Chapter 6
The City
The city was bustling with activity. Evelyn, Leo, and Damien passed shops, restaurants, and street vendors absolutely brimming with magic…
that Evelyn couldn’t see. One merchant had an empty table, even though they were clearly trying to sell something.
A crowded restaurant didn’t have any aromas wafting out the door, like they weren’t cooking food at all.
Several children were chasing after something invisible in the air.
Is this entire kingdom built on illusions? What am I supposed to do in Gryon if I can’t sense any of their magic?
They walked to a small café. Evelyn and Leo sat down at a table in the corner. Damien went to the counter to order for them, which looked a lot like flirting with the curvy woman at the register.
“Do you come to Pointe-Rosemère a lot?” Evelyn asked Leo.
“I try to. The palace isn’t very exciting.”
“It’s beautiful, though.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you think so.”
“Have you ever been to Carrowmore?”
“No, I haven’t. How does it compare to here?”
“They’re complete opposites,” Evelyn explained. “I grew up in Carrowmore, so the darkness and the cold there feel like home to me. But I love the warm ocean here, too.”
“Is that all you like about this kingdom?”
“Of course not! Everything here is wonderful. At least, everything I can see is wonderful.”
Damien made it to the table with sandwiches, fruit, and a pitcher of iced pink liquid.
Evelyn examined the plate of fruit. “The peaches are rotten.”
The men stared at the peaches, unable to see what Evelyn saw.
At least they believe me.
She waved her hand, burning the peaches to ash.
“Let’s not get ourselves kicked out of here,” Leo warned.
“Let the woman burn what she wants,” Damien said.
Evelyn took a sandwich but noticed Damien watching her. “Can I help you?”
He eyed her curly red hair. “You look familiar. But I don’t know why.”
“Have you ever been to Carrowmore?”
“No.” Damien frowned. “It’s like you remind me of someone. It’s going to bother me until I figure it out.”
Evelyn wanted to explore more after lunch. Damien and Leo gave her a proper tour of the city, though they could actually agree on very little.
“This is where a witch used to live,” Damien told her.
“She wasn’t a witch. She was a hag,” Leo countered.
“They’re the same thing!”
“No, they’re not. Hags are fae, and witches are human.”
“But they both use magic.”
“Yes, but their magic comes from different sources.”
“So, what, are you supposed to raise your hand and ask about the source of their power before they attack you?”
“I think you can assume that hags are in fae territory and witches are in human territory.”
“But it was a witch who used to live here.”
“She wasn’t a witch. She was a hag.”
They were nearing the far edge of Pointe-Rosemère, where the streets were quieter. Perfect for a witch or a hag.
“What about a crone?”
“A crone can be a witch or a hag. Or she may not have magic at all.”
“If she doesn’t have magic, she’s just a cranky old woman. Why the title, then?”
“Plot devices need names.”
Evelyn was only half listening, walking slightly behind the men.
There must be something here I can actually see. It can’t all be illusions.
A doorway caught her eye. The place used to be a shop, but now the windows were boarded up. The front door was covered in peeling brown paint. But something dark and wet had been spread over it in a large X.
That’s not… blood… is it?
Leo realized Evelyn wasn’t with them. He and Damien looped back around to her.
“Everything okay?” Leo asked, placing a hand lightly on her shoulder.
Evelyn approached the door, stopping a few feet in front of the shop. Her heart pounded in her chest.
That’s definitely blood.
Leo and Damien stood next to her. They followed her gaze, but it was clear they didn’t see anything wrong.
“I don’t think this place has been open for a while,” Damien noted.
“Evelyn,” Leo asked again. “What are you looking at?”
“Blood,” she whispered.
Damien jumped to attention. “Where?”
“On the door.” Evelyn used her magic to create an identical X design in the air made of flames instead of blood. “It’s like this, but definitely blood. It’s still wet.”
“What do you want to do, Leo?” Damien asked.
“We need to check what’s inside,” Leo replied.
Damien groaned but used a bit of lesser magic to unlock the door and swing it open. They couldn’t immediately see anything. Evelyn conjured several small balls of flame and shooed them through the door to light the room.
“Wait here,” Leo told her.
“No!”
“Evelyn—”
“I found this place. You can’t even see the blood on the door. What if you can’t see anything wrong inside and I can?”
“She has a point,” Damien added.
Leo rubbed his temples. “Can I at least walk in first? So if something tries to jump out at us, you aren’t in front?”
Oh. I was so focused on the blood that I didn’t consider how dangerous the other side of the door may be.
“That’s fine.”
“Thank you,” Leo said. “Stay with her,” he told Damien.
Leo cautiously stepped across the threshold, Damien and Evelyn following behind him. The shop was silent and full of stale air, emptied of its merchandise and furniture. Except…
“Holy shit,” Evelyn whispered.
Damien froze. Leo coughed and turned away, like he was about to vomit.
In the middle of the room sat four wooden chairs in a row, with a person seated in each one. Lengths of rope bound their torsos to the back of their chair and their forearms to the armrests. Every one of them was covered in blood and very, very dead.
The first fae was missing her eyes. She wore a tunic like Damien’s, but hers had blue thread on the sleeves and the symbol of an eye embroidered on the chest.
The second fae was missing his nose, like a beast had bitten it off. His tunic had red thread with a rose embroidered on it.
The third fae was missing his ears. His shirt was identical to Damien’s, with gold thread and a music note.
The fourth fae was missing her tongue. The whole thing had been ripped out, not cut. She had green thread on her sleeves and an apple embroidered.
All of their hands had been cut off at the wrist.
The missing eyes, nose, ears, tongue, and hands were nowhere to be seen.
“What the actual fuck?” Damien started to pace. “These are the godsdamned missing soldiers, Leo! Cyrille, Armel, Enéas, and Salomé! Why the fuck are they here?”
The balls of flame continued circling the room, and Evelyn spotted something else. There were words on the wall behind the dead soldiers. Words written in blood.
No, gods, not more blood.
“Leo?” Evelyn said shakily.
He moved to her side. “What is it?”
“Can you see that?” Evelyn pointed to the back wall.
Leo glanced around helplessly. “No. What do you see?”
“Someone used blood to write on the wall.”
She had Damien’s attention now, too. He stopped pacing to listen to her.
“What does it say?” Leo asked, sounding like he really, really did not want to hear the answer.
Evelyn hesitated, trying to breathe normally as panic rose in her chest.
“Evelyn,” Damien tried, his voice gentle. “What are the words on the wall?”
She clenched her fists, causing her nails to dig into her skin.
“It says… Kennedy was only the beginning.”
Leo’s eyes went out of focus, and Damien pushed out a breath.
“Does that mean the person who killed King Nolan and the Kennedy family killed these soldiers?” Evelyn asked.
Neither of the men responded.
“Is my family in danger?” Evelyn cried. “We took over for the Kennedys. Is my father safe? My brother is at the castle—”
“We will keep you all safe,” Leo promised. “It will be okay.”
Evelyn nodded, forcing herself to believe him.
“Take her back to the palace,” Leo directed Damien. “Find the kings and give them a report. Just leave me out of it.”
“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” Damien argued.
“Why?” Evelyn asked.
Leo turned to Evelyn first. “I’m supposed to be working. I shouldn’t have left the palace today.”
Facing Damien, Leo added, “The princess requested a tour of the city, and you escorted her. That’s all. Then she saw past an illusion, and you found this place. Understand?”
“Yes,” Damien agreed through gritted teeth.
“Get her out of here. I’ll send up a signal to get more soldiers to guard the door, then track down a Spell Breaker.”
“I should stay,” Evelyn insisted. “I can help!”
Leo took her hands in his. “You already helped us, Princess. There is nothing else you can do right now. Damien is going to take you to the palace so I know you’re safe. Okay?”
“But I—” Evelyn sighed. “Sure, okay.”
Damien pulled her outside. “We need to go now.”