Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
“You’d think after not knowing your daughters for essentially their entire lives, you’d start the relationship off with a little bit of honesty,” I snarled, twisting my hair into a braid.
“I definitely kind of thought there was something going on between them, but I wasn’t thinking that something was marriage,” Delani said, passing me a hair tie. I just finished filling her in on the details of our meeting, and she was equally as surprised as the rest of us.
“Okay, I grabbed everything I could find that had information about enchanters and Eloise.” Pia barged into my room, her arms full of books which she tossed on the rug in the middle of the floor. “I hate that I have the same jewel as that slimy bitch,” she spat, dropping crossed-legged on the rug.
“I hate that I don’t even have a jewel,” Delani retorted.
“We can ship you off to Draemor and have Beaumont turn you into one of his mutant children,” I teased, and the suggestion made her drop the idea.
The sunlight drifted into my room through the open window, along with a gentle breeze that blew the curtains. We each selected a book, scanning over every detail to find anything that might explain what Venay did to the journal and how she did it.
After what was at least an hour of quiet, I could feel the tension in the room rising, and knowing Pia, she was about to—
“So, Maeve,” Pia began, and I raised my skeptical eyes over my book.
“Pia?”
“What’s going on with you?” She flipped a page of her book on healing tactics.
“What do you mean?”
“I think she's referring to your birthday party meltdown,” Delani clarified. She closed her current read, replacing it for a thickly binded book on spells.
“I didn’t have a meltdown,” I corrected. At least not in front of them.
“Yeah, right,” Delani scoffed. “You stormed off with a bottle of whiskey. I can only imagine what happened when you got back to your room.”
My eyes bulged. “What? Nothing happened in my room,” I stuttered frantically.
“And how weird you were acting the next morning,” Pia added.
“I wasn’t acting weird,” I insisted, though if you knew me at all, you could hear the lie in my tone.
“Oh please. You were all sullen and saying how you did something bad,” Pia mocked.
I shuffled on the ground uncomfortably. “Oh. That.”
“Yeah. That,” Pia imitated.
I cleared my throat and flipped the page of my reading material. “It’s nothing. I don’t want to talk about it.”
I didn’t want to keep things from them, but how the hell was I supposed to just admit that I hardcore made-out with freaking Sawyer?
Pia raised a hand to her pink lips. “Oh my gods. Did you and Seb…you know?”
“Pft. I wish.”
My own hand located my mouth.
Pia’s grin threatened to tear into her cheeks. “I knew you two would make up.”
Brushing her off, I reached for a leather-bound silver book. There was no title on the cover, but when I brushed the dust away from the title page, my jaw drew taut.
The Shadows and Strategies of Forbidden Forces.
My voice quivered. “Guys. Look at this.”
Delani and Pia huddled by my sides, their hair sagging onto my shoulders as they examined the text.
“Where did you find this one?” Delani questioned Pia, slipping her pointed nail behind the title page and flipping to chapter one.
“This one was in the mending quarters. I remember passing a small bookcase when I was going back and forth to see Kohen. Honestly, I just grabbed it because I liked the glittery cover, but I’m glad I did.
“Chapter one,” I read aloud before my words lost me.
“The extent of what some would call, dark magic,” Pia breathed, her voice dropping with each word.
“Teleportation. Manipulation of god-given magic without bearing the gift. Tracing rituals—I’m guessing that's what Venay did for Kohen?” Delani paused to shudder. “Love, torture, and other curses. Death potions. Soul brutalization beyond the veil. Damn, this shit is dark.”
The rest of the chapter went on to thoroughly explain the basics of what can be accomplished using the unholy form of magic, while the following chapters went into further detail—written spells, potions, maneuvers, blood bonds, and more.
When we all felt intensively nauseous, I slammed the book, inhaling the dust particles of dead infirmary patients with my next breath.
“You said this was in the mending ward? Right?” I raised a brow to Pia, who nodded.
“And Venay is essentially the one in charge of the infirmary,” I voiced the epiphany, though they were no doubt thinking the same that I was.
This book was hers, and it confirmed that she wasn’t who we thought she was.
We hadn’t found anything useful in any of the other books. After sharing the grimoire with the others, Sawyer took a surprising interest in the book and declared he would do the honors of reading it front to back in the hopes he’d discover something helpful.
We agreed that we were down to using any other resources we could find, which meant I needed to speak with my father.
I found his office through the twists and turns of the palace. The paneled door was cracked open, but I knocked upon the birchwood anyway, waiting for his disgruntled approval before entering.
His cheeks rounded with his smile when he saw me, his hazel eyes that mimicked mine lighting up the entirety of his face. “Maeve! Good morning.”
I smiled back, letting my body go limp in a chair in the corner of the room. For hardly knowing the man, I felt oddly comfortable around him, hence why I held no fear in regard to jumping right into things. “Can I talk to you about something without it going anywhere? Father to daughter?”
Archer dropped his quill, the spare ink splattering on whatever he was writing. “Is everything okay?”
I shrugged one shoulder. “Yes. No. Not really.”
“What's going on?” His expression turned all too serious as he settled his undivided attention upon me.
“Venay,” I began, dropping my gaze to my lap for a moment. “You never mentioned you were married.”
“Ah.” He folded his hands on top of his desk, glancing down at them. “Listen, I should have. But when you mentioned that your mother never dated anyone—”
I cut him off. “No. No. That's not what I’m getting at.” I didn’t need his explanation for why he didn't tell me. At this point, I was getting used to the idea of not being told things. Maybe I’d enjoy life a bit more if people kept leaving me in the dark.
“How well do you know her?” I questioned him.
Archer chuckled. “Well, she is my partner. So I know her quite well.”
“Okay. But like, how much do you really know about her?”
He leaned forward over the desk, dropping the tone of his voice into suspicion. “Maeve? What exactly are you asking me?”
I sighed, fidgeting with my thumbs as I raised my attention up. Maybe I wasn’t so comfortable after all. “How long have you known her?”
“Oh gods, I don’t know. Six years at least.”
“She’s lived here that long? Where did she come from?”
“She was born in Caelestis, but has traveled the continent most of her life. She spent a lot of time exploring the unclaimed land east of Caelestis. When I brought her here, it was after I met her during one of my own travels.”
“And you two have been together for how long?”
My father arched an eyebrow. “Maeve…Spit it out.”
I pushed up to a stand. “We think she might be working with Beaumont.”
Shaking his head in denial, Archer growled out a shocked and raspy, “What?”
“She was one of the only people who knew that Cicily's journal existed, and by some of the things she said, she had an idea about what was written in it, too. And come to find out, the journal ended up in Draemor. How would it have gotten in Beaumont’s hands without someone who knew what it was bringing it there?”
Archer opened his mouth to speak, but I continued my explanation.
“She enchanted the journal for Cicily, and when we brought it back to Lumosia, she offered to undo it for us. Then when we finally go to read it, the entire thing is blank.” I began pacing through the study.
“The thing that doesn’t make sense is why she helped us locate the journal if she already knew where it was.
That part I can’t figure out. Why bother with putting Kohen through hell if she already knew the answer? ”
“She helped you locate it because she wanted to help you save Sebastian," Archer growled. “The accusations you are making are asinine.” His fist slammed down on the desk.
“Are they, though? Has Venay ever traveled outside of Lumosia besides when we had her tour Caelestis? Has she ever just disappeared then returned days later?”
Archer didn’t respond. He fell back into his seat, dropping his head into his hands.
I gave him a moment to process while I ran through my own memories. When Venay offered to help us find the journal, Archer had been hesitant. Was he in on this?
“Why were you so reluctant when she offered to perform the ritual?” I spat out without really processing what I was implying.
Archer leisurely lifted his gaze, his jaw tightly clenched.
“Accusing my wife is one thing, but accusing your own father is another.” He closed his eyes to draw in a calming breath.
“I was reluctant because performing the dark magic that she did to help you is frowned upon in the eyes of the gods. It is unnatural and, if done incorrectly, can affect the balance that the gods work so hard to keep.”
Solid explanation, but I was still skeptical.
“I can assure you that Venay is not the one you are looking for. Now, I won’t tell her about this, but I expect you to drop it.” His eyes narrowed on me, and I got a taste of what I looked like when I gave someone my own deathly glare.
I nodded, letting him think I’d let this go. But I knew for certain that Venay was no longer allowed to attend our meetings. Not unless we could clear her name.
Kade paced the common room, rubbing a finger along the bridge of his nose. His frustration was clear, and I couldn’t blame him. We’d been going back and forth for over an hour, trying to figure out a way to prove or disprove our claim about Venay.
“Let’s lock her up and have Maeve use her mind compulsion on her,” Sawyer suggested as a last resort.
“That wouldn’t go over well with our father,” Delani shot his idea down.
“Who cares? For all we know, he’s in on this, too,” Sawyer supplied.
“He’s not in on it,” I plainly stated. That much I was sure of. I trusted that he was being honest about what he knew. I mean, the man faked his death to rule a kingdom that was created with the sole purpose of keeping his daughter safe, so I really didn’t think he’d do anything to jeopardize that.
“This meeting is going nowhere,” Kade groaned, finally sitting down on the sofa.
“I think we need to list everything that's going on, and prioritize. See what we need to handle first and what can wait,” Pia supplied, and we all agreed.
“Killing Beaumont is first on the list,” Sawyer said.
“No. Figuring out what those creatures are should be first,” Leighton piped in.
She’d proven that we could trust her when she told us about the damn things, so we’d been letting her into our group from time to time.
“If they are half as dangerous as they look, they could give us a hell of a time when we do try to kill him.”
“Agreed,” Kade said. “After that, Beaumont. And figuring out why Maeve gets all glowy when she wields can wait. It doesn’t seem to be affecting her negatively, and the fact that she has even a little bit of control now is a bonus.”
I scrunched my nose at his back-handed compliment. “Where does that leave the Venay and the journal issue?” I asked.
“Chances are that there was writing in that journal. Right?” Kohen added. “If we can find out what was in it, it could hold the answers to all of the other matters at hand. So I say that comes first.”
We pondered, and came to the consensus that his idea made the most sense.
“Okay, so journal, creatures, Beaumont slash Venay, then last but not least, Maeve's new glow,” Sawyer listed off on his fingers, then turned towards Sebastian. “Seb, anything to add?”
Sebastian held the blank journal in his palms. He shook his head. “The order sounds fine. But in regard to Venay, I’m leaning towards Sawyer’s idea.”
Sawyer looked stunned. “Seriously? That's a first.”
“We can drug her with magic suppressant. I saw a vial of it when I was in the infirmary. Then when Maeve’s finished interrogating her, she can either compel her into secrecy, or we can use the stuff Venay used to make Kohen forget the ritual. It will be like it never happened, for her at least.”
“There's the Sebastian I know and love.” Sawyer pulled him up from his chair and into a death grip of a hug. Which would have been normal, but considering the secret that lingered between him and I, the embrace appeared to be an awkward attempt at an unspoken apology.
Sebastian palmed his chest, shoving him away. “Come on, man.”
“So are we bumping Venay up on the list?” Pia questioned, her eyebrows arched over the piece of parchment she scribed on.
“Fuck yeah, we are!” Sawyer cheered. “Tell me where the vial is and I’ll get it right now.”
“Hold on.” Kade stood up. “There are so many ways that this could go wrong. How do you plan on locking her up, and where? And how will we distract Archer?”
Delani raised a hand. “Leighton and I will take care of Archer. He’s been showing us a bit about gardening. I’m sure we can keep him busy with that for an hour or so.”
“Fine. And Venay?” Kade reiterated.
“I’ll fake an injury or tell her I haven’t been feeling well. She’ll take me to the infirmary ward, then we can jump her,” I offered.
Kade shook his head. “She’s smarter than that. It has to seem real. Better yet, it should be real.”
“Alright,” I shrugged, pulling my dagger free from its usual place against my thigh and pointing the tip at my wrist.
Sebastian shot out of his seat, tearing the dagger from my hands in one swift motion.
“Fucking gods, Maeve, slow down.” He flipped the dagger between his fingers.
“I’ll handle Venay. I’m still not back to one-hundred percent, so she’ll believe me when I tell her that my ankle is still bothering me. ”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is it?” Come to think of it, he had still been limping a tad.
He ignored me, tucking my blade into his back pocket.
“We should execute this tomorrow morning. You can get the magic suppressant tonight during dinner,” Kade advised, looking at Sawyer. “If you can find the memory-eraser, grab it. If not, we’ll take route two. Everyone on the same page?”
When we all voiced our approval, Kade yanked out the doors to the common room, throwing himself out as if he couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
“Is he always that grumpy?” Leighton asked, angling her thumb at the door.
We all said yes, at the same time.