Page 65 of Tangled Power
“Almost…” she murmured to herself as she worked. She opened her eyes, her gaze falling on the lake she’d created. It was deep blue and beautiful—a marvel.
“It’s missing something,” she said. Closing her eyes again, she pushed the water away from a section of the lake. As the water moved, the large rock formation became visible. Arie understood what she was doing—exposing an island. The water rushed around the newly excavated land, the small hill its distinguishing feature.
“I think that’s much better,” Aurora said.
Arie took a deep breath. The mountain air smelled a bit fresher already, with the lake water covering all manner of their sins. “I agree.” His hand slipped into Aurora’s, their fingers intertwining. They’d admitted their feelings for each other long ago. It was a comfort to have her strength when he started to worry about the continent’s future.
Zrak was gone.
He had planned for so much, but in hindsight, Arie realized he’d told them too little.
From the test, they knew Aterra had done something to unbalance the continent—trying to bring himself more power—though they couldn’t confirm how. As Zrak had warned, it was already too late when they proved he was disrupting the balance.
The Compass Points, the fae leaders they had created, were supposed to stop him, but they were more isolated than ever, each court pettier than the next. How could they be the continent’s salvation? No, it was up to Arie and Aurora to do something.
“Well, isn’t this a horrible picture?” a deep voice drawled behind them.
Turning, Arie saw Aterra walking the crater’s edge. “Where have you been?”
“Surprised I wasn’t destroyed in that explosion you caused?” The Suden god looked at his cuticles like he had no care in the world.
“That’s not quite how?—”
“No matter,” Aterra cut him off. “I’m sorry to disappoint. I’ve been looking for you.” His gaze moved to Aurora.
The hair on Arie’s arms stood on end. He didn’t like wherever this was going.
“We’ve been looking for you too,” Aurora said, stepping toward Aterra. “We need to discuss the results of the test.”
Aterra waved away her comment, stepping closer to her. “Zrak wasn’t thinking clearly when he set that up. He didn’t know what he was doing.”
“That’s not—” Arie tried to interrupt. He’d been there when Zrak had created the test. He’d known exactly what he was doing. Aterra ignored him, moving closer still to Aurora.
Arie was increasingly uncomfortable with Aterra’s proximity. Aurora was a goddess, though. She could hold her own.
“The test did what it was supposed to,” Aurora continued. “It exposed that you’ve created an imbalance. You need to come clean about what you’ve done so that we can work to rectify it.”
“Isn’t that what your precious fae are supposed to do? Let them worry about the imbalance. That was the plan, after all.”
Aurora sucked in a breath, and her eyes narrowed. “You agreed to the plan. Submit yourself to the Compass Points if that’s what you prefer. We need to take care of this before things get worse. We’ve already seen a village taken by a dark mist in the north. Whatever you’ve done, it needs to stop.”
“What have you done?” Arie asked, curious if Aterra would answer.
His gaze narrowed at Arie as he inched ever closer toward Aurora. He was too close to her. Arie knew it—a cold shiver ran down his spine. Aurora also seemed to realize it a second too late.
Aterra struck, his hand snaking out to her wrist.
Arie moved. He didn’t know what Aterra intended. He couldn’t physically hold Aurora—she was too strong. But that didn’t mean he could just grab her. To Arie’s shock, Aurora slumped into Aterra’s grip. A slim needle sticking out of a large onyx ring on his finger drew Arie’s attention, the tip sliding out of Aurora’s arm.
“What did you do?” Arie yelled as he reached for Aurora.
Aurora straightened as she stood. “I’m fine, Arctos.” Her voice sent another chill down his spine.
“Aurora?” he asked. She hadn’t called him Arctos in hundreds of years.
Aurora was already moving past him, her hand braced on Aterra’s arm as they walked toward the water’s edge of the lake Aurora had created.
“Aurora, what are you…” Arie trailed them. He only had seconds to figure out what was going on. He couldn’t formulate words. He didn’t know what to ask. Aurora appeared to be walking of her own volition. She couldn’twantto do whatever this was, could she? Should he stop her? He knew he was too late when Aurora stepped into the water. She used the same ring to prick Aterra’s finger. Blood dripped from it to the lake, the water seeming to seal where it fell, rippling out across the water.
