Chapter 39 The Blood of the Covenant
There Blood of the Covenant
Ember gripped the vial in her hand, backing up into Killian and almost sent them both tumbling into the water. The clock was ticking—he only had so much air to breathe underwater before the potion would stop working all together.
“You have to go.” She turned toward him. “Go, and I’ll meet you there. I can’t leave Rowan.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Killian replied, as he shook his head.
“Killian, the potion!” she almost shouted, but he grabbed her free hand, jaw tense as he stared into her eyes.
“I am not letting you go. Do you hear me?” his voice was desperate, amber flashing against the fear in his eyes. “I lost you once, never again.”
She steeled herself, turning to face her mother as she corked the vial and stuffed it in her pocket.
“You’ve had me worried sick,” Aoife said, running her hands down Ember’s hair as she reached her.
“How did you find me?” she whispered, tensing every time her mother’s hand made contact with her clammy skin.
“The tiara has runes carved into the antlers,” she replied.
“A tracking spell is etched into it, among other things, just in case it ever fell into the wrong hands. I saw Collum leave the ball and realized you weren’t there either,” she replied.
“I figured he was going to find you. But when he never came back, I activated the spell. I saw him unconscious, the dungeons empty, and only imagined the worst.” She cried as she spoke, but no tears escaped her eyes. “I’m so glad to see you unharmed.”
Ember took a step, narrowing her eyes as she clenched her fists.
“Unharmed?” she hissed, as she took a shaky breath, taking another step away, “You knew them. You knew what they did to Rowan, what they did to those children, what they would gladly do to me. Do you really think I stand here unharmed?” She looked at her mother, eyes locked as she studied her, cool and calculated.
Looking into her hazel eyes should’ve felt like home, but it didn’t.
“Ember, your fate has been written down since the day you were born,” her mother replied.
“It is your duty and destiny to stand by your grandfather and take back the island that we were promised, that you were promised.” She took a breath as she stepped toward Ember.
“This would have been much easier had that storm not ripped us apart.”
“Maybe it would have,” Ember replied, as she took another step back, “but I am not that little girl you left alone to die anymore.”
Aoife reached out a hand to grab Ember’s, but she yanked it away, running her fingers along the handle of the dagger strapped to her thigh.
“I had no intention of leaving you on the beach,” Aoife replied. “I thought you were gone. I knew if for some reason you made it out alive, if they were wrong and that body wasn’t yours, I would find you when the time was right.”
“When the time was right?” Ember whispered hoarsely. “Every moment spent away from me should have burned a hole through your heart. It should have eaten you alive.” Her chest shook as she steadied herself. “You should have torn the world apart to find me.”
“I had a duty to your grandfather,” Aoife replied. “I couldn’t waste precious time while he withered away to nothing. I had to help him. Can you really blame me?”
“I blame you for everything!” Ember whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek. “I was just a prophecy to you, but you were my apocalypse.”
“Ember, you need to come back home.” Aoife stiffened, voice hardening, “Your grandfather is a reasonable man, but I would hate for something to happen to Theo because of your insolence.”
“You will not touch him,” Ember hissed.
“He isn’t needed anymore, not now that we know you’re alive.
If you don’t come home and do the right thing, I will have to have them hunt him down, and I can’t guarantee that Collum will be gentle.
Do you really want to be the cause of your brother’s death, the way you were the cause of your father’s? ”
Ember felt warmth burn at her palm, a small flame threatening to envelope her entirely.
She gritted her teeth, pulling the knife from the holster and rushing toward her mother.
Aoife flipped her wrist and sent Ember careening into the side of the cave wall, knocking the breath from her lungs.
She landed with a thud on the floor, and her knife flew out of her hand.
Her head throbbed. She could already feel the blood coating her hair, running down her neck. She bit her lip to keep from screaming.
“Destra!” Killian shouted from the other side of the cave, but Aoife easily blocked the spell, then forced him to his knees, his hands and ankles bound by invisible rope. Aoife stalked toward Ember, lowering herself to the ground so they were eye to eye.
“You will come back to the palace,” she hissed. “You will kiss your grandfather’s boots and beg for forgiveness.” She grabbed her chin and yanked it up, forcing her to look into her eyes. “You will do your duty. Either you obey, or Theo dies.”
“I would rather die,” Ember hissed, yanking her chin from her grasp and spitting in her face. “I would rather die than turn into whatever you’ve become.”
Ember couldn’t help the cry that escaped her as her mother slapped her across the face. She yanked her from the ground, digging her fingers into her arm as she dragged her across the cave floor.
“You do not have a choice in the matter.” Aoife smiled.
“After I have taken care of your friends, you will go home and stay in your room until you’ve figured out how to behave like a princess.
” She let go of Ember’s arm, binding her wrists.
“After that, I’ll figure out what to do about Theo and the rest of them. ”
Maeve. Fen.
“No!” Ember shouted—an angry plea.
Aoife laughed. “You cannot escape f—"
Fate. Ember knew that’s what she was going to say, but the words died on her lips before she could get them out.
“Get away from her!” Rowan screamed, blood splattering against the stone and across Ember’s face.
She stood wide eyed as Rowan pulled the knife from the side of her mother’s neck, blood running down her pristine ball gown, pooling on the floor beneath her.
She dropped within seconds, gasping for air as she reached out a hand for Ember, for help.
Ember’s bottom lip trembled as she took a step back. “I hope your final breath is spent thinking about every breath you have taken away,” she whispered. “May the gods have mercy on you.”
Blood spilled from her neck, and within minutes, she was gone.
The spell around her wrists broke the moment her heart stopped beating, but all she could do was stand there, covered in blood, staring at the woman who had given her life.
Killian ran to her, wrapping her in his arms as she tried to breathe.
Rowan paled, the knife falling from her hand and clattering against the stone floor as she took a step back. The sound ricocheted off the vaulted ceilings as her eyes met Ember’s, and something in her seemed to crack as her friend’s eyes fell to the body crumpled on the floor.
“I-I’m sorry…” Rowan’s voice broke as her bottom lip trembled.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know what else to do.
She looked like she was going to…” Her voice trailed off as she glanced toward the blood pooling around her feet and then squeezed her eyes shut, tears streaming down her cheeks as she took a shuddering breath.
“You did what was necessary,” Ember whispered, grabbing her friend’s hand and squeezing tightly. Her hand shook, and the only sound that could be heard was a steady dripping of water from the cave ceiling.
“We need to go,” Killian said, as he squeezed Ember’s shoulder. “They’ll come looking for her soon.”
Ember took a breath and gave him a nod, and the three of them dragged Aoife’s body to the edge of the pool. Ember shoved her in the water, watching as she sank into the bottomless hole. How fitting that her mother would meet her end in the same water that claimed her father ten years ago.
“You don’t have much time left,” Rowan said, as she grabbed the knife from the ground and handed it to Ember, blood wiped clean. “If I know anything about breathing potions, you’ve got minutes at best before the effects wear off.” Rowan wrapped Ember in a hug, and Ember squeezed her tight.
“Be safe,” she whispered.
“I always am,” Rowan replied with a half-smile. “I’ll see you soon.” And then she sped off back into the tunnels.
“Take the rest of the potion,” Killian said, as they walked back to the edge of the water. “We should just barely make it, but someone will come looking for her eventually.”
Ember stuck the knife in the holster and fished the vial out of her pocket, feeling her heart shatter as she pulled it out.
“It’s broken,” she whispered. “It must’ve shattered when I hit the floor.”
Killian bit the side of his lip as he slid off his jacket and kicked off his shoes, leaving only his slacks and white button up.
“Then, I suppose we’ll have to swim fast,” he replied, very matter of fact.
“Make sure there’s nothing in that bag that you can’t leave.
We don’t need the extra weight while we’re in the water. ”
“Killian, I can’t go in there,” Ember replied, as she shook her head. “It’s too far. I won’t make it.”
“Do you trust me?” he asked simply.
“It’s not about trust it’s about—"
“Do you trust me?” he asked again, grabbing her wrist tightly, fire burning behind the smoke in his eyes.
Ember nodded, swallowing dryly. “Of course I do.”
“Then, empty your bag.”
Ember complied, kicking off her shoes and making sure her holster was secure on her thigh.
She dug through her bag, tossing out books and clothes that she didn’t need.
She stopped when her fingers grazed the tiara, and she plucked it from the bag, running her fingers along the runes carved into the antlers.
She dropped it into the pool and watched as it sank.