Hotter Than Hell(43)
God, she hoped the chant would work.
As she draped a third of her hair over each flame, the strands hissed and curled as they caught fire. The smell of burning hair overpowered scents of the vanilla candles.
Her heart pounded in a harsh rhythm and she chanted as she placed the hair on the candle flames.
All my love and half my soul,
I give to Aedan the Incubae.
With that gift, I demand his return this day.
Free him now, to find his true fate.
Gods and goddesses, I claim him as my mate.
Forever halved, twins sharing a soul,
Heart to heart, we will both be whole.
Tears stung Ericka’s eyes as she placed the three smooth, flat stones, one at a time over each flame. She snuffed them with the rocks, pressing the wick into the melted wax and burned hair.
When she finished, a breeze immediately swept the room, lifting her hair from her shoulders. Goosebumps prickled her skin and butterflies skipped in her belly.
Everything around her wavered like she was looking through a window of water.
Ericka’s lips parted and her heart thundered as she got to her feet. A stone archway appeared and she couldn’t see the condo’s kitchen anymore. On the other side of the wavering air was an enormous room with lots of other archways.
She raised her hand. Instead of air, she touched a rubbery surface. She pushed—
And tumbled through the archway.
Ericka screamed when the sucking sensation grabbed hold of her and the condo vanished. The sensation of being engulfed in goo surrounded her before she stumbled out of it and dropped to her hands and knees on a polished marble floor.
If her heart didn’t stop beating so hard it was going to explode.
“What the hell?” she said as cool marble chilled her knees and hands.
She glanced up from the floor.
Someone was in front of her.
Ericka’s gaze slowly traveled up the blue-robed form until she met the golden eyes of a gorgeous blond woman. Her beauty was marred only by her hard expression.
“Rise.” The woman motioned with her hand for Ericka to stand. “I wish to see the woman who cost my son his future.”
Ericka’s cheeks burned as she got to her feet and stood eye-to-eye with the woman. “I never wanted Aedan to go to the Realm of the Dead.” She spoke so fast she stumbled over her words. “Don’t let him be taken. Please.” When she finished speaking she was clenching her hands so hard her nails dug into her palms.
“It is…too late.” The woman’s voice softened. “My son has been banished to the flames.”
“No.” Ericka shook her head as her mind began to reel. “No, he can’t be.” Heat flushed her as if she was in the fire as a vivid image of him burning alive seared her mind.
Something the woman had said clicked. “You’re Aedan’s mother?”
She inclined her head. “I am Belisma, the water goddess.”
“A-a goddess?” Ericka’s brain stuttered at Belisma’s statement. But she managed to grasp one obvious thread. “If you’re a goddess, can’t you save him?”
Belisma stepped closer to Ericka and raised her hand. The goddess’s fingertips were cool as she brushed them along Ericka’s cheek.
The goddess stared thoughtfully at Ericka as she stroked her fingers through Ericka’s wild red hair.
She wanted to scream and stomp her feet but instead she felt the power of the goddess’s hold and didn’t move.
Belisma let her hand fall away. “You have offered a great gift to my son. Perhaps only half your soul, but you have also given of your love.” The goddess nodded as if to herself.
She continued. “I believe my son has earned his peace and his reward. His choice to spare you and love you is a powerful thing. In the eyes of the universe he should be free of the Realm of the Dead by right and fairness.”
Ericka swallowed, hope welling up within her, but she said nothing.
The goddess now had a faraway look in her eyes. “I will call for a Council session.” Her gaze met Ericka’s again. “They may disagree. Nothing is certain. You both may be saved, or both condemned.”
“Condemned?” Ericka whispered.
“If the Council does not make this exception for Aedan, you could be forced to join him in the Realm of the Dead—if you indeed choose freely to give him half of your soul.” Belisma’s expression hardened again. “Are you willing to take that risk, as he was willing to send himself to the Realm to spare you such a fate?”
Ericka hesitated and closed her eyes. Would she choose an eternity of being burned alive and never seeing her family or friends again? Would she risk all of that to save Aedan?