Page 150 of The Never List
“Youwillsurvive,” he whispers, his features severe. I shudder at the mere idea of disobeying him. He brushes a kiss over my lips, just a fragment of what I need, what I crave. “You will come back to me.”
I swallow hard, finally finding my voice. “I’ll come back to you,” I say, then uncork the vial.
“Princes of Lumathyst,” Baydel says. “Move to the four corners of this balcony, representing the four goddesses who bore you. Wait patiently for your powers to unlock, should the goddesses deem your mate worthy and turn her immortal.”
They each give me one last look and then move to the four corners.
“Chosen,” Baydel continues. “Drink and pass through the doorway.”
My fingers tremble as I bring the bottle to my lips. If I want to be linked to my mates forever, to unlock their real wells of powers, this is what I must do.
I throw the liquid back in one gulp, the concoction burning with a harsh aftertaste that threatens to come right back up. I take a deep breath, feeling the elixir slide throughmy body, warming every inch of my muscles, digging its way into every crevasse of my soul and filling it with…other.
I barely make it two steps toward the doorway before my muscles give out completely and I spin, falling backward right into the warm, thick, sparkly substance. It sucks me into it, holding me aloft. My head is swimming in a sluggish way, detaching from everything that I know and am.
I register my Legends, my masters of chaos reaching for me from every corner of the balcony. Their eyes graze every inch of me, branding me with love and support and…itburns.
Or is that the elixir singeing me from the inside out?
I can’t see the stars anymore.
I can’t feel the liquid holding me up anymore.
The silver substance around me slides over my chest, and it’ssofucking heavy against me.
It feels like fire, sliding into my very soul, wrapping its fingers around my heart andsqueezing.
My heartbeat slows so much, it’s hard to breathe. I’m pulled from behind, the liquid enveloping me until I can no longer feel or see anything but darkness.
Please let me survive. For them. Please.
46
Rylee
I free-fall through the night sky, my limbs flinging upward, completely out of control as I plummet.
Clarity snaps through my foggy mind like the crack of a whip.
I jerk my arms and legs, windmilling them like that will stop me from splattering all over the ground that looks like a grain of rice below. I reach for my power, trying to lasso the wind so it will slow my descent, but there isnothingthere.
Panic bolts through my system, the breath in my lungs too short and fast as I fall. Where the goddesses is my power? Why can’t I—
The Athanry. The elixir. The doorway.
Maybe the elixir depleted my powers to make room for whatever the goddesses will use to turn me immortal. I remember how I felt before I started falling—the burning that soared through my body, overfilling me until I was spilling buckets of it.
The fall is never-ending, my panic climbing in intensity as I try and try to stop myself in the air.
I think of Kal, think of how easy it is for him to fly and—
Like snapping my fingers, I’m no longer falling.
I’msoaring.
I cut through the air as effortlessly as if I’m using my wind, but there is no end in sight.
Pierce said the elixir was meant to test me…maybe it’s giving me a taste of my mates’ powers, so I can fully understand them in their entirety.
