Chapter 29
Rummy
Inever thought I’d be so fucking happy to see the shitty little vampyre-infiltrated kingdom.
Wolf’s golden wings glistened in the setting sun as we approached the wall of Scarlata Empire. Huntyr was already running full force in our direction, no doubt wondering what the fuck was going on.
I was wondering the same thing, honestly.
When I came to a stop, she grabbed the reins of my horse and gripped my calf, looking up at me with a myriad of emotions on her face.
“Goddess above,” she whispered. Her hair was pulled into a tight braid behind her shoulders, and she wore her training gear like she’d come straight from working out.
A few others lingered behind her and Wolf, waiting for information or to receive orders to head to Pericius, no doubt.
“You’re okay? Everything’s okay?” Huntyr asked.
I swung myself off my horse, grunting as pain radiated through my sore ass. If I never rode another damn horse again, it would be too soon.
No, everything was not okay. Xavier nearly died. I nearly killed everyone with my freaky death magic that was supposed to be a secret. Jessiah and I kissed. And I managed to ruin everything.
Again.
But instead of letting that spill, I forced a smile.
“We’re okay.” The last thing I expected was for my heart to suddenly be flooded with warm emotions I hadn’t felt in years. But this was my best friend. My home.
I had never really felt like I belonged here before, but after seeing the relief on Huntyr’s face, I knew I never wanted to leave again.
A wave of nausea hit me. This was my home. I knew that. But why did my mind wander back to Cornelius?
What would he think when he found those bodies in the woods? What would he say about my magic? Would he be proud of me? Would he be waiting to see more of what I could do?
Huntyr pulled me into a tight hug. “I was worried sick about you. The second you all left, I regretted sending you out. I should have listened when you fought against my order.”
I hugged her back, holding on longer than I ever had. “It wasn’t so bad, after all,” I said. “We made it through without killing one another.” Barely.
She pulled back and looked at the guys.
Wolf was smiling just as widely as Huntyr as he greeted Jessiah and Xavier. The three of them talked in hushed tones, and when Jessiah’s gaze met mine, my cheeks warmed.
So, so much had happened to us during our time away, yet here we were. The same two people. I was still the fucked-up Rummy who couldn’t let anyone in.
And Jessiah was still disappointed. As always.
“Come on,” Huntyr said, guiding me toward the wall. “We have a lot to catch up on.”
The last time I had been in this study, I’d felt as though I was being suffocated. Strangled, like I was choking on my own secrets.
Today, I felt a million times lighter.
Jessiah did most of the talking—thank the goddess above—as we explained all that had happened in Pericius.
There came a point, though, where anxiety flared inside me. Because to tell the entire story, I’d have to explain Cornelius’s magic.
My magic too.
And his plans to use my magic.
The sun set as we talked, and after we’d filled them in on all the details, Huntyr and Wolf sat, as still as statues, gaping at us.
“There was no way we’d let him get ahold of Rummy’s power,” Jessiah said. “Not when he had already done so much damage. So now we’re here.”
My heart had pounded wildly for days, leaving my chest aching, making it hard to breathe as I waited for my best friend to respond.
Waiting for her to rail, to scold me for not telling her about my magic.
Instead, she and Wolf gave me understanding looks. Looks full of genuine care, not pity.
Damn them. I would have felt a whole lot better if they’d screamed. Yelled. Cursed a little.
They could have at least shaken their fists in the air, adding a Rummy, you should have told us.
But they were too fucking good. Too good for me, that was for damn sure.
I leaned back in my chair, clasping my hands on my lap to keep them still.
“You did the right thing,” Wolf said. “I had a bad feeling about this from the start. If Cornelius thinks we’d send our army to help him suppress the people of Pericius even further and steal the powers bestowed upon any of them, he has another think coming.”
“Where does he think you are now?” Huntyr asked. “What reason did you give him for leaving?”
Jessiah glanced at me. Then Xavier.
“He doesn’t know why we left. We didn’t exactly announce our departure. There was so much chaos there, we couldn’t risk him discovering our plan and detaining us. Especially with the kind of power he possesses.”
“He doesn’t know that we’re onto him,” I added. “Or he didn’t. The last time I spoke to him, he believed that I was interested in his help with honing my death magic. He doesn’t know about the information the Whispering Caves gave us.”
Xavier bowed his head and mumbled, “Those damn caves.”
“We have to stand up for those being oppressed,” Wolf added. “Cornelius can’t continue on this way.”
“No.” I stood from my chair, making the legs scrape roughly along the floor. “If our army showed up, who knows what he’d do. It’s too damn risky.”
“Rummy is right.” Jessiah rested his forearms on his thighs and rubbed at the scruff on his face. “He made a grand statement to the elite in Pericius, claiming that we’d send our army to aid his. If we showed up, it would look like that’s what we’d done.”
“Then how do we stop him?” Huntyr asked. “With a power like his, he could become unstoppable. He may be damn near close already. He likely has dozens of powers we don’t know about.”
“He told me the fae in his kingdom have been gifted for centuries. I’d assume he’s keeping an entire kingdom full of secrets there.”
“So what do we do?” Wolf asked.
The five of us sat in silence, each of us deep in thought. Retaliating without an army would be tricky. We’d have to be smarter than him, and I’d seen firsthand how manipulative he could be.
Cornelius was not a man who could be easily tricked. He was not a man who would tolerate being outsmarted, either.
“I could do it,” I said. The words came out before I’d thought them through.
All eyes in the room darted to me.
“You could do what?” Huntyr asked.
“I’ve been suppressing my… my gift for years.
But he already knows about it. So what if I learned to wield it the way he claims I can, and I use it to end him?
” The thought alone made me nauseous, but a strange confidence washed over me.
He was like me. I wasn’t about to let anyone else stand against him while I stood idly by.
Perhaps I was born for this. Perhaps this was my destiny all along.
“No way,” Jessiah said. “It’s too risky. We’d be delivering you directly into his hands.”
I pushed down the annoyance that bubbled in my stomach. “I can outsmart him, Jessiah. I know I can.”
“Absolutely not.”
Defiance radiated through my bones. “It’s not really up to you, is it, though?”
“Jessiah’s right,” Huntyr added.
Shocked was too tame a word for the feeling that hit me. She forced me to accompany the guys on their journey, yet suddenly she didn’t want me to help?
With a deep inhale, I leaned forward and locked eyes with her. “It’s the only way. I just need a few days to figure out exactly how my gift works.”
“Some people need years to perfect their magic,” Wolf said. “Even with subtle gifts, which yours clearly isn’t.”
“I don’t need years. I’ve had magic since I was a child. No, I haven’t used it freely, but that doesn’t mean I can’t control it.”
They needed to believe me. If they thought I could actually control my power, they might let me try. They might let me be someone other than a useless fae. This was it—my chance to make a difference. My chance to mean something.
All my life, I suppressed the darkness. Locked it up in a chest deep in my soul and tried my best to forget about it. It was fucking suffocating.
That made me wonder, how good would it feel to release it? To let it seek its purpose after all this time?
I could kill Cornelius. I could end all the suffering he was causing, all the suffering he could cause in the future.
But then I would be alone. Again. The only other person who knew what it was like to have a death gift would be gone.
It was worth it, I reminded myself.
“Rummy has a point,” Xavier added.
I tried not to let my surprise show, but damn did it feel good to know at least one person was on my side.
“Cornelius likes her,” he said. “Likes her likes her. If we take her back, he’ll want to trust her again. And he needs her. She’s the closest we have to an inside man.”
“He wants me to trust him,” I added, “and he has no reason to believe I don’t.”
“Right,” Jessiah added. “Except for the fact that we fled the kingdom. Wouldn’t it be suspicious if we just returned out of the blue?”
“I’ll say you forced me to go. Or that there was an emergency back at Scarlata, that I got cold feet. Whatever we decide, he’ll believe me.”
“He’ll want to believe you,” Jessiah murmured. “After spewing all that shit about you being special, about destiny. He seemed damn near desperate.”
Wolf stood and paced across the study. Hells, we were right back where we’d been weeks ago, the five of us stuck in this room trying to do what was best for the kingdom.
I was much less grumpy this time around, I’d admit.
“We could do one other thing too,” Wolf said. “Assuming we decide sending Rummy is worth the risk, which I’m still unsure about.”
Beside me, Jessiah tensed. Even his wings tightened behind his shoulder blades. “What is it?”
Wolf paced a few more times, his steps slow and rhythmic.
He was silent so long I was on the verge of losing my mind.
Finally, he stilled. “You said Cornelius is taking powers from the citizens of Pericius, right? That means he has a plethora of abilities under his belt. It wouldn’t be fair to send Rummy back there with just one gift.”
I stilled, my heart thumping in my ears.
The rest of the group was just as silent as the weight of Wolf’s words slowly fell over the room.
“What if we lent her some of our magic?”
“Is that even possible?” Huntyr stood, too, following Wolf to the corner of the room.
For a long moment, he didn’t respond, his expression thoughtful.
Eventually, he snapped out of it and turned to us.
“It’s been done before. It’s like the bond that allowed us to share power, but it wouldn’t be permanent.
We’d simply lend her our gifts until she returns.
She’ll be protected then, and Cornelius will have no reason to assume she’s returning more powerful than when she left. ”
Jessiah shook his head. “What if he takes all of those powers, too?”
“I won’t let him,” I interrupted. “I won’t let him take anything, not my powers, not anyone else’s.”
Without looking at me, Jessiah sighed. “And we’re just supposed to trust that you can fully wield your power along with a slew of others without practicing at all?”
My chest tightened. I understood his resistance, I really did, but if it meant stopping Cornelius, if it meant saving all of those people, I would find a way. It was the least I could fucking do.
My heart thumped as I studied him, silently begging him not to give up on me again. “I can do it, Jes. You have to trust me.”
His bright eyes finally met mine. He was a determined, stubborn angel, but right now, he was scared, too. Though he probably thought he could hide it, there was fear lingering behind that gaze.
I put a hand on his arm and squeezed. “I wouldn’t volunteer unless I knew I could succeed.”
He clenched his jaw, but he didn’t argue. It was as close to an agreement as I’d get from him.
And I’d take it.
“There is a way we can ensure this plan succeeds,” Huntyr said, stepping forward. All eyes turned to her. “The only way to ensure Rummy can handle more magic. She’ll be able to control it better—much better than Cornelius ever will.”
Jessiah was already shaking his head like he knew what was coming next.
“Rummy has to bond with someone.”