Chapter 37 #2
Any amusement I may have found in this conversation died away at that accusation. A chill slipped through my bones as his words wound their way around me and painted me out to be something I refused with all my soul, mostly because I knew it was becoming a little too true to deny.
Traitor.
“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about,” I spat, lurching forward and baring my teeth at him in warning. I may not have been able to free my hands or use my magic, but they didn’t know I could shift.
The change tore through me in a flash, the Wolf crying out in wonder as my features transformed, my allure shifting from a flickering flame to a blaze of undeniable desire in less than a second.
Mirelle sucked in a sharp breath and Lazarus clutched the arms of his chair.
“Release me and hand me a weapon,” I purred, my voice pure seduction, my words a command none could deny.
They all surged towards me, the magic of what I was captivating them as words of praise and devotion slipped from their tongues.
But just as I was certain they would do as I bid, the Wolf turned, snarling at the others, staking his claim on me and lunging for them with vicious intent.
His fist struck Lazarus in the jaw and the pain of the blow was enough to shatter my hold on the Vampire just long enough for him to grab a glass of wine from the table and throw the liquid in Mirelle’s face to break my hold on her.
The magpie cawed in alarm, fluttering away from her to perch on the mantlepiece where it ruffled its feathers to shake droplets of wine free of them.
The Wolf howled as the Vampire shot around the room but he couldn’t get between us in time to stop the bloodsucker from reaching me and forcing a measure of Order suppressant down my throat.
I bit down on his fingers and spat in his face but by the time he managed to fight his way free of me, I’d swallowed enough of the foul powder to return me to my Fae form.
“What the fuck was that?” Mirelle panted, clutching at her chest and backing away from me with a look of horror written over her features.
“That was my spectre,” Bastian growled from beside me, clearly having seen enough of the show. “And you’re all fucking fools if you think that’s even close to the worst of her.”
“By the stars,” Mirelle hissed, stalking back to her chair and grabbing a cloth to wipe her face clean while I fell back in my seat and laughed at them.
“This is madness. I knew it would never work. Kaiser doesn’t understand people like her.
She is hateful and rotten right down to her core.
Of course she isn’t looking to end the war – why I ever allowed him to convince me that she was is beyond me.
Kill her, North. We have no use for her after all. ”
Bastian released a deadly growl but it was the Wolf who spoke up in defiance of her order.
“Kai isn’t wrong about this. He doesn’t get this shit wrong and you know it. You haven’t even told her what you want to do, so how can you make a judgement on her answer? Of course she’s trying to escape, she’s a fucking captive. So just tell her why she’s here. You know we need her.”
My laughter fell away as I listened to his plea on my behalf. He wasn’t even under my spell, yet he was begging her to let me live. That meant they really did need something from me.
“You speak of the Fury as if he still lives. But the way I heard it, he was killed at Cinder Vale,” I said.
“Left for dead,” the Wolf growled. “But not dead enough. I found him and saved him. Now he’s stronger than ever.”
“Is that so?” I asked, wondering what my kitty cat would think about that.
“Why do you need her?” Bastian demanded, bringing the conversation back to its point.
“Wait…I know you, Dragon,” the Werewolf interrupted. “You were fighting in the ring for us at Cinder Vale – you were dressed as one of us then!”
Mirelle’s gaze snapped to Bastian and narrowed. “I remember that too,” she said, pointing at Bastian who only shrugged.
“What of it?” he asked.
“What were you doing in Cinder Vale pretending to be fire-born?” the Wolf demanded.
“I came for her, obviously,” Bastian drawled, his focus flicking to me and the corners of my lips lifted in amusement at their outrage over having been fooled by him at the time. “But none of that answers my question. Why do you need her?” Bastian pushed, returning focus to the matter at hand.
“Because she is the only Fae we know of who is capable of freeing the keystones from the dark magic which binds them,” Lazarus supplied.
That got my attention.
“How do you know about the keystones?” I demanded, my skin prickling at how many of my secrets they kept revealing.
I’d told no one but Bastian and Everest about those.
Moya and the Sages spoke to no one and they didn’t know the full extent of what I’d been doing with the keystones regardless.
Everest was as likely to align herself with these Flamebringer assholes as I was and Bastian…
I shot Bastian a look, my gut souring at the thought.
“Don’t you fucking look at me like that,” he growled. “I’m not him and you know it.”
“Not who?” the Vampire asked and I snapped back around to scowl at him.
“I’m surprised there are any of my secrets you don’t know, parasite,” I hissed.
“I’m a man who is always on the hunt for more information. But if you don’t wish to discuss that, then what of our offer?”
“What offer?” I demanded.
Mirelle sighed, dropping back into her seat and waving a hand at Lazarus, presumably giving him permission to go on without her. She beckoned the magpie back to her but it cawed irritably, narrowing its eyes at Lazarus as if holding a grudge.
I could feel Bastian’s gaze on me but I didn’t turn my head to acknowledge him. I knew it was shitty of me to suspect him, but what was I supposed to think? He was the only person who knew the full truth of all I’d done with the keystones.
Behind my back, I dug my thumbnail into the pad of my finger to draw a drop of blood. I was done playing the part of a prisoner.
“There is a threat lurking beneath our continent. A monster born of dark magic and fed with bloodshed. You know of the creature I refer to,” Lazarus said while Mirelle snapped her fingers in a firm command to her bird and the magpie reluctantly flew back to sit on her shoulder.
I said nothing but clearly he took my silence as confirmation and he went on.
“It has no name for there has never been another like it but we call it the eschaton star. Though it is not a star at all, but its power shall soon rival those of the deities of the skies if we do not make haste in stopping it.”
Ether curled around me in answer to the small offering I’d made with my blood but I held it at bay as his words sank in.
This was what I’d been working against, it was what I knew to be true but still had so many questions about.
Even now I could hear the ether whispering my name, guiding me towards the other two corrupted keystones so that the flow of power through the ley lines could be returned to its true course.
“What will happen if that thing gets free?” I asked because I’d already seen the destruction it was able to cause when slipping through the cracks at Never Keep and devouring the sacrifices the Reapers laid out for it. I didn’t want that thing ever gaining free reign to roam the four lands.
“The Reapers believe it will bring about a new age, punishing the wicked and removing them from this earthly plane. Leaving only the pious and worthy alive after it is done feasting – rebuilding The Waning Lands anew.”
“And how exactly does it decide on who is worthy?” Bastian asked.
“It doesn’t,” Lazarus said sharply. “The creature is cunning and sentient – it knows that their worship of it is linked to that foolish belief and so plays along with their games, picking and choosing which Fae to devour in their ceremonies. But if it was free its appetite would never again be stifled. It is hunger, greed, gluttony. It will feast until nothing is left of this world at all. My people have spent years spying on the Reapers and researching what this creature is. Old prophecies warned of it but of course they take every Seer and make them their own, so there is no way the rest of you can learn the truth.”
“Well that sounds fittingly horrific. But it still doesn’t tell me what you want from me,” I drawled, though his words were ringing throughout my skull, taunting me with the truth of them which I’d already suspected and was now confirmed.
“This problem is bigger than any war,” Lazarus stated. “Bigger than any prejudice or hatred. It will be the end of us all if we do not unite ourselves against it. And even then, I will admit that I fear we may already be too late.”
“Unite?” I sneered, my eyes moving from him to Mirelle, the effective queen of Pyros, ruler of my enemies.
“You do know who I am, don’t you? I can’t even count how many of her people I have killed in battle.
Not to mention the fact that my hatred for your kind is second only to that of the man I am currently hunting. ”
“My kind?” Lazurus asked. “What have the people of Effelridge ever done to you?”
“The Vampires attacked Never Keep and forced me and my sisters into battle–”
“A battle in which you killed one of my people. Not the other way around. And you hurled the rest of them through the hallowed archways. So why hold such a grudge over a fight you won when I am willing to forgive the fact that you murdered my kinsman?”