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Raine spit in Killian’s face.
Killian wiped the blood and spit from his cheek. “Oh well, killing him will further my goal.”
Dannika step forward. “What goal?”
His eyes flickered with red hatred. “To watch your faith evaporate. To see the moment you realize your future is lost.”
She couldn’t fight Killian and Julius. She had one option, and it was a bad one. Her body faded, racing into the closest shadow pathway. Her father’s and brother’s shouts echoed in her ears until the pathway closed behind her. The quick trip consisted of black shadows and pain. Whatever Killian had seen, Raine’s death was mandatory to produce an outcome where he was king.
She reformed in the room where Raine’s doppelganger sat. Its presence surprised her. “How are you still here?”
“I knew where you were going the moment you shifted. Don’t risk opening the portal for me. Promise me, Dannika. My life isn’t worth the risk.”
She put her hand to the wall that hid the chalice. “I can’t lose you.”
Raine raised a hand to her hair. His fingers passed through the strands, but she could almost feel him. “If I don’t make it, promise me you will find another. Find happiness, Dannika. Find peace.”
His sacrifice wasn’t surprising, but his words cut deep. His doppelganger flinched before it dissolved.
“Raine!”
She shifted her arm to the shadows before reaching into the rock. The moment she touched the chalice, power raced through her blood. It wasn’t like using her shadow ability, or shifting into her wolf or cougar form. This was ancient, royal, and created in a different world. The symbols etched around the rim of the chalice glowed as she retrieved it from its hiding place.
She reformed at the end of the tunnel. Every reaper head turned her way. Holding the bowl connected her to all the shadow shifters. She felt what they felt: fear. Of her.
And she liked it.
“Let him go.”
Julius glanced at Killian, dropping his blade to his side. “You don’t know what you’re playing with.”
Her vision tinged with red as the power coursed through her body. “On the contrary, you have no idea what I’m willing to do to save my mate. Release Raine, or I’m going to the portal, and I will unleash an unholy hell on all of you. This would be a bad day to open the portal and you know it.”
Killian’s eyes glassed over white, then returned to their natural color. “I can’t foresee your future.”
Dannika smiled. “Maybe that’s because I don’t have one. You kill him, we all die.”
Killian’s eyes showed fear for the first time. “You wouldn’t.”
Dannika held up the chalice. “I’m going to the portal now. I think the cavern where we retrieved the chalice will make an excellent doorway. Unless you want to be the demon king’s bitch, I suggest you bring Raine.”
She dissolved.
CHAPTER27
Dannika coalesced into the cave where she had retrieved the talisman. She took the pathway the chalice had shown her when she and Killian had retrieved it, a thin stream no one would’ve found had the hairline slipstream not been revealed. It circumvented the tunnel with blessed steel, so the reapers could follow. She and Killian had taken it after retrieving the chalice.
Killian and Julius wouldn’t be far behind. She chose the cave because of the symbols etched on the wall. They weren’t runes. In fact, if you weren’t looking for them, they would appear as natural marks within the rock, formed over time. The chalice had shown her the unique markings when she touched it, but she hadn’t shared that information with Killian.
She walked to the flat rock at the back of the cave, glancing at the well that had held the bowl. It remained cold and inert. Its time with the chalice over.
She traced her finger along the strange indentations. It looked like the rock had been stamped while forming, yet she knew that was impossible. Except for a volcano, could anything turn hard rock into liquid form? She was sure it was a question she didn’t want answered.
The hum in her fingertips drew her to the edge of the cave. Blessed steel imbued the rock surrounding the wall. This wall had been prepared. A portal could open, but it couldn’t extend past the circle of steel. It acted as an inter-dimensional culvert, narrowing the mouth of the portal. Had the Priestess known these measures were needed?
What she wouldn’t give to talk to her ultimate great-grandmother.
She turned as the pathway to the cave opened, and Killian stepped through.
