Free Under an Onyx Sky (Elemental Enchanters Series Book 4) by Carrigan Richards

afraid I am.”
    “Why the hell didn’t you say something before?” Thomas yelled, and lunged for Klaus. Just as he raised his fist, Lance and Link roughly grabbed him, and pulled him back.
    “I’m sorry.” Klaus’s eyes widened as he held up his hands. “I thought you knew.”
    “Let me get this straight,” Link said, releasing Thomas. “You’re saying we can’t kill Havok unless Ava dies.”
    “No!” Gillian yelled. “There has to be another way.”
    “We have to break the spell,” Melissa said. “How do we do that?”
    “I’m researching it. The spell is powerful, and only an Elder can undo it.”
    “There are only four left,” Jeremy said. “Maggie, Gustav, Aaron, and Havok. Maggie is probably a lost cause given that we can’t separate her from Havok. Gustav and Aaron are prisoners.”
    “I don’t want to think about all this right now,” Ava said. “I have to see Gabriel.” She needed him. He was the only person who could bring comfort right now. She was going to fall apart. If they continued with their plan, Ava was going to die. She swallowed hard. “I need to see him.”
    “Not tonight,” Klaus said with a stern look in his green eyes.
    “Why?” she demanded, glaring at him as she tempted to blast him with water.
    “Havok will be gone from the castle tomorrow night. Then you can go.”
    “Where is he going?” Lance asked.
    Klaus hesitated. “He and a group are going out. They’re going to…massacre a town.”
    Ava’s heart dropped to her stomach. Melissa wrapped her arms around Ava. “Come on. Calm down. We’ll figure something out. We have to.” She spoke through tears.
    Ava breathed in and out and closed her eyes.
    Slowly, she began to calm down. For a second, she wanted to see Gabriel through the Scrying Bowl, but thought better of it. She didn’t want to see his injured body lying there thinking about what she had done to him. What was she going to do? How were they going to kill Havok? Could they break the spell? She held onto some small shred of hope. It was all she had.
    All she knew was that they had to kill Havok. That was a must. And if that meant she would have to die, she would.

CHAPTER NINE
NOT AN ANGEL
    “Today, we’re going to continue the torture,” Xavier said, twirling a police baton. He paced around the room and looked bored. The room wasn’t the same as the training hole. They called it the Torture Chamber. As if Ava needed to be told that. Iron shackles that were rooted in the cement wall with various tools of torture nearby, gave her plenty of information to make that assessment. It was smaller room, with a railing separating the crowd and the punishment ground.
    Her stomach coiled from all the possible scenarios in her head. She had to clear her thoughts. As she watched Xavier pace, she wondered if he was going to the massacre tonight.
    “Only today is different,” Xavier said. “Havok will be watching.”
    “Great,” Anais groaned under her breath. “He makes me nervous.”
    “I’d imagine he would,” Ava said. “Why does he watch?”
    “He likes to watch. He’s sadistic.” She shrugged. “Who knows the real reason?”
    Ava looked to her. “Were we friends before?”
    Anais arched an eyebrow and scoffed. “No.”
    “Enemies?”
    She shifted her weight and rolled her eyes. “Stop asking so many questions.”
    “Sorry. My memory is a bit fuzzy. Just trying to figure things out.”
    “Why? We’re here to do what Havok says. What else matters?”
    Ava lifted a shoulder. “You don’t seem to want to do it.”
    “Doesn’t matter.”
    The door opened and Havok walked in, flanked by Maggie and Sorcha. As if on cue, everyone kneeled. Melissa placed a hand on Ava’s shoulder and pushed her to her knees. The thought of kneeling for this man sickened Ava, but she turned off her thoughts.
    Havok moved across the floor with an arrogant gait. His shoulders squared, and he knew nothing could touch him. Ava clenched her teeth, hating