Chapter 32 #2
Mallachtan’s plan, and perhaps it was the Senate’s as well, was so clear and precise it pierced through me. They would frame her for cursing the students so no one would baulk when they sent her to Everdark to live out her days among the literal scum and demons of the Dwimmer world.
I shook with the knowledge of how much the Senate hated Fae of any kind. If they found out I was one of them, it would be my head on the line next. “All of this to have you removed? If we hadn’t fought our way out, we all would have died.”
Her eyes were sharp. “I’m uncertain if they asked Mallachtan to do this specifically, but yes, they were looking for a way to remove me and have been for many years. Risking all of your lives to achieve this goal was . . . acceptable to them.”
Acceptable? Even losing one life was unacceptable to me. I made myself ask the question burning a hole in my chest. “And Typhon? Is he going to be alright?”
Surely, I’d know it if he wasn’t. Surely, I’d have felt it if he had slipped . . .
“See for yourself.” Thalienne turned her head toward the entrance of the great room.
I followed Thalienne’s gaze to the doorway.
Typhon.
He looked like he’d been dragged through every level of Everdark and twice through the Aetherwoven.
His hair was damp from a shower, face pale and unshaven, dark hollows like bruises beneath his eyes.
But when he caught sight of me, his eyes darkened, and the distance between us seemed to disappear, the rest of the world falling away.
Without so much as touching him, the intensity had my breath hitching in my chest. He was alive, that had to be enough for me in that moment.
“I couldn’t get to any of you.” Typhon’s voice sounded like he’d swallowed glass. “No matter what I did . . . no matter what rune I cast, there was no reaching you, Harlow.”
The unspoken words were there too. Even through whatever still connected us, he hadn’t been able to reach me.
I didn’t move from my seat on the couch, frozen between the heat of Typhon’s gaze, and the weight of Liam’s from my other side.
What did I say to either of them, here, with a fucking audience? Nothing. I said nothing.
Thalienne’s voice broke the loaded moment.
“While I am sure there are many details to how this has come about, there’s no time to waste.
” She rose, sweeping around to face us. “Typhon, now that you’re on the mend, we need to have a frank conversation, which is why I invited you here.
Why did you really come to Heathermoor? Before we proceed, I need to know who is with me . . . and who is against me.”
His mouth opened and then closed again as his throat worked but nothing came out. He let out a growl of frustration as I stepped forward to explain.
“So, apparently, he’s been rune-gagged, and –” I cut off as Thalienne sniffed the air. She tilted her head and leaned in unnervingly close to Typhon’s mouth, nose wrinkling.
“You’ve got a little something on your shirt. Perhaps something you ate?”
Typhon glanced down and she pulled back and slapped him. Hard. I flinched as it echoed through the cabin like a whip crack.
His head snapped sideways, and he staggered back as something black and writhing shot out of his mouth. Thalienne caught it one-handed like snatching a pop-fly, clenched her fist, and hurled it to the floor. It hit the rug with a wet snick, skittering around like a spider on fire.
She snapped her fingers and what could only be the gag rune was lifted and pulled in every direction.
Thalienne flexed her fingers slowly outward and a horrible, high-pitched screech filled the room, like pigs at the slaughterhouse, as the darkness was drawn and quartered.
There was a final gasp, a pop and then blessed silence.
We stared at her, I knew my eyes were wide, as were Liam’s, and even Bryony looked shaken.
Thalienne smoothed her robes and shot a stunned-looking Typhon a tight smile. “My apologies for the theatrics, but if I told you what I was going to do, you would have tightened up, and the gag rune would have locked in harder. They always do if they know they are about to be expelled.”
He drew a shaky breath, but he met her gaze, and when he spoke, it came out ragged but real.
“Tarquinius sent me. He said even if the others hadn’t come here, if I brought Zeed to Heathermoor, the rest of House Phoenix would follow. That he would be the bait.”
We were right. My hands clenched at my sides as he continued.
“But that’s not why I came.” His eyes met mine. “I came to protect them. To protect Harlow.”
Thalienne stared at him for a long time and then nodded. “I believe that’s the truth. Thank you for telling me.”
Liam cleared his throat and stood, business-like and distant. “As much as I’d like to stay and hear the rest, I should go. The Runecoats will be closing in on Lairg, and I want to get a jump on them while I can.”
Typhon turned. “I’ll come with you.”
Thalienne raised a hand. “No. I only need Liam to lay a few containment runes and some disorientation traps. I’m not risking one of our best strategic minds in a brawl against who knows how many of Mallachtan’s lackeys.
And you,” she said to Typhon without looking at him, “you’re not up to full strength yet anyway. ”
Liam nodded stiffly. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He turned and shot me a glance. “Be careful with whatever it is you need to do.”
Maybe he did have an idea why I was here after all.
He left without another word, and when the door shut behind him, Thalienne turned back to Typhon.
“Now where were we?”
“We were asking him what he was doing here,” Bryony chimed in.
“‘Yes, of course. And what do you think Tarquinius’s goal is? Same as the Senate? To squash any magic that might be too powerful for their liking and therefore outside their control?” Her voice was sharp, her posture rigid.
“I always thought him inflexible. I have known him nearly my whole life. Tarquinius is not . . . cruel. Not evil. Now, though, I’m starting to wonder .
. . He didn’t even come to help when the curse turned lethal. I begged him. Why? What’s his game?”
Typhon opened his mouth, but nothing came out as his eyes went distant.
“Still gagged?” I stood and moved closer, almost hoping for the chance to try and knock out a gag rune. How many chances would I get to try that move on anyone? There had been a quick flick of two of her fingers right before she’d smacked him.
Thalienne touched her fingers to his temple, closing her eyes. After a moment, she pulled back. “No, it’s worse than a gag rune. His memory’s been tampered with.”
He shook his head. “Whenever I try to think about certain days or events, it’s like I’m staring at a blank screen.
Some things, I do know. I’m a Draw,” Typhon admitted with a frown.
“A natural syphon. Through the years, Tarquinius has had me drain magic from the students. Small amounts . . . just enough to keep the Weave between Everdark and the Dwimmer world stable – to keep the students safe. But there’s something else .
. . something I’m unable to see. Something that won’t let me sleep at night and haunts my dreams when I do.
I can feel it, like it’s behind a shroud I can’t lift away.
” He shot me a look. “It is what I discussed at times with Nikita . . . she had the same blanks in her memory as I did. Different times, different places, but the same feeling.”
Shock flitted through me, but I didn’t have time to feel much more than that before Thalienne turned to me.
“And you, Harlow,” she paced a slow circle around me.
“Your presence has triggered my wards more than once. Ones I set for Nocta. Even on that first day, when you passed the gates and were forced into House Phoenix. When your blood touched the waters of the loch. When you broke through my ward on the basement, though you were already gone.”
“A delay. I hooked a delay into the unlocking of the ward,” I swallowed hard. There was no point hiding it anymore. She probably already knew anyway, just like she’d known all the rest.
“I’m his daughter,” I couldn’t look at her. “Nocta is my father.” I wondered if Typhon had flinched – if he had, I didn’t see it.
“I know your heart, Harlow, even behind the glamor. That’s all that matters when it comes to House Phoenix,” Thalienne said.
She looked back at the fire, then back at both of us.
“When this . . . skirmish with Mallachtan and his Runecoats is over, if we survive it . . . I hope we’ll stand together, side by side, and take down those who seek to destroy us.
But for now, we need to make sure we get you to your full potential while we still have the chance.
We have no choice. We must commence with the Fae ritual.
” She motioned with her fingers, in a sweeping curl toward Bryony.
“Bryony is going to take over from here as Typhon and I make . . . arrangements for our uninvited guests.”
Typhon sent me a long, telling look. We would talk more when this was over.
For now, though, I was just grateful he was in one piece and that hopefully finding out who my father was hadn’t tainted . . . whatever this was between us.
They left, and Bryony turned to face me.
“Don’t be nervous, Harlow. You’re in good hands. I’m also part-Fae, you know. Thalienne and I are cousins.”
Now that I was looking, I could see a few similarities in their faces. The shape of their eyes, the curve of her lips when she smiled.
“Because I have some skill sets that Thalienne is not as strong in – Fae magic comes in many forms – I will guide you through a ritual to help unlock your potential. Now that we know your true age, we must get you casting silent runes. While it can be achieved through different means, this ritual is the fastest and most effective.”
“Why didn’t Thalienne do this first then?” You know, rather than drowning me in the loch.
“Because it is harder in some ways than any other method.”