Chapter Twenty-Six
Brigid
My foot slips, and suddenly I ’ m dangling over the edge of the platform, staring down into the crowd very, very far below. I flail, desperately trying to regain my balance. This can ’ t be how it ends.
A hand grips my arm, yanking me back from the brink. I stumble, but keep my balance. Nester ’ s face swims into view, his fiery eyes flickering with concern.
“ You okay?” he asks gruffly.
I nod, still panting. “ Yeah. Thanks, I—” The words catch in my throat as I notice Laria ’ s smug smirk. That bitch tried to kill me.
Nester ’ s gaze follows mine, his jaw clenching as he spots Laria. He helps me to my feet, positioning himself slightly in front of me, and I know we ’ re both thinking about how Laria used him to torment me during the assembly, to torment us both.
“ Watch yourself,” Nester mutters. “ Some people here would be happy to see you fall.”
I swallow hard, forcing my voice to remain steady. “ I noticed.”
Nester grunts, then he gets as far away from Laria as he possibly can on the ever-shrinking platform. I briefly wonder a fire elemental like him will make the descent. I hope he makes it.
I have no time to think about it though because Laria is in my face again, her cold eyes glinting. “ Oh, Brigid,” she coos, her voice dripping with fake concern. “ Still hanging in there? I thought for sure you ’ d have taken the express route down by now.”
I ignore her and focus on stabilizing my balance, spreading my feet apart and lowering my center of gravity. Don ’ t react. Don ’ t give her the satisfaction.
“ What ’ s wrong?” Laria continues, as she stands there like she ’ s glued to the solid wood below her feet. “ Can ’ t stand on your own two feet? Poor little Brigid needs to be rescued? Over and over and over.” She tilts her head from side to side as she says it and rolls her eyes. “ When are you going to get it through that thick, pathetic, ugly head of yours that you don ’ t belong here with us?” Laria spits out every word like a bullet leaving a gun.
It ’ s as she ’ s talking that I feel the darkness stirring inside me at last, a familiar coldness seeping into my veins.
There you are. The relief I feel at having my magic make its presence known again is visible.
Shit, I want to lash out so badly. To show her just how “ pathetic” I am.
“ Go to hell, Laria.”
She laughs, and the sound sets my teeth on edge. “ After you, shadow bitch.”
Around us, the other candidates are starting to make their moves. Some kind of shapeshifter transforms into a bee and takes flight. Another candidate, a fae girl, conjures a shimmering gold portal, and I watch from the corner of my eye as her portal closes after her, two seconds too late for the boy making a run for it to dive in too. He careens off the side of the platform, headfirst. My eyes close.
Laria ’ s impatience grows with each candidate ’ s descent. Her foot taps an irritating rhythm on the platform. “ This is getting tedious,” she announces to no one in particular.
Her gaze locks onto me, a cruel smile playing at her lips. “ Come on, Brigid. Why don ’ t you give it a try? I ’ m sure it ’ ll be absolutely riveting to watch you splatter on the ground below. Give the people what they came here to see.”
I fight back the urge to shove her off the edge myself. The darkness inside me waits, begging to be released. But I can ’ t. Not yet. I won ’ t let her see me lose control.
“ What ’ s the matter? Afraid your sorry little shadow tricks won ’ t save you? Or maybe you ’ re just too weak to even try.”
My vision blurs at the edges, rage threatening to overwhelm me. I take a breath, willing myself to relax and to keep it together. I can do this. I have to do this. I won ’ t let her win.
“I ’ m bored,” she announces. “ Time for a real show.”
She steps to the edge of the platform, her movements fluid and predatory. The air around her glimmers, like heat rising from the pavement. Laria ’ s blonde hair lifts in an invisible breeze, her pale skin taking on an unearthly glow.
“ I ’ ve got better things to do than watch you die.” She curls her lips and I get a glimpse of her fangs. “ Try not to make too much of a disgusting mess when you hit the ground, freak.”
In a blink, Laria ’ s form dissolves into a swirling mist. The vapor reforms into dozens of bats, their leathery wings beating in eerie synchronization. The bats spiral downward, riding invisible currents of air with absurd precision.
As they near the ground, the bats merge back together. Laria reforms in midair, suspended for a breathless moment. She drops the last few feet, landing in a graceful crouch that would make a cat jealous.
Laria rises, tossing her hair over her shoulder. The crowd erupts in applause and excited murmurs. She straightens slowly for full effect, basking in the attention, then looks up at the platform, and blows me a kiss.
What an absolute asshole.
And now it ’ s just me. I ’ m left alone on the platform, the last one left.
My stomach churns as I stare down at the ground below. The panic returns, replacing the anger I felt when Laria was taunting me. How the hell am I supposed to get down? I ’ ve barely scratched the surface of my shadow magic. I close my eyes, trying to summon that darkness I felt rise a few moments ago, but it slips away again.
The crowd ’ s murmurs grow louder, expectant. Waiting for me to fail.
To fall.
Maybe that ’ s exactly what the Council wants. What if this whole test was designed to get rid of me? Maybe Eira was wrong. They don ’ t want the Morrigan ’ s power, they want to snuff out the prophecy before it can take root in me.I ’ m about to die, and for what? Some cryptic bullshit about ravens and shadows that I never asked for?
My breath is uneven and I can ’ t get enough oxygen in. I feel like I might be about to hyperventilate. Not good. Not good at all.
The platform sways beneath my feet as it shrinks again to less than a few feet in either direction. I ’ m going to fall. I ’ m going to—
Calm washes over me like a wave, silencing the frantic voices in my head. It ’ s not my calm. This feeling isn ’ t coming from me. It ’ s foreign. Almost like someone else has taken control.
I hear Tiernan ’ s voice, as if he ’ s whispering right in my ear: “ You are your shadows, Brigid. Be one with them.” I take a deep breath, and let it out slowly, then another. I can ’ t hear the wind or the soft cries of the crowd below anymore. I hear nothing, I see nothing, I feel nothing.
A distant caw echoes across the grounds. My eyes snap open.
Holy shit. I ’ m floating.