A Dome of Blood Read online

  “Good luck!” I shouted after him as he took off.

  I jumped in the water, my muscles instantly reacting to the liquid’s density. I shot toward the supposed landing spot, my legs and lower body wiggling as I moved. I could easily rival the pashmiri in speed and mobility while underwater, and I took advantage of this side of my hybrid nature.

  Once in a while, I poked my head up just to check on Araquiel. He flew higher and intercepted the group of Perfects. I saw flashes of light as he moved around them and released pulverizer pellets. One by one, the hostiles were turned into clouds of gray ashes.

  Closer to Merinos and descending farther, the shuttle was wrapped in its light bubble and headed precisely to where I’d estimated a potential landing site would be. We had to get there fast and leave the area with the four Perfects before more soldiers came in. Araquiel’s foes weren’t going to be the only ones.

  I went back under and increased my swimming speed. I dodged the rocky island shores and the mangrove clusters, sneaking between gnarly and swirling roots and coral branches that seemed to reach out, eager to grab me. Banks of fish scattered away, frightened by my presence. Several predators noticed me. One even dared to come after me, but I swam faster and lost it.

  By the time I reached the right island, Araquiel was nearly done killing the hostiles. I could only imagine the surprise they must’ve had when they saw him—not only still alive, but also killing them permanently. I felt the corner of my mouth twist into a devilish smirk as I ran across the beach and shot through the deep woods.

  Seconds later, the light orb crashed smack in the middle of the jungle, about two hundred yards away. The ground shook beneath me, but I didn’t falter. Too much was hanging in the balance for me to fail in any way. Relentless by nature, I kept running as fast as I could. The hard ground hurt my bare feet, but the sensation was quickly soothed by the bed of leaves that had settled closer to the center of the forest.

  By the time I reached the crash site, the light bubble had already faded, revealing a small shuttle at the bottom of a small, smoking crater. They’d made quite the landing, from what I could tell. Trees were leveled and charred, and hundreds of colorful birds croaked as they flew away—swarms of red, yellow, and green that scattered across the outer edges of the jungle.

  I heard screams and wails in the distance, but I could no longer see Araquiel because of the tree crowns obscuring my view. I didn’t need to see him, though, to know that he was kicking serious ass and doing his job like we’d discussed. I had to admit, despite my initial loathing of him, I could definitely rely on the guy. It was time to put the past behind us, for sure, and shake his hand for his devotion and determination to do the right thing.

  I was no saint, but everything I’d done was for the sake of my rogue Faulties, in my bid to help and protect them. What we were doing now, however, was bigger than all of us.

  A pop and a hiss drew my focus back to the crater. I stopped on its jagged edge, the earth slowly crumbling beneath my toes. The shuttle doors opened upward, and out came the four Perfects we’d been expecting. They wore dark blue silken tunics, like their “untamed” brethren, and their backpacks were probably loaded with supplies and ammunition. Swords and short knives were mounted on their belts, and small metallic disks were strapped to their wrists. I’d seen those extendable shields before, on Rose’s team.

  Two males and two females. The Perfects from Calliope.

  They glanced around, blinking rapidly as they tried to adjust to their surroundings. I slid down toward them. In an instant, they drew their swords at me.

  “Whoa! I come in peace!” I said, raising my hands in a defensive gesture. “Rose sent us!”

  Nathaniel frowned and cocked his head to one side. “I’m Nathaniel. These are Uriel, Deena and Angelica. What do you mean by ’us?’ I only see you.”

  A loud thump startled us all. I looked back to find Araquiel. He’d just landed and had only acquired several cuts on his face—already healing. I looked back at Nathaniel. “Nope. It’s ‘us.’ I’m Herakles. And that’s Araquiel.”

  The Perfects and Araquiel exchanged nods and brief smiles, while I quietly listened to the sounds of the jungle. It was only a matter of time before more soldiers would come in from the colosseum. Someone was bound to come looking for the shuttle. They’d definitely seen it.

  “We need to get as far away from here as possible,” Araquiel said.

  “We’ll catch up when we leave this hotspot,” I added.

  The four Perfects didn’t wait to be told twice. They closed the shuttle doors and climbed out of the crater. I followed, rejoining Araquiel at the top. Blood rushed through my veins, fueled by the adrenaline.

  “I see you managed to steer the shuttle despite the travel spell. I’m told that’s pretty hard to do,” Araquiel said to Nathaniel.

  “With four of us and the fuel, it was doable,” Nathaniel replied.

  “Called it.” I chuckled. “Let’s go.”

  I led the way through the jungle, with five reformed Perfects by my side. Frankly, I’d always felt stronger surrounded by my rogue Faulties. I drew my energy from my friends and allies. But with Perfects in my entourage… it felt different. Infinitely better.

  The odds didn’t feel against us. At least, not as harshly as before. With these creatures on my crew, I felt like we had a better edge against Ta’Zan. As if all wasn’t lost. Not yet, and not as long as I was still breathing.

  Araquiel and I had already agreed upon one thing. If our worst-case scenario were to come true, if Ta’Zan were to defeat Rose and Ben somehow, we would never give up. We’d keep fighting, tooth and nail, until Ta’Zan met his end. Or we died first.

  Elonora

  I spent the next couple of hours catching up with Grandma Claudia and Grandpa Yuri, while Derek stayed on the line with GASP on Calliope, briefing us whenever there was new information. Varga and Nevis stayed by my side, and Grandma Claudia told us about the more recent developments inside the colosseum.

  Personally, I looked forward to meeting Isda. They had nothing but good things to say about her, and, after what she’d done to get my brother out of this place, she had a special place in my heart already.

  “I see the Perfects are in no rush to change you into these silky tunics like us,” Grandpa said. “It’s a shame. Evil world and whatnot, but the fabric feels nice.”

  I chuckled. “Meh. We’re better off with what we have, especially the hoods and masks and goggles. They had no reason to take them away from us, anyway. Besides, I’m pretty sure they’ve got bigger issues on their minds right now than to put us all in matching outfits.”

  Plus, the hoods, the masks and the goggles were going to come in handy later.

  “There’s something different about you,” Grandma remarked, smiling at me. “Your cheeks are pink. Your eyes glimmer whenever you look at Nevis. I don’t have to be a sentry to know you’ve got the hots for the guy.”

  I froze, feeling the heat spread through my face.

  “And it’s obvious he’s got the hots for you, too,” she added.

  I looked at Nevis, who gave me a soft and reassuring smile in return. He then focused on Grandma and Grandpa. “I suppose Elonora finds it awkward when you’re so blunt, but, personally, I think it’s endearing. And yes, you’ve read us both correctly. We are in love.”

  “Oh, snap,” Varga murmured, his eyes wide. “I didn’t think he’d spell it out like that.”

  “Yeah, me neither,” I breathed, while my grandparents burst into laughter.

  “Honey. It’s amazing you found each other in the middle of this mess!” Grandma said, squeezing my hands in hers. “I can read you like an open book, sometimes.”

  “I need to work on that.” I sighed.

  Nevis wrapped an arm around my shoulders. He didn’t pull back, and he clearly wasn’t afraid to show his affection toward me. I figured he was making it official this way, and that just made my heart swell in my chest. “I love Elonora, an
d I hope you both find me agreeable enough to be a part of her life.”

  Grandpa Yuri smirked. “I find you agreeable, but I’m pretty sure my wife thinks you’re hot.”

  Grandma chuckled. “Scrumptious, to be precise.”

  It was Nevis’s turn to blush, his eyes bulging. He was seconds away from either stroking out or digging himself into a hole from which he’d never come out. The poor thing.

  “Grandma!” I chided her, laughing. “You’ll scare him away!”

  “Daemons and soul-eating Maras didn’t scare me; I doubt this stunning vampire lady will,” Nevis retorted, offering a charming smile to go with it. Oh, he definitely wasn’t afraid of my grandparents. In fact, he was showing a side I hadn’t seen before—perhaps the facet he showed to other people when he engaged in diplomatic affairs. The kind of smile that got deals signed and empires conquered.

  Judging by the look on Grandma’s face, she was definitely conquered.

  “I’m glad to see you two together,” Grandpa said. “An unlikely couple, by most definitions, but I know my little Elonora well enough to understand that it takes a certain kind of character to get past the thick wall she’s built around her heart.”

  My grandparents knew my history from The Shade, including the heartbreak that Connor had caused. They were quite protective of me, in fact, and it was good to see the lack of objection on their part, as far as Nevis was concerned. The last thing I wanted was for my family, the people I loved unequivocally, to reject him—the one person who’d managed to steal my heart without making me feel miserable.

  “Nevis had his methods,” I replied, resting my head on his shoulder.

  “You deserve it,” Grandma said, beaming at me. “I just hope you both get to take this relationship further, once or… if this ordeal ever ends.”

  Just like that, her smile faded. Grandpa held her close, and I felt the urge to wrap my arms around her and never let her go. She’d been locked up in this place for long enough. It was time for her to get out.

  “We do have a plan, you know,” I said, raising an eyebrow. Grandma didn’t respond to coddling. She preferred facts, with a dash of humor. “We’re busting everyone out of here.”

  That got me her full attention. “Hold on. All of us?”

  I nodded. “We’re waiting for Amal to give us the green light so we can bypass the shock collars, and for Araquiel and the others to plant the explosives and detonate them as a diversion.”

  “Whoa. Honey, I knew about that, but I had no idea the plan was designed with everyone in mind,” Grandma replied.

  “How will you get so many out?” Grandpa Yuri asked. “There are hundreds of us here, and plenty of Perfects keeping an eye on the diamond dome.”

  “Also, diamond dome! This is a solid structure! You can’t just crack it open like an egg,” Grandma added.

  Kailani joined us, sitting next to me. “I’ll be helping,” she said, giving me a soft smile. “I overheard you talking about the plan. I figured I’d clear some things up.”

  “Do your grandparents know?” Grandma asked her.

  “Yeah, and we’re not happy about it!” Corrine shot back from the neighboring cluster, approximately ten feet away. “But it’s the only way for us to succeed, so… you know, we’ll do it,” she added, rolling her eyes.

  “What’s the plan?” Grandpa asked.

  One by one, the rest of the founders and our crew turned to face us. Ben and Rose had already talked to Derek, Sofia, and the others, but some things had to be clarified—specifically, who would get to escape from the colosseum.

  “It won’t be just us getting out of here,” I said. “We had to analyze every possible scenario and go with the most reasonable strategy. And, as crazy as it may sound, getting everyone out of here is our best option.”

  “Okay. But how will we accomplish such a feat?” Grandma replied.

  “There’s a swamp witch spell called bilocation. It’s powerful, but I can pull it off with additional magic energy from other witches,” Kailani explained. “It needs great power to work for so many prisoners. It creates palpable, visible, and audible copies of all of us, set on a kind of movement loop. They’re dummies, basically, that look and sound exactly like us.”

  Lumi stood up, resting her hands on her hips. “We need four magically capable individuals to fuel the spell, one for each cardinal point, as per the Word’s instructions. Kale and I will take the north and south, and Corrine and Ibrahim can handle the east and the west. Once we start the spell, and the dummies materialize, we’ll sneak out of the dome and leave them behind. Without us, the bilocation spell can stand on its own for about twenty, maybe thirty minutes before it all fades away.”

  My grandparents looked at each other, then nodded slowly.

  “So, where’d you learn that spell from, Kale?” Grandma asked. “I thought your apprenticeship wasn’t over, and it sounds pretty complex.”

  “I know of it,” Lumi replied with a shrug. “It normally shouldn’t be cast without four full swamp witches, but, given our circumstances, we have to take our chance with what we have.”

  “Hold on, so it’s risky?” Grandpa asked, somewhat alarmed. I couldn’t blame him. We all loved Corrine and Ibrahim, Kailani, and even Lumi, with her previously undisclosed pixie nature.

  Kailani let a heavy sigh roll out, her shoulders dropping. “Without four full swamp witches to power the spell, we’re not entirely sure of the end result. But I, along with my grandparents, have naturally magical genes. That has to count for something.”

  “If you ask me, it might actually help,” Lumi said. “More than four full swamp witches. Anyway, we have to try it.”

  “Will it kill you or hurt you if it fails?” I replied.

  Lumi shook her head. “The bilocation spell won’t last. Worst-case scenario, it won’t even be cast. But we’re rooting for a successful attempt here, so let’s not think of the possible failure. We don’t want the universe slapping us with its law of attraction. The last thing we want is to screw ourselves out of a perfectly functional bilocation trick.”

  I had to admit, I found Lumi extremely fascinating. She wasn’t one to adhere to a certain religion or pray to specific gods, but she did worship the universe, calling it the child of the Word itself. She believed that thinking of the worst usually invited failure through the door, but she also refused to call herself an optimist.

  Granted, she was anything but that. Her biting realism had irked me more than once, but it was fascinating to hear her talk like this. Then again, in a way, she kind of had a point. Jinxing was the worst, given where we were and what we were about to do.

  “We’ll use our fae to manipulate the diamond floor,” Rose added, sitting next to Corrine and Ibrahim. “The more of them that are connected to the earthly element, the better.”

  “I imagine we can pray to the Hermessi for some assistance when the time is right, too,” Bogdana interjected.

  I turned my head to look at her, as she’d made herself comfortable behind Derek and Sofia, her head occasionally popping up during our conversations. She’d been quiet until now, but I couldn’t forget the look on her face upon meeting Ta’Zan outside. The connection between them was undeniable, though Ta’Zan had no idea who she was.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked her.

  “I honestly don’t know. Pained, I suppose. I gave birth to that monster, but my heart still aches when I think about him. Worst of all, I felt a strange warmth in my chest when I first laid eyes on him,” she replied, surprisingly honest.

  “You carried him in your womb for nine months. Surely a bond was formed,” Grandma said. “He didn’t have to be related to you for you to feel the need to nurture and protect him. It’s a mother’s instinct, especially since his embryo switched your body into motherhood. You can’t control that.”

  “But we can’t let you get too close to him, unless it helps us,” Lumi replied, narrowing her eyes at Bogdana. “I’m sure you mean well, but I don’t tr
ust you with Ta’Zan. I’m sure you understand why.”

  Bogdana nodded slowly, the sadness in her amber eyes impossible to ignore. From what I could tell, she, too, was uncomfortable with her own weakness toward Ta’Zan. I could see the threads of yellow and gold still glimmering in her aura—fear and love.

  Ben cleared his throat, as if to change the subject to something less uncomfortable.

  “Let’s focus on this bilocation spell,” he said, then looked at Lumi. “Do you need us to help you with anything?”

  “I don’t think so,” Lumi replied. “I know how to perform the spell, though I haven’t cast one since my swamp witch sisters were still alive. We’ll just need everyone to be ready to run, and one of you to give the signal to Araquiel. As soon as we’re all out, they can detonate the explosives.”

  It sounded pretty cut and dry. Timing was obviously essential here. Amal and Amane were tasked with covertly gathering the items they needed for their mass memory wiper device, while pretending to do Ta’Zan’s bidding. Given the recent developments regarding Douma and Raphael, they had to make sure they got them out, too, before the explosives were set.

  Araquiel, Herakles, and the four Calliope Perfects were due to infiltrate the colosseum and place the explosive charges in every node of the diamond structure. Their chemical formula was powerful enough to break the diamond, provided they were set against a thin surface. The bombs had been devised as a chain reaction, until crucial parts of the colosseum came down. There was a specific focus on all the laboratories and storage units. The harder we crippled Ta’Zan, the better.