Page 82 of Bound Paths
“You can’t leave before deciding what to do about Aterra,” Cassandra said. She looked at Rose. “The veil isn’t your dumping ground. I won’t have another god of the continent holed up here for hundreds of years. I regretted having this one”—she gestured to Zrak—“no matter what he promis?—”
She didn’t finish her sentence, her words cut off as the ground shook beneath the castle. The items on Cassandra’s desk shook and slipped to the floor. Rose felt the movement for what it was: earth magic.
“What is happening?”she asked, pushing her fear through the bond to Luc. No one but him and Aterra could cause this kind of disturbance.
“I need a moment,”was Luc’s strangled reply.
Rose couldn’t handle that. She tore from the study to the shouts of those around her. Rose made it down the stairs and back to the main level. She heard Carter calling but didn’t stop. It was clear Zrak and Cassandra were with him, too. She couldn’t be bothered to slow down for them. She headed for the staircase that led to the cells where Luc and Aterra were being kept. Rose charged past all number of guards.
No one stopped her.
The disturbance must have shaken loose more than she realized this low within the castle for them to be so distracted. Or possibly, Cassandra, in trailing after her, waved off her guards and let Rose charge through. She wouldn’t push the bond again. If Luc needed a moment, she would give it to him. Even if Aterra wasn’t at his full strength in this realm, he was still the Suden god. If he’d found a way to use some of his power, Luc would need to remain focused to challenge him.
Rose ran down the hall until the way was blocked. She stopped at the path she’d taken initially to get to Luc in their escape attempt. It was caved in.
She could use her elements to try to blast through the rock. Cassandra, Zrak, and Carter finally caught up with her as she decided how to navigate this.
“Do you know what is happening?” Rose asked Cassandra.
“I can feel that Aterra tested my cells. He must have decided they were weak enough to try.”
“About that,”Luc’s voice broke through.“She’s right.”He sounded exhausted.
“Luc says you’re correct. What would have happened?” Rose asked.
“I collapsed the tunnel to stop his escape,”Luc replied.“That should hold him for the time being. He used all of his energy to fight the roots and get out of the cell. He doesn’t have his full power here. Something about the realm doesn’t agree with him.”
Rose repeated the words to the group.
“He no longer has the wild magic supporting him,” Zrak said coolly, as if he’d been offended by its participation the entire time.
“It’s more than that,” Carter replied, looking at Cassandra. The Lady of the Veil didn’t meet his gaze as she stared into the pile of rubble.
“I have regained a hold on him,” Cassandra said.
Rose could only picture the roots reaching from the ground to wrap around him. She was too worried to pry into whatever was happening between the goddess and the shifter. She repeated Cassandra’s words to Luc.
“I knocked him out with the cave-in. Her roots are moving him back to where he was previously held.”He sighed, and Rose could hear his exhaustion in the sound.“Even if Cassandra letme leave right now, I can’t return with you.”He let his desire and anguish flow through their bond. He wanted to be back on the continent as much as she wanted him there, but this wasn’t over.“She may have him again now—but it’s temporary. She was right before: We need a long-term solution for Aterra.”
Rose knew he was correct. It just broke her heart again to know they were so close to returning with him, only to have this physical divide between them.
“How long can you both hold him?” Rose asked.
“Her cell leashed him for days—if I’m vigilant in helping, we should be able to last a bit longer.”
“Any ideas on what to do with him?”she asked.
“We need somewhere more permanent to put him—somewhere he can’t continue to cause harm,”Luc said.
The gods were the ones to decide the solution to the balance, which was to hold three gods on the continent and banish one. Where else could they banish a god?
Rose met Cassandra’s gaze. “Luc will remain here and help hold Aterra while we return to the continent and finalize a plan. You know what he is to me. Know that is your insurance policy. We will be back as fast as we can.”
Cassandra nodded, and Carter led her and Zrak out of the castle. They were a somber group. Rose was unwilling to celebrate that they had accomplished part of their goal. Even though Zrak returned, they still had to figure out what to do with Aterra.
They traveled through the void between realms, back to the continent. Rose looked around at the nothing in every direction. She let the darkness close in, her feelings mirroring the space as she, once again, left Luc in the realm beyond the veil.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
