77. Vera
Vera
Something sharp poked my hand, and I yanked it back with a wince.
Blood beaded along the cut, forming a crimson pool that dripped, dripped, dripped, straight onto the altar.
The second my blood touched the stone, a beam of gold light shot into the air.
As if someone invisible were shoving me forward, a force slammed my hand back on top.
I couldn’t move. I was frozen in place, a prisoner to the light and stone. And everything burned.
The heat didn’t stay in my palm. It spread up my arm, through my chest, in between my ribs like lava. I gasped, trying to pull away, but it held me there. Unyielding. Absolute.
“Vera!” Everett’s voice broke through the haze. “Let go!” he shouted. “Let go of it!”
“I—I can’t—”
The light intensified, swallowing the altar, the platform, the cavern, until there was nothing left but fire. It roared through my veins, and I braced for the kind of pain I was used to—the kind that burned, blazing everything in its path.
But this was different.
The fire moved through me like water moved through cracks in stone. It wasn’t forcing its way, it wasn’t breaking, it was just…searching. Spreading through fractures in my soul and mind I’d long since buried.
I felt it graze against the well of magic inside of me. My phoenix flames stuttered, and my shadows shied away, wincing at its presence. I cried out into the abyss, expecting it to latch on and take my magic until there was nothing left. That was what had happened to the originals.
But then it moved.
It wrapped around my heart, weaving through my ribs like threads. This must be it. I waited for it to take my life, to suck the breath from my lungs and the blood from my veins. I waited for it to destroy me.
But that wasn’t it, either. It kept moving. Kept searching, up my spine and into my mind.
And then it began to pull.
I didn’t understand what it wanted at first. I heard my mother’s voice, humming the familiar lullaby she would sing to put me to sleep. Her voice was so rich, so clear and beautiful, as if she was here with me. But when I reached for it, the sound grew distant. Muffled and weak.
No. I tried to pull it back, tried to hold on, but it slipped through my mind. I felt the fire tugging the memory of her song away from me until it was gone.
The next wave went deeper. There was a memory of the fountain at Scarven’s mansion where Mama, Nox, and I would read stories and play games. I felt Nox’s arms around my waist, lifting me into the air with his deep rumble of laughter.
But then the weight of his arms felt faint. His laughter faded, and the vision went blurry. I couldn’t see them anymore. I couldn’t remember where it was. Where I was. What was happening to me?
“They poured what was most vital to them into the amulets. It took, and took, and took the deepest parts of their soul.”
Julius’s words came back to me in a rush.
I understood now what had destroyed the originals.
Their magic had been everything they were—what was most vital to them.
When the forging took it, there was nothing left underneath.
But my magic wasn’t what mattered most to me.
My power, my life…those weren’t the deepest parts of my soul.
Dual-toned eyes appeared through the cracks. That warm, raspy voice. The quirk of his lips. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Songbird.”
Panic engulfed me. I grasped at the memory with all my might, tugging it to my chest. But the tighter I held, the more it receded. The moment we first met, the moment I heard his voice through the wall—it was dissolving, like ink fading into old parchment.
The fire wanted more. It reached for moments tucked in bed between Mama and Nox. For cell bars and peanuts tossed through a hole. For the first time Everett told me he loved me, the way he said my nickname, the sound of his voice crying out in pain.
I tried to hold on, but I was losing.
My knees buckled. I could feel the fire pulling, searching, and my magic grew numb in response. I understood with cold clarity that it truly would take everything if I let it. That I’d end up like the originals, with nothing left to give.
It could take my magic—I didn’t care. I just couldn’t let it take them. An anguished cry wrenched from my throat, echoing into the abyss.
Then a hand seized mine.
Everett’s form appeared beside me in the blinding light. His power flooded me. Steady and quiet and as strong as an anchor, everything he’d built and survived pouring into me without hesitation. I felt him shake with the effort, but still, he stayed.
Another hand closed around my wrist, the one still on the altar. Tessa’s Shifter magic surged into me, as warm and fierce as she was.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” she shouted over the roar of the magic. “You never did!”
“We’ve got you, Vera.” Everett’s voice coated me. It felt like something was missing, something vital, but it didn’t change the way I felt about him. My soul reached for his, bound with an unbreakable chain.
Our combined power swelled in the fire, fighting back the threads that still clutched my deepest memories. It clawed through the moments of love and light, but also through my grief, through the darkest parts I’d been carrying for so long.
The loss hurt in a way I’d never felt before. But I was still here.
And I wasn’t alone.
The fire grew to a crescendo, curling inward to my chest. Light burst from all three of us.
It surged down my arm into the hand still affixed to the altar, releasing us with a snap.
The symbols carved on the stone ignited.
Lines of firelight and my blood traced the intricate patterns, flowing faster and faster, weaving something into existence.
No, not weaving. Forging.
The bloody outline of my palm lifted in the air. Crimson swirled into a sphere, and flames shot up to encase it, pressing and folding and shaping until—
Golden light blinded me. I staggered backward, and Everett caught me before I hit the ground. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think or feel beyond the remnants of the flame still humming beneath my skin.
Everett held me, with Tessa crouched beside us, still gripping my arm. Her eyes were wet. All three of us caught our breaths, hanging on to each other in the silence.
Everett cradled my head into his chest. “Are you alright?"
“I’m okay,” I managed, voice hoarse. I squeezed Tessa’s hand before letting go. “Because of both of you. I wouldn’t have been able to—it was—” I choked on the words, my mind still tender and raw.
“What did it do to you?” he whispered.
“It took my—it took my memories.” My voice broke. “I feel these gaps. Things that should be there, with Mama and Nox, with you, but I—” I pressed a fist into my chest. “I can’t feel them anymore.”
Everett went still. His heart beat beneath my head. “Do you remember you and me?”
“Yes.” I pulled back to meet his gaze. “I could never forget us, Swift. But I—I don’t remember how we met.
” Tears filled my eyes as I dove into the past, coming up blank.
“I know I love you, but I just—there are so many blank spaces. The memories are just gone.” A sob built in my chest, and I pressed my forehead into his shoulder.
His fingers tangled in my hair. “Then we’ll make new ones, Songbird.”
My chest ached. I struggled to hold on, to keep myself together with all these core pieces gone. Moments I could no longer see but could feel were merely void spaces. Everett held me in his arms, lending me strength until my breaths evened and I could think again.
“I’m so sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what I knew. I’m sorry I—”
“Shh.” He captured my lips with his, kissing me once more. “You came back. That’s all that matters now.”
When he let me go, I turned to Tessa, feeling a fresh wave of tears rise to the surface. I pulled her into a tight hug. “Thank you, Tessa.”
“That’s what friends are for. Fighting together through creepy ancient rituals.” She patted my back. “Speaking of which…”
All three of us looked at the altar. Where the outline of my hand had been, a gold amulet now rested, identical to the two the Elders wore. Instead of a phoenix or sun, a human heart was crafted into the gold surface, with a bloodred stone at the center.
“It worked,” I breathed out. “The final amulet.” I stepped onto the platform and gingerly lifted it. It vibrated in my grip as I fit the chain around my neck until the amulet rested between my breasts, its pulse now matching my racing heart.
“Now we just have to get the other two back,” Tessa said.
I looked up at Everett. It was done. We got the final amulet, and it hadn’t destroyed any of us. We were one step closer.
Then Everett's face fell. He grunted in pain, stumbling forward with a hand clutched to his shoulder.
“Everett?” I grabbed his other elbow to keep him steady, then clawed at his shirt to see the wound. I sucked in a breath. The scratch at his shoulder blade had widened, the edges of the skin peeling back, swathed in shadows. Inky tendrils floated from where blood and bone should be.
The shadow wraith.
I exchanged a look with Tessa, whose eyes filled with alarm.
But before we could react, footsteps came from the tunnel ahead.
I instantly shoved Everett behind me, summoning my lightning sword in one hand.
Tessa twirled her twin daggers. She threw back an arm to launch a blade when a voice called out.
“No! Don’t attack, it’s me!”
My eyes widened in disbelief. A figure lurched from the shadows, face battered and bloody.
Starke fell to his knees.
“Starke?” I shouted, banishing my sword and crouching before him. His bruised eyes fluttered shut as I gripped his head. “What did they do to you?”
His blue eyes wrinkled in pain. “Vera, I—” His words ended in a grunt as he sagged forward.
“Hey—hey, I’ve got you. It’s okay,” I said as his weight crashed into me. His arms locked around me, body trembling. I tightened my hold. “You’re okay. I’ve got you,” I repeated.
His breath hitched against my neck. “Vera…” He dragged his hands from my back and down my arms, trying to pull away.
Then fingers clamped around my wrist, cold metal sliding into place. “I’m sorry, V.”
Click.