Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
FINLEY
Finley wasn’t sure when she fell asleep and only had vague recollections of how she came to be lying in a bed with Rafe next to her, fully clothed.
That didn’t seem right. She couldn’t remember the last time she went to bed with someone without undressing.
Yet, she felt more content and relaxed than ever.
She placed her fingertips against her temple where Rafe had pressed a kiss.
He’d taken care of her and made sure she didn’t fling herself out of a window.
Had she thought she could sleep in the clouds?
That was delusional even for her in her most exhausted states.
She pushed herself up and looked around the room.
Even now, when she could get her eyes open her body still felt heavy.
It appeared to still be night, so she hadn’t slept all that long.
She rubbed her eyes. She’d asked Rafe to stay and sleep with her.
To actually sleep. Finley turned to look at him.
His breathing was slow and deep, and his face was more relaxed than she’d ever seen it. A dark angel resting from his work.
He knew about the Chalice. The brief words from before she’d fallen asleep came flooding back.
He knew and still went along with her schemes and plans.
Why would he do that? The pain in her head had reduced to a dull ache but was still there, and she rubbed her head.
She’d been delusional but was certain she hadn’t misheard. This had to stop. Now.
Finley leaned down and placed a soft kiss on his cheek then crept out of bed and tip toed out of the room.
It was a magnanimous feat considering how her limbs felt like planks of lead.
Dusan taking more of her magic had depleted Finley of her energy, and the events of the day had caught up to her.
For a moment she considered waking him to join her in the late-night escapade for the sheer perk of him helping her remain upright, but she decided against it.
He might have accepted his lot with the Chalice, but there was no need to rub it in.
She walked to Ai’s room and found her friend was still awake as planned.
Together they snuck around the castle to find Aytigin’s hoard.
Finley always thought dragons slept with their treasure, but Eira said he had another room with even more that he slept in.
She would have preferred that. Working around sleeping creatures was one thing.
Navigating a potentially magically protected treasure room was another.
Who knew what sort of enchantments Aytigin had put around the Chalice?
“We could just wait for Aytigin and Eira to let us use it,” Ai suggested in a whisper as they approached the chamber. In spite of her soft voice, it still echoed and rang out. In a castle built by the goddess of the moon it was oddly silent for being in the middle of the night.
“And be roped into more political games? No thank you,” Finley answered and pushed the door open.
Easy enough.
Finley took a single step inside and nothing happened. No tangible ripple of magic. No alarm. Nothing attacking them. Only the same glittering stardust floating through the air making the room sparkle and shine in spite of the only light coming from the moon through the window.
It was too easy.
“Besides, they could delay our use of it as long as they want if we agree to help, and I don’t think I’m going to last that long,” Finley admitted.
Her curse had been rapidly taking over, but ever since they last encountered Amelia and Dusan she felt as sluggish and lazy as a manatee.
She was in a constant state of exhausted.
No, that didn’t begin to describe how she felt now.
It was a tired that went all the way down, deep into her bones and spirit.
Nothing kept her focus anymore other than the feeling like each part of her being was wasting away.
Each step and movement ached and plodded, taking any strength she had remaining.
“It’s getting that bad? How long do you think you have?” Ai asked.
“It’s hard to say,” Finley answered as the room swayed around her. “But I think I might fall over any moment.”
Not needing any more prompting, Ai rushed to her side and propped Finley up with her small shoulder. “Ask for forgiveness, not permission then.”
“Exactly.”
Gold coins and treasure clanged deep in the treasure chamber.
Finley and Ai whipped their heads in the direction.
Either it was magic, or they weren’t alone.
Or both. They both drew their swords and took slow careful steps through the piles of treasure.
The Chalice had to be in here somewhere.
When she’d snuck into the castle with Myra in the spring, she’d searched the castle high and low without any luck but hadn’t been allowed in this room.
Surely there were traps around the Chalice and it was hidden somewhere in these piles.
A breeze struck Finley and she froze to the core. They weren’t alone. She’d been in the castle enough to know exactly who was there.
“Malle?” Finley called out to the ghost who haunted the castle.
The few times she’d encountered the spirit in the past had been less than pleasant, so she wasn’t particularly eager to see her again.
But if the deceased queen was going to disrupt her quest it was better now than later.
“I know you’re here. Make yourself known. ”
The air moved around them making even Ai’s short locks whip around her face.
Finley shivered and watched in awe as gold coins and jewels floated over the piles of hoarded treasure.
It was too tempting to reach out and snatch some of it.
They would make The Mystic a great profit, or beautiful ornamentation.
Then, everything stopped in midair and swirled in a swift hurricane of metal and aimed toward them. In the center of the storm a thin image of a woman formed. She was transparent but all the rage of the world swam in her dark eyes.
“Hide!” Finley yelled and went in the other direction taking shelter behind the spying orb as gold coins showered around them, Ai practically having to drag Finley along.
She ducked her head around it to see where the ghost was floating and she zigged and zagged around the room tearing the treasure apart.
“What are you doing you crazy ghost? We don’t want to steal anything.
We just want to use the Chalice and leave.
I don’t think Aytigin is going to like how you’re ruining Gallis and Luana’s treasure. ”
Malle slowly turned to face Finley and Ai and tilted her head at an unnatural angle to look at them. She threw out her arms on either side and gold and jewels spread out around her in waves making one of the piles fall apart.
Ai tapped Finley on the shoulder and pointed to the scene. “She’s uncovering something.”
Sure enough, Mallewas. From the pile encased in a cloud of stardust floated the greatest treasure of all. A silver cup. Gallis’ Chalice. The artifact that could give and take life away, created by the goddess of restoration herself. And Finley’s salvation.
Finley and Ai crept out of their hiding space and took careful steps toward the Chalice. Finley’s hands shook and she had to steady her breathing. It was there. It really was there ready for her to take and use. She took in a deep breath.
“Are you crying?” Ai asked.
Finley blinked a few times and sure enough her eyes felt wet. “Don’t be stupid,” she answered and walked a couple steps ahead to hide the embarrassment.
“It’s okay if you are,” Ai continued and caught up to her. “If there ever was a moment to cry, I think this is it.”
“Not until it works.” Finley forced her body to move one last time and approached the Chalice and walked around it in a circle, still trying to convince herself this was real and not some cruel joke or dream.
“Once I don’t have to take twenty naps a day, then maybe I’ll allow you to see a glistening tear of joy. ”
Ai circled the Chalice with her then paused to find Malle. “Why are you helping us?”
Malle didn’t speak or respond and only stared at them as though they weren’t even there. Like they were as transparent as she was and there was something on the other side of them more interesting.
Finley stood in front of the shining silver Chalice and reached out to it, her hand passing through the stardust. The moment she did, a piercing pain as though she was on fire ran through her body and she screamed and pulled her hand back.
As soon as she did the pain vanished. She flung her head to the side toward Malle.
“What the fuck? You bring the Chalice out just so I can’t take it? What is wrong with you?”
Still emotionless, like the whole situation bored her, Malle floated over to them and extended her hands through the stardust. A tiny ripple went through her being, but she didn’t flinch or react. She grasped the Chalice and pulled it out of the cloud of stardust and handed it to Finley.
She clutched her hand close to her chest, unsure if she wanted to trust this spirit. How was she supposed to know it wouldn’t be painful again? But she hadn’t come this far to retreat because of a little pain. She’d been through worse.
Finley took the Chalice, its metal cool to the touch. The engravings seemed to glow in the light of the moon streaming through the windows. Her chest tightened and she had to focus to keep her breathing steady. This was real. After all this time she finally had the cure to this wretched curse.
At her side Ai sniffed. Now she was the one crying, and she dabbed at her eyes with the edge of her shirt sleeve. “It’s time Finley. You can finally be free.”
Finley took Ai’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “We can be free. You’ve been almost as trapped as me with this. Following me from place to place. It can all be in the past.”
“You would have done the same.”