Chapter 26
AVELINE
The journey back through the stone gates of Shadow Keep is a blur.
Quite literally, seeing as how Malakai simply wraps us in his shadows and transports us there through some mystery magic.
By the time the cobbled streets and thatched roofs of the Wild Oak Woods rise out of the emerald canopy, the afternoon sun is already low.
More time had passed with the Unseelie Queen than I thought.
The sight of the wrap-around porch of the inn is a small comfort. Smoke puffs out of the stone chimneys, late fall flowers blooming in a riot of oranges and reds along the porch.
The moment Malakai unwraps me from his arms, lingering just a little too long, the front doors fly open.
Wren Tiersen steps out onto the patio, clad in a leather apron covered in tiny scorch marks, a jeweler’s loupe hanging from her neck.
She takes in the tight set of Malakai’s jaw and her smile immediately fades.
"What happened?" Wren asks, ushering us into the warm, spice-scented lobby. "Caelan thought he felt the pulse of Unseelie earlier today. Is it true?"
"Vesperia created a rift into my realm.” Malakai hovers by my side, not quite touching, but close enough I can still feel the warmth radiating from his skin. "She materialized within the inner terrace. She targeted Aveline directly. She almost…"
“I put a shield up,” I supply. “I wouldn’t have lasted much longer, though.”
A muscle twitches in Malachi’s temple.
Wren swears under her breath, a torrent of words that might have made me blush only a few weeks ago. "The audacity of that old hag."
"Is she hurt? Malakai, if you let that creature touch our coven sister—" Piper flies in from the house, her hands covered in white flour, her pretty brunette face pale with concern. “Velvet came to get me, she said Fenn told her there was trouble, Wren.”
A deer steps on dainty hooves onto the porch, then kicks the door closed behind her. Velvet the familiar, I presume.
Not to be outdone, Ter launches himself at my shoulder from heights unknown. I do my best not to flinch as his talons squeeze my skin.
"Aveline stopped the initial strike with her own light," Ter squawks, perching on my shoulder. "But she and the other two unbonded witches are going to be like glowing targets of power. They’re unbonded power is an opportunity for the Fae to exploit. More powerful than the rest of you, and the opposite of each’s Elder God. "
“Who are the other two witches?” Wren says with a frown. “You say that like they’re already chosen.”
“Magic is a complicated thing.” Ter shifts on my shoulder.
“That sounds like a way to say you have no idea, black bird.” Caelan breezes into the room, though there’s a wrinkle of worry in his face I don’t remember being there last I saw him.
“There’s supposed to be a way you can help shield me until I…” I shift uncomfortably, wrapping my cloak tighter around my shoulders.
“Until she’s comfortable sealing our bond,” Malakai finishes for him.
"Maybe," Wren says, her forehead wrinkling. She shares a look with Caelan, who nods at her.
“Follow me. I have something that I’ve been working on—it’s weird, I don’t know why I was so fascinated with it… but now it makes sense. If we enchant it as a coven, it should protect you until you… well until you figure out what you want to do." Wren cuts me a look of regret.
I know what she means. She means until I seal my bond with Malakai… or choose not to.
I close my eyes. Maybe I should just marry him.
“Do it,” Malakai tells me, placing a heavy hand on my shoulder. “I would not have you come to me because you are afraid and have no choices. I would rather be chosen with…” his voice drops, and I shiver, his lips brush my ear. “With love, than with fear.”
Tears fill my eyes, and I look up at him for a long moment, truly touched by that.
I brush them away and blink furiously, finally nodding at Wren.
“Let’s do it.”
Wren nods back, her mouth a determined, grim line, and Caelan grins at her. “There’s my little witch,” he says. “Go on, the basement is the best source of power in the whole inn. You know that.”
We must make quite a sight as we file into the inn, accompanied by all manner of forest creatures, but I’m too nervous to feel more than a dry amusement at it.
We all follow Wren down the stairs, Malakai right on my heels, a soft touch at the small of my back.
The basement is cozy, dominated by a large stone hearth where a fire crackles merrily. Piper immediately disappears to fetch a pot of tea, while Wren bustles over to an old oak cabinet.
She mutters to herself, throwing a few things out onto the ground, and I politely divert my attention to the rest of the basement.
My eyes widen as I realize the tingling in my toes is emanating from a painted circle on the thick grey stone floor, a faint sparkle of magic charging the air above it.
A jeweler’s bench sits nearby, scattered with all sorts of fascinating tools and lumps of uncut stone and bars of what seem to be precious metals.
“Here it is,” Wren crows, pulling out a velvet pouch. “I knew there was a reason I needed to make you.”
Malakai’s fingers tighten slightly on my shoulder.
From within, Wren retrieves a silver pendant. Hanging from a finely wrought chain hangs a polished stone, dark as a moonless night, rippling with a faint hum.
“Stand there, Aveline,” she tells me, pointing to a point on the circle. “Feet on the circle. Malakai, you stay back.”
Malakai slips away, back to the entrance of the basement at the bottom of the stairs.
I do as she says, my boots tingling on top of the humming magic circle. Standing in the center, Wren begins an incantation.
Holding the amulet between her palms, she chants words I can’t quite understand.
The faint scent of lavender and damp moss fill the room as her magic builds. Piper returns, and Wren motions for her to stand across from me. Her own sugary spark fills the air—a warm, spiced magic that blends seamlessly with Wren's power.
And mine.
The stone in the amulet begins to glow, a faint pulse that builds with each second.
With practiced grace, Wren steps in front of me and drapes the light chain around my neck.
The moment the stone lands against my collarbone, a profound sense of stillness washes over me. The electric, stinging tingle in my feet and my palms instantly vanishes, tucked safely away beneath the shield of their spell.
Our spell
It feels like a physical lid being slammed shut on my power.
I gasp, and Malakai’s at my side in an instant.
"There," Wren says, stepping back with a satisfied nod. "That will keep the Unseelie Queen from being able to find you. But it is temporary, Aveline. You won’t be able to hide behind it forever."
Her forehead is wrinkled with worry, and even Piper’s expression is grim. “We have to figure out how to stop this,” Wren tells her.
Piper nods. “I don’t think it’s safe for the other women to know about the Fae,” she says suddenly. “I don’t think they can be pressured into this.”
“I agree,” Wren says. “I don’t know… I don’t know why.”
They both look at me. “They haven’t lived before,” I say, and it’s like the words, the admission, unlocks something in me.
“I was fated, and always have been. I’ve been here before.
But they’re… this is their first time. The other Elder Gods,” I pause, trying to figure out how to phrase this.
“They haven’t been soul bonded before. They don’t have the same… ”
I shake my head. There’s no word to describe the pull I feel towards Malakai, a pull I’m not sure I’m ready to even try to describe.
My fingers smooth over the strangely warm stone at my throat. I look up, and my gaze immediately finds him.
He stands silently in the shadows of the doorway, his arms crossed over his broad chest, his beautiful eyes never once leaving my face. The weight of his attention is heavier than the necklace on my skin, a possessive promise that makes me warm all over.
"There is a coven meeting tonight," Wren announces, turning her sharp attention to the Shadow King. "We’re gathering to discuss our next moves. We need Aveline there."
Malakai’s posture instantly turns rigid.
“Absolutely not.” His voice is flat. "It is entirely too dangerous for her to attend.
Vesperia has proven she can rift into warded locations.
Including her in a coven meeting would be pure invitation for an ambush.
And if she were to take out all three witch brides?
The Fae incursion would be successful in one strike.
We are returning to the keep where the masonry can be reinforced. "
"She is a grown woman and a powerful witch, Malakai, not a delicate piece of stained glass. Besides, we could use her input. She’s our sister now too,” Wren snaps back, matching his icy tone with her own heat.
I open my mouth to intervene, but I’m too tired after what happened with the queen. The room fills with the tension of powerful magical posturing, and I blow out a sigh.
I have a feeling our simple courtship is officially over.
Piper gives me a tight smile and hands me a cookie. “We’ll be alright. We’ll be here when you’re safe.” She wraps in me a tight hug. “Wren’s just worried. You take care of yourself, now, okay? We need our new sister.”
“New sister?” I repeat, and with that, I hug her back.