Riven (The Illumine Series) Read online

  The cold, expressionless mask hardened on Kayden’s face. He didn’t need to say it, I already knew. A picture conjured in my head, one of his lips stained red, sticky and slick with my blood, licking at them like a dehydrated man would lick the last drop out of an empty bottle of water. I barely had shaken the vision from my mind when Kayden’s voice, strained and puckered, reach my ears. “Keep... keep your distance, Essallie. I can’t promise I won’t hurt you.”

  Funny, you also couldn’t promise you wouldn’t like it.

  “Fine,” Ari said, and I turned to see him staring across the land. The barest hint of a triumphant smile touched the corners of his lips, the smug action making me want to smack him upside the head. “Why don’t you lead the way, and we’ll walk behind you?”

  I looked at Kayden, feeling the ache in my chest reflect in my face. He looked sick, drained and barely clinging to life. His lips had turned downward to a weak, damaged grimace, the black hollows of his eyes blending with his black eyebrows as he looked... heartbroken. Was it possible for a demon to actually die? Shifting away from Ari, I wrapped my arms over my chest, face set in a tightly drawn frown.

  “Who exactly are we going to see, anyway?” I half-shouted to Kayden. He had turned his back to the both of us, walking forward. With the distance between us, I could make out the faint limp in one of his legs. Smoke continued to roll off of his body, more than I could ever recall seeing. It was almost like I was watching him unravel, dissolve into nothing but smoke and air.

  Despite his sickly appearance, he turned his head over his shoulder, a flickering grin on his face. “Now now, Essie, telling you would ruin half the surprise!” I stared harder at him, glaring until he gently scoffed. He turned his head forward, tilting it skyward. “Tell me,” he called back, letting the wind carry his words. “What was your favorite mythical creature growing up?”

  “Why would you ask that?”

  “Someone doesn’t take directions well,” he mocked, a touch of musical laughter reaching my ears. Just like after the explosion, he still managed retain a piece of his sarcastic, comedic self. “Just answer the question.”

  “If you’re asking if I was raised on a diet of witches and vampires and werewolves, sorry to disappoint,” I muttered, laughing darkly. Memories of my childhood were far from the fond, joyful ones most children cherished as they aged into adulthood. As a child, my Mother had made it perfectly clear that magic didn’t exist. And if her words weren’t enough to sell me on her ideas, striking me across the face until my nose would bleed on my once-white bedroom rug usually sealed the deal. A light shiver chilled and itched my skin, visions of red and white flashing in my head. “I was more of an Annie Oakley and Anne Frank kind of gal,” I said, keeping my tone neutral. “Didn’t care for the imaginative and unconventional.”

  “Didn’t care, or forced not to?” Kayden volleyed. I scowled; of course he picked up on my change in tone. I stayed silent as Kayden continued on. “Shame, really. With a little early knowledge, you could have been so much more prepared. Perhaps you could have even saved yourself from that nasty ritual, you know the one, where your pretty non-human lover boy Chase lost his entrails when I got hungry.”

  “Kayden,” I said, warning him. He was toeing a line I was still too-sensitive to cross, and I would have none of it. “Stop deflecting and tell us where we’re going, or who we’re going to see, before I decide to char you into something hideous.”

  He spared me a second glance over his shoulder. “Threatening my face? Playing on my vanity like that, my my, we are a testy little thing today, aren’t we?”

  I opened my mouth to scream, but bit down on my tongue instead. While I wanted to point out that it wasn’t everyday I escaped captivity from a wild, mad hybrid demon of a woman, only to land in the middle of nowhere, it wasn’t worth brewing the fight. This was not the time to argue about his unorthodox choice in escape methods, nor the company I have continued to unfortunately attract. Besides, we were lucky to be alive, even if I was hallucinating and feeling like I could hurl until I turned myself inside and out. At this point, all I wanted was to see the Queen dead. And if that meant taking a few bruises along the way, so be it.

  “Relax,” I heard Kayden say lazily, pulling me from my thoughts of sweet revenge. “We’re heading to meet a Siren. You mortals would refer to her as a mermaid.”

  That explained the island location, and why it was so vacant; we were somewhere near Charon, tucked away in the folds of the supernatural realm. I racked my brain, trying to recall if I had ever seen a Siren, mermaid, whatever. The closest I got was when I passed a half-mermaid, half-faerie on the street in Charon. I vaguely wondered what the difference was. “You’re friends with a mermaid?”

  He laughed. “Were you expecting a hoard of flesh-hungry demons?”

  “Would you blame me if I said yes?”

  “Come now, you should have a little more faith in me, you know,” his walking pace had slowed almost to a halt. Jabbing a finger over his shoulder, he gave his hand a little wave. “I am friends with you, and tolerate the other one. There’s Lilix, and Abigail, and Ursula...”

  As her name left his lips, I felt my heart grow cold. It still felt so surreal, like at any moment she could appear dressed in one of her overpriced couture gowns. She had met the same fate as Leo; death by association, and part of me was beginning to wonder just how much more I could take. With each death, I could feel part of myself vanish, wither and die like decaying flesh. How many more would die before I would feel hollow?

  I ran a shaking hand through my hair, picking the first topic off the top of my head to change the conversation. “This mermaid-”

  “Siren, don’t actually call her a mermaid. They take offense to that,” Kayden corrected me.

  My eyes rolled to the heavens. “Never in my dreams would I think of offending a mermaid. Fine, this Siren, she can help us?”

  He paused, no doubt mulling over what to say. “She can,” he said, as if he were carefully choosing his words. “It’s more of a question if she will.”

  “But... you said she’s a friend.”

  “She is a friend,” he paused again. “Of sorts.”

  “Of sorts?” Ari asked out of no where, looking up towards Kayden. He had been silently walking alongside me up to this point, eyes drawn to a tiny object in one of his outstretched hands. It was a locket, gold and heavily engraved. He had been staring at it for a while now, a frown tugging at his face as he turned the locket over and back, squinting to read the words scrawled on it. White fire sparked and danced on his skin, short little bursts like solar flares on the sun.

  Kayden hesitated further, puffing out his cheeks and blowing out short bursts of air. “She’s an old friend. The last time we met, things hadn’t exactly gone over well.” He came to a stop, staring out past a clump of palm trees planted to form what looked like a circle around a small watering hole. “You’ll see soon enough.”

  I could only begin to wonder what he meant by that. Making sure to keep sufficient distance between us, I stared down to the drying blood smearing my ankle. The streaks of bright red had turned dark, crusted and flaking. It was fascinating, in a macabre sort of way.

  “What are we waiting for?” Ari asked, whispering in my ear.

  I shrugged; I knew as little as he did. “I don’t know, ask Kayden. I didn’t even know there was anything outside of Charon.”

  “You didn’t?” Ari tilted his head to the side, surprisingly confused at my lack of information. I shook my head, embarrassed, and he offered me a goofy little smile. “I’ll have to show you a map. Charon is only the capital of this realm.”

  Questions sprang to the front of my mind the moment he said Charon was only the capital. Did that mean there were other countries, cities, worlds within their own realm? Was there a never-ending stretch of worlds interconnected by portals?

  “I can hear you both, shush,” Kayden hissed back at us. “If you zipped those pretty boy lips, Ari, you’d fin
d out what we’re for.”

  Ari’s attitude shifted from warm to frigid instantly. “Which is?”

  “A Siren,” I said, almost subconsciously. As if the island had heard my words, the wind turned sharp and harsh, kicking up and swaying palm trees in short, rough gusts. The small pool of water began to ripple, bubbling and waving as the color turned from a light blue to a dark navy. Like a reverse, internal waterfall, it rushed inward, creating an opening. Slowly, a figure rose from the gap, my breath tightly held in my chest as I watched.

  The figure was tall, thin and willowy, stretching its limber shape to reveal dainty curves covered in small pieces of thick, violet cloth. Large, black eyes covered half of her face, coupled with a small upturned nose dwarfed by a set of large, dusty rose pink lips. Waves of multi-colored hair fanned out around her face, covering the edges of high cheekbones and elongated, pointed ears. Strands of multi-colored, hand-shaped beads crowded her neck and chest. As oddly shaped it was, beauty radiated from the Siren; in the grace of her posture, to the elongated eyelashes framing her bottomless eyes.

  Eyes open wide, the Siren stared at Kayden, unmoving. Droplets of water clung to her sea-foam colored skin, a subtle shimmer radiating under the surface, revealing scales as patches of direct sunlight brushed over her. Dusty purple eyeshadow rimmed her eyes, darkening the hollow and making her eyes wider, more disproportioned. For a moment, she stayed frozen, silent as still as a marble statue. Then, she spoke.

  “How did you pass our barrier, demon?” Her voice was hauntingly beautiful, every syllable stretched like a delicate music note, a voice among the choir. “The Sea Queen will not be pleased with your presence.”

  I stepped closer, an unexplainable urge to touch her gnawing at my head and heart. Static noise filled my head, clouding my thoughts as I came closer, utterly captivated. The words that tumbled from my lips felt awkward, uncharacteristic, but it was as if someone controlled my tongue. “Speak again. Please.”

  “Ari, keep her back,” Kayden warned him quietly.

  White fire wrapped around my waist, rooting me where I stood. I pushed against the flaming band, an empty ache filling my chest. “What? Kayden, no, I want-”

  The Siren turned her head slightly, eyes locking with mine. As the smile lifted her perfect lips, I found myself smiling, too. “She’s amusing. Easily hypnotized, I haven’t even said her name, and yet she moves for me like the sailors do on their breakable, weak ships.” Her eyes flickered back to Kayden, the smile on her face turning crafty. “She would make a nice pet. Is she yours?”

  Behind me, I heard Ari hiss in contempt. He shook his head, a bubble of laughter escaping his mouth. Carelessly, he ran a hand through his tangled, curling black hair. “Zeevna, she is in danger. We all are in danger.”

  Zeevna’s fingers lightly toyed with a strand of beads near the base of her throat. A hint of glum sadness touched her face, instantly shooting holes in my heart. Fire blazed on my hands and arms, racing along my chest until it nearly encased me like a smoldering cocoon.

  “Do you remember the first time we met?” She said, pouting like a spoiled child who wasn’t given a new toy. “I was six. Arielle had met you only hours before you ruined everything.”

  Kayden stepped closer, reaching a pale hand under her chin. Gently he tilted her head up, keeping her still as they locked eyes. “And when I spared you and your mother, you swore to me a favor, no matter the cost. I need that favor, Zeevna.”

  I watched them, feeling the invisible draw to the Siren, Zeevna, decrease until it vanished altogether. It quickly was replaced with a greater, more driven desire to light her on fire and laugh as she burned, slice at her until her blood turned the water she stood in red as a freshly picked rose. Seeing her with Kayden bled red into my sight, a voice in my head screaming to kill her where she stood.

  Zeevna stepped back with a snap, rattling the beads on her chest as she moved. A hand on her head, she shook it slowly. “She’ll try to kill you.”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I had another choice,” Kayden said with a swear, smoke rolling off his shoulders as if the sun were burning him where he stood. “If she can’t help us, we’ll recover and leave. If you turn us away, more lives will be at stake than you could ever dream.”

  She glanced from Kayden, back to Ari and I with a quick shift of her eyes. “Never in all my years did I think I’d see you conspiring with Nephilim again. A poor assumption on my mistake. Fine, I’ll take you to her, but we do this my way. It’s obvious you haven’t fed,” she rolled her shoulders, hues of orange and yellow shimmering in her subtle scales. Closing the distance between them, she pressed her body into Kayden’s, resting her head on his chest. “drain my to near unconsciousness, and keep me close to you so she will not capture you on sight.”

  “The hell? Drain to what?” My eyes flashed, blue and black fire flaring higher, brighter on my hands. Ari’s white fire tightened around my waist, spare bands wrapping around my wrists and snaking up my arms. “He’s not a vampire, you stupid fish. He eats flesh, you’re asking him to kill you.”

  Zeevna raised her head an inch off his chest, smiling devilishly. “Alas, she speaks out of trance. Kayden will be fine,” she purred, running one of her hands over his bicep, long violet fingernails pressing into his skin. “There is more than one way a demon can feed, one being a soul drain. It’s temporary for him, and sheds off a few decades on my near-eternal life, but what’s a hundred years to one who’s lived for over five hundred?”

  My eyes threatened to bug out of their sockets. I twisted to stare at Kayden in utter disbelief. “It’s too risky, you’ll kill her in your current state.”

  “He’s not stable, his entire essence is falling apart. The most he could do right now is give me a nosebleed,” she said. Her head tilted towards the wispy, graying black smoke spreading from his shoulders. “Whatever bloodlust he has been pushed into, it’s nearly killing him. The sooner he can filter it out, the stronger he’ll become again.”

  I continued to keep my eyes glued to Kayden. “Ari, tell her it’s too risky,” I practically begged. My breath sputtered erratically, matching the fluttering of my heart. “Tell her it can’t happen.”

  “You know my stance,” said Ari lightly. Against my thoughts, I broke contact with Kayden, turning around to see Ari holding his hands up. “Once a murderous monster, always a murderous monster.”

  It seemed good enough for Zeevna. I whipped around just in time to see her lean higher, brushing her nose along the edge of his jaw teasingly. “Do it,” she whispered. “Before your little half-angel continues her melodrama. I trust you.”

  At that, Kayden finally spoke. Dark pity colored his eyes black, matching hers. “And that, my little sea creature, is where you go wrong.”

  Rows of tiny, jagged black horns sprouted from his face, as metallic-colored scales rose from his paled skin. Blood ran from his ears, nose, and mouth, beading in the corners of his eyes before they ran twisted rivulets down and over his cheeks. His jaw unhinged, hanging nearly a foot from his upper lip, several sets of razor-sharp, needle thin yellowed teeth filling his mouth. In second he had transformed, peeling away the layers of his human shell as instinct took over.

  Kayden let out a wild growl, bloody bubbles spewing from his mouth. He leaned down, hanging his lips on the side of Zeevna’s neck. She stood there, unflinching, the only sign of her panic in the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Kayden took a deep, shuddering breath, the sound of his gasp like nails on a chalkboard.

  The air around us grew heavy, thick and misted. Behind me, I felt Ari place his hands on my shoulders, white and blue fire intermingling on our skin. My blood thrummed in my veins, whispers for blood, death, and carnage bouncing in my skull. We were both equally entranced and disgusted, witnessing the very thing we were created to stop, yet forced to watch.

  Kayden took another gut-wrenching breath, latching tighter to the Siren. She made no move to flee, if anything she inched closer. Waves of light green and w
hite smoke pulled from her skin, as if the soul were being drawn from her very flesh. The more Kayden inhaled, the louder the voices grew in my head, rising in swells until the noise threatened to burst my eardrums.

  “Don’t you hear that?” I said, squinting as I pressed my fingertips against my temples to dull the ache. “It keeps getting louder.”

  Kayden and Zeevna made no move to respond, but Ari leaned in close. His breath was hot on my neck and cheek. “Essallie, no one hears anything.”

  But I barely made out his words. Sweat covered my skin in a thin, sticky film. A chant had started in my mind, echoing and growing louder with every word. My vision clouded red and black as the words repeated, harsh and commanding in my ears.

  “Kill her. Kill her. Kill her!”

  Who am I supposed to kill? My head felt like it was about to explode. Dropping to my knees, I pressed my palms into my eyes, fingers digging into my forehead. I groaned, nausea gripping at my stomach and twisting hard.

  Like the break in a storm, the voices stopped, white noise pressing into the silence. I could hear Ari, leaning down alongside me, repeatedly asking if I was okay. Slowly my hands dropped from my face, resting in my lap as I took in my surroundings. Kayden had stopped soul draining Zeevna, her semi-conscious body pressed into his slowly-tanning body. It all seemed normal, as normal as it could be, if it didn’t include the petite copy of me standing in between myself and Kayden.

  Ebony had materialized, dressed in a black corset laced with grey trimmed lace, black tutu skirt, stocking, and ballet flats. The single strip of black hair she had shown me in the castle was now covering half of her head. Her pale, perfect features would have put Zeevna’s amazonian beauty to shame, had her face not been contorted in a wild mask of fury.

  She rose a hand, pointing at Zeevna. “Get your hands off my demon, you vile seaweed sludge.”

  Rocking back on my legs, I sat there, stunned. Was my hallucination projecting some twisted inner desire I craved, to want to lay claim to Kayden? Or was it more? I waited for her to vanish, making sure not to acknowledge her, as the last thing I wanted as to have both of the boys thing I had gone off some mental deep end.