Chapter 4 #2
Cade finally looked at her. She almost gasped.
He looked worse than last week. Ghastly, purple bags hung under his eyes, and the stubble on his face was out of control.
And his hair. There were many things about her brother she was jealous of, including his perfect, wavy locks, but now, each strand lay kinked and messy.
It looked like he needed to shower and sleep for a week.
“I heard about your party from our father,” Cassia said, hoping he would listen. He needed to get out of the dungeon and into the sun, around people, or something. “Maybe it’s time you start heading there. She’s a lost cause.”
Fire brewed behind Cade’s eyes, identical to her own, but before he could reply, Alexia’s voice interrupted them.
“For that bottle of wine, I’ll give you three questions.”
Both of them whipped their heads to stare at her in shock. That one sentence was the most Cassia had ever heard her speak. Beside her, Cade venomously glared. A shiver went up Cassia’s spine. At least she’d never been on the receiving end of one like that.
“I’ve sat down here for months, tried every spell possible to get past the rune on your skin, asked every question I could think of, and now you decide to—”
“That’s a bottle from a winery in Vassuryn,” Alexia said, reaching out her hand. “It’s one of my favorites. After tomorrow, who knows the next time I’ll be able to have some.”
Cassia wasn’t sure she believed her. Something dangerous glinted in the girl’s eyes. Still stunned, she looked to Cade for guidance. For a long moment, he gazed at Alexia calculatingly.
“Do we have a deal?” Alexia asked.
Jaw clenched in determination, Cade swiped the bottle out of Cassia’s hand and thrust it at Alexia. “Deal.”
The air in the room changed.
The Andarrian took a long gulp of wine before she spoke. “What would you like to know? You’ve asked about Cora, Quinn, how we knew about the other gate and the Bloodstone… actually, you’ve asked so many things I’ve lost count.”
Cade stayed silent. For once, Cassia wished he would enter her mind and tell her what he was thinking.
“Or maybe tonight you want to hear about Bridget. It really was a long seven months for her with Cora. I can tell you about the scars on her hands, or her back. Or that particularly nasty one on her calf from when Dante…”
Cassia jumped when the entire room began to vibrate.
The bars of Alexia’s cell rattled as a gust of a wind swirled around her.
To Cassia’s disgust, the human girl smirked.
Beside her, Cade’s eyes glowed as his entire body shook with rage.
Without thinking, Cassia touched his arm.
For a second, the power radiating off him burned her hand.
When she recoiled, his eyes returned to normal.
“Calm down,” she whispered. “You only get three questions. Ask the right ones.”
“I know that,” Cade hissed, chest heaving.
He turned to Alexia. “As for Dante, why do you think a pole went through the center of his chest the second I found your camp in Vassuryn? His face was one of the first things I saw in Bridget’s mind after not being able to find her presence for seven months.
Now that I know you’re from Andarre, I’m guessing that was thanks to you. ”
“Is that your first question? Whether or not I gave Bridget the amethyst rune?”
Taking a step forward, Cade said, “Don’t pretend to be clever. You know there wasn’t a question in that statement. Why did Cora want Bridget? In Cavamyne, she said someone had been looking for her. That she was sent to get her.”
Cassia closed her eyes. He was already starting off with a stupid question.
But she should have guessed all his questions would revolve around Bridget.
There were so many other things they needed to know, though, like why Cora seemed to know so much about the Sanguis.
And there had to be a reason Alexia requested to go to the human realm. Why purposefully curse yourself?
“As you’ve already guessed, I’m from Andarre,” Alexia murmured, motioning to her tattoos.
“I met Cora there. She vouched for me when I was wrongly accused of a crime. If it wasn’t for her, I would have been put to death.
After that, I vowed to help her. Someone there found out she was a Witch and asked her to find Bridget. ”
“I think you should ask about the Sanguis,” Cassia said, sensing Cade was impulsively about to ask about who sent Cora.
A muscle in Cade’s jaw twitched. She could tell he knew she was right, but Alexia had piqued his interest. Finally, he spit out, “What do you know about Quinn and the Sanguis?”
“I don’t know exactly how Quinn began her time with the Sanguis.
After all, they are banished and stuck in Iegorus.
Cora said they found a way to communicate with her from there.
Something about finding a weak spot in the walls between realms. I only saw Quinn once, right after we found her with Bridget in Pontas with the Gemini coven.
She used a blood spell and talked to them through a rune.
She almost looked… possessed. It weakened her enough that we were able to take Bridget after she passed out. ”
Cade stilled.
“Ask her why she wants to go through the gate,” Cassia whispered furiously, gripping the edge of Cade’s sleeve.
Who in their right mind volunteered to erase themselves? There had to be a reason for that smug look. But as her brother stepped forward and gripped the bars of Alexia’s cell, she knew he was no longer listening to her.
“So you intercepted Bridget in Pontas? There were scars on her stomach from blood magic. It happened there, right? There was blood everywhere when I found the Gemini coven hiding there with most of Bridget’s things from New York. What else was Quinn looking for?”
“Cade…” Cassia sighed. That was question three. And a few extra. She didn’t think he even realized it. It was the first time she’d seen his eyes show signs of life in months.
“We’d been informed to intercept Bridget there.”
“How?” Cade pressed. “From who?”
“You’ve already asked three questions.”
Cassia swore the bars of the cell bent from Cade’s grip on them. After a long moment, he hissed, “What else do you want? Let’s make another deal.”
Cassia jumped in front of him. He was in no state of mind to be making deals. “You haven’t made a deal with me. Why do you want to go through the gate?”
Alexia pressed the bottle of wine to her lips and chugged. She chugged until there was nothing left. She wiped her mouth with her forearm and then flung the bottle to the side. With a deafening crack, it shattered against the metal bars surrounding her.
Cassia received her message loud and clear. There would be no more deals
Cade snarled, and then stormed toward the stairs. Cassia ran after him. Barely able to keep up with pace, she panted, “Would you slow…”
Her brother didn’t wait for her to finish. Instead, he shoved the top, wooden door open with a violent flick of his hand. Alarmed, Delphine hopped up and worriedly gazed between the twins.
“Of all the questions…” Cassia began.
Eyes stormy, Cade whirled on her. “Don’t start. I knew exactly what I was asking. You weren’t there that night in Cavamyne. Bridget might be back in the human realm, but things aren’t over. There’s still someone out there looking for her.”
“But don’t you think it’s weird Alexia volunteered to go through the gate, especially knowing about the curse?”
“I don’t give a fuck about why she wants to do anything!” Cade roared. “If she wants to forget everything about Elyria and leave, fine. Good for her. At least I got some answers from her.”
And that’s when she saw it. The gleam in his eyes she saw in the mirror every morning. The one he tried to hide when he noticed her gazing at him. He was… jealous. Whether over Alexia going to the human realm or forgetting, she wasn’t sure.
Delphine stepped between them. “I think it’s time to…”
“Right... I forgot about the damn party,” Cade muttered. “Cass, whatever you do, don’t let our father into your head again. You heard too much tonight. I don’t want him knowing anything else about Bridget or who may be after her.”
She wanted to scream at him that she never wanted him in her head in the first place, but instead, she pursed her lips and glared. Bridget wasn’t the only one with a target on her back.
“What about who’s after you? Quinn is still out there.”
“Last time I saw her, she had one arm,” Cade retorted. “I think I’m fine.”
Before Cassia could argue, he grabbed Delphine’s arm.
And that’s when she saw the hesitation on the other girl’s face.
Despite her claims to the contrary, Delphine was still struggling with traveling.
Ever since Cavamyne, Cassia had noticed her reluctance.
But who could blame her? The trip there with two other people had almost killed her.
After a moment, Delphine closed her eyes, braced herself, and then disappeared with Cade with a loud pop.
By herself in the ruins of the south wing, silence pierced her ears.
She should be used to the hollow noise by now.
It was what she’d heard for months. Cassia’s throat tightened.
She hated it. She hated feeling useless.
She hated wondering what everyone else was doing without her.
And most of all, she hated wondering if her brother would ever forgive her.