Summer of Frost (Forever Fae #3)(57)
Ariella clenched her jaw and lowered her head. “Thank you. Unfortunately, I get it now.” She released mine and Calista’s hand and stepped back. The strong flow of magic was gone with her absence. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to get some fresh air.”
She hastily retreated out of the room, keeping her gaze on the door while Brayden finally showed the first real emotion the whole time he’d been there. Worry crossed his face, but once she was out of the room the blank mask fell into place. He really needed his ass kicked.
To get the focus off Ariella’s departure, I decided to speak up. “How is our blood going to defeat the dark sorcerer?”
Elvena explained, “We need to have a special weapon made, preferably by Durin since he’s the most powerful of the dwarves. Each of you will go through the process of letting this weapon take your blood, the same way you do it in the Guardian ceremonies. Once the blood has been taken, the weapon will be indestructible and the sole key in killing the dark sorcerer. When it pierces his blackened heart it’ll be all over. Every bit of power he took will be restored back into the land. The Black Forest will be no more … he will be no more.”
The room went quiet, especially since Ariella stormed out, and it was hard to get excited about defeating the dark sorcerer when the couple we needed to complete the bond didn’t look like they were going to be bonded anytime soon. However, Elvena hadn’t explained everything, and I had a feeling she didn’t want us all to know.
When everyone left to celebrate, Calista, Meliantha, and I stayed behind to question Elvena. “What aren’t you telling us?” Calista demanded. “You may be able to fool everyone else, but you can’t fool me.”
Elvena sighed and hung her head. “It’s not something to worry about right now. There’s still plenty of time ahead of us until we can even think about making the weapon, since the current state of Ariella and Brayden’s union is complicated.”
Her grim expression didn’t imply there wasn’t anything to worry about. I wanted to know, and I was going to find out. I snapped at her, “I saw your face, Elvena, and it sure as hell appeared to be a look that it was something we needed to worry about. If I have to take the scroll away from you and decipher it myself I will.”
“All right, child, I’ll tell you,” Elvena whispered regretfully.
“Do I need to fetch Ariella?” Meliantha asked, cutting in.
Elvena’s eyes went wide. “No! I don’t want her in here. She has so much to worry about right now. I can’t put this burden on her.”
“Did the scroll mention something having to do with Ariella?” I questioned curiously.
“That’s the thing,” Elvena whispered sadly. “You all have sacrificed so much, and now one of you might have to sacrifice it all. If what the scroll says is true, I fear it’s going to have to be Ariella that kills him, and I just don’t know what the outcome of that will be.”
We all stiffened as the realization of what she said sunk in. Meliantha shook her head forcefully and paced the room. “Please don’t tell me she’s going to die if she kills that son of a bitch. You’re not saying that, right?”
Elvena staggered to a nearby chair and sat down, looking ancient and defeated. “To be honest, I’m not sure. The scroll states that the only one with the ability to kill the dark sorcerer will be the one who can earn his trust. We all know he’s not going to trust any of you, which leaves only one left. Since Ariella hasn’t fully come into her power, we need to wait and see what happens before we tell her. I don’t want her knowing yet. We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.”
My mind reeled with the fact that out of the four of us, it was going to all come down to the one that I’d least expected. “How is she going to earn his trust? I don’t like the way this sounds,” I admitted forlornly.
I didn’t want to think about it, much less tell Drake what was going on. Elvena sobbed, “I’m sorry you all had to find out like this. I worry about how Ariella will take it once she finds out.”
Calista knelt down and held Elvena’s hands. “Once she comes into her power and bonds with Brayden we’ll figure it out. For now, we need to live our lives and enjoy every minute of it. We have plenty of time to come up with other options, but until then we speak of this to no one. I’m not going to let anything happen to my family, especially Ariella.” She extended her hand and held it out to us. “I say we make our own destiny. Are you with me?”
I placed my hand on top of hers. “I’m with you, no matter what I have to do to keep everyone safe.”
Meliantha followed and slapped her hand on top of mine. “That bastard isn’t going to touch Ariella. I’ll hunt him down to the end of time if I have to. I’m with you, always.”
Our silent agreement was going to be hard to keep from Drake, but I knew it had to be done. We had no clue what was going to happen with Ariella and Brayden, but until they bonded there was nothing we could do, but sit and wait.
“Why … must … you … torture … me?” Drake asked while trailing kisses down my neck to my collarbone.
Moaning, I tilted my head back in the water. “Because I can,” I taunted back.
The current of the water rocked us back and forth, already fueling our hunger for each other by making our bodies move together in a tantalizing rhythm. We spent the night in our underwater retreat, and instead of getting dressed we decided to spend the day in the water, exploring its depths.