my arms, slowly and reverently. She didn’t stir, but the power hummed and flowed through me, as if caressing and encouraging.

In a speed of movement, I took her to where I’d lain the others. Sweat poured down my forehead, but I didn’t stop. Her power vibrated and swelled inside me as a growing heaviness filled my limbs. I was growing tired and weary. I’d frozen time for so long, and my body—which was barely stronger than a human’s—was not used to commanding such great power.

I knew that I couldn’t keep this up, not forever, but there was one final act I had to do.

In another blur of movement, in which my limbs felt heavier and more sluggish, I zoomed back to the fire.

The elf lord and his remaining warlocks stood frozen around it. As before, when they’d attacked us at the inn, the elf lord seemed aware of what was happening. I’d felt his watchful gaze and assessing stare then, and I felt it now too.

He couldn’t fight me, but he could see me.

But it wouldn’t stop me from doing what I knew must happen to ensure the safety of the fae realm. My stomach churned at the thought. Even though I didn’t remember my past, I knew I wasn’t a murderer. I’d never willingly hurt somebody, let alone taken their life.

But I also knew there wasn’t another way, not if I wanted to protect innocents.

“And now you will all die,” I whispered.

I picked up a sword from a fallen SF member. At least three SF members were dead, their faces pale and their bodies lifeless. They deserved proper burials, and they would have them when we returned to earth’s realm.

But their deaths wouldn’t be in vain.

I gripped the sword tighter and focused on the feel of it and only it. Detaching from reality was the only way I would be able to do this. Because it had to be done.

I wouldn’t allow the warlocks and elf lord to live.

This would end here and now. No more blood would be spilled for the sake of Lord Godasara’s insatiable hunger for power.

I went to the lord first, thinking it was only fitting to take down the leader with one swipe from my blade.

Muscles quivering, I lifted the sword. Fatigue rolled through my body, my control on the goddess’s power slipping, but I wouldn’t let him live, not even if doing so killed me right here and now.

Nausea churned in my gut. You have to do this.

I positioned the sword at my side and imagined it arcing toward his neck and cleaving his head from his shoulders. A twisted smile streaked across my face at the thought of ending his life so easily and so simply.

With a firm hold on the sword, I swung it toward the elf’s neck as my hold on Verasellee’s power slipped even more.

And when it was about to reach his neck the elf lord’s lips moved, and one simple word flowed from his lips.

“Wait.”

It was enough of a shock that my grip faltered and my hold on the sword slipped. Instead of slicing it down and through his neck, I hit his arm, slashing his skin wide open.

A groan came from him, then more words followed.

“You can’t kill me,” he said quietly.

He was talking. How was he talking when I’d frozen time?

Rage bloomed in my chest. He was stalling, trying to waste my time until I weakened more and he was able to break completely through my hold.

But I wasn’t a fool. I lifted the sword again. “Yes, I will.”

“But if you do, she will die.”

His quiet sentence made me pause. Damn him, but it made me pause. “What?”

“Our souls are linked. If you kill me now, Verasellee will die too.”

Sweat dripped from my forehead. I was failing fast. I needed to kill him and all of the warlocks now, or we risked another bloodbath. “You lie. You’re just saying that so I won’t kill you.”

A dark laugh drifted from his lips. It made my skin crawl. “You can tell yourself that if you like, but go ahead, kill me and see what happens.”

The sweat poured out of me, and I struggled to keep my breathing even. My muscles strained, the goddess’s power rumbling so strongly inside me that my legs were growing weak. Another twitch of movement came from my left, from one of the warlocks.

His hand had moved.

Crap! I wasrunning out of time.

I almost laughed at the irony of it. I was wielding power from Verasellee, the Goddess of Time, and I was running out of time.

But I didn’t have her strength. My body was never designed to carry the power of the Gods.

“She will die as soon as you kill me. Killing me, kills her.”

I stumbled back, the sword in my hand clattering to the ground.

I pictured the goddess again. Her pristine beauty, her flawless skin, her body that looked human yet screamed other, and her fierce determination not to let the elf lord take her power.

For two thousand years, she’d been kept in a dormant sleep.

“Why did you link with her? Why did you make her dormant?” I asked as another flash of movement came from my left. A second warlock had moved. I only had minutes, maybe not even that. My breathing had increased, as Verasellee’s power flowed hotly through my veins.

I was failing fast, but I needed to know.

“I didn’t want us linked. Her curse unwittingly started it. In fact, I tried to kill her after the ritual. With her power in the galaxy, I no longer had need of her, but that was when I learned that our souls are entwined. She did it. She cursed me when I tried to take her power. A horrible, awful curse that has plagued me ever since. In trying to take her power, she cursed me to die, but instead it linked us, so I’ve had to keep her alive in a dormant sleep, just as I did myself until the comet returned.”

“So if she dies, you die.”

He laughed darkly again. “Careful, human. If you’re thinking of killing her to kill me, there will be repercussions.”

I snorted quietly. Of course his first conclusion was to think that I’d kill her to kill him. Because that was what he would have done. No feelings. No remorse. Just boom. She would be dead, and he would have her power.

Another flash of movement tickled my peripheral vision. A third warlock had moved. I nodded toward them, “Well, if I can’t kill you, then I suppose I’ll have to settle with killing them.”

His eyes widened slightly, as I picked the sword back up and whizzed over to the warlocks.

“No!” he screamed.

But I didn’t let his wrath deter me. Using the last ounce of the goddess’s power, I severed each warlock’s head one by one in a furious dance of death and blade.

Their heads didn’t roll or fall. Gravity didn’t work when time stood still, so their heads stayed on top of their bodies, yet I knew as soon as I released my hold on time, they would drop like rotten tomatoes to the ground.

Sweat was dripping down my face like raindrops when I finished. Black blood coated the thin sword.

But I had done it. I’d killed every last remaining warlock, and I didn’t feel one iota of guilt.

The elf lord twitched, then one of his fingers moved. “You will pay for that!”

I met his gaze. Hatred swirled in his eyes like burning embers. His power was returning while mine was failing.

I have to get out of here. I had no doubt he would kill me in a flash once he was able to fully move, which meant I needed to incapacitate him. But how?

Already, his hand was healing and regenerating, but it wasn’t growing fast. With a sickening swallow, I knew what would buy us time.

Raising the sword, I swung it behind my back. Shock lined the elf’s face, his mouth opening in a roar, but he didn’t anticipate what I had planned when I aimed low.

The force of my blow, with the goddess’s power careening through me, sliced his legs off at the knee.

Howling pain ripped from his mouth.

“Have fun healing from that.” A sick feeling had my stomach almost hurling. So much blood. So much gore. But I had to protect Wyatt and my friends.

I began to sprint away, knowing I would vomit if I didn’t get away from here.

I whizzed through the air, getting closer to Wyatt and the others, but then I had to slow to a steady run when a sharp pain cut like daggers through my skin. Seconds. I only had seconds until my grip on Verasellee’s power disappeared.

The night blew around me, even though the realm remained still. My legs felt like jelly. It seemed as though anchors had attached themselves to my ankles, making me feel sluggish and weak. Behind me, I felt the elf lord’s power growing.

He would break out. My hold on him wouldn’t last much longer.

Keep moving!

Air devoid of sounds whipped past me. The ground became a blur as I forced myself to push with everything I had.

And when I reached the SF squads I’d saved, still frozen in time miles away, I finally relinquished my hold on time, the world abruptly turning again.

Everyone blinked, confused expressions forming on their faces. Wyatt’s wolf lunged to a stand, his eyes wild.

They were the last thing I saw before my eyes rolled back, and I fell to the ground.