The Chronicles of Winterset: Oracle (21 page)

Chapter 44

I tried to pry my eyes open but I couldn’t. I was so hot. It was worse than when I’d first started Transition. I felt like I lay in my bed for days, drenched in my own sweat, the fever ravaging my body.

“Shh, be still,” I heard Calix whisper as I thrashed restlessly in the bed. He pressed a cool cloth to my head, and I moaned at his touch.

“Kill me,” I rasped. “Please.”

“Drink this,” he said, his voice pained. I felt the familiar flask touch my lips, and I opened my mouth and gulped down the bitter liquid. It did nothing to stop the fire burning within me.

“Make it stop,” I moaned, able to open my eyes to a narrow slit. Calix tried to wipe the sweat from my face but it was coming out of me in torrents. I noticed a small cut above his brow and shivered, trying to place what was happening.

“I can’t,” he answered sadly. “This is just how it has to be until you finish Transition. I’ll be here the whole time. I promise.”

“I’m afraid,” I breathed out painfully.

“I know, my sweet Ana,” he murmured back. My mind swirled around his words, and I prayed I wouldn’t put two and two together. It was all too familiar.

I reached out desperately to grab onto something as I began the plummet into another vision.

“Ana,” Kellin spoke loudly. “I call to you, Oracle. Come to me!”

I fell to my knees as I landed in the vision, my head spinning, inside a large stone room.

I must be in a castle in Winterset, I thought to myself, trying to make sense of how he could summon me.

Kellin focused his gaze on where I’d fallen, and I stared up at his massive form fearfully.

“Ana, Princess, if you can hear me, please listen closely. You are in danger. I cannot get to you, and if I could, I fear it would not be in time. I do not know if Calix has told you about how we travel as Fae, but I need you to pay attention. Please, Ana. If you can hear me or see this in a vision, listen and do as I say.”

I tried to respond but I wasn’t able to, and I knew it wouldn’t matter. He couldn’t hear me.

“You are of Light. You can travel through the Light. Get to a safe spot. Go home, Ana. I will find you there. I’ve been trying a trace on you but you are so far away that I cannot locate you. Step into any light and focus on where you want to be. Focus hard, Ana, and keep that desire in your mind as you move to it. Never let it go. Just get out of wherever you are. Zaros has amassed a terrible, vast army. Our sources say he moves for you. The Nihilist is coming, Ana. Please, I hope you can hear me. Come to me so I can help you! I can’t lose you, Ana. I can’t.”

Kellin’s voice cracked and I stared at him, watching a tear stream down his perfect cheek.

“Get away from Calix. He won’t save you, Ana. He’s one of them! Please, step into the light and come to me!”

I was jerked out of the vision and quickly thrust into a flurry of images, all of them a montage of my life, of things I’d already experienced. I saw my childhood; my real mother staring fondly down at me; my parents’ stricken faces as Kellin held me in his arms and tore open a portal to Earth Realm; my adopted parents’ smiling faces; me on Christmas when I was eight, Kellin grinning at me over a slice of pizza; Mel’s laughing face; homecoming; Calix entering my life. Then I saw Kellin kissing me in the field of wildflowers in the woods after Kevin’s party, Kellin’s sad face as he looked defeated, watching me dance with Calix. There was Calix guiding me through my abilities. His kisses. His passionate face as he watched me wield my magic. The dagger to my throat as he stared down at me, not himself. His snake tattoo. The Nihilist as he loomed over my brother, the cut on his forehead, the tattoo peeking out from beneath his cloaked arm.

That voice.

The chilling, deep, accented voice I’d struggled to place, certain I knew it. Knowing I didn’t want to accept it.

Calix. My Calix.

My Nihilist.

I was slammed back to reality and my body arched. I levitated off my bed, my shrieks of pain and comprehension finally hitting me full force. The wind whipped around the room, knocking things over; the earth shook the floorboards and rattled the windows, I erupted into flames and the thunder rumbled as the rain poured down in waves.

The hour was midnight, and I, Ana Winters, had finally met my destiny.

I was the Oracle, and I had to end this.

Chapter 45

When I opened my eyes, sunlight was streaming into the room and Calix was nowhere to be seen. I sat up and looked around, my vision crisp, my senses incredible. Everything felt sharp, tangible. Even the air I breathed had an energy I could feel within it.

I rose to my feet and looked at myself in the mirror, then gasped.

I looked so different, yet I knew I was the same.

I was breathtakingly beautiful, my green eyes brighter than they’d ever been. My hair was thicker, sweeping down my back in blonde waves, my lips full and pink, my ears came to a very subtle point. I seemed taller, almost regal looking.

I looked down at my hands and flames appeared as I thought about them. They didn’t hurt me. Instead, it was like a gentle, pleasant tickle, like they belonged on my fingertips.

I breathed out and stretched, feeling like an entirely new person. And I guess I sort of was. I was the Oracle, the Seer, Bringer of Life. I hung my head, my heart hammering painfully in my chest.

Calix.

He had to be here somewhere.

What was I going to do?

I knew what I had to do. It was the beginning of my new life, and I had to put the old one to rest. I had to put this one to rest, too.

I walked to the bathroom and showered, going through my morning routine as if nothing were different. I knew deep down inside this was just my way of coping with what I had to do.

I pulled the lacy long white dress out of the closet and smiled sadly at it. My death dress. My birthday dress.

I put on the pretty gown and walked out to the living area. I saw Calix standing with his back to me on the patio, and I straightened myself and went out to greet him, the love I had for him causing the butterflies to flutter in my stomach. And then the fear of him making them twist into terrified knots.

Chapter 46

He didn’t say anything as I stood behind him. I eyed his tattoo warily, the snake, a symbol of his darkness. There were scars, jagged and angry, on his back, deeply embedded into his skin. I knew who had placed them there.

I prayed I was wrong. I silently begged I was.

“You’re awake,” he murmured without turning to me.

“Yes,” I replied. I placed my hand over my mouth quickly as I realized even my voice had changed. It was like a beautiful song escaping my lips, a small tinkling, pleasant sound.

He turned slowly to me, his dark eyes sad and heavy as they took me in.

“Breathtaking,” he murmured, eyeing me. “Like an angel.”

“Really?” I asked nervously, not knowing if he knew that I knew who he was. Who I hoped he
wasn’t
.

“The most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my entire life,” he said, stepping close to me. He reached out and placed his hand on my cheek. The zing of energy was so strong it made my knees buckle.

He caught me easily in his arms and pulled me close.

“Happy birthday,” he said softly into my ear before planting a sweet, gentle kiss on my lips. I kissed him back with wild abandon. I didn’t want him to be the Nihilist. He couldn’t be. Not my Calix.

When he pulled away, I saw the tiny cut above his eyebrow and my stomach sank. The same cut I knew the Nihilist had been wiping at as he held a sword to my brother’s throat.

“It’ll be OK, Ana,” Calix said, placing his forehead against mine. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

He wanted my trust.
He doesn’t know that I know
, I thought frantically.
He still thinks I’m in the dark about who he is.
I grasped at the hope I could get away and do what I had to do before he realized I knew. It was the only way to save him—to save my family, my kingdom, Kellin. I couldn’t falter.

“I know,” I breathed out. I hesitantly leaned forward and pressed my lips to his again, a tear leaking out of my eye. He was not the Nihilist. Calix was gentle and sweet and compassionate. The Nihilist wasn’t. I’d seen him kill, raze a city, hurt children. He couldn’t be both people. He just couldn’t. Within the Nihilist, within all the torment and control he was under, was my Calix. I couldn’t let him go on living like that.

I would freely give my life for his.

He kissed me hard, passionately, his large hands touching me everywhere, drinking in my kisses like he was dying of thirst and I was the only one who could save him.

And I could. I would.

He pulled my dress off and I stood in nothing but my bra and underwear in front of him. His eyes took me in hungrily as I stared mesmerized at the large snake wrapped around his body. I reached out and delicately touched it, and I could have sworn it moved within his skin. He let out a shaky breath and closed his eyes as my fingers traced the snake up to his neck.

“I love you,” he whispered, opening his dark eyes.

“I love you,” I replied painfully.

He lifted me up into his arms and carried me to our bedroom, where he placed me gently on the bed and loomed over me, a troubled look on his face.

“Yes,” I said to the question he wasn’t asking.

“Are you sure?” he murmured, his fingers tracing my jawline.

I nodded and he pushed me down onto my back and pressed his warm body on top of mine.

“There’s no going back, Ana. Do you realize this? What this means for us?”

“I understand. I want this, Calix. It may … it may be the last time we are ever together,” I choked out.

“No, baby. No,” he said hoarsely. “We will make it through this. I promise.”

I pulled him down to kiss me and let go of everything. I wanted to remember us like this, not how I had seen the future.

Chapter 47

I awoke hours later, naked, Calix’s arms wrapped tightly around me, the light from the setting sun spilling into the room.

“I was wondering when you would wake,” he murmured, brushing my hair away from my face.

“Were you watching me sleep?” I asked, biting my lip and praying I hadn’t said anything in my sleep.

“I was,” he said solemnly. “You’re so beautiful, Ana. What we did meant so much to me. You have no idea.”

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply, a look of serenity on his face. “I never want to lose you. Promise me that I won’t.”

“Calix,” I said delicately. “I can’t make you that promise. You know that, right? Just like you can’t make me that promise. Zaros is coming for me. The Nihilist... he is coming for me today.”

“I know he is,” Calix answered painfully, wincing, his body giving a small shudder. I bit my lip nervously and looked toward the setting sun.

“The light, it’s leaving,” Calix murmured, kissing my bare shoulder. “The darkness will be here soon, Ana.”

“I know,” I breathed out. “That’s when he will come for me. He is of Darkness and I am of Light.”

Calix nodded and kissed me deeply.

“I have a gift for you,” he said, moving to get out of bed.

“You didn’t need to—” I started but he hushed me by placing his finger on my lips.

He walked to the nightstand, opened the drawer, and pulled out a small wooden box, then sat down beside me.

“Ana, I want you to have this,” he said in a hushed voice. “I want you to wear it and always think of me, no matter where you are or what is happening. I want you to know you are mine and I am yours. Forever.”

I opened the box and saw a beautiful necklace inside. It was the same snake carved into Calix’s skin, its eyes glittering ruby jewels. It was made out of the prettiest metal I’d ever seen, the details of the snake so intricate, it was as if the snake were alive.

“Calix,” I said breathlessly. “This is … this is beautiful.”

“It is the symbol of my house,” he said thickly. “The House of Night.”

The words sent a shiver down my spine, and I winced, knowing in my heart what that meant. He removed the delicate necklace from the box and put it on me, his warm fingers brushing my skin. He kissed my neck, and I closed my eyes, dying inside.

How could the world be so cruel? To give me a love and then pull it away from me. To make the one thing I loved more in this world a cruel nightmare, one I couldn’t be with the way I wanted to be.

We were destined to work against one another, him Death, me Life, always on opposing teams. Is that what forever would be like? Always dancing away from one another, me eluding him? Him destroying, me trying to salvage what was left? Trying to overcome? To fight?

No.

I couldn’t live that way. I wouldn’t.

This would be my one and only move as the Oracle. As the bringer of life. Ending my own would save so many.

“I got you a cake,” Calix said, getting to his feet and looking at the sun again. It had dipped lower in the sky.

It was almost time. I think we both knew it.

“Is it chocolate?” I asked, staring up at him with my big, green eyes.

“Your favorite,” he smiled sadly. He leaned down and kissed my lips again, then went to the door, where he stopped and looked back at me. “Not everything in this world needs to end in fire or darkness. Remember that for me, OK?”

“Of course,” I said, smiling through my tears. “I promise.”

He disappeared through the doorway, and I hastily got dressed in my white dress and stepped into the fading sunlight streaming in on the floorboards.

“To the cliff,” I whispered, envisioning the high walls, jagged rocks, and turbulent water.

I felt a pull in the center of my chest and I was swept away, leaving Calix behind.