AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Shame. Would have taken some of the pretty off you.” Raven sneered slightly.
“Ah, she still thinks I’m pretty.” Kellen grinned, clutching at his heart, and Raven rolled her eyes before turning away. He wasn’t sure why he cared what she thought about his looks, but he was taking her words as a compliment.
“We think there’s a traitor here as well,” Callum said without preamble, and Kellen caught a look between Bianca and Raven.
“What’s that look for?” Kellen demanded, pointing to the two women.
“Nothing.” Raven shrugged.
“I think we’re both just watching,” Bianca said. “Trying to get a read on things. We’re outsiders, so maybe we see things differently. But your people are not united.”
“No, they’re not. They’ve had a hard time after my mother passed. As have I,” Kellen admitted. “I fear I’ve let them down by not being as fierce a ruler as I should have been.”
“You’re doing the best you can,” Callum said, surprising him with a hand on the shoulder. “We all are. Ladies, thoughts on doing your magickal ritual without all four amulets? We’ve decided to launch a counterattack.”
“Badass,” Raven commented, dropping onto a chair and crossing her legs. She tugged at one of her braids as she watched him with eyes that gave nothing away.
“I mean…I can’t...say…really,” Lily stammered, wringing her hands. “It might not be safe? I don’t know enough about magick.”
“Luckily, I’m well trained.” Callum smiled down at her. “I’m of the opinion that the spell would be strongest with all amulets, but intent also matters. Perhaps we could find something of equal importance to the Air Fae and offer it as their contribution to the spell?”
“A substitution. Not unheard of,” Bianca agreed, eyes brightening. “That’s the nature of magick, right? Intent above all. Ingredients subject to change.”
“Oftentimes, yes.” Callum gave a curt nod.
“Not a bad idea. When are you thinking of doing this? We’ll need some time,” Bianca said.
“Plus you’ll need to get the others on board. We’re operating on the assumption that all of the Elementals will be open to giving up their amulets,” Seamus pointed out.
“Right, there’s that too. So, can we call them here? Talk it out?” Bianca raised an eyebrow at Callum.
“We’re launching a two-pronged attack. Possibly even three. One, we want to unleash the power of the ritual. The second will be us invading her realm. The third would be, well, if we could get Danu involved,” Kellen said. Bianca turned to him.
“If we can get her blood, you mean? That’s a tall order.”
“Maybe she doesn’t have to give it to us. Maybe she can be the one who executes the ritual,” Lily suggested. “We can ask, can’t we?”
“What’s this blood stuff?” Raven asked.
“We found some ancient manuscripts that suggest there are ways to kill a god or a goddess. That immortality is not, in fact, automatically a given. But, it seems that only those who carry the blood of the god or goddess can enact the ritual.”
“Or give the killing blow,” Lily added.
“Wait, you mean Danu could just kill her? She doesn’t have to do a blood ritual?” Seamus asked in surprise. “She could have saved us a lot of time.”
“I don’t think it is that simple. Translation is tough,” Bianca admitted. “Ancient scripts aren’t easy to read, and they wear with age. But, maybe?”
“What’s the blood ritual entail?” Raven asked.
“It’s all very dramatic. Blood of my blood, cutting of cords, like cutting the head from a beast,” Bianca said. “I don’t think we evenhavethe entire ritual. But it’s a big deal. Which, I guess, it has to be. She’s a freaking almost-immortal goddess.”
“So why not try and convince Danu to take her out?”
“Maybe because she’s just as likely to get taken out?” Raven offered and everyone turned to look at her in surprise.
“What do you mean?” Lily asked.
“Listen, rule number one in the streets—don’t take on a fight that you can’t win. If Danu can kill Domnu, it’s likely the same on the flip side. And if Danu is the good one, well, she probably has a conscience about actually killing her only sister. Whereas Domnu would probably happily take her sister out with no problem. Danu making herself scarce? She’s not doing it to be a jerk. She’s doing it out of self-preservation. At least that’s my take.”
