Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
éTIENNE
Bastian Favreau has found me. I suppose I’m not surprised. His family line is the most attuned to the Veil. If anyone could track me, half in the Veil already, it would be him. Or his father, a member of the Council.
His eyes flick to Geneviève. I stiffen instantly, stepping in front of her. I respect my brother in arms, but I can’t allow him to discover her secret.
“She's innocent in this. The traiteur found me bleeding on her doorstep. Leave her out of our business.”
He turns his attention to me. "You look wretched.”
“Dying does such to a man." I gesture to my fading form. "I'm surprised the Council bothered to send anyone. They might well have waited."
Favreau's expression morphs into regret. "I didn't come to kill you, étienne."
I blink, disbelieving. "Then why—"
"They sent me to bring you to them for Le Rite de Défaire." The rite of unmaking.
Erasure. The end of my name, my soul. House Noctier will cease to exist.
"They want me gone completely."
Bastian nods grimly. "The Hollow Court has been tracking you through the Veil. The Council fears what happens if they claim you after death."
The Council fears I’ll join the Hollow Court, turning against my brothers, my oath. I’m not a traitor, but the fear is not unreasonable. The Hollow Court is made from a faction of the Council descended from corrupted bloodlines who seek to tear the Veil open and absorb its magic.
"And House Noctier disappears forever.” With my father and me gone, and no other heirs, the Council can claim Noctier Manor, and the power it holds, something I’ve long suspected they coveted.
"How did you find me?" I ask.
"You've been busy in the Veil. You and the traiteur.” He puts his hand on my shoulder. "The Veil is impatient. It's been luring you home, yet you don’t go."
"Home?"
"Surely you've felt it." His eyes narrow. "The Veil seeks balance, and apparently you’re a part of it, but you remain here.”
“The Veil will have me soon enough. I don’t need to go home.”
Bastian’s jaw tightens. “The Veil wants you home. If you don’t want your soul erased, you must return. Now. The winter solstice is tonight. Time is running out."
I’ve known the Veil has been manipulating me in my dreams, but I don’t know how returning protects me from death or erasure.
"Why tell me this?" I search his face. "Why warn me?"
Favreau hesitates. "Because the Veil has chosen you for something that can’t happen if you’re unmade."
I study my brother, seeking to know what he’s not telling me. “I’m the last of my name. I have nothing to offer this world or the Veil.”
“You swore your oath to it,” he replies. “Why falter now?”
“What are you not telling me?”
His eyes narrow as if considering my request. “I know a thing the Council would kill me for speaking aloud. And I tell it only because I would sooner betray them than betray the Veil. There is a prophecy, étienne. And it will die with you if you do not heed what the Veil asks and return home.”
I don’t understand why the Veil would choose me for anything beyond protecting it. But I trust my brother, and I have to trust the Veil as well.
"Then I'll go." I inhale a breath, steeling myself against the challenges I’m about to face when I feel too weak to face them. "But she stays here. Safe. Whatever happens, I accept it, but Geneviève remains untouched."
"Non." Geneviève moves from behind me, her eyes blazing. "I'm coming with you."
"You can't. The Council—"
"She must," Favreau interrupts. "The Veil calls for her, too."
I stare at him, then at Geneviève. "What do you mean?"
"The dreams weren't just dreams, étienne." Favreau's becomes impatient. "The Veil is binding you together. I've never seen it happen like this, but it’s not long before the Council feels it too. They’ll fear you both. She’s needed by the Veil and not safe on her own."
"This isn't fair to her.” The world isn’t making any sense. "It goes against Council law, even real-world law. The Veil can't just decide this for us." I look at Geneviève, desperate for her to understand.
“Of course, you have free will. The Veil can’t force you into anything. But you’re an Oathmarked. You took a vow sealed in blood to protect it. It calls to you…” He glances at Geneviève. “To you both, because it needs you. Needs your bond.”
I shake my head. "What happens when I die? Or worse, when they unmake me? What becomes of her then? Of her soul?"
I step closer to her, almost reaching for her hand before pulling back. "I won't have you forced into something, even if I—" I stop myself. Even if I want it more than my next breath.
"The Veil doesn't control my will," Geneviève says softly. "My choices are my own." She lifts her chin defiantly. "And I choose to go with you. Whatever waits at your home, we face it together."
I am struck dumb by her courage. By the way she looks upon me as though I am the center point of her world. Is it true? Or only another artifice of the Veil?
“She speaks truly,” Bastian says, as if answering my doubt. “The Veil did not forge your bond. It merely presses you to fulfill it, before the Council renders that choice impossible.”
This is madness, and yet who am I to question the Veil or Geneviève? “We’ll go then.”
Bastion gestures to the door. “Vite. We must hurry.”
Geneviève quickly dresses, and then Bastian leads us to a waiting coach. It rattles over stones as he navigates us through the French Quarter. Geneviève sits beside me, and I can't stop looking at her and feeling both grateful and terrified for this woman who chooses to follow me into darkness.
“What is this prophecy?” I ask Bastian.
“Mon ami, you ask too much of me.” His eyes dart through the darkness as he guides the horses down the road to my family’s home.
“How will I succeed if I don’t know?”
“The Veil will guide you. Just know that House Noctier cannot end tonight.”
We pull up to the iron gates before I can question him further.
The home is unchanged. Still glorious. Regal. And pulsing with Veil power.
I lead them inside, instinct propelling me to the atrium. The glass dome above has shattered. Mistletoe grows through the opening, impossibly large, its white berries glowing.
"Mon Dieu," Geneviève whispers.
Bastian steps forward, awestruck. "The house has been waiting. The Veil has been preparing." He turns to me. "It wants the bonding. Tonight."
My father’s words come back to me. “Always heed the calling of the Veil. Promise me. The future requires it.”
I still don’t understand what is happening, but I know I can’t ignore what the Veil is leading me towards.
"You'll be marked a traitor,” I say to Bastian, as I fully grasp the ramifications of his actions.
"Perhaps." He touches his own Oathmark. "But I serve the Veil first, not the Council. Something true is happening here."
I have many questions but now is a moment for action. "I won't put you in danger, brother. You must go."
Bastian clasps my shoulder, and for a moment, I feel solid. "I'll do what I can to protect you both. Keep the Council at bay, but I’m afraid time is running out. When they come, I won’t be able to stop them."
After he leaves, Geneviève and I stand alone in the atrium. The mistletoe pulses with light.
"Are you sure?" I ask her. "This bond, if it works, could tether me to life, but it might tether you to my fate."
She takes my hand, and the shadows within me quiet. "My fate is already tied to yours.”