Besides, even if my initial interpretation was right, I was fully prepared to die as long as I took Cain with me. But this wasn’t a debate I wanted to have with Adam or anyone else.
I swallowed the residue of shame left over from watching myself cower. “It showed me Maisie’s death.”
Adam’s face fell. “Oh gods, Red.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay.”
Vinca cleared her throat. I glanced at her and froze. The nymph’s expression was so grave that I had to believe she knew I was lying. Had she seen the vision? I pleaded with my eyes for her to keep it to herself. She nodded subtly.
“So how do we open the gate?” Tristan called.
“Sabina has to place a drop of blood in the water.”
I licked my lips. After seeing my own death, a small blood sacrifice was hardly worth a second thought. I bit the tip of my finger and milked two large drops of blood. When they hit the pools, the waters boiled like a cauldron and swirled.
“The gate is open,” Vinca called.
“He’s here!” Calyx shouted from the perimeter.
“Everyone jump in! Now!” I shouted. I ran to Vinca and stopped myself just in time to keep from falling through her again. “I’m sorry to leave you like this.”
She laughed through a sob. “What’s he going to do? Kill me?”
“I didn’t deserve you as a friend then and certainly don’t now, but I’m relieved as hell you’re too stubborn to do what’s best for you.”
My friend raised a hand and touched mine. An icy chill spread through my muscles and bones, and once again, I felt the friction of her soul trying to attach to mine. The spectral contact was as close to a high five as she could give me. “Give ’em hell, my friend.”
“Sabina!” Adam yelled from the bubbling pool. Vinca pulled her translucent hand from mine. The loss of her coldness was both a relief and a disappointment. With one last smile at my friend, I turned and ran full-tilt toward the water. I grabbed Adam’s hand and together we leapt into the swirling vortex of water the instant Cain burst into the clearing.
Chapter 35
Even though we’d jumped down into the scrying pool, we emerged up into a stark, alien landscape tinted black and red. Instead of the clean, iridescent waters of the faery realm, this underground lake was filled with blood.
“Ugh!” Adam groaned, leaping out.
Tristan was less vocal with his disgust but beat a hasty exit as well. Meanwhile, Nyx, Horus, and I took our time. I even swallowed a few mouthfuls of the stuff as I glided toward the edge. The blood tasted pure, like the hemoglobin equivalent of a clear mountain spring. When I finally reached the edge, Adam held out a hand to help me climb out of the crater.
“Well, I think it’s safe to assume we made it to the Bloodlands.”
I shook myself off like a wet dog. “Everyone look alive. I have more enemies here than I can count.”
Horus snorted. “You’re not the only one.”
I stilled, remembering that he’d once been an assassin for the Dominae, too. “Let’s just pray word of our visit hasn’t spread here.”
Nyx was looking around. “Hey, where’s Calyx?”
We all exchanged worried looks. “Shit, I thought she came through with us?” Adam said.
I shook my head. “Last time I saw her, she was running toward the forest. I figured she’d jump in after us.”
We all fell silent as we processed that information. “Vinca will help her,” Adam said. “After all, Calyx is a faery.”
“We need to go back,” Horus said, stepping toward the pool.
Tristan grabbed his arm. “We can’t. Most likely she’s busy being a pain in the ass to Cain to give us a head start. If we go back now, her sacrifice will mean nothing.”
Horus stared intently at the red pool, as if willing Calyx to emerge. A few tiny bubbles popped on the surface, but no one emerged.
“Horus,” Tristan said, his tone quiet but authoritative. “We need to move.”
When the vampire looked up, his face was composed. I knew that giving up on Calyx cost him, but he was a seasoned soldier. He’d see the mission through and use his emotions to fuel him in battle. “Let’s go.”
“What did Valva say to expect here?” I asked Tristan.
He shrugged. “I believe her exact words were ‘It’s creepy as shit.’ ”
Looking around at the black volcanic rock that made up the walls of the cave, I found myself agreeing. “Let’s get out of this place. Maybe outside looks better.”
I led the way to the mouth of the cave. Outside, the sky was dark like midnight. I guess this shouldn’t have surprised me, but since the mage and faery realms were both covered in blue skies, I’d assumed the Bloodlands would be the same. But I guess it made sense that vampires would be most comfortable in a nocturnal setting even in death.
The landscape outside wasn’t much different than the cave. A blood river ran through the center of a deep cavern formed by porous cliff faces. Only the golden leaves of a few apple trees broke up the red and black theme. Limbs heavy with the forbidden fruit, the trees clung to rocky crags like they were about to plunge to their deaths in the river below. Only instead of the common red apples of the mortal realm, these had black skin.
“Apple trees?” Adam asked.
I shrugged. “They can’t hurt them now, I guess.” In order to kill a vampire, you had to first remove their immortality with a dose of the forbidden fruit’s toxic juice. Now that they were in Irkalla, the dead vamps could indulge in apples for eternity.
I approached a low-hanging limb and plucked one. Using the knife from my boot, I cut into the flesh. The inside was as red as a rose and the crimson juices dripped over my hands like I’d shived someone. I raised my hand to lick away the drops, but Nyx grabbed my wrist.
“No!” she yelled.
“Nyx, I’m immune to the forbidden fruit.”
She shook her head. “These aren’t normal apples. I didn’t know they really existed before now, but according to my research, they’re fabled to make any immortal being mortal. Any.”
“Even gods?” Adam asked.
She nodded solemnly.
Adam raised his brows and stuck a couple of the apples into his pack.
“Shit, thanks,” I said to Nyx.
She took the apple from me and threw it. It splashed into the blood river where it burst into flames. “Consider the scales between us balanced.”