56. Vera
Vera
We rushed through the palace and back to our wing. The earthquake had subsided, but small tremors still wracked the ground, enough to set me on edge as we made our way through the halls. I was surprised by how empty it was—I expected the staff to be clamoring around, but nobody was there.
We passed a pair of double doors leading to a courtyard near our rooms, and I came to a halt.
The sky outside was no longer black. My lips parted as I stepped closer to the glass door.
It was as if the sky was shimmering. Blue, green, yellow, color after color streaking across the blackness in glittering rays.
Without thinking twice, I yanked the doors open and rushed down the marble steps.
“Where are you going?” Everett called after me.
“Don’t you see this?” I waved above my head.
“See what?”
Another quake rattled the earth, so strong I nearly lost my balance, and the colorful heavens above shattered like glass.
I stumbled to the ground, shifting my phoenix wings to steady me. Their bright orange glow shed light on cracks spiderwebbing through the earth. The fountain in the center of the courtyard fractured up the middle, spraying water everywhere.
Everett called for me again, but I barely heard him. A strange draft blew through the night. The hair on my arms rose as something in the air shifted, a heavy presence pressing in on my skin. I instinctively summoned my lightning sword, slowly raising it in the air.
A low chuckle swept past me. “Put your sword away, demithe,” a deep, feminine voice sneered. “You will have no use for that here.”
I whipped the blade around as I twirled, but nobody was there. Just a few stone statues that had fallen in the earthquake. “Show yourself,” I demanded.
Everett moved to my right. “There’s nobody here, Vera. What’s going on?” He sounded confused. He must not have heard the voice.
The wind rustled, and a different voice echoed from right beside him, ruffling the ends of his shirt. “Hmm, and who is this delightful treat?”
“Stay away from him!” I shouted, sending a stream of shadows to push him out of the way. He appeared caught off guard and struggled against my magic with wide eyes.
“As arrogant as the rest, I see,” a third voice said, “to think you can threaten us.”
A giggle vibrated through the courtyard. “Oh, I don’t know,” the more high-pitched one from before said. “It might be fun to see her try.”
I spun again, searching the darkness for hidden figures. “Arcadia?” I called out. “Maeve?”
The earth pulsed, and even though I couldn’t see anything, I sensed heated waves of anger rolling across the space.
“You dare liken us to those insolent imposters?” all three voices boomed together, making the ancient magic in my veins stir.
My hair blew backward from the force, and all the flames on my wings were extinguished.
I blinked rapidly. It wasn’t possible. Could it really be them?
“It—it’s you,” I said on an exhale. “You’re the Fates.”
“And we know who you are, daughter of the flame.” What felt like invisible fingers ghosted across my neck, and I jerked away.
“The precious Lightbringer,” the more high-pitched voice crooned.
“Their savior,” the final one said. They were mocking me, mocking the titles the Pyraethis had given me, as if what they had put these innocent people through was nothing but a joke.
“What do you want with me?” I snarled. “Haven’t you done enough to these people?”
Those same ghostly hands ruffled across my wings, and I instantly shifted them away. Coldness skated up the back of my neck. The second voice hissed in my ear, “Such angry words, little phoenix,”
“For someone who does not know the full story,” another one finished.
“I know plenty,” I called out, spinning again to find the source of the voices.
I was met with nothing but wind. “I know you banished the entire kingdom from the real world just because you were jealous of them. Of what you created.” I searched the darkness, breathing heavily.
“But it’s gone on long enough. I’m here to end this. ”
Icy fingers trailed under my chin, making me flinch. “So very brave.”
A sharp nail bit into my arm and dragged down. “We admire your efforts.”
“But you should give up while you still can,” one hummed in my ear, so close I felt breath on my neck.
“The sacrifice required is enough to break you,”
“Chain you,”
“Remake you.”
I couldn’t stop the full body shiver that went through me. “You’re trying to scare me, but it won’t work.”
Silence. I could almost see the air moving, like translucent shadows wavering in the shape of three figures. This time when they responded, the voice was softer. “These people do not deserve the chance you are giving them, demithe.”
I swallowed hard, thinking back to my own imprisonment. “Everyone deserves a chance.”
“Oh, you ignorant, sweet little phoenix,” one purred, their voices growing distant as warmth replaced the cold.
“If only that were true.”
The shattered colors faded from the sky, returning it to its normal blackness. Everett’s muffled shouts sounded behind me. I spun to face the courtyard entrance, forgetting my shadows still restrained him, and quickly released him.
“What just happened?” he panted.
“You really didn’t hear anything?”
“I heard you, but it looked like you were talking to yourself.”
I blew out a long breath, trying to calm my thoughts. “It was the Fates. They were here.”
His nostrils flared. “How?”
“I don’t know. The sky cracked down the middle, and then these three voices came out of nowhere. I could feel their power.”
“What did they say?” he urged.
I picked through the conversation. “Similar to what the siren said. They tried to scare me into giving up. They said I—I don’t know the full story.” I didn’t mention the sacrifice part. He was already so protective after hearing the siren say it, I didn’t want to worry him more.
I let out a breath. “Everett, I don’t know what to think anymore. People are counting on me, but what if they’re telling the truth? What if there’s something I’m missing?”
Everett scrubbed a hand over his jaw, that worried look I knew so well written across his handsome face.
He held out his arms, and I didn’t even think before letting him pull me closer.
His hand cradled the back of my neck. “I know what Pyraeth means to you,” he murmured into my hair, “but before you do anything else, I need to show you what I found in this book—”
“What are you two doing out here?” Julius’s voice came from the front of the courtyard. Maeve and Arcadia followed closely behind, their matching gray robes swishing against the stone.
“We heard a commotion,” Maeve said, eyes scanning the cracked ground and broken fountain. “Are you well, Lightbringer?”
“I—” My eyes slid to Everett. “Yes, everything’s fine.” I cleared my throat and stepped away from him, lying to them for the second time in one day. “It must’ve been a small earthquake.”
“How strange,” Arcadia said, wrinkles in his forehead deepening. “We’re glad you are both safe. Come, let us get you inside and bring you something to eat. We must make our plan of action for tomorrow.”
He ushered Everett and me forward, not giving us a chance to refuse. My stomach churned, but as we walked, Everett’s pinky grazed the side of my hand. I took a deep breath and let his touch anchor me. But the words of the Fates still lingered over me in a cloud of doubt.