Of Water and Madness (36 page)

“Rohan?” Serendipity said softly, watching as he turned to look at her, his smile fading a little. Her heart broke to see it, and she felt a single tear fall down her cheek. Seeing it, Rohan left Brock and went to his wife, gathering her in his arms.

“Everything is going to be fine,” he murmured, letting out a heavy sigh. “None of us are perfect, but I think it’s time we stopped this foolishness.”

His eyes shot to meet Brock’s, who had his arms wrapped around Nyxa. Brock nodded firmly, his lips flashing into a humorous grin.

“Hell, we took out a dragon together. I’d say that’s enough to make anybody friends.”

Rohan smiled. “I’d say so too.”

Capri watched the scene unfold with misty eyes, sniffling as she tilted her head to look at Rian.

“Isn’t it wonderful?”

His lips curved slightly as he looked down at her, pleased to see the older Dryads making amends. But when he saw her face, his entire body went cold and his eyes widened with alarm.

“Capri!” He stared at her body helplessly as she suddenly began to fade away, and her smile faltered as she looked down at herself and realized what was happening.

She reached out for him desperately in fear and shock as her vision went hazy and she swiftly lost herself in sudden darkness.

Up on the
cliff in the mountains far above, Thea waited patiently for Blythe and Capri to arrive. Liam and Rhiannon stood behind her, awaiting her instructions on what they were to do with Dante.

When the two girls suddenly appeared before them, arriving with a flash of white light, Thea smiled warmly.

“I’m sorry to pull you away, girls. But this is of the utmost importance,” Thea told them, motioning to where Dante was on his knees and bound by golden ropes, his eyes fiery with rage and passion.

Blythe and Capri both looked down at their hands and then at each other, confusion and relief rushing through them. When they followed Thea’s motion toward Dante and spotted Liam and Rhiannon, they seemed to understand.

“You need the four of us to destroy him,” Blythe murmured, turning to Thea for confirmation as her eyes lit up.

Beside her, Capri nervously chewed her bottom lip, her brow furrowed in confusion. “What do we need to do?”

She glanced over at the others questioningly and seemed to draw them in, until they were huddled together, solidly united.

Thea watched her four young Dryads with satisfaction, pleased to see Liam take his place at the back, as though representing the strength and backbone of the group. Blythe and Rhiannon flanked his sides, the heart and the soul. And Capri naturally went to the middle front, reaching for both girls’ hands, the glue that held them all together.

Very few other Dryad groups embodied the strength and unity that this one did, including their parents. And though they had their fair share of troubles and differences, somehow they had managed to overcome the obstacles better than most.

And perhaps it was fitting that this group would be the one to end it all, as they were the most devastatingly affected from the very start. Surely, if anyone deserved to harbor resentment and to administer justice, it was them.

“The time has come for you to finish this,” Thea began, looking at each one in turn. “As you all are aware, I cannot destroy him myself, but I can instruct you on how to imprison him where he will never be able to escape or be found. It will require maximum effort, an enormous amount of focus, and most of all, it will only be possible if the four of you are fully and unrestrictedly united.” She paused, letting the weight of her instructions take root. They had to know just how important their next steps would be, or else they would fail miserably. “Are you ready to do this?”

Liam’s hands came up to rest on Blythe and Rhiannon’s shoulders as he met Thea’s eyes. “We’re ready.”

The three girls nodded in agreement at his words, fiercely determined and unafraid. Thea’s lips curved into a soft smile, immensely proud of them. And even though she knew what was to come would test the strength of their bonds and attempt to weaken them, she also knew that they, more so than any other group, could handle it.

With a subtle bow, she motioned for them to approach Dante, who glared at them with madness in his eyes.

“You all think you’re so special…” he snarled, his eyes darting back and forth between them, as if trying to find some way to slither his way in and manipulate with words to somehow spare his life, his very existence. He knew just what was coming, he was no fool. He knew where they thought they’d send him, and he’d be damned if he’d go out without a fight. “Just because you get to live on Euphora, you think you’re better than me. But I’m stronger than all of you combined, and you know it! I was able to outwit each and every one of you, and it is only now that Thea has caught me that you are even able to face me without me slaughtering you.”

“You wouldn’t kill us even if you had the opportunity, Dante,” Rhiannon said suddenly, earning a questioning stare from the others.

“Hah! I wouldn’t bet on that, sweetheart,” Dante retorted, chuckling to himself.

“Then why didn’t you kill Capri when you possessed her in her bedroom earlier this year? You easily could have. And why didn’t you kill Blythe when she came to you in the alleyway in Richmond? Or me when you had me tied to a chair at Burke’s home? You even had the chance to kill Liam the entire time you had him alone up here on this cliff, and yet you didn’t. Why, Dante?”

“Each time there was a bigger plan…it wouldn’t have suited my interests to kill you then,” Dante reasoned, rolling his eyes dismissively.

“But why all the plans? If you hate us as much as you claim, then you would stop at nothing to kill us all off,” Liam put in, catching on to what Rhiannon had started. He remembered Vivica questioning Dante about this very subject just moments before, though it hadn’t made much sense at the time…

“Like a cat, I wanted to play with the mouse first before I ate it.” Dante’s lips spread into a wide and wicked grin as he started to laugh, amused by his own metaphor.

“But what happens to the cat when every last mouse is gone?” Rhiannon asked, her eyes hardening as they focused directly on his, forcing him to look at her. He did and his smile faltered under the weight of her stare. “The cat dies, Dante. When all the little mice are gone, the cat has nothing left to live for if not for the hunt.”

“That’s a cute theory,” he murmured, his voice cracking as he cleared his throat and looked at Capri, who was staring down at him cautiously. “But there is only one end goal to a hunt…and that’s the death of the prey.”

His eyes flashed a brief and vivid bloody red, and Capri felt her rarely used temper sparking within her. This monster was the reason she would never know her mother and had nearly missed out on the life she was meant to have… “You are so pathetic,” she snapped, her face flushing with resentment and indignation. “Rhiannon’s right, you could have killed the four of us in the past, and yet you didn’t. But you did kill my mother and Roarke, because doing so directly hurt us Dryads. And then you spared my life when I was three years old, and I thought it was just because your mother had told you to. But now I wonder if you even had the nerve to do it in the first place.”

Dante’s lips curled into a cruel snarl, violence washing over him as he struggled against the golden ropes, aching to attack. “What makes you think I wouldn’t have done it? You were nothing, you are nothing, and killing you would have been a pleasure.”

Capri shook her head fervently, pale blonde strands of hair falling down over her cheeks as she leaned in, getting right in his face, appalled and excited by her own daring. “No, Dante, I’m not nothing. Especially not to you.”

“You said so yourself, Dante,” Liam said suddenly, glaring down at the man, enjoying the flash of panic in his eyes. “If we die, then everything is over for you. Though you might not remember that since Vivica was in your mind exposing the truth at the time.”

“
No!
” Dante growled furiously.

“You know, this has all been really cute, but I think it’s time we take out the trash once and for all,” Blythe said, resting a reassuring hand on Capri’s shoulder as she eyed them all, her lips curled halfway between a smirk and a sneer.

“Darling Blythe…” Dante hissed out, chest heaving as he stared at her obsessively, shoving aside his fury to focus solely on her. “You wouldn’t send your own flesh and blood away…”

“Jesus, you never shut the hell up, do you?” Blythe spat, reaching out to violently slap her hand across his face, before suddenly leaning close to him with fiery heat flaring in her eyes. “You can’t possibly understand the joy I’m going to get from knowing you won’t be coming back from where we’re sending you. I am sick and goddamn tired of your stupid mind games and your creepy obsession with me and my family. You’re done, Dante. It’s over for you.”

He lifted one dark brow indignantly and sneered at her, as if truly insulted by her words. Incensed, she nearly smacked him again but Liam pulled her back, urging her to settle down.

Thea cleared her throat and they all turned to face her, looking guilty. She only smiled.

“While this has been more than interesting, Blythe is correct. We need to, ah…take out the trash, and sooner rather than later, please.”

“Let’s do this.” Blythe bounced once on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands together as adrenaline and fury mixed to pump beautifully through her blood. Beside her, Liam and Rhiannon merely eyed each other valiantly, and Capri attempted a small smile, determined and ready to do what needed to be done.

“Circle around him, and take each other’s hands,” Thea instructed, watching as they followed her command and took their places around Dante, who sneered at each of them furiously. But behind the fury, Thea knew there was fear. And even though a part of her pitied him, she felt his punishment was rightly deserved, and a long time coming.

Liam stood between Rhiannon and Blythe, with Capri across from him. He took their hands and eyed each of them in turn with a confident smile. Blythe flashed an answering grin back at him, and Rhiannon’s lips curved up ever so softly. Across from him, Capri exhaled slowly in an attempt to steady herself as she met his eyes, filled with quiet power. But though they were all running on adrenaline, nerves and a sense of purpose, there was relief in knowing it was nearly the end.

“I want you all to close your eyes and clear your mind of all thoughts…you’ll need a clean slate as you focus all of your attention on the unique element that swims in your veins. Air, Fire, Earth, and Water…search within your mind and your heart for the essence of your gift, and bring it out, letting it fill your entire body, consuming you until you are nothing but your element, and that element alone.”

Liam shut his eyes and concentrated on the darkness behind his eyelids, imagining the glowing ball of blue light swimming near his heart, the Dryad gift that resided within him. He pictured it flickering and expanding, resembling water as it glistens in the sunlight, filling the dark void that was his body until there was nothing left but Water, surging through his bloodstream and breathing with the very breath he exhaled. It felt like shimmering waves rushing all over him, rising and falling like the tides of the ocean, until it almost seemed as if he could hear the crashing waves of the sea resounding somewhere deep inside his heart.

For he was the very water that made the waves, the very water that pooled in the chasms of the Earth and gave life to every living creature. He was the rain that fell in soft patters to the ground, and the fish that swam with the sighing current.