Chapter 25 #2
Before she could squeeze in a snarky remark, I corrected myself. “Tell me why you can’t tell anyone. And tell me why Beaumont is creating those creatures.”
“I made a blood bond with Cicily Hawthorne when we were young. A bond to protect him when I could.” She pointed at Sebastian.
“Since he would someday reside in Lumosia, I have been physically unable to say to anyone where this land is. In addition, unfortunately protecting him now also means protecting you at times. He would die for you without hesitation, and if I give up this location, that very well could be how he meets his demise and that could be considered breaking my bond. I explained this to Cyprian before I entered Lumosia, and he agreed to never ask or try to follow me here. If he were to find Lumosia once the wards fell, he would need to do so on his own. Lucky for me, I found some loopholes in the curse, which is why I don’t live my entire life practically a stalker to Sebastian.
But if put in a clear position where he could be harmed, I have no choice but to intervene or in the case of this land, keep quiet.
And in regard to your other question, my love is going to use his children to help him claim the empire, and destroy you all if needed. ”
“So you’ve just been doing all his dirty work for him.” Sawyer's pitch raised with his words as he seemed to be confused on whether they were a question or statement.
“How does that not upset the balance of life and death?” Sebastian whispered over my shoulder, and I repeated the words to Venay as a compulsion.
“Oh sweet boy.” Venay grinned. “It did. The thing is, I didn't care, and neither did Cicily.
Ensuring someone lived to protect her boy was more than enough motivation for her to go through with the bond.
I wouldn't be surprised if she never even made it to the veil with what she did. I bet her soul still wanders this planet, lost.”
The sound of Sebastian’s harsh inhale made my heart break, but I pressed on. “Tell me why you helped us find the journal.”
Venay raised two spindly fingers. “The blood bond—there was information that would have helped you get Sebastian out of Draemor’s dungeon, so when you asked after we had exceeded all other options, I couldn’t say no.”
“Then why didn’t you intervene when you knew Beaumont had captured him? Why did you wait until I practically begged for a way to help him?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t know he was captured—not until I returned from Caelestis and you told me.
And at that point, naivety was my best option.
Cyprian didn’t overshare when it came to Sebastian’s situation because what I did not know could not affect the bond.
A blood bond is very specific in its means of fulfillment and it can be fickle.
I feel a pull in the bond when it must be managed, and I felt that drag when you were so insistent about the journal. ”
“So you helped us with a dark magic ritual that was entirely unnecessary?”
“Yes.” She shrugged.
“Tell me if you wrote any of the information down before wiping the journal,” I asked before my annoyance could make an appearance.
“Yes.”
“Where are your notes?”
Venay chuckled, and it was then that I realized my mistake.
Two of my fingers inadvertently found the chain around my neck and began rubbing the metal between them.
“Where do you think?” She let out a horrific cackle. “He’ll use you first. He needs you, but not forever,” Venay purred—uncoerced—no doubt in connection to my silence.
Kade tore the door back open. “Time to finish up. Give her the memory eraser and let’s go!”
“I need more time,” I begged, but knew there was none. The urgency in Kade’s voice was a warning not to test our luck.
Sawyer fiddled around in his pocket, pulling out a small bottle of yellow, curdled liquid.
I took a step back, giving myself a moment to process all of the information that was forced upon us.
Sebastian took residence by my side. “You did good. We can always do this again and get more information out of her.”
Sawyer moved to the front of Venay, using his free hand to pull her jaw apart. “Open up, bitch,” he snarled, dumping the contents down her throat and then holding her mouth shut so she couldn’t spit it out.
I watched her throat move as Venay swallowed, then she instantly started to cough—choke, rather. Her face turned even paler than her normal tone, before deepening to a shade of blue.
“Um. Guys? Is that supposed to happen?” I spluttered, taking a step away as Venay tossed her neck back and forth and began to foam at the mouth.
She wasn’t breathing…
“Huh…That's not what happened when she gave it to Kohen,” Sawyer realized. He passed the empty vial between his hands.
Venay's head shook vigorously, drool splattering onto the floor. She tried to stand up, but with her hands and ankles still tied to the chair, all she did was scrape the seat back.
“Give me that bottle,” Sebastian demanded from Sawyer, outstretching his hand.
I watched in utter shock. No, no, no. This was not how this was supposed to go. I wanted to do something, but I was frozen in place.
Venay’s eyes turned dark as blood began to drip out of them like tears. She wailed, trying to speak until Sawyer shoved a rag in her mouth, silencing her to any wandering ears.
“Are you sure that was the right vial?” I asked Sawyer, my eyes and lips wide with terror.
“I swear that was the one she used for Kohen.” He ran his hands through his hair, roughing it up with his stress.
Sebastian started digging through the cabinet of herbs and medicines. He pulled out two other bottles that held a yellow liquid. “It could have been one of these. I think we gave her the wrong one.”
Our heads shot towards the door as it burst open, sending my flight-or-fight response into overdrive.
“What’s the hold up?” Kade hissed, then his golden eyes bulged. “What in the gods' names did you do to her?” His tone changed as he yelled in a whisper. “Did you poison her?”
“Seems like it,” Sawyer said nonchalantly with a shrug.
“Fucking gods,” Kade muttered, moving towards Venay and untying her wrists.
She gripped her lanky fingers around his wrist, staring into his eyes with a look of pure agony and terror. Soon enough, her grip went slack as her chest stopped rising with her breaths. Her head rolled to the side, landing loose atop her pale boney shoulder.
My hand met my mouth with a gasp, the pure shock setting in.
The three men in the room seemed completely unfazed. They just stared at her lifeless body for a second before getting right to work, cleaning up the mess we’d made. Sawyer worked to untie her from the chair while Sebastian began wiping the blood from the floor.
Though my feet were glued to the ground, my legs chattered so fast that I had to fight to stay standing.
My breathing hitched, snagged on the shock factor of what happened. Slapping a hand to my chest, I began to fiddle with my necklace again, using the cool chain to self-soothe.
Sebastian did a double glance at me, no doubt recognizing that I was possibly about to lose control. “Go back to the common room and wait. We got this.”
I didn’t argue.
I sprinted down and out of the infirmary ward, past Pia and Kohen, not stopping until I was back in the common room, immediately pacing around the space in angst.
Venay was dead.
Dead.
We fucking killed her.
How was I going to explain that to Archer?
My breathing quickened into shallow, deprecating inhales. I clutched my chest, focusing extra hard to draw air into my seized lungs.
Sure, we got some of the information we’d been needing, but now our only resource was dead. The only person besides Beaumont who knew what was in Cicily's journal—gone.
Pia and Kohen barged into the common room without warning, slamming the door behind them.
“What happened? Why’d you run out of there like that?” Pia panted. It was obvious the two of them ran back here as well.
“We—We—Venay—She’s…dead.” My words came out scattered through my hyperventilation. I grabbed at my scalp, fisting my hair in my hands as I fell cross-legged on the floor.
“Dead?” Kohen repeated. “You guys killed her?”
“No. Well, yes. But not on purpose,” I sputtered while roaming over all of the panicked thoughts consuming me.
How would I explain this to Archer? Oh hey, Dad, by the way, your wife was cheating on you with Cyprian fucking Beaumont, while plotting against us and Lumosia. Oh, also, she’s dead. Sorry.
Either Pia or Kohen spoke to me, but I couldn’t tell who or what they were saying. We were so screwed. So unbelievably screwed.
Slumped in front of the fireplace I rubbed my hands over my face, trying to figure out a plan for what to do now. My back burned from the flame, but I couldn't move.
Minutes passed, then without warning, Sebastian was crouched in front of me, his presence pulling me back to reality. “Are you okay?” He put a hand on my knee.
Before I could respond, my eyes rose towards the commotion at the entryway.
“Did you do that on purpose?” Kade shoved Sawyer into the common room before slamming the door behind them.
Sawyer furrowed his eyebrows. I knew he wanted to, but he refrained from pushing back. “No. But after hearing what she said, I saved us all some time. We would have killed her anyway.”
“We could have gotten more information out of her first.” Kade’s fists clenched by his sides as he sucked in a deep breath, likely to keep himself from losing his shit.
“Can someone tell me what's going on?” Kohen stepped between them. “Maeve’s been pretty much nonverbal since she got here. What went down back there?”
Sebastian pulled me to my feet, directing me to the sofa where he sat beside me. “Sawyer grabbed the wrong vial.”
“It seems that I poisoned the bitch.” Sawyer performed an open-palmed shrug. “She deserved it, though. She was working with Beaumont, just like we suspected.”
“She wiped the journal,” Sebastian added. His hand still lingered on top of mine, his thumb gently rubbing my knuckle. “Which really fucking sucks because apparently it had information about Beaumont’s creatures in there.”
“What kind of information?” Pia asked.
“I guess my mother saw how to make them. Venay was unenchanting the journal for Beaumont to read. It seems that she copied some down before she wiped it, though.”
Pia put her hands on her hips, tapping her heel on the floor. “That doesn’t make sense, though. Why would she help us find it if she didn’t want us to see what was written? She could have just lied and never even mentioned it.”
“She made a blood bond with Seb’s mom.” Sawyer took a seat, kicking his boots off.
“There was information about helping him in there, and since Seb was in danger, she would have broken the bond by not helping us find it. But since we saved Seb and found the journal at the same time, she was able to wipe it when we brought it to her.”
“But wouldn't that break the whole keeping Seb safe thing?” Kohen asked. “Her unenchanting the journal to share its contents with Beaumont?”
“Apparently not,” Sebastian answered. “I personally must not have been in immediate danger from him knowing what it says.”
“She really did not want us to see whatever was in that book,” Pia said under her breath. “Damn. It must have been good.”
“Well we got some of it out of her,” Kade replied, then told her and Kohen what we learned.
I stayed silent for the entire conversation until a thought struck me. I turned to Sebastian, whose hand was still in mine. “What did you do with her?”
He shuffled uncomfortably, looking towards Sawyer and Kade. The three of them shared a knowing look.
“We staged her death. When Archer finds her, he’ll think she just died,” Sawyer answered for Sebastian, his eyes settling briefly on my hand placement.
I didn’t ask any follow up questions. The less I knew, the better.
Sawyer looked at Pia. “Remember when we were questioning what a wrong reason for using dark magic would be in the eyes of the gods?”
She nodded.
“I’m gonna go out on a hunch and say that un-enchanting Cicily’s journal to show Beaumont and then destroying it before its rightful owner could read it are on the list of wrong reasons. That bitch ain't going into the damn veil,” Sawyer sassed.
“What do you think happens if you break a blood bond?” Pia raised a brow.
“I don’t think you physically can. But if you somehow found a way to, I imagine the consequences would be detrimental,” Kade answered.
“So, where does this leave us on the list now?” Kohen questioned.
“We can scratch off the journal because it's gone. Scratch off Venay because she’s gone. That leaves the creatures, Beaumont, and Maeve's power,” Kohen answered, and thank the gods he did, because the rest of us seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
“Just to clarify, Beaumont doesn’t know about Lumosia?” Pia asked. And when Kade confirmed, she added, “Then I say let's take some time to relax. It’s been a crazy few weeks, and the immediate threat is gone for the time being. Can’t we just have a week or so of normal?”
I couldn’t hide my scoff. Nothing was ever normal anymore.
“We tried that already. Remember?” Sawyer reminded her.
“Well let’s try again,” she snipped. “I’m tired.”
“Tired? You haven’t gone to Draemor once!” Sawyer defended his case.
“Watch it,” Kohen cautioned.
Without putting up an argument, I agreed that some time off was much needed. I had a lot to work through in my own head, especially with the two men whose eyes were settled upon me.