Page 56 of Heir of Broken Souls

“We’re placing a lot of hope upon one dream, Knox.”

“No, we’re placing hope in the hands of your power.” He kisses my forehead once more. “And it wasn’t a dream. The archangels chose to send you the prophecy for a reason. It’s about time we start trusting that.”

His words strike my heart. My magic tuts, puffing up like a proud peacock, but my mind falters under the weight of the pressure.

Chapter22

Delilah

The tall grass of the meadow brings forth an array of memories I wish I could keep at bay. Ones filled with my family, my mother Eleanor being returned to the sea…the look the mermaid Naia gave Hazel when we visited them the last time.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that mermaids should not be pushed or questioned. But if I had my way, I wouldn’t rest until ImadeNaia tell me why she never warned us of Hazel’s plans.

It’s the reason why I haven’t stepped foot here since that night, why I avoid the water by the sea in case she comes for me. I fear I won’t be able to hold my tongue around her.

My body is stiff, my posture rigid, as I stride toward the pool of water with Knox at my side and Elysia and Axel at our heels.

“Where are they?” Elysia asks.

“They’ll be here.”After all, they owe me.

No sooner do the words leave my mouth, ripples materialize in the water. A V forms as they glide below the surface. Bubbles rise as tails breach the water. One after the other, in all various colors of the rainbow. There’s seven in total, but now I know there should be eight.

I wonder how Eleanor would have looked leading the coven. How she would have treated them. Perhaps she would have warned me of Hazel, or maybe she was just as cruel and wicked as the rest of them before the palace. I would like to think she would have told me, but I know that her bouts of kindness were only from years of abuse. It softened her when it would have made others hard.

Amelia is the first to surface, the second-in-command of the pod. Her glowing eyes pierce mine as droplets of water cascade down her vibrant red hair, the color matching her tail. Then her leader appears.

The first I see of her is the glowing turquoise jewel resting atop her forehead, followed by pointed ears and wet white hair. The next are her red eyes, which are already locked on me. The sight of Naia rising has my fists clenching at my side and my heart rate spiking. My skin begins to burn, boiling with hatred for what she could have stopped.

I hearElysia’s sharp intake of breath behind me as the rest of the pod surfaces. The tension that sizzles between us is like no other. It’s building with such ferocity a single tap and I have no doubt it will spark an inferno.

“Delilah,” Naia drawls.

I bite down on my tongue, hard. I’m afraid if I open my mouth, I’ll start spewing fire like a dragon.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” Amelia says coldly.

It doesn’t matter what she says, I can’t take my eyes off the woman that could have stopped our suffering in its tracks.

A metallic tang bursts inside my mouth.

Blood.

She snickers knowingly. “Serpent got your tongue?”

Golden flames erupt at my palms, my eyes no doubt shining as bright as the sun’s rays. The pod doesn’t so much as flinch, though Alentia, a mermaid with vibrant violet eyes, glares at the back of Amelia’s head.

Eleanor’s sister.

Tendrils of Knox’s shadows trail down my back, drawing me from the dangerous cliff I found myself on.

“I see you’ve fully transitioned,” Naia says simply.

“What do you know of it?” Knox calls out, a slight edge to his words.

Another secret, it seems.

Naia doesn’t take her eyes off me, as if the mermaid knows to fear what I can do. “The currents whispered of the golden one.” She cocks her head. “My sisters and I received a vision of what would become of Delilah in the battle.”