Winter's War (Her Guardians series Book 4)(13)

“Jax, I’m here now, and what happened before, won’t happen again. He chose a time when we were celebrating winning the crown and mating to Atti because we were all distracted. Nothing is going to distract us again,” I say and look over at Wyatt and Atti as they step closer.

“I’m not taking you out of this castle, Winter. The demon king could take control of you again, and we can’t risk him using you to get here. The winter solstice is in two weeks, Winter. He is coming, then, and we have no way of preventing him from taking over your mind,” Dabriel says gently, making me turn to look at him as he slides a comforting hand down my arm.

“How about we go, and I stay next to Atti the whole time? He can pull me away the second anything happens, but it’s unlikely the demon king will be there. I know it’s a risk, but I feel like I need to be there,” I try to reason.

“Atti?” I ask when no one responds, and he looks down at me as he moves in front of me. Atti places his hand on my cheek, and I rest my head into it.

“You don’t leave my side?” he asks almost in a whisper, fear coating his eyes, and I nod.

“Fine, we will go tonight,” he says.

“Someone needs to go and get my mum. The wolves protecting her won’t be enough if the demon king finds her. He must be furious I’m gone. I need her here,” I tell them all.

“I will send a witch, Leigha, and Drake to get her. Between them, they will be able to safely get her here,” Atti says and kisses my cheek before walking off.





9





Winter





“I should go and get changed. Alex?” I ask her, and she walks over, linking her arm in mine as we walk away from them all, feeling them watching me. My back almost tingles with the knowledge that all my mates are watching me, and I turn my head to see them. They look every bit as powerful as I know they are, as they watch me. But, there’s more than that, I feel nothing but love as I meet each of their eyes and give them a little smile. I haven’t even seen what my new mark looks like since I mated with Atti, and all I want is to see it. We walk up the stairs and instead of walking to my corridor, I walk down the opposite one.

“Where are we going?” Alex asks me.

“To see the crystal, I need to know something,” I tell her, and she nods.

“Why didn’t you tell your mates?”

“I need to speak with it alone. They won’t let me touch it after last time, and I can’t really explain this feeling I have. I think the crystal is somehow in my dreams, the child-like voice I always hear; I think it is the crystal,” I tell her as we stop and open the doors to the tower. I’m surprised no one is guarding it like they should be, but I make a mental note to sort something out later. I shut the doors behind us and stop on the bottom step of the stairs.

“Can I be alone?” I ask her, and she looks behind me up the stairs and meets my eyes.

“I trust you,” she says simply, and I know there isn’t much more that is needed to be said. I climb up the dozens of stairs of the tower and feel the crystal calling to me before I even see it. The crystal is as huge as I remember it being, it lightly glows, and I look around the room to see someone has drawn on the walls and there are tools on the floor. It looks like they planned to put windows in here and the very thought makes me happy. People should be able to see the beautiful light from the crystal. I walk over, whispering quietly,

“Hello. I know this may seem weird. Okay, it is weird that I’m talking to a giant crystal, but I know you’re alive in here. I feel it. You sing to me, just like the crystal trees in the witches’ city. You have been in my dreams and helping me, is that true?”

I place my hands on the crystal, seeing the millions of little lights inside swirl around and then rush at the place my hands are, before the light shines so brightly that I can’t see anything for a second.

“Winter,” the child-like voice says as I open my eyes, and the little lights from the crystal have formed into a ball in the middle, I look only for a second before the loud, sorrow-filled song fills my mind.

“Child of Winter . . . .

Child of demons . . . .

Child of the ancient ones. A child planned to rule, a child planned to save. For all children grow to love, to mourn, but only the child of death will pay the ultimate price. A price for love, for the world. Death and sorrow, death and love, death and wishes for change will never be sought. The prophecy tells the truth, as much as time will pass. Blood will fall, blood will fall, blood will fall . . . .”

The song drifts off as my hands start to burn on the crystal, but I don’t move my hands away.

“I understand, I know it’s my life that must be given to save everyone,” I whisper and only a small whisper responds to me,

“You will understand at the final choice.”

I pull my hands away, the ball of light breaking into millions of little lights inside the crystal, and the power I felt in the room seems to have disappeared. I look down at my slightly burnt hands as they heal and then back to the crystal, feeling like I’m missing something. Like it knows something that I don’t.



I shut the door to my room after leaving with Alex, and she hasn’t said a word, the confused look on my face likely says it all. I instantly start pulling the dress off, and when it falls to the ground, I look at my back in the mirror. Despite my underwear being in the way a little, it’s one hell of a massive mark all down my back. The strong phoenix at the bottom, the brave wolf next, then Atti’s beautiful tree is in the middle of the delicate wings. My heart hurts when I think of the trees in the witches’ city, how they are lost to us for the time being. I hope when we get the city back, and we will, we can re-grow them. Their beautiful songs play through my head a million times as I just stare at my reflection. So much has been lost, and so much more is going to be lost. How can I be strong enough to save everyone? To do what I need to?