Chapter 8 #3
“And the rest of the terms?” Portia said smugly. “Remind us of those, Master Vitra, please.”
Vitra exhaled through his nose, his expression flat, as if this whole thing was tedious. “A Mortem Finalem on the last surviving member of the bloodline, to be carried out if they have not procreated by the age of twenty-two.”
Mortem Finalem…final death… A chill swept up my spine. No, that couldn’t be right. I must be misunderstanding the term. “What does that mean? Mortem Finalem…what does it mean for me?”
“It means we can execute you,” Portia said, a small smug smile curling her lips. “You’re twenty-two in six months, and it’s impossible for you to birth a child before then, so…” She shrugged a slender shoulder, nonchalant, as if execution were an everyday, blasé topic.
I hope they execute you.
Polina had known about this. She’d bloody known.
“You can’t do that. You can’t just kill me.
” My breath came faster, panic swelling in my chest. How could I stop them?
I was powerless and at their mercy. “This was a trap. You brought me here under false pretenses. You were never going to let me stay, were you?” The pity on Walter’s face burned through me, and hot tears of rage pricked at my eyes.
“You make me sick. The lot of you, sitting up there on your platform as if you’re better than me. Fuck you. Fuck you all, and—”
My mouth snapped shut of its own volition, jaw tight as if someone were holding it closed. I tried to force it open but couldn’t.
What was this? What was happening to me?
The air buzzed, pressing down on me until my legs buckled.
I hit the ground on my knees, grabbing at my face, desperate to release myself from the invisible force gripping me.
Terror burgeoned inside me, growing larger and larger, a desperate scream battling to free itself from my throat, heat gathering behind my eyes with the force of an impending explosion.
Was this it? Was this my execution?
Was I dying right now?
Hard to tell without pain to guide me.
Vitra’s cool drawl penetrated the fog of horror clouding my mind. “I think you’ve made your point, Heidi.”
The bonds holding me captive evaporated. I fell forward, palms pressed to the cool ground, gasping for air as if it were nectar.
“Disrespect of your superiors will not be tolerated,” Heidi said coolly.
Primal instinct warned me to keep my mouth shut, that I wasn’t the one in control here.
But the words came anyway, because honestly, what did I have to lose at this point?
“I don’t see anything worthy of respect here.
Besides, you’re going to kill me anyway, right?
” I slowly pulled myself up. “It’s what your kind does.
Cut down anyone who challenges you.” I opened my arms, holding them out on either side.
“Get it over with then. I doubt it will be the first time you’ve murdered an innocent. ”
Portia snorted. “Innocent? I highly doubt it.”
“You know nothing about me, you stuck-up—”
A phantom hand wrapped around my throat, choking me until I couldn’t breathe. My eyes bugged and I reached for the Coterie, my desperate gaze locking on Vitra.
He sat forward, his eyes narrowing. “Portia…”
The pressure increased, bringing tears to my eyes.
“Let her go, Portia,” Vitra ordered, coming to my defense yet again.
The air spiked with an acrid stench, and the pressure vanished. I sucked in a greedy breath, swallowing hard past the lump in my throat.
Portia smirked and slowly blinked, and in that moment, I would have gladly committed murder with my bare hands.
“May I remind you all that nothing has been decided yet,” Walter said. The knot in my stomach eased a little. “Miss Onyx, do you require a moment? Water, maybe?”
A hatchet to bury in Portia’s head would be great, but I cleared the thought from my mind and shook my head.
“What do you mean, nothing has been decided?” Portia said. “The rules are clear.”
Walter opened his mouth to reply, but the big guy, Crax, beat him to it. “A Mortem Finalem can be overturned.” He sat forward in his seat, dark brows pinching into a frown. “Surely, we must look to the future. I, for one, do not want to be responsible for the loss of another bloodline.”
“You’re not seriously suggesting we disregard her crimes and admit her?” Portia countered.
“I wasn’t aware that Miss Onyx had committed a crime,” Vitra said smoothly.
I should keep my mouth shut. He seemed to be advocating for me, after all, but… “No Onyx aside from Dharma ever committed a crime, but that didn’t stop you from punishing us all. You not only blocked our power, you cursed us too.”
His eyes flinched. “The curse was an unfortunate side effect.”
“Unfortunate?” I was breathless with indignant rage, eyes hot with tears of frustration, which pissed me off because the last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of these fuckers.
I sucked in a breath and exhaled to calm myself.
“Yes, unfortunate.” I glared at them all, daring them to ask me about my curse so I could tell them where to shove it.
But there was silence. Heavy, guilty silence.
Good.
Vitra was the first to break it. “The punishment was warranted at the time. But time has passed, lives have been lost. Too many lives, and now I cannot help but wonder if the sentence was too harsh.”
The almond-eyed woman looked over at him in surprise, but if he sensed her regard, he didn’t show it.
Portia’s delicate nostrils flared. “I may be agreeable to overturning the Mortem Finalem, but I will not sanction the return of her power or admittance to this institution. She was on Nightsbridge soil for less than an hour and our tram was derailed. People could have been killed.”
“Yes, that was totally my fault. I planned the whole damn thing.”
Portia opened her mouth to respond, but Xander Crax beat her to it.
“There was no one else on the tram,” he said with a sigh edged in a growl.
Portia bristled with indignation. “No, which means she attracted the Horrors.”
This was such bullshit. “How? With what power? No, don’t tell me, they liked the scent of my perfume.”
“You insolent little—”
“Enough!” Vitra snapped. “Let’s stay on topic, shall we?”
He looked down the table at Walter. “We should put the decision to a vote, don’t you think?”
Walter Regent nodded. “Yes, indeed. I think we can all agree that the Mortem Finalem should be disregarded.”
Crax and Vitra nodded in agreement.
“Agreed,” Heidi said.
Selethis inclined her head, her expression unreadable.
Portia rolled her eyes. “Yes, yes, agreed.”
“Very well,” Walter said. “It’s unanimous.”
I sagged on my feet. The relief so acute it left me breathless.
“Now to the Tardus Mors,” Walter said. “Should we overturn it and allow Miss Onyx admission? Bear in mind that doing so will activate the Arcanum Lex decree, and we will be obligated to return her power to her.”
My gaze flitted to Vitra, finding him watching me with an intensity that made my breath stall. The contact was a zing that hit me in the solar plexus, but in the next blink and the heat was gone, leaving me wondering if I’d imagined it.
“All in favor say aye,” Walter said.
I resisted the urge to cross my fingers. I needed this. Desperately needed admission.
“Aye,” Crax said. “We could use all the Hunters we can get.”
“You know my answer,” Portia said with a sniff. “I want her gone. It’s a nay.”
“Vitra?” Walter prompted.
Vitra’s gaze alighted on me. Unreadable.
Unemotional. And if I hadn’t felt his heart beating against my back last night or felt his hot breath on my cheek, I’d have thought he was made of stone.
I held my breath. He seemed to have been advocating to let me live, but I couldn’t be sure where his vote would land when it came to letting me stay. I couldn’t read him.
“I vote aye,” he said finally, his tone flat, giving nothing away.
I exhaled sharply. That was two votes in favor of me staying and one against. I might win this.
Walter leaned forward to look down the table. “Constance?”
The almond-eyed woman, who’d remained mostly silent and watchful throughout the proceedings, showing neither support nor condemnation, now fixed her dark gaze on me. “I’m sorry, I must vote no.”
Who the Tarrifel was she? And was it my imagination, or did Vitra’s jaw tense up at her vote?
That was two votes to let me stay and two to send me home. Only Walter and Heidi remained.
The air crackled with tension, or maybe the tension was crackling inside of me, beneath the vise that was wrapped around my chest because there was nothing I could do to influence their decision.
I needed this to be over.
Heidi’s vote would be to get rid of me, that much I was sure of, so that left Walter. If he voted to let me stay, it would be a draw. Then what would happen? Maybe a draw meant I could stay? But Walter’s next words dashed my hopes.
“As the spokesman, I do not get a vote,” he said, “so the decision lies with you, Heidi.”
My heart sank. It was over. I was out.
“The balance of power is a delicate thing,” Heidi said.
“Each bloodline blessed by the Trinity of Weavers plays a part in that balance. The Arcanus are connected to the Weave by threads that we cannot possibly begin to understand. The loss of the Blackthorne bloodline sent a shockwave through the fabric of power, which took decades to stabilize.” She gave me a pointed look.
Seriously, was she about to give me a lecture now?
“Onyx may be blocked from the Weave, but they were never cut off entirely and still contribute to the balance in some way. I do not wish to see what happens if we lose this most tenuous connection.”
Wait… Wait a bloody second. Was she saying what I thought she was saying?
Portia huffed. “As much as I value your insight, Heidi, I don’t agree with it. The Weave is made of sturdier stuff than to be destabilized by the loss of a bloodline. If anything, it would leave more power for the rest of us.”
Portia Reign was a true bitch.
“What is your vote, Heidi?” Walter asked. “So that we are clear. Nay or aye?”
Yes, please, I needed her to be clear.
She fixed dark eyes filled with undecipherable emotions on me. “I vote we let her stay. I vote aye.”
Relief surged through me, leaving me dizzy.
Portia threw up her hands. “Well, in that case, you can mentor her when she’s unbound. I won’t have her in my tower.”
“Your tower?” Heidi arched a brow.
“You know what I mean,” Portia said. “She’s not welcome in East Trinity Tower with the sorcerers.”
“She can stay with the covens,” Heidi said. “Once she’s unbound. We can put her in an administrative position to protect the bloodline as per the Arcanum Lex.”
“Now wait a minute,” Portia said. “Surely returning her power is enough to meet the terms of the Lex. We are effectively giving her the means to protect herself. The rest should be up to her. If she is to be a student here, then she must be treated like everyone else.”
The other Coterie members made sounds of agreement.
It was fine. I’d handle whatever was thrown at me, and I’d survive it. Portia wouldn’t be getting rid of me so easily.
I understood why she didn’t want me around, though. I was a reminder of what she obviously believed to be a lapse in her brother’s judgment. I was certain all the Reigns hated me. All except maybe one—my stepbrother Kian.
Portia not wanting me around made perfect sense to me, but why did Heidi Embercrest agree to host me?
Incantors generally had very little love for sorcerers.
They hated that we could tap into the Weave without having to use spells or potions.
That the Weave ran through us, amplified simply by a focus object.
To them, it probably sounded like anarchy.
But my bloodline of sorcerer was an anathema.
There were enough incantors in our family tree to have given us the ability to wield both kinds of magic.
It made us an outlier, unpredictable but powerful.
Maybe she was looking to take me under her wing and use me somehow? Whatever the reason, if it kept the others off my back so that I could focus on my real purpose of finding the Libra Veritas, then I was good with faking being grateful to her.
Shit. Walter was talking. Focus, Anamaya.
“…Bramble under Vitra’s mentorship until your power has been unbound,” he said. “Heidi, can you explain what will happen next?”
“Of course.” Heidi inclined her head toward him before focusing her attention on me.
“The spell that blocks your access to the Weave is powerful and will need to be removed in stages. You’ll see the Weave Watchers tomorrow, and they’ll determine how best to unravel it.
” She smiled kindly. “We’ll take it from there. Any questions?”
The way Dori had described her, I’d expected her to be a total harridan. But she wasn’t. Not to me. Which meant she definitely wanted something. I could work with that. “I do have a question. How will you punish the Border House radio operator who almost got me killed?”
The silence that followed was pregnant with expectation.
Portia was the first to break it. “I hardly think that’s any of your concern.”
I glared at her, choice words springing to my lips, but Heidi’s warning earlier about respect helped me shape my response. “With all due respect, I wasn’t speaking to you.”
Beside her, Heidi bit back a smile. “The incantor responsible has been stripped of his position in the Border House and relegated to Domestic duty for the rest of the year.”
Domestic duty? Seriously? “That’s it? That’s the punishment for attempted murder?”
Her gaze hardened. “You can trust that Domestic duty for a year is a fitting punishment for a Raichand.”
Raichand were one of the highest classes of incantors and part of Embercrest Coven. To relegate him to domestic work was probably worse than making him Unwoven for a month or two.
I dropped my shoulders, conceding. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
“We take transgressions seriously here, Miss Onyx, no matter the bloodline.”
Walter cleared his throat to get our attention. “If that is all, let me make it official.” He fixed a stern gaze on me. “Anamaya Onyx, welcome to Nightsbridge.”