Chapter Six
Brigid
I slam the door behind me, my heart pounding. Fucking idiots. How can they be so blind?
The stone corridors of Grimstone Academy loom around me as I storm away from the meeting room. Away from their stubborn faces, their closed minds.
“ We can ’ t trust Marius,” Lochan had said, his jaw clenched. “ He ’ s dangerous.”
“ And Rory isn ’ t in danger right now?” I ’ d shouted back. “ We need Marius to open the rift again. To save Rory.”
But they wouldn ’ t listen. Wouldn ’ t even consider it.
I pause, leaning against the wall. My breath comes in ragged gasps. Rory. My chest aches at the thought of him trapped in that shadowy void. Alone. Like he never wanted to be again. And now, that ’ s exactly what ’ s happened. Because of me.
Does time even mean anything in that void? How long would it feel like he ’ d he been there? Minutes? Hours? Days? Or worse…
The memory of the rift opening flashes through my mind. The yawning darkness. The bone-deep chill. The writhing shadows reaching out with grasping tendrils.
And Rory, falling. Falling into that endless void.
The guilt claws at me from the inside out. My fault.
I push off the wall, moving again. I have to do something. Have to find a way to save him. With or without their help. Though even as I curse them for not trusting Marius, I know I don ’ t trust him either. He said Rory was inconsequential. I don ’ t even know if he will help me try to open the rift.
My footsteps are too loud in the quiet as I wind through the academy ’ s twisting halls. Past stern portraits and the amber glow cast by lamplight. Down staircases that shift and move of their own accord. When one staircase starts to undulate like ocean waves as I am about to place my foot down on the first step, I remember Rory and the first time we met. How he ’ d reached for my arm, steadied me as I was overwhelmed by the magical tricks Grimstone Academy likes to play.
I know where I ’ m going. Who I need to see.
The library doors loom before me. I push them open and step inside. I ’ m starting to think the library is the least used space in the whole academy. There ’ s never anyone here, except one person.
“ Eira?” I call out. “ Are you here?”
A rustling sound from behind a towering stack of books. Eira ’ s pale face appears, her wide eyes blinking owlishly at me.
“ Brigid? What ’ s wrong?” Eira ’ s face is full of concern. “ Where ’ ve you been? I haven ’ t seen you in class?”
I move closer, keeping my voice quiet. I don ’ t think there ’ s anyone else in her, but I thought that once before and nearly got eaten alive, if it hadn ’ t been for Callen. “ I need your help. It ’ s about Rory.”
Eira listens silently as I explain. The rift. The void. Rory trapped there. I don ’ t tell her about Marius, and how it was his shadow magic, connecting with mine, that enabled the rift. I don ’ t tell her that the others are refusing to work with Marius.
When I finish, she ’ s quiet for a long moment. Then she nods.
“ I ’ ll help you, Brigid. We need to find out what exactly this rift thing is, first.”
I follow Eira through the stacks. She moves with a lighter-than-air grace.
She begins to search through shelves and stacks of books, pulling out volumes and scrolls with a practiced ease. But as we start to go through them, it becomes clear that none of these resources hold the answers we seek.
“ None of these are helpful,” Eira says with a sigh, running a hand through her hair in frustration.
I start looking too, but half of the books here are written in languages I have no clue how to read. This whole place seems like a maze of knowledge and information, but none of it is what we need right now.
“ Aha! This might be exactly what we need,” Eira says with an excited gleam in her eyes.
We sit down at one of the study tables and begin reading through the book together. As we do so, we realize that opening a rift is not as simple as just channeling shadow magic.
“ There needs to be a certain type of energy present,” Eira says thoughtfully. “ It says here that only pure magic can create the kind of energy needed to open a rift.”
I think back to the moment the rift opened. The surge of power when my shadow magic connected with Marius ’ s. The way it felt like something ancient awakening inside me.
“ Pure magic,” I mutter. “ What does that even mean?”
Eira ’ s brow furrows as she scans the text. “ It ’ s not entirely clear. But from what I can gather, it ’ s magic untainted by mortal limitations. Raw. Primal. Like the magic of the gods.”
My eyes widen. “ Gods? Like the Morrigan?”
A chill runs through me. The Morrigan. The dark goddess of fate. Of chaos. Whose prophecy I ’ m somehow connected to.
“ Yes, the Morrigan would certainly fit.” Eira looks up from the page, considering. “ It says that the rift is a realm between realms. A place outside of time and space.”
“ What do you mean, outside of time?”
Eira ’ s eyes are wide and solemn. “ It means that for Rory, trapped there... time may not pass the same way it does here. Days could feel like years. Or years could pass in the blink of an eye.”
The implications hit me. We need to get him out. Now.
“ There ’ s more,” Eira says. “ The rift is filled with... entities. Creatures born of shadow and chaos. Dangerous beyond imagining.”
I close my eyes, seeing again those writhing tendrils of darkness. What horrors are waiting for Rory in that timeless void?
My heart sinks. “ How long has Rory been trapped, trying to survive that?”
Eira ’ s eyes meet mine. There ’ s something in her gaze I can ’ t read. “ For him? Could be minutes. Could be months.”
My hands shake as I take the book from her.
“ How do we get him out?”
“ You opened it once. You can do it again.”
I frown. “ How do you know that?”
She shrugs, turning away to scan more shelves. “ Just a hunch. You ’ re not exactly ordinary, Brigid.”
I stare at Eira ’ s back as she moves between the shelves.
“ How do you mean?”
“ You have shadow magic,” she says without turning around. “ That ’ s rare enough. But you ’ re also tied to the Morrigan ’ s prophecy somehow. That makes you... unique.”
“ You really do know quite a bit about all of this, considering.”
Eira freezes for moment before resuming her search. “ I know things. That ’ s why you came to me for help, isn ’ t it?”
I watch her for a minute, trying to think of why I feel so unsettled.“Eira, why aren ’ t you more surprised by all this? The rift, Rory being trapped...”
She turns, eyes unblinking. “ I ’ ve seen strange things before, Brigid. This is Grimstone, after all.”
Fair point, but still. My gut twists with unease.
“ Will you help me open it again?”
Eira nods, a glint in her eye. “ Of course. It ’ s fascinating, really. A chance to study such rare magic up close.”
I frown. “ This isn ’ t some academic exercise. Rory ’ s life is at stake.”
“ I ’ m aware,” she says softly. “ But knowledge is power. The more we understand, the better our chances of saving him.”
I can ’ t argue with that logic, but something still feels off.
I nod slowly. “ Alright. Let me know if you find anything else.”
“ Of course,” Eira says, already distracted and moving back towards the books. “ I ’ ll keep digging. This is—intriguing.”
We part ways, Eira disappearing back into the stacks. I linger, watching her go. Something about her enthusiasm unsettles me. Like Rory ’ s life is just an interesting puzzle to solve.
I shake it off and leave the library. The corridors are empty as I walk back to my room. I pass a painting of another long-gone dean, his eyes seeming to follow me. Judging.
I can ’ t stop thinking about what Eira said. How long has it been for Rory? Minutes stretching into eternities? Or lifetimes compressed into heartbeats? I think of his easy smile. The warmth of his hand on my arm that first day. The way his brown eyes crinkled when he laughed.
He always made me feel better, and this is his reward. Everyone who gets close to me suffers, just like everyone always thought. My birth parents, my adoptive parents. Now my destined mate. I ’ m an albatross—a curse.
I reach the last turn before my room, lost in thought. The weight of Rory ’ s fate presses down on me like a physical thing. I can ’ t leave him there. Not for another second.
Fuck what the others think. I ’ ll go to Tiernan again. Make him see reason. He ’ s the most logical one. We need Marius, whether we like it or not. For Rory ’ s sake.
I round the corner, ready to throw open my door and start planning. Then freeze.
Fiona stands there. Waiting.