Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle #3)

Chapter 4

4

Mariah

I SAW ALICE only a few days ago, and she looked just like this. Still. Limp. Dead to the world.

Someone—William, I’m guessing—has cleaned and dressed Bree’s best friend in soft sweatpants and shoes, a matching coat. Even pulled a warm wool hat over her black hair.

Above her breaths are silent, steady swirls of Legendborn aether—silvery and blue and thin. They rise in a slow rhythm from her nose, up and up, then dissipate into the darkness. Up, up, then gone again.

“Ho-ly shiiiiit,” Valec whispers.

“What in the world—” I say, blinking. “Don’t tell me she’s breathing magic.”

“I didn’t mean to—” William says, frowning. “I don’t know—”

“Tchht.” Aunt Lu sucks her teeth, and William gives up his explaining. “Let me get a look at her.” Aunt Lu and I both move as if to walk past Valec, but Valec holds his arm out first.

“You expectin’ company?” Valec asks, eyes scanning the woods beyond William’s shoulder.

“No.”

“Sure ’bout that?” Valec frowns. “If I know Kane, he’ll be here in a flash—”

“Sel’s gone,” William interrupts.

“Gone?” Valec’s eyes narrow. “Whatchu mean, ‘gone’?”

“I mean, gone,” William says, impatient. “There are only two Merlins on-site right now, and they’re using wards to secure the perimeter and patrolling the buildings themselves. I slipped out when they changed shifts. We’ve got fifteen, maybe twenty minutes.”

Valec looks like he might push the topic of Kane further but then thinks better of it. “You right. Time is tight.” He drops his arm, and Aunt Lu huffs at him before proceeding forward as if she hadn’t been stopped at all.

As she gazes down at Alice, Lu holds her flashlight between her teeth and mutters around the plastic. “I know you asked for Hazel, but she couldn’t make the drive. She’s setting things up back at the house. She’s the diagnostician. I’m a nurse at best.” She makes a soft, dissatisfied sound as she slips a hand under Alice’s bangs to feel her forehead. “Cold as ice. Her life aura is faint, barely there.”

“Yes,” William says, brows drawn tight. “Her temperatures trend cool. Heart rhythm is steady, breath regular. Pupils are dilated and reactive to light, but she’s unresponsive to other stimuli. I worried about starvation and dehydration. Started searching for supplies to give her an IV or a tube, but she’s not deteriorating like one would expect. No bedsores that I can see, no sign of clotting. No need to eat or drink. I don’t understand it and neither would a human hospital. It’s a coma as far as I can tell, but nothing like how they describe it in textbooks. I don’t think she can sense what’s happening around her. It’s like she’s… frozen in a kind of stasis. Maybe the aether I gave her is keeping her this way?” His mouth twists in frustration. “Because the magic from her breath is aether. From my casting. But Onceborn human bodies aren’t meant to absorb aether, so I just… I don’t know.”

“What about her parents?” I ask. “The busy-with-classes excuse has gotta be wearing thin.…”

William nods. “I’m sure it is. The Lieges watching her parents are watching Bree’s dad too. They’re loyal to Bree, but there are protocols for this kind of thing. Processes I can’t stop once…” He shrugs helplessly.

“Once some innocent person runs afoul of the Order of the Round Table?” Valec supplies, eyes cold. “Yeah, I’ve heard about your so-called protocols .”

“Their parents won’t be harmed,” William confirms. “That’s all I know.”

Lu drapes Alice’s hand back over her stomach with a frown. “That number Samira gave us for you works? Hazel can call you to ask more questions about Alice here?”

“Yes, of course.” William frowns down at Alice. “I’ve done everything I can, magically or otherwise. Healed the broken bones, the internal bleeding, but… I…” He winces. Swallows. “This is beyond me. Dr. Hazel’s the only other provider I trust.”

“She gets a lot of that,” Lu says with not a small amount of pride in her voice over her wife’s accomplishments. “And it takes some strength to acknowledge your own limitations.”

“Yes, well.” William grimaces. “My limitations are an ever-growing list.”

I step forward and take a peek at Alice’s face. Her dark brows are tensed together, like she’s having a bad dream. I grasp her hand—and feel a tiny jolt zip from her cool fingers into my palm. William notices my reaction immediately, gaze sharpening on my face. “What happened? Did you feel something from her?”

“I’m no healer or doctor or anything.” I give him a small, soft smile and shrug. “But I can sense it when death knows someone well.” I look back down at Alice. “Feels like… like she came close.”

William swallows audibly. “Yes.” His glowing eyes seem to pulse, then grow brighter. “She did.”

“Your… um, eyes?” I finally ask.

William’s mouth twists, and his cheeks flush. “Scion of Gawain. Strength at noon and midnight.” He looks back at Lucille. “I didn’t want to meet you out here without my full abilities and defenses. Just in case.”

“Just in case what, exactly?” Lucille pulls her hand back from Alice.

“In case I needed to fight.” William purses his lips and then kneels with Alice’s body close so that he can set her on the ground in a sitting position. He glances up at me and Aunt Lu. “Could you…?” Aunt Lu darts forward to hold her in place, kneeling so that the unconscious girl’s upper half is resting against her shoulder. William murmurs his thanks, then stands, flexing his now-free hands as he joins Valec in looking out at the woods. “I asked to meet you here because it’s beyond the last protection ward. I don’t expect Shadowborn, but after what happened to Bree and Selwyn, I can’t be sure.”

I find myself searching the woods too, wary of a demon appearing from the shadows. “What exactly happened to Bree and Kane?” I ask, tension darting up my spine. If we were attacked right now by some demon, what would I do? What could I do? “I was there when Samira called Aunt Lu, and she didn’t really say.”

“And I wasn’t there,” Valec says in a dry voice. “So why don’t you tell me fresh?”

William swipes his tongue over his lips. “A little over two days ago, Selwyn was in a locked and warded room. He had descended by then, and we were monitoring him.” Valec makes a small sound at that but doesn’t interrupt. “When we went to check on Sel, the room was empty. We ran to find Bree and we saw her outside with… a figure.”

“A figure?” Valec asks.

“What kinda figure?” Aunt Lu says.

William’s mouth draws down at the corners. “We couldn’t see his face. It happened so fast. By the time I got there, Bree and the figure were gone. Disappeared.”

“Just disappeared?” I say, frowning. I look at Valec. “Like Louis, the bouncer at Crossroads?”

Valec’s arms cross over his chest, and his dark brows furrow. “Louis is a warlock. A human who bargained for his power. The uchel demon he made a deal with could make short jumps, tiny distances. Never heard of another demon who could teleport for real.” Valec eyes William, back to the matter at hand. “No clues left behind?”

“Not really.” William’s jaw tenses. “Bit of aether.”

“Color?”

“Black. Like smoke. Nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

A muscle beside Valec’s eye twitches. To anyone else, Valec’s expression wouldn’t appear changed from a moment ago, but Lu and I know what he looks like when a thought has taken hold. When I blink, the twitch is gone, and Valec’s expression is back to dry and critical. “A mystery, then.”

The subtle finality of Valec’s words may have worked on a stranger, but William Sitterson is observant. His own glowing green eyes narrow slightly. “You’ve heard of this demon before, haven’t you?”

“Now why would you say that?” Valec asks blithely. “You think I had something to do with Briana’s kidnapping?”

“No.” William tilts his head. “But… I think you might know who took her.”

Valec smiles. “Look here, Scion, you can’t accuse me of knowing every other demon just because I’m part demon myself.” He presses a hand to his chest in mock offense, but there’s something there in the effort. A straining at the corners of his eyes. I worry that if I can see it, William can see it too.

“Valec,” William presses.

“The stereotyping?” Valec tsks. “When will we, as a society, move beyond our petty prejudices—”

“Valec,” William snaps. This healer can see through Valec’s deflection.

Valec’s face goes dangerously still. “William.”

William steps closer to him, voice low. “Bree and Sel are my friends . They are in danger. And I can tell you know who took them. Who was it? Someone you work with, someone you’ve heard of, someone you—” Abruptly, William stops himself, eyes growing wide. “Wait… wait… Why didn’t I think of this before?”

“Think of what?” Valec asks, voice stony. “Why don’t you share with the class?”

At my knee, Aunt Lu has gone still as well. I glance between both Valec and Lu and wonder what I’m missing. I feel more left out than ever, but I bite my tongue because it’s clear William is close to uncovering something that my family does not want to divulge.

“The…” William’s eyes dart back and forth as he searches his own memory. When he finds his target, his green eyes flash bright. “The Hunter.”

I stiffen. The Hunter is a Rootcrafter boogeyman. Our boogeyman. Not a phrase we ever hear outsiders use, and the only reason William knows that demon’s name is because Aunt Lu told Bree and her friends—including William—that there are rumors that he is active again. Our monster, on the prowl.

Valec makes a final attempt at ignorance. “What’s the Hunter?”

“You’re trying to distract me,” William murmurs, looking from Lu to Valec. “You both know who he is. You told us about him. The ancient, power-hungry demon you asked Bree to fight when she gained control of her powers. The one who hunts Rootcrafters for their power. Valec discovered his bloodmark on Bree’s body and said he’d find her one day, that he’s owed something from her.” William steps forward. “It was him, wasn’t it? The Hunter found her and took her.”

Valec releases something internally—the tension gone—and sighs heavily, then glances down at Alice as if she’s suddenly caught his attention. “This here is a big favor you’re asking of us, Scion,” Valec says. “Taking Alice Chen into our fold. Looking for a cure for her condition…”

William blinks. “Yes, I know, but the Hunter—”

“Now make no mistake, I like Chen.” Valec steps close to William, one hand tucked in his vest pocket. “Chen is Bree’s people and so are we, so that’s why we’re here tonight… but if we take Alice Chen for safekeeping, I need you to understand that as a gift given to her and Bree , not to you or the Order.”

William blinks again, confusion crossing his face as he processes what Valec’s said—and the questions Valec is so clearly sidestepping. “I understand. It’s a lot to ask; I just…” William frowns. “Valec, are you threatening to go back on your word?”

“Naw,” Valec says with a small, noncommittal shrug. “But why should we take her? Remind me again.”

“Because she deserves to be safe,” William insists. “And I can’t keep her safe here. Not anymore.” His eyes are so green that even his pupils are the color of dark, wet seaweed. “I’m willing to promise you something. Anything. A bargain or an exchange or—”

When Valec holds up a hand, his eyes flash a deep red before returning to brown. And that’s how I know that this Legendborn Scion has walked directly into Valec’s trap.

“Bargains bind both ways,” Valec intones. “They require formal demands and equal exchanges. An official contract. I’m not prepared to tie myself to you, but I am prepared to say that you owe me , healer. You okay to leave it there?”

William is smart enough not to agree right away to something so broad and open-ended. But when he looks down at Alice, his light brown brows furrow over his eyes, as if the very sight of her healed but unconscious body upends his reasoning. He looks back up, jaw set. “I’ll need assurances. Nothing that harms anyone else, physically or emotionally.”

Valec’s mind is quick, especially when it comes to deal terms. “?‘Nothing that harms anyone else , physically or emotionally.’ But harm to yourself is acceptable?”

William lifts his chin. “You heard what I said.”

“And I heard what you didn’t say.” Valec huffs a laugh that holds a hint of admiration. “Real Scion of Gawain of you, healer. Just because those are your terms, and they’re terms I respect, I’ll add in a bonus: I won’t ask you for anything that could harm you , either. How ’bout that?”

William nods. “Agreed.”

“Agreed.” Valec extends his hand with a smile, an offering to shake on it.

The moment William’s hand meets Valec’s, Valec grasps it tight—and the green in William’s eyes goes dim.

Valec steps closer, his voice a low, hypnotic whisper. “You’re a very smart boy, William Sitterson. And I truly wish you had not remembered what I told you about the Hunter and bloodmarks. Hell, I wish I hadn’t let that slip in front of a Legendborn Scion at all, so believe it or not, this is on me, not you. All the same”—his voice takes on a resonant tone, the vibrations making my teeth clench even though the magic isn’t directed my way—“I need you to forget what you just said about the Hunter, Scion, and everything you heard me and Lu say that night at Crossroads about who that demon is and who he hunts for power. Can you do that?”

This is mesmer, I think. I’m sure of it. I’ve never seen a Merlin do it, but this is what Aunt Lu warns me against when she tells the stories about Merlins hunting Rootcrafters down. What they do to “rogue” aether users like us. But those are Merlins. Valec is not a Merlin… and yet…

William’s brows draw inward like he wants to fight Valec’s suggestion, but his voice is calm when he answers, “Yes.”

“And…” Valec’s next words are uttered in a tight voice through labored breathing. This magic is costing him something; it’s not without work. Not without focus. “And I need you to forget that the Hunter is the caster of Briana Matthews’s bloodmark. Can you do that?”

William nods dreamily. “Yes, of course.”

Satisfied, Valec slowly withdraws his palm. His chest is heaving in deep breaths, the muscles in his jaw flexing as he pants. “Thanks, Scion.”

William blinks once, twice, then shakes his head. He clears his throat. “What was I saying? Sorry.”

“Not to worry,” Valec reassures him. “We’ll take Alice. You agreed that you’d owe me one, with reassurances, and we shook on it.”

“Right.” William nods, that memory still solid in his mind, it seems. He notes Valec’s breathlessness. “Are you all right?”

Valec nods tightly. Lu ducks her head and turns away. Their guilt is evident, and I feel it myself. It’s painful to watch William ask if Valec is all right after being mesmered by him. Anger seeps in at the edges of my mind; William is a good person, and Valec violated his own code by taking away a memory without his consent.

“Yes, Valec,” I ask, “ are you all right?”

Valec’s eyes shoot to mine. He answers William while glaring at me. “Perfectly peachy.”

William is uncertain but insistent. “And you’ll keep Alice safe? From anyone who might come for her?”

“Yes, of course. Like she’s one of our own,” Valec states. Before he can speak again, his head jerks up and over William’s shoulder. He hisses, lips drawing back to reveal his fangs as his voice drops to a lower register. “We got company.”

Now my heart is racing, because I see the filaments of golden root filling the air around Valec’s body. William pivots in the same direction as Valec, eyes alert and body taut as a wire. The Scion stands at Valec’s side, both palms extended as blue-white aether swirls into his palms. Even Aunt Lu has shifted so that she is between the forest and Alice, hand outstretched.

They’d all reacted instantly , moving to face the unknown. Shame washes over me at my paralysis. I’m standing still, empty-handed with shallow breaths and wide eyes, while everyone else is readying for a fight.

“William, get back!” An accented voice breaks the silence as the newcomer makes himself known, blurring in front of William to face off against us.

It’s the Mageguard boy that Cestra and Erebus left behind at Volition, Larkin. He is wearing much the same outfit as I’d seen him in a few days ago: all-black gear with silver lining, black boots, and a black hooded tunic. In his palms are twin tornadoes of churning aether that only grow brighter when his eyes take in the scene fully—me, Lu and Alice on the ground, William—then fixate on Valec. “Don’t move, any of you.”

“Larkin, no—” William says. “It’s not what you think.”

Larkin growls at Valec. “What are you doing here?”

“William invited us. Take it up with him,” Valec says lazily.

Larkin’s eyes skip over to me and Lu again, but his body doesn’t release any of its tension. “Everyone else here I recognize,” Larkin says, fingers twitching at his sides. “But I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Valec grins, root flaring along his forearms in a low, thin layer. “You’d remember if we did.”

“William,” Larkin repeats. “Explain.”

William douses his aether before he answers, but Larkin’s is still crackling at his fists. “Alice needs more help than I can offer, and she can’t be here when the Regents arrive tomorrow. Nick may be protected for now with the curia ritual, but Alice has no such protection; I called in a favor to get her out of harm’s way.”

“You called a goruchel to our grounds?!” Larkin exclaims. “What were you thinkin’?”

Valec clears his throat and raises one glowing hand. “Not a goruchel, thanks. Balanced cambion here. Valechaz is the name.”

Larkin’s eyes narrow. “I’ve heard of you. You’re that power broker from Georgia.”

“Infamous among the Mageguard?” Valec’s smile grows wide. “I’m flattered.”

“Don’t be. We let you run your business because you stay out of ours,” Larkin responds.

Valec’s smile disappears. “That a threat?”

“Not a threat,” Larkin says. “A reminder.”

Valec runs a tongue beneath his right fang. “S’pose you have to drop those reminders here and there nowadays, huh? With y’all being spread so thin.”

Larkin stiffens, and Valec’s smile returns. Some unspoken thing passes between them, followed by a challenge to see who will address that thing first. Larkin breaks before Valec does. “If you know something, I suggest you say something.”

“You the TSA now too?” Valec drawls. “And here I thought y’all were just cops.”

Aether sparks around Larkin’s fingertips. “I’m not joking with you, broker—”

“Okay, okay.” Valec laughs. “Stand down, Homeland Security.”

William steps in between them. “Larkin, stop. This isn’t a fight. This is a rescue—for Alice. You know what the Regents will do if they return to find the girl they’d already mesmered once back among the Legendborn. And not just that, but in some sort of magical coma that even I don’t understand.”

Larkin makes a frustrated sound. “I can’t believe you did this behind my back. You could have told me—”

“And take away your plausible deniability?” William counters. “I didn’t want to rope you into something else you’d have to lie about.”

“Well, he’s gonna have to lie about it now,” Aunt Lu mutters.

“Yes,” Larkin agrees, “I will. But at least I would’ve known the truth. I would have noticed Chen was gone tomorrow, Will, and what then?”

“I would have told you after the fact,” William says, “that I called in a favor. And kept Valec’s, Mariah’s, and Lu’s names out of it to protect them from the Order.”

“Thanks for that,” Lu says.

I sigh. “Thanks for the attempt, anyway. Now this Mageguard knows Rootcrafters were here. Which means the Regents could find out.”

“Nah. He won’t say a word about us,” Valec says, “will you, Scotsman?”

Larkin ignores Valec—but also doesn’t correct him. Instead, he faces William—and douses the flames at his hands. “So you still would have lied to me, by omission?”

“Alice is my patient ,” William states. “I have to do what’s best for her.”

“The way you talk, everyone is your patient!” Larkin says, shaking his head.

“Maybe they are!” William snaps. He runs a hand through his hair, frustration visible on his features. “I didn’t keep this from you to hurt you—”

“No, you kept it from me because you don’t trust me,” Larkin says sharply.

Aunt Lu’s eyes widen, and Valec whistles. “ This just took a turn.” He releases his own root finally and puts his hands up. “We’ve got to get back on the road if we want to get home before dawn. I’m gonna suggest we three leave with Chen right about now so y’all can continue this lovers’ quarrel in private.”

“We’re not lovers,” both boys say, and even Aunt Lu shakes her head in amusement.

Valec blinks. “Sure.” He turns to me. “Mariah, Lu, let’s go.” With easy grace, Valec bends over to lift Alice into his arms. He maneuvers her like she weighs nothing. Holds Bree’s best friend like precious cargo.

“Wait.” William steps forward and presses a gentle hand to Alice’s brow. He tugs her hat back down around her ears and adjusts her collar. “Please have Hazel call me with any questions. Or text. I’ll get back to her as soon as I’m able.”

Lu stands, grasping my shoulder in one hand. “Will do.”

William takes a step back as if that’s the only way he’ll allow himself to let us go. Alice is my patient. “Thanks, Will,” I say softly as the others turn toward the car. “For getting her out of harm’s way.”

He nods and says one last thing before we leave. “If you hear from Bree or Sel, or if they find you…”

“We’ll let you know,” I say, even though it feels like something I can’t promise. I wave and join Lu and Valec on the trek through the woods, flicking my flashlight on to help guide my steps. I hear William’s footsteps and Larkin’s voice as they begin to walk away in the opposite direction.

The three of us don’t say a word until Alice is settled in the back seat with her head in Lu’s lap and her legs bent against the backrest and the doors are closed. We don’t even say a word until we get back on the main road. It’s only then that Lu speaks.

“I thought only Merlins could mesmer folks, Valechaz,” she says quietly.

“That’s what they think too,” Valec replies.

“How did you—” I ask, but Valec shakes his head.

“Long story and not urgent,” he says. “I’ll tell you later.”

“No, you’ll tell me now,” I say. “You took William’s memories, Valechaz. You did something against his consent. You never do that kind of thing. How could you—”

“I didn’t enjoy it, Riah!” Valec snaps. His fingers tighten on the wheel. “I’ll apologize to Will and restore his memories when this blows over. I’ll explain—”

“When what blows over?” I demand, not letting him finish. “Explain what?”

“You really think it could be the Hunter that took Bree and the Kingsmage?” Aunt Lu asks.

Valec nods. “I do.”

“Why didn’t you want William to know that?” I shrug. “Wouldn’t it be good for the Legendborn to know too? They have the firepower to go after him.”

“They think they do,” Valec says, voice tight, “but they don’t. I erased Will’s memory because if the Order realizes that the Hunter took Bree, their king, they will mobilize to go after her. If not on order from the Regents, then those kids will set off on a rogue mission. You saw the healer’s integrity back there? Between him and that Scion of Lancelot, they’d come up with a plan to go after the Hunter some kinda way. And we can’t afford to let them do that, because that demon is a goddamned apex predator, and if the Order figures that out, they’ll do what every human does when they meet a monster they can’t beat.”

“Which is…?” I whisper.

“Go after its prey.” Valec glances at me before looking back at the road. “Seek out the monster’s food source, either to eliminate them or use them as bait to back the monster into a corner.” He jerks a thumb behind him. “You heard Will. He was halfway down the road to that conclusion already, asking us what we knew. He has no idea what demon he’s messing with and no idea what our people have done for generations to try to survive that demon.”

A silent dread fills my stomach at the same time that I’m awash with relief at Valec’s understanding of the situation. “And the Hunter needs…”

“Aether.” Lu shudders. “Lots of it. And human beings. Demons need both to exist on this plane, and as old and powerful as he is, he’s the most ravenous of them all.”

Valec nods. “ Particularly for those human beings who can tap into a near-limitless pipeline of root when they commune with their ancestors.”

“Rootcrafters,” I whisper. “If the Order finds out that the Hunter stole their king, they’ll eventually come after Rootcrafters to draw him out, because we’re his prey.”

Lu curses low under her breath. “That was quick thinking, Valechaz, to protect us all.”

“They already came for Volition,” Valec says. “And you heard the Mageguard—they’ve been waiting for an excuse to come after me. After us. We can’t hand them that opportunity.”

My throat tightens. “But what about Bree?”

“Bree agreed to take the Hunter on if she could, on our behalf,” Aunt Lu reminds us. “Maybe she went with him voluntarily?”

Valec shakes his head. “She said she’d do that once we helped her get control of her abilities. She doesn’t have control yet. And even if she did, goin’ anywhere with the greater demon who bloodmarked you is a fool’s errand. Goin’ somewhere voluntarily with the Hunter is a death wish. Bree’s smarter than that.”

“Maybe she went for another reason,” I say, suddenly indignant—and angry. “That doesn’t mean he should take her power. Kill her and get stronger and come back for us with no one powerful enough to stop him. And I don’t like Sel, but… why would the Hunter take him ? What’s he planning? We shoulda used Will’s insight to find out more. The Legendborn—”

“No.” Valec’s thumbs drum on the steering wheel.

“Valec!” I cry. “We can’t just let Bree die! She’s… she’s…” The chosen one. The plan. The action.

“I won’t let the powerhouse die.”

“How?” I ask.

I look between him and Lu, who are already eyeing each other in the rearview. After some silent understanding passes between them, Valec nods.

“Well, baby niece,” Valec says with a determined look, “that’s the thing. If anyone ’s going after the powerhouse, Kane, and the Hunter… it’s gonna be me.”