Exiled Read online

  “And what did you find?” Sylvan asked, coming over to her.

  “That everything we did to get this…this stupid thing was all for nothing.” Lissa’s hand tightened on the paper, crumpling it. “It says here that no one—male or female—born of woman can kill the Hoard Master.”

  “No,” Olivia whispered. “No, that can’t be true.”

  “I’m afraid so,” Lissa said. “The only way Counselor Kall overcame him a thousand years ago was by making the ultimate sacrifice—he left First World and in so doing, he lost his wings. Without them, he had no advantage in the fight with Draven and no way to heal himself. And so he lost his life.”

  “Are you saying that someone has to die in order to kill the Hoard Master and swap us all back?” Sophia demanded.

  Slowly, Lissa nodded. “And so I’d like…I’d like to volunteer myself.”

  “What?” Olivia and Sophia said at the same time.

  “You can’t be serious.” Sylvan looked at her blankly.

  “Oh, yes, I am.” Lissa lifted her chin. “Just wire me with some kind of explosive and send me to him. The minute we come in contact, you can press the button and blow both of us up.”

  “We could never do that, Lissa,” Sophia said, looking shocked.

  “And besides, Merrick already tried to blow him up once,” Olivia pointed out. “It didn’t work.”

  “It will work,” Lissa insisted. “I tell you, I’ve been studying this scroll for hours—a sacrifice is the only way to best the Hoard Master.”

  “If a sacrifice is needed, I’ll be the one to make it.”

  They all looked up as L, followed by Lauren, Xairn and Kat, came into the room.

  “What did you say?” Olivia asked, frowning.

  “You heard me. I brought this mess on you all,” L said, crossing her arms over her breasts. “And I vowed to fix it. So if anyone has to make a sacrifice, it will be me.”

  “But…but I just found you again.” Lauren looked stricken.

  “I know.” L squeezed her hand. “And I’m sorry, my sister. But I have to fix the damage I did. Besides…” She smiled. “No one else is as qualified as me to do this. I’ve already gotten onto Hrakaz undetected once and I can take any form I need to in order to get to him.”

  “But L—” Lauren began.

  “No, I’ve decided.” L frowned. “I was afraid switching off the device might not work. Draven told me when he gave it to me that it was tied to his will—he’s the engine behind it. Stop the engine and you stop the effect.”

  “So you’re going to kill him?” Sylvan asked.

  “If there’s no other way,” L said grimly.

  “Kat, is Lauren’s clone in here with you?” Deep who was actually Lock suddenly appeared in the doorway of the now crowded living area.

  “She’s here—where have you been?” Kat asked, turning around.

  “Fielding a call from First World. Nadiah is on the viewscreen in the viewing room. She says she needs to talk to L.”

  “What? But how does she even know about L?” Lauren demanded. “We just found out about her ourselves and Nadiah is light years away!”

  Lock shrugged. “She says she has a message from the Goddess. Something she needs to tell L before she goes to Hrakaz.”

  “So she not only knows about L, she knows she’s going to try and stop the Hoard Master too.” Sophia shook her head in wonder. “That’s amazing."

  “That’s the Goddess,” Sylvan said reverently. “Go L—don’t keep her waiting.”

  “I’ll go with her,” Lauren said but Lock shook his head. “Nadiah says only L is to go.”

  L frowned. “Did she say what she wanted to talk to me about?” she asked.

  Lock shook his head. “No, only that she needed to speak to you. Come on—let’s not keep her waiting.”

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  L followed Kat’s man to a room dominated by a viewscreen that took up one whole wall. On the screen, looking regal, was a slender woman with pale blonde hair and blue-green eyes. Beside her stood an imposing man with a huge pair of feathery, iridescent wings.

  “You must be L, Lauren’s sister,” the woman smiled at her. “I’m Nadiah and I’m happy to meet you.”

  L was surprised. How could this woman, whom she had never seen before, know that was how Lauren thought of her? How could she know it was how L thought of herself, after finally making contact with her original?

  “I am,” she said carefully. “Well, actually, I’m her clone.”

  Nadiah shook her head. “Sister is the word I was given by the Goddess. She wants to speak to you, you know. Before you leave for Hrakaz.”

  “I don’t mean any disrespect but I don’t really believe in any—”

  That was as far as L got before Nadiah’s eyes, whites and all, turned a solid emerald green and her voice took on a deep and powerful resonance L could feel all the way down in her bones. Goosebumps rippled down her arms and her doubt disappeared in an instant—she knew instinctively that she was in the presence of the supernatural. The very air around her seemed to crackle as the Goddess spoke.

  “My daughter, it does not matter if you believe in me for I believe in you. I foresaw your coming thousands of years ago. Why do you think I spoke the prophecy over Draven’s birth into this universe that no one—male or female—born of woman should be able to best him? I knew that you would come—you who have neither mother nor father—to save him from himself.”

  “I don’t know if I was going to save him, exactly,” L said, frowning. “Actually, I’m pretty sure I’ll have to kill him.”

  A look of pain passed over the Goddess’s delicate features. “If he dies now, in his current soulless state, he will be cast into the seventh hell—the pit from which there is no escape. Not even I can draw him from such depths—his damnation will be final and eternal.” She drew in a deep breath and the emerald green eyes shone with unshed tears. “My prodigal son. How I would mourn his loss.”

  L felt a twinge of sorrow for the Goddess’s pain. The prodigal son—wasn’t that what Lauren had compared her to? A child who had gone far astray but who still wanted to return home?

  “I’m sorry,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I’m not sure what else I can do.”

  “There is a way, my daughter, if you are brave.”

  L lifted her chin. “I’m not afraid of anything.”

  “Good.” A smile curved the Goddess’s lips. “Then listen well—the loss of his soul is what turned Draven into the creature he is today. I had hoped that during his enforced convalescence over these last thousand years it might have regenerated.”

  “It may have—a little,” L said cautiously. “He, uh, shared some things with me that were surprisingly personal. And even though he sent me to sabotage the Kindred, he didn’t want to kill them—he just wanted to do some mischief.” She shrugged. “Although I admit, switching everyone into different bodies is more than just mischievous. It’s painful and I’m sorry for it.”

  “You shall undo all the sorrow that has been done by your hand,” the Goddess said. “What you tell me of Draven cheers me greatly but I fear we don’t have time for his soul to regenerate further. His next attack on my other children may be more savage and they are in chaos now, unable to defend themselves.”

  “The body swapping has caused a lot of confusion,” L admitted ruefully. “But what can I do to stop Draven short of killing him?”

  “As I said before, it is his lack of more than a shred of a soul that makes him as he is. If you are willing to share your soul with him, his conscience and innate goodness would return—as well as his other angelic attributes.”

  “Share my soul?” L objected. “But…I’m a clone. I don’t have a soul to share.”

  “Yes, you do, my daughter.” The Goddess smiled at her. “You have the soul of Lauren’s twin—the one who died when her mother gave birth to her. Why do you think you felt so drawn to her? Why could you not kill her? Why wer