40. Bastian
Bastian
M y office door flew open, ruffling Orpha’s report. I’d sent her with a group of guards to find the patrol who should’ve been checking the border of Horror territory. They hadn’t found them yet but had replaced some missing wardstones.
I frowned up from the report as Rose burst in, panting. “You need to come. Quickly.” She was already backing out. “It’s Kat.”
My whole being—maybe all of reality lurched. I tossed the papers on my desk and ran after her. “What is it?”
“She’s with Elthea and… I’ve never heard a scream like that. It sounded like she was killing her.” She shook her head as we sprinted down the corridor. “She’d forgotten her scarf… went to take it to her. But I couldn’t get in. Door must’ve been sealed magically.”
Kat screaming.
Despite our pace and the blood pumping through every part of me, my body went cold.
She hadn’t screamed when she’d dangled over the waterfall; she’d only called for help.
As poison had worked through her system, dragging her to the floor, she hadn’t screamed. That had only come in its advanced stages. Her initial quiet had worried Asher, in fact. He’d thought her too far gone to save.
What was Elthea doing to her?
Fuck manners—I shoved folk out of the way as we crossed the grand hall. The bridge was a blur. I didn’t slow to greet the guards.
I just ran.
As we raced through the city, dozens of looks followed us. The Night Queen’s Shadow didn’t race headlong anywhere.
Shadows swarmed around my feet, like they could speed me along. Anything to get me there faster. If I was too late…
“Oathbreaker,” someone shouted, emboldened by my uncharacteristic display.
Lucky for them, I didn’t have time to stop.
We skidded around one corner after another, until we were finally on the Hall of Healing’s street, my heart ready to explode.
Folk fled from our path as I put on a burst of speed, every part of my soul’s attention fixed on the white marble columns.
At the top of its steps, a splash of red interrupted the hall’s pure white. Hugging the wall, Kat stumbled from the building.
I flew up the steps. “Katherine?”
She trembled, hunched over, not looking at me.
“Kat? What did she—?”
Then she looked up.
Pale, hair plastered to her forehead, blueish shadows beneath her eyes—I hadn’t seen her look this bad since she’d taken the changeling’s poison. She reeked of sweat and fear and rotten plants, though beneath that, the sweet scent of her magic seemed stronger.
What the fuck had Elthea done? My teeth ached as I clenched my jaw.
Rose caught up, gasping as she took in Kat’s state.
“Take her back to our rooms. Get Asher to look at her.” I held Kat out by her shoulders as she muttered something. “I’m going to have words with Elthea.” There wouldn’t just be words. I was going to end her.
I started into the Hall of Healing, but Kat’s gloved hand landed on my stomach.
“I’m fine,” she whispered between heaving breaths.
“She tried a cure. It didn’t work. That’s all.
” Eyelids fluttering, her gaze sank, and she frowned as she rubbed her chest. Right on the edge of hearing, she murmured, “I think my heart stopped.” She swayed, and I caught her as she fell.
Every muscle vibrated with rage as I eased her into Rose’s arms. “Take her back to her room.”
Eyes wide, skin pale between her freckles, Rose nodded.
I charged inside.
I think someone tried to stop me, but my attention was fixed on the door to Elthea’s treatment room and nothing else could break it.
She was putting something in a small case inside the cabinet, glass clinking on glass.
I let my shadows go.
They streaked across the room and closed on her wrists.
She let out a cry that I barely heard over the rush of blood in my ears.
“You should’ve saved your favour to stop me tearing you apart.
” I spat the words, every part of my face too tight to even attempt the appearance of calm.
My blood didn’t just boil—it had evaporated, leaving me dry and sizzling like a pan about to burn.
My shadows turned her, so she’d be able to see me as I killed her—as I paid her back for whatever she had done to Kat.
I think my heart stopped.
Elthea’s chest heaved as my shadows tightened around her arms, cutting off the blood flow. “I’m her best hope of finding a cure, and you know it.” She lifted her chin, expression barely on the edge of calm.
“A cure? You’re going to fucking kill her.” Hands fisting, I sent shadows down to her legs. I wanted to rip her apart with my bare hands. Maybe I would.
A vicious smile tugged on my mouth. Muscles humming and hot, I crossed the room.
Her fingers were turning white, now. As I told my shadows to pull, she let out a whimper.
“You kill me and that’s it.” An uncertain waver entered her voice. “N-not to mention the repercussions for our courts.”
My shadows paused.
It was about the only thing she could’ve said to get through to me. We’d only just smoothed things with Dawn after the executions and freeing the remaining prisoners.
Blood still roared in my ears, though. Fuck Dawn. Fuck the balance. End her. She’d hurt Katherine. She’d killed her, even if only for a moment.
I saw Kat’s face, so pale.
But then I saw it crumpling, her eyes glittering with unshed tears as she’d pushed away Vespera.
That was what the cure meant to her.
I pulled myself straight and released Elthea. My teeth ground. I’d let Kat down by not making Elthea suffer as she had. But I would let her down more by robbing her of any chance at a cure. I swallowed down my frustrated rage and let it attack me instead.
Elthea huffed out a long breath and glared at me. “You can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs.” Swallowing, she straightened her sleeves. “Curing her is going to require a lot of experimentation. There’s no avoiding it.”
Kat wasn’t an experiment, but I couldn’t push words through my tight throat.
“Either you want her cured or you don’t.” Elthea canted her head, casting her gaze down me and back up. “Though I can imagine you might like having her bound to you for the rest of her life, even if she is married.”
I clenched my hands at my sides—it was that or grabbing her. “You hurt Katherine again, and I won’t just kill you. I’ll fucking destroy you.”
As I stalked out, her reply followed me: “It isn’t up to you, Serpent.”