Blood and Snow 10: Eye of Abernathy Read online

  I didn’t speak, sensing he had more to say.

  “You want to know if the power of the Seal will destroy Sharra.”

  “That’s right.”

  He regarded me thoughtfully.

  “Destruction. Love. Hate. All words burdened with thick emotion. There’s also rehabilitation, change, compassion, kindness. Words to consider.”

  I blanched. Was Abernathy suggesting I don’t destroy the Vampire Queen?

  Before I could specify, he continued, “Whom do you have with you?”

  I moved to the side, preoccupied with my thoughts, but desirous to be respectful to the dragon. “This is Gabe. He is the leader of the chayot.”

  “Ah, yes. Oberon’s half human son.”

  Gabe stepped forward, his face stony. “You knew my—Oberon?”

  “I did. A distasteful fellow. Only cared for himself. What he could gain. What he wanted. What everyone else could do for him.” Abernathy yawned. “Are you like the narcissistic Oberon?”

  Gabe took a step back. He seemed unsure about what to say.

  “No,” I answered for him. “Gabe is nothing like Oberon. He’s a good man.”

  The dragon snorted, and a puff of smoke exhaled his nostrils.

  “I believe you’re right. Though he seems deeply troubled. Like the weight of the world rests on his shoulders. What troubles you, chayot leader?”

  Gabe didn’t answer. Cindy slipped her arm through his.

  “No matter.” Abernathy blew out another puff of smoke.

  I went on. “This is Cindy. She’s a…”

  “Oh, yes. The young witch who’s been messing around with my book.” A hint of what looked like a smile touched his lips.

  Cindy flushed, a bright red. “My grandmother gave it to me,” she whispered.

  “Well it’s lovely to meet you, my dear. I see great things in your future.”

  Cindy glanced up. “You do?”

  “Oh, yes. It’s no accident you and the young vampire are friends. It’s destiny.” A sound, like a large kitten purring, escaped Abernathy’s throat. He turned his attention to Dorian, who remained deathly quiet since we entered the chamber. “And last but certainly not least, we have you.” The dragon blinked. “The only normal, non-magical human in the bunch. Yet your destiny.” He paused, and sniffed the air.

  Dorian stepped forward. “You know what I’m supposed to do with my life?”

  “Oh, yes, young one. Very few have the capacity for love, to love, like you.”

  Dorian took another step toward the dragon. He looked tiny in comparison. “What is it?”

  Abernathy shook his head, and let out a deep chuckle. “You will know when the time is right.”

  Dorian sighed. His shoulders sagged.

  “And you.” Abernathy focused his large eyes on me. “You’ve become the Seal of Gabriel. The magic of the seven dwell within your body, including a piece of my soul.”

  I nodded.

  “You expect an answer. There are several, all of them depend on you.”

  My throat went dry.

  He studied me intently for a long time until I almost believed he fell asleep with his eyes open. “Snow White. The daughter of an elf and a human. You’re fated to bring—”

  “Hold on.” I carefully moved closer to Abernathy, so I had a perfect view of his giant mouth. “My mother wasn’t an elf.”

  Abernathy shook his mane. “She was. I met her once, when she was much younger, before she escaped Sharra, and moved to the human world.”

  “I’ve seen elves. They look a lot different than humans. I would’ve remembered if my mom looked like an elf.” I turned away, watching water drip from a stalactite off to the left of the dragon, near the edge of the cavern. Images of my mother flicked through my mind. She was soft spoken. Her hair was light. I used to say it was the color of starlight. Her skin was pale, and she had long fingers. “My mother was human,” I finally said.

  Smoke trailed from his nostrils. “She appeared human. But she wasn’t. Like the bird whose wings imitate snake eyes, or the caterpillar that appears to be nothing more than a stick, your mother seemed human, but was an elf. She was an anomaly, different from all other elves. And they hated her for it. Teased her. Called her a freak. Even her parents didn’t like her. They were embarrassed by her.

  “After many years she came to me, desperate to start somewhere fresh. I helped your mother escape the magical confines of Sharra.”

  “You did?” My heart ached for what my mother must’ve gone through. “Is that why she died? Because she was away from Sharra for too long.” The image of Pava, the pixilette, and the way she’d turned to ash after a short time outside Sharra, harassed my thoughts. I was afraid of the answer, but anxious to know the truth.

  He stood, his scales clanking together like old metal. The tip of my head barely reached the top of one of his clawed feet. Cindy, Gabe, and Dorian scattered back into the tunnel, which was the smart move, but I held my ground. If Abernathy knew what happened to my mother, I wanted the answer.

  “Well?” I asked, the word forced between my clenched teeth.

  “It’s time you know, I believe.” He smacked his lips together. “Care to take a trip?” He stretched his golden wings wide. Each wingtip touched a wall, blocking out the sunlight. He shook like a wet dog. Hundreds of old scales sailed from his body like giant discs. They smacked into stalactites, and stalagmites, knocking them to pieces. One flew over my head, and I ducked just in time. It crashed into the wall behind me, leaving a large hole. Powdered rock filled the cavern like smoke, and the smell of sulfur tainted the already pungent air.

  When the dust finally settled, I answered. “What kind of trip?”

  He laughed. Loud and hearty. Thousands of bats awoke, circling like phantoms. Their high-pitched screeching like nails raking a chalkboard.

  Abernathy lifted his head, and roared, sending a rush of fire at the bats. They fell, their bodies charred and smoking, and I moved to the tunnel entrance, out of the way.

  When the bats were all dead, he closed his mouth, extinguishing the fire. Smacking his lips together, he said, “Bats are worse than rats—flying mongrels, really.” He bent his front paw under, and leaned his body toward the four of us. “Climb on vampire. And the rest of you. Hurry up. I’m late for my nap.”

  I didn’t know if it’s a vampire thing or a Snow White thing, but I hated to fly in airplanes… with seatbelts, pressurized cabins, and electronic gadgets. This would be worse. “Where are we going? We’ll meet you there. Use magic.” I glanced back at Cindy who’d come out of the tunnel, and moved to climb on. Her face shone with excitement, and I sighed. We wouldn’t be using magic. She wanted to fly on the back of the dragon. Dorian and Gabe seemed excited about the prospect as well.

  Me? Not so much!

  Abernathy shook his head. “There’s only one way to get to your mother, and the journey requires I get you there. Come on.”

  I gulped. If she were dead, how did he plan to take us to see her? “Can’t you just explain what happened? You don’t need to show me.” The others were already on Abernathy’s back. Gabe next to his head, then Cindy, with her arms around him, a space, I guessed for me, and then Dorian.

  Dorian smirked, patting the spot in front of him. “It’ll be fun.”

  Fun, I thought, irritated.

  “Climb aboard before I change my mind. It isn’t every day one rides on the back of a dragon.”

  Hesitant, I climb up his side, using his scales as grips.

  My insides shook uncontrollably by the time I was seated in front of Dorian. He wrapped his arms around my waist. “I’ve got you, Snow.”

  His breath against my ear tickled. “Thanks,” I responded. It seemed nuts I was afraid, but I couldn’t control it.

  “Hang on tight. I won’t come back for those left behind.” He let out a laugh.

  My bottom lip trembled. I was going to fall, roll off his scaly back, get flicked in the head by his tail, and end up a per
manent fixture in one of the chamber walls.

  Cindy whimpered.

  Gabe growled.

  Abernathy pounced into the air, his wings tucked at his sides, and then he burst through the opening into the clear sky. His wings spread and caught hold of the wind like a giant kite.

  We were flying.

  As soon as Abernathy hit the bright sky, my fear vanished. And I felt exhilarated.

  Abernathy twisted and turned, like a corkscrew, and I heard him chuckle. “It’s been ages.”

  He shot into the air. Stopped, and curled his body into a ball, then cannonballed toward the ground. I was having too much fun to be scared.

  A few minutes in, something occurred to me.

  How are we not falling? I shouted the question at Abernathy.

  He growled happily, letting out a long stream of fire.

  “Magic, vampire. Always magic.”

  I tested the theory, releasing my death grip on one of his scales. In the same second Abernathy flipped out of the ball, and expanded his wings. We all should’ve shot into the air. No matter how tightly we held on, the suddenness of the stop should have sent us sailing off his back. None of us moved though, like we’d been seat belted to the dragon.

  “Woohoo,” I shouted.

  I sensed the others relax.

  Cindy glanced back, and though her features were tight, she tried a smile. “Are you glad we came?”

  “Yeah,” I said, unable to help the giddy happiness gurgling in my chest.

  It reminded me of Silindra, and how she swore she’d rather die than lose her wings. I thought maybe I understood her a little better.

  Chapter 11

  I peeked over Abernathy’s side, and saw sparkling blue water below. It was in every direction, along the sides, and above us. The others followed suit, and Cindy grabbed hold of Gabe tighter. He whispered something to her, and she nodded.

  Dorian asked what I was thinking. “Where the hell are we?”

  “I don’t know,” I answered. “Abernathy, what is this place?” It was like we were inside a raindrop.

  “This is the land of Mizu. Your mother dwells here.”

  “Abernathy, my mother died a long time ago.” Tears stung the edges of my eyes.

  “You were told your mother died. It was for your safety. Now that you are the Seal, none of the secret nonsense matters. Do you want to see her or not?”

  He laughed like he’d made a joke.

  “Yes,” I said, but I was suddenly nervous. My teeth chattered, and I couldn’t slow my racing heart.

  Abernathy dove, his body shooting toward the water like an arrow. Despite Abernathy’s words, telling us magic held us in place; I clutched one of his scales, holding on like my life depended on it.

  My mind was in a torrent of crazy. Did my father know my mother was still alive? Was he keeping it a secret all these years? I remembered what Professor Pops said, about my mother being proud. Did he know she still lived as well?

  When we entered the water I had another moment of panic. But there was a bubble around the four of us, keeping the water away, allowing everyone to breathe.

  “This is ridiculous,” Cindy whispered.

  All around, outside the bubble, was thick water. Abernathy coasted slowly downward, like a golden submarine. At first we didn’t see anything but water, water, and more water. But after several minutes, a random fish darted by, then a large school of dolphins. A few minutes later a large, strange looking whale swam alongside us. Abernathy’s eyes glowed in front of him like twin flashlights. And as we got closer to the bottom, there was a colorful reef with all manner of plants growing on it, and creatures living amongst the twisty coral.

  “It’s beautiful,” I said.

  Gabe, Cindy, and Dorian all spoke their agreement.

  “But why are we down here? Elves don’t live in the water. On its shores, sure, but never in it,” Gabe said.

  I grimaced. “Maybe you don’t know as much as you thought you did about elves.”

  Cindy touched his arm. “Let’s see where Abernathy is taking us. If he says Snow’s mother is down here… somewhere, then it must be true.”

  Yeah, because dragons may be lazy, but they’re honest, my inner voice huffed sarcastically.

  Dorian wrapped his arms tighter around my waist. A part of me felt guilty for being in the arms of another guy. But I consoled myself. This was an extenuating circumstance, and Christopher would want me safe.

  Far up ahead was what looked like the top of an enormous snow globe, only without the snow.

  “You seeing what I’m seeing?” Gabe asked, his voice filled with wonder.

  “I see it. It looks like a-a city,” I said, blinking my eyes several times.

  “What… is it?” Gabe asked Abernathy.

  “The city is known as Atlantis by some, but it is actually called Mizu Atlantica, or the City Under the Sea.”

  Dorian snorted. “Okay, where’s the mermaid with long, red hair. What’s her name?

  “Ariel,” I answered softly. “My mother’s name is Ariel.”

  Afterword

  Thank you for reading “Eye of Abernathy,” volume 10 of 12 in the Blood and Snow series. In this volume, Snow finally understands what it feels like to be in love.

  If you enjoyed “Eye of Abernathy,” please leave a review on Amazon. It only takes a couple of minutes, but helps me out a great deal.

  Sincerely,

  RaShelle Workman

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  Additional Works by RaShelle Workman

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  Blood and Snow volumes 1-4 (Blood and Snow, Revenant in Training, The Vampire Christopher, Blood Soaked Promises)

  “Lips red as rubies, hair dark as night. Drink your true love’s blood, become the Vampire, Snow White.” Every thousand years the Vampire Queen selects a new body, always the fairest in the land, and this time she’s chosen Snow White. To purchase the Blood and Snow 4 pack, click Blood and Snow volumes 1-4 (Blood and Snow, Revenant in Training, The Vampire Christopher, Blood Soaked Promises)

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  Volume 9 in the Blood and Snow series, “Love Bleeds,” can be purchased by clicking HERE.

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  About the Author

  RaShelle Workman is the bestselling author of the Blood and Snow series, the Immortal Essence series, and the Dead Roses series. When she isn’t writing she’s baking cupcakes, making toffee, or watching a movie with her family.

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  License Notes:

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  All rights reserved. Copyright @2013 RaShelle Workman

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  Table of Contents

  Main Menu

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Afterword

  Fan Art

  Additional Works by RaShelle Workman

  Indelibles Link

  Contact Information

  Copyright Information