Oathbound (The Legendborn Cycle #3)

Chapter 38

38

A LONG, PREVIOUSLY invisible vertical line splits down the wall near the nightstand. A second later, a rectangular-shaped panel creaks open—and out steps Zoe, maskless, covered in dust, wearing a pajama set that looks a lot like the clothing left on our dresser.

“Ugh!” she grumbles. “This is nasty! Spiderwebs everywhere .”

Nick and I step back as a plume of dust follows her into the room, sweeping across the floor and into both our faces. Nick coughs, waving his hand to clear the cloud. “I didn’t know our room came with a secret passageway.”

“Neither did I,” I mutter. “Zoe, are you okay—”

Zoe blurs through the dust, wrapping her arms around me. “I should be asking you that. I felt your aether and followed it here through these abandoned service hallways.” I squeeze her back, surprised and delighted at the show of affection—especially in front of a stranger.

“Your… aether?” Nick asks me.

I twist around to meet his curious gaze. He knows that’s not what I call the red power that flares from my chest. I turn back to Zoe. “How’d you find this passage in the first place?”

“Elijah’s map,” Zoe says, shrugging as she lets me go. “It was on a slide. Did you miss that part of his presentation?”

“Probably.”

She shifts gears. “Did Mikael get you earlier?”

“?‘Get’ me?”

“Yeah,” she says, wiggling her fingers. “Use his weirdo magic on you?”

“Yes!” I exclaim, grateful that someone else picked up on it. “I felt it twice in the ballroom, but couldn’t figure it out.”

“Same,” she says. “Felt weak.”

“Because it’s an illusion,” Nick answers. “A thin one, spread widely enough to alter the perception of a room full of humans, but not targeted enough to change a memory or go undetected by magic users.”

“How do you know that?” Zoe asks suspiciously.

“Is that how he made them all watch that man die?” I whisper. “He mesmered them?”

They grow quiet. Nick doesn’t reply at all, but after a moment, Zoe does.

“Demons can’t mesmer,” Zoe remarks. “Only Merlins can do that.”

It’s a swift correction—too swift. Nick looks at Zoe. “How exactly do you know what Merlins can do?”

Zoe crosses her arms. “I know things.”

“That’s evident,” Nick replies easily, “but not what I asked.”

Zoe’s eyes slide to mine. “I think we’re all gonna need to have a little chat here, don’t you?” She jerks her chin at one of the brass candleholders on the fireplace mantel. “Grab one of those and some matches.”

Ten minutes and a very dusty, dark journey through a forgotten corridor later, the three of us emerge into an even dustier space—but one that is far more beautiful, even in disuse.

“A library?” I breathe, eyes drawn upward to the enormous library and its towering shelves of ancient books. An antique grandfather clock stands in the corner, showing that it’s close to midnight now.

“A hidden, abandoned library,” a new voice says. “And Zoe already swept it for cameras and things, so we’re safe to talk here.”

Sitting in the middle of the room, perched on a square desk, is Mariah, holding a lit antique brass candlestick of her own. She’s also changed into a set of loose gray pajamas, and her braids are pulled up and back into a ponytail. As I approach, she leans forward into a murky slant of moonlight spilling into the dusty room from the windows on our right. It’s the first time I see her face without a mask covering her eyes and nose. I study her face, but recognition never comes.

“God, it’s so good to see you, Bree!” She hops off the table to greet me. Her voice is so relieved and joyful that I feel desperate to know her—or know her again. I dig deep for the resonant emotion I must have retained about this girl, but unlike my moment with Nick, her face doesn’t surface a distinct feeling. Not yet, anyway. When Mariah folds me in a warm, solid hug, I brace myself, but find that her embrace does not feel like judgment. Instead, it makes me feel… grounded. Loved. So very missed. I hug her back and she mutters into my shoulder, “We’ve been looking for you everywhere, Bree-Bree. You don’t even know. We thought—we thought the worst.”

“Bree-Bree?” I choke out a laugh. A nickname. Not only did I not know Mariah’s name, but I didn’t know one of my own.

“That’s what I call you.” Mariah passes a soft hand over my curls. “Zoe told me what happened to your mind. The missing people. Said a demon did it?”

I can imagine the story Zoe’s spun—a mysterious demon who took my people away as punishment or revenge. “Yeah,” I mutter.

“Was it the Hunter?” Mariah’s brows pinch. “Is he the one who took you?”

That grounded love feeling is swept away by something sharper—guilt. “Not exactly.”

She frowns. “But that’s what he does. He takes people. Us, especially.” She gives me another look. “Doesn’t tend to let them go, though. What happened?”

I swallow thickly. “I…” I don’t know? I can’t tell anymore? Where do I start?

Mariah’s eyes narrow. “Bree—”

“This library is incredible.” Nick comes to stand beside me, looking past Mariah into a shadowy corner. “There’s even a ladder,” he says, pointing to a dusty ladder perched on a copper railing in the corner. “Old-school. How did you find it?”

I can’t shake the feeling that Nick just rescued me from a conversation that he knew I wasn’t ready to have.

“Again, I paid attention to the presentation.” Zoe slides by me to perch on the table Mariah vacated and turns to the other girl. “Bree’s mind wanders off half the time anyone talks to her for more than twenty minutes.”

Mariah looks between us, curious. “I’m not sure I’d make it through a PowerPoint about this place either.”

“She’s cool,” Zoe says, jerking a thumb at Mariah. “Did you know she’s a Rootcrafter? She figured me out right away.”

Mariah and I make eye contact. Zoe doesn’t know that I’m a Rootcrafter. Doesn’t know I’m a Bloodcrafter. Doesn’t know I’m Legendborn—and whose title I used to hold. “Oh yeah?” I ask.

Zoe nods. “Mariah spotted me quick because she knows balanced cambions.”

“I know a balanced cambion,” Mariah corrects, nervous for the first time since I’ve met her—or met her again. “One. And honestly, you aren’t obvious,” she adds, tugging absentmindedly at the necklace beneath her shirt, “I just… have a knack for it.”

Even though she’s changed out of her formal clothes, she’s still wearing that piece of jewelry. I wonder if it’s something meaningful to her, like my charm bracelet or my Pendragon necklace, but when she catches me staring too long, she drops her hand and looks away. Guess everyone has their secrets.

“Would this balanced cambion you know happen to be Valechaz the broker?” Nick asks Mariah.

Mariah startles. “How do you know Valec?”

Nick holds his hands up. “I only know of him. We’ve never met.”

“Who’s Valec?” Zoe leans closer to me, whispering, “Do you know Valec?”

“No.”

“Yes,” Nick says with a sigh, “you do.”

I blink at him. “I do ?”

Nick rubs a hand down his face. “According to William and Lark, you do.”

“You know William ?” Mariah asks Nick, wide-eyed.

“Oh my GOD! Who are all these people?” Zoe hops off the table, pulling me across the room, away from the others. “This was fun while it lasted, but it’s legit bonkers, Bree. We need to get out of here. Now.”

I hesitate. “How?”

Her eyes go to the dust-covered windows beside an empty table. “We’re on the third floor. I could make that jump. So could you.” She pauses. “Probably.”

“There’s a ward around Penumbra. Even if we could leave, Bianca has already identified us. She’ll make sure Mikael knows we’ve left. He’ll track us down. We’re in it now, Zoe. We can’t leave until this is over.”

Zoe blinks. “You think we can get the crown before the auction on Sunday?”

“You heard him; it’s been moved to a different location already. Somewhere more secure. The auction is the only time it’s going to be exposed and ready to be moved with the winner. If we don’t get it then, what’re the chances we’ll ever find it again?”

She gnaws at her lip. “That’s three days from now in the house of a Nightshade. If something happens to you…” Then Elijah will lose his place with the King. In one way or another. My heart flips, torn between the danger to someone I know and the danger to someone I don’t. I should be able to help them all. Keep them all away from harm.

“Nothing’s going to happen to Bree,” Nick interjects, voice traveling across the room.

Zoe’s head perks up. “You sound real confident about that, white boy.”

Nick’s mouth quirks. “I am.”

Zoe’s eyes flash to glowing red in the darkness—a deliberate move, meant to intimidate.

Nick only smiles. “Nice light show. Not enough to scare me , unfortunately, but it might work on someone else.”

Zoe steps around me, mouth open in a snarl. “Oh, I’m not trying to scare you, Boy Scout. Not yet.”

Nick grins again. “You’ll have to let me know when you get started; I might not notice otherwise.”

Zoe growls low in her throat, and I grasp her arm. “Stop. We came here to talk, not fight.”

“How do you know him, anyway?” Zoe turns to me. “He one of your missing people?”

I turn back to Nick, who’s watching me closely. “Yes. He’s one of mine.”

Nick dips his chin. “Nice to meet you, Zoe. I’m Nick.”

Zoe glares at him, but her eyes flash back to brown. “What’s up with you and that angry girl, Nick? She your real fiancée?”

“No,” Nick replies. “Ava and I have… an arrangement.” He doesn’t look at me when he answers, and a cold, hard stone drops in my belly. So there is something between them. Is that same something the reason he stopped me from touching him earlier? My lips tingle as I recall what Nick said about our kisses: a distraction… It won’t happen again. But then, We’ve kissed enough that I know how you like to be kissed.

“?‘An arrangement’?” Zoe says, fingers raised in air quotes. “That sounds a lot like a bargain or a promise—and it sounds sketchy as hell.”

“So does the guy you and Bree live with,” Nick drawls.

“You told him who we live with?” Zoe asks me.

“He’s good at guessing things. And we need to get some details out in the open if we’re gonna make it out of here alive.”

Zoe spreads her hands. “Fine. I’ll follow your lead.” Confusion strikes. Zoe, of all people, handing the reins over to me?

“You sure about that?”

She shrugs. “I trust you.”

I look at the three of them and see the trust in me in their eyes. I don’t think I deserve it, but there’s no use in fighting them at the moment.

“Okay. We have three days before the auction. We’re surrounded by dozens of warlock guards wielding unknown demon abilities and embedded with at least some of the richest, most immoral humans on the planet, in a house owned by a Nightshade with a mass-manipulation power. If we’re going to make it out of this alive, we’re going to need to work together. Be as honest as we can be.” I look at Mariah and Nick. “I know why Zoe and I came here tonight, but I don’t know why you both are here—and I’m assuming no one has seen Ava since the announcement.”

Everyone shakes their head.

“Why was Ava so mad at me?” I ask.

Nick clears his throat. “Ava isn’t mad at you. Ava wants to kill you.”

I blink. “Oh.”

“Why would Ava want to kill her?” Zoe asks.

“Ava is the leader of the Morgaines,” Nick says quietly. “A sect of rogue magic users.”

“So?” Zoe says. “What’s that got to do with Bree?”

Nick and Mariah both turn to me, their eyes solemn. Because even though I just said we need to be honest with one another, honesty only goes so far when it comes to my identity, and they’ve both already guessed that Zoe doesn’t know who I am. They know the truth—but they also know it’s not their place to tell it.

Zoe looks at the three of us. “Um, anyone gonna answer my question? I thought we were gonna be all honest with each other or whatever.”

My heart pounds in my chest, and Zoe tilts her head, listening. “What’s wrong with you?”

I release a slow breath and meet Nick’s eyes again. His face is expressionless. He has his own opinion about what I should do, but he’s deferring to me. Trusting my instinct here.

I turn to Zoe, feeling my brows pinch together as I search for the words. “I remember what happened to me, but the people in those memories are gone, right?”

She nods slowly. “Yeah, I know.”

“But even with all of that gone, I know myself,” I say, my voice growing stronger in the silence. “I know who I am.”

Zoe shakes her head. “Yeah, I know. What’s the…?” Her eyes narrow. Turn hard. “What are you talking about? I know who you are too—”

“No, you don’t,” I say, turning to pace away, then back. “The old man… there’s a reason he bloodmarked me, Zoe.”

“For your power,” she says. “He told us that on day one.”

“It’s not just my power,” I say. “It’s how my powers came to be. Who… who one of my ancestors is.”

“Who’s your ancestor?”

I close my eyes, shaking my head. “I…”

“It’s okay, Bree,” Nick murmurs. When I turn to him, I see my own pain, mirrored. This burden of Arthur, shared between us. The wounds of a king. The rejection of them—and of the king himself.

But I can’t keep this secret anymore. I don’t want to be the girl who is missing when I am finally standing with the people who missed me.

“Bree,” Zoe asks. “Who are you?”

I meet Zoe’s waiting, wary eyes. “The heir to a power I never wanted.” I take a breath. Release it. “I am the Scion of Arthur.”

A pained expression streaks across Zoe’s face for a split second—before rage takes over.

She blurs into a leap straight toward me—and I am too stunned to move.

A flash of silver-blue light—and I’m shoved to the ground. The spark and screech of nails clawing down a construct. A yowling cry—

“These blades are razor-sharp and about a quarter inch from your jugulars.” Nick’s voice is calm and deadly above me. “All they need is a little push.”

When I look up, I find Zoe’s red eyes glaring down at me from between Nick’s glowing aether swords. He is on one knee between us, arms up, holding the sharp edges of his blades in a tight cross beneath her throat. “You’re lying!” she shouts at me, panting with fury.

“I’m not. I mean—I did . I had to,” I stammer. “You and Elijah would have killed me that first day if you knew!”

“You don’t know that!”

“Zoe!” I cry. “You’re trying to kill me now !”

“I’m not trying to kill you because you’re the Scion of Arthur!” she shouts. “I’m trying to kill you because you’re a goddamned liar !”

I gape at her. Nick clears his throat. “For the record, I don’t care why you’re trying to kill Bree. I can’t let you do it either way.”

Zoe bares her teeth and blurs away from his blades, back to the middle of the room. “I don’t believe you,” she spits at me. “You’re making this up.”

Nick rises to both feet, blades still extended. “Then why did you attack her?”

“Prove it!” Zoe shouts.

“How do I prove this, Zoe?” I climb to my own feet, more confused than angry now.

“Call Arthur!”

“ No , Bree,” Nick says, voice like iron. “Don’t—”

“Do it!” Zoe shouts. “Make him possess you or something! The old man told me and Elijah the Scion of Arthur can be possessed.”

“I can’t!” I cry.

“Why not?” Mariah asks from where she’s pressed herself against the window.

“Just—not right now.” I shake my head, too overwhelmed to talk about ancestral streams and blood walks. “I can do something else. I can prove it.”

I wave Nick away. He hesitates, then backs off to the side without releasing his blades.

I extend a palm. Turn it open. It’s been months since I’ve called aether like this. Months of ignoring it when I feel it around me in the air, invisible and ever present, my aether sense growing sharper and more sensitive every time I train with Erebus. I can pull on my own root with ease now, close it down without thinking, and grow it to constructs the size of this room. But touching Arthur’s power feels… risky. Like somehow agreeing to seek his inheritance out, in particular, might invite all the strife and pain back into my life that drove me to leave the Legendborn in the first place. But even though it’s been ages, the power to call aether is just there beneath my skin—and a ball of spinning silver-blue flames bursts into life within my hand.

It takes barely a thought to send that sphere into a blade handle. A rounded pommel. Diamond in the center. A wrapped handle. A longsword blade, wide and silver, with a blood groove straight down the middle. In a single breath, an exact aether replica of Excalibur comes to life in my palm. My shoulder dips with the familiar weight as my fingers tighten around the shining hilt.

When I look back at Zoe, her eyes are no longer red but brown—and fixed on the blade in my hand. “You lied to us.”

“Nothing I said was a lie,” I say. “Everything you heard me say was the truth.”

Her laugh is short and sour. “Now you really sound like the old man.”

I wince.

She comes closer, her words for my ears and no one else’s. “Are you really here for the crown?” she asks. “Or for the girls?”

“They’re one and the same,” I whisper back.

“No, they’re not,” she hisses. “If the old man gets the crown, he’ll tear your little Legendborn club apart—and you’ll have helped. You okay with that?”

I swallow around a thick lump in my throat. “I have to be. They won’t let me lead them, anyway.”

She shakes her head, walking past me toward the hidden entrance in the wall, flipping her middle finger up as she goes. “I’m outta here.”

“Zoe, can we please talk?”

“I don’t want to talk to you.”

I catch her arm at the passageway. “Are you going to blow our cover?”

She scoffs. “No.” She looks down at the glowing blade in my hand. “And I’m not gonna hurt you. You get hurt, Elijah gets hurt, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember.” When I release her, she disappears down the passageway in a cloud of dust.

I turn back to Mariah and Nick. At some point, he let his blades go to dust, and now he stands empty-handed. “I don’t know… what to…” I shrug, helpless.

“Well, I came here to find you,” Mariah says in the quiet of the night.

“What?”

She walks forward, arms wrapped around herself. “You wanted us all to be honest about what we’re doing here, right? If we’re gonna work together? Well, me and Valec put a plan together to find you, and his contact sent us here.”

“You’re here for me?”

“Why does that surprise you?” She studies my face carefully. “At first, we thought Sel would be with you too, but…” She shakes her head. “That turned out to be a dead end.”

“I see,” I whisper. I debate whether to tell her that Sel is with his mother, but don’t know how to explain how he got there. Not when every truth here feels like a bomb. Every secret, a regret.

Mariah’s mouth pulls downward. “There are things you don’t know, but there are also things you aren’t ready to talk about. I can see that now. So, rather than keep pushing you, I think I’m just going to go check on Zoe. Nobody needs to be alone in a place like this. Not when death is waiting around every corner and sitting at every table.”

I thank her for checking on Zoe and then watch as she walks down the passageway with her small, tapered candle in hand.

Nick waits until Mariah’s steps have receded into silence before he approaches me. “You’re hardening aether from a gas to a solid, nearly skipping the flame state entirely. I’ve only seen Merlins cast and forge that quickly.”

I look back at the blade, forgotten in my hand, and move to release it, but he catches the flat end of it with the tip of his finger first. Raises it to eye level to inspect it. “You forged your swords pretty fast too,” I say.

His mouth quirks. “Perks of Lancelot.” His eyes drift down my blade to its hilt. “The smoke I saw you leave behind in the basement isn’t Legendborn casting, though. Or Merlin casting, for that matter.” He looks back at me. “This ‘old man’ teach you that?”

I nod.

“Huh,” he says idly, still looking at my weapon. “Can you release it just as fast?”

I drop the sword—and it dusts before it hits the ground.

He whistles low. “Impressive. Quick forge, quick release. That’s handy in a war.”

“We’re stuck in a mansion for the next three days. We aren’t at war.”

“Aren’t we?” He walks backward, hands loose in his pockets before he pivots to take the path back to our room.