Chapter 12
Chapter twelve
Cassia
She remembers.
The moment Marin had broken Cade out of the blood spell, he’d repeated the phrase over and over until he’d lost consciousness.
Cassia sucked in a breath, trying to quell the nausea rolling through her.
She’d never seen her brother so lost in magic, so trapped that he couldn’t pull himself out of the void he’d thrust himself into to find that annoying Warlock’s mind.
And there’d been blood. So much blood. Every time she closed her eyes, she still saw it dripping down Cade’s arms, staining the ground and grimoire beneath him.
Still heard his screams as he battled a force none of them could see.
Cassia had just begun to panic that he’d been lost forever when Marin appeared before them.
Awake. And radiating a power Cassia had never seen her wield in person.
All of them watched, stunned and open-mouthed, as she grabbed Cade’s head and released him from the spell…
the black mark on the back of his hand transferring to her own. A sign, a consequence, of blood magic.
Don’t worry, she’d said. It needed to be her.
And then she explained. About curses, deals, past lives, and Tuathan blood.
Cassia’s head spun as they rushed Cade to the infirmary. She’d always seen him as her other half. The one person familiar to her since birth. Her twin.
That didn’t seem to be the case anymore.
Since then, not one of them had dared to speak. Cassia didn’t even think any of them knew what to say. What could they? Cade was much more than just theirs now. Even now, as he lay passed out in the hospital bed, a dozen different potions forced down his throat, he seemed different.
Groaning, Finn shook his arms and rolled his shoulders. “Okay, I am going to need all of you to relax.”
“That’s a little hard to do right now,” Delphine said, cracking a smile.
Cassia couldn’t imagine the onslaught of emotions he was receiving.
Just her own threatened to suffocate her.
And even though Finn kept a straight-face, she spotted a bead of sweat roll down his cheek.
Standing behind Delphine, Castor rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
Cassia could practically see the wheels turning as he kept his dark eyes on Cade.
So she asked the one question everyone was avoiding.
“What happens now?”
In a chair next to Cade’s head, Marin folded her hands in her lap. “What do you mean?”
“What do you think I mean?” Cassia sneered, heat traveling up her neck. “You’ve known about everything for years, apparently, but you just now decided to share it. Why? What do you see? It has to be something important.”
“I decided to tell you now because if Cade had stayed connected to the gate any longer, he would have opened it, signaling to Iegorus and Vega that his full Tuathan powers returned. Which they haven’t,” Marin said matter-of-factly.
“As for what happens next… I haven’t seen anything past Bridget going through the gate and breaking the curse.
It’s blocked… like someone hasn’t made a decision. ”
“Who?” Finn demanded.
“I wish I knew.”
Marin’s calm demeanor spiked Cassia’s blood pressure. She gripped the edge of the empty chair behind her, ready to make Marin show any kind of notion that peace wasn’t the only state of being she possessed. Especially when Cade still hadn’t woken up.
“Cass…” Delphine warned.
But it was too late. Cassia threw the metal chair to the ground. It clanged harshly against the tile floor, leaving her ears ringing. “Do you even care what happens at all?”
“Of course she cares,” Delphine admonished. “She just saved Cade’s life.”
Marin held up her hand. “It’s alright. I expected this reaction from her.”
After sending Cassia a weary, sideways glance, Castor picked up the chair she’d thrown. “So these powers… he’ll get them back eventually?”
“I don’t know.”
Marin’s short answer had Cassia clenching her fists again. Before she opened her mouth, Castor’s hand brushed her back. Stop, it told her.
She hated that she listened. And that her heart rate increased for an entirely different reason.
“Splendid.” Castor sighed, keeping his position beside her.
Glancing at everyone but Marin, Cassia asked, “What do we do?”
Delphine nodded at Cade. “We wait for him to wake up,” she said, like it was the most obvious answer in the world. Then she paused. “Although it could be a while. He lost a lot of blood.”
“I think it’s pertinent we find Quinn…. sooner rather than later,” Finn said. “It can’t be a coincidence she showed herself just a few days ago.”
“Do you have a plan?” Castor asked.
“I’ll think of something.” Finn glanced down at Cassia’s hand. “You should get that checked out.”
Her fingertips, red and swollen from when she’d tried to break through Cade’s barrier, stung every time she moved.
But she’d honestly forgotten about the charred appendages since Marin’s revelation.
The action had been so unlike her. She wasn’t like them…
willing to leap in danger at a moment’s notice. “I’m fine.”
“It almost worked,” Delphine said.
The encouragement in her voice pierced through the ice in Cassia’s chest. Which made her want to throttle the girl who used to be her best friend. She was just so nice, it was hard not to be warmed by her positivity.
As the others began to strategize, Cassia leaned her head closer to Castor. She whispered, “I need to talk to you.”
Castor gazed down at her, surprise coloring his expression. Still, he nodded and indicated for her to follow him to the emptier part of the infirmary.
“I’ll stay until he wakes up,” Marin said. “He needs to hear it from me. I know the entire story. He’ll…”
Once they were far enough away that Marin’s voice was nothing but a whisper, Cassia stopped.
For a moment, she struggled with what to say…
her request to speak with him impulsive.
Now that he stood in front of her, with beautiful, round chocolate eyes patiently zeroed on her, she lost all confidence.
Hands trembling, she thought of Cade. This was for him.
And the good of the realm. “I need your help. Now more than ever, I need to figure out how to use magic on my own.” Her throat tightened. “Will you?”
“Of course.”
Castor’s answer was quick, and confident, and everything she’d expected and hoped for.
Behind him, Delphine watched them out of the corner of her eye.
Cassia could tell she was trying to be subtle, but it was hard to ignore the twisted, unsure posture of the other girl.
And… Cassia couldn’t believe what she was about to say.
“But what happened earlier…” Flashes of them together in her room, just a few hours earlier, left her body aflame. Until then, she hadn’t realized how much she missed him. She swallowed back the ridiculous thought. “That can’t happen again.”
“I agree.”
An invisible whip slashed down Cassia’s spine. Why did acceptance hurt more than she thought it would? The only indication he’d been affected by her words at all was a brief tightening of his shoulders. For a second, she wondered if she imagined it. “Good.”
Messing with a button on his wrist, Castor cleared his throat. “Good.”
She was literally torturing herself standing in the infirmary any longer. Heat pooling in her cheeks, which she really hoped was mostly psychological and not at all obvious, Cassia stepped around him. “Find me tomorrow… and send someone to get me when Cade wakes up.”
Well, no one had come to get her when Cade had regained consciousness.
The only reason Cassia knew he was awake was a whispered conversation she’d overheard between two servant girls about how he’d finally shaved.
She gagged. Seriously? That was their hot topic of gossip?
Rolling her eyes, Cassia pounded on his bedroom door.
Silence greeted her.
She rapped her knuckles even harder. “Open up. I know you’re in there.”
It’s not like he ever went anywhere anymore. When he still didn’t answer the door, Cassia twisted the handle. To her chagrin, it popped open with no resistance. She peeked inside, making sure he wasn’t indecent, before she slid inside completely.
“Cade?”
No one answered. The room was tidier than she expected it to be, especially since its occupant never seemed to leave. Only one fireplace crackled in the corner, the desk next to it stacked high with books and parchment. His paned windows were opaque with frost.
Where was he?
Cassia wandered over to the desk. She picked up Cade’s sketchbook, completely empty of papers, then glanced at the scattered mess beneath it.
Drawing after drawing of Bridget lay stacked and discarded on top of each other, a puzzled mosaic of Cade’s mind.
Some were torn, some scribbled over… each one slightly different.
Like he tried over and over to get it right but couldn’t.
For the first time, a rush of gratitude filled her veins that Bridget was alive.
Maybe now her brother wouldn’t act like a ghost.
A crumpled-up parchment caught her eye. Cassia unfolded it.
A room she’d never seen before was sketched in great detail.
A ballroom, perhaps. Floor to ceiling windows surrounded a marble floor.
A crystal chandelier, one grander than their own in Astraeus, centered the room.
Was this something he’d seen in New York?
Stuffing it back underneath some papers, Cassia exited his bedroom, hoping to find him in the library. She’d made a floor down and just passed the servant’s quarters when she heard laughter. Not just anyone’s laughter, though… her father’s. Stunned, Cassia opened the dining room doors.
Her father and Cade sat at the table. Both had full plates in front of them.
What the hell?
“It’s lunch time,” she stated. Never once had their family eaten lunch together.
Their laughter died as they acknowledged her presence.
“And your point is?” her father asked, stuffing a bite of steak into his mouth. When she didn’t answer, he nodded to the empty seat across from Cade. “Are you going to join us?”
Cassia recoiled from the openness in his voice.
It’d been years since she’d seen her father remotely…
happy. His white hair, drained of color from magic use, was slicked back into a bun, like he used to wear it.
She resisted pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming or transported back to a time before Riker’s death.
That had been the last time her father hadn’t scowled at her when she walked into a room.
And then there was Cade. Not only was he shaved, but his hair was combed.
Cassia couldn’t help but stare at him. It had been months since he looked like himself.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to catch his eye. Why do you look so carefree? Didn’t I just find depressive episode portraits of your girlfriend in your room? Cassia tried to ask with her mind. But he wouldn’t look at her or let the connection form.
Cade shrugged. “Eating.”
“I can see that. I’m not blind,” she snapped. Reluctantly, she took the seat across from him. The velvet dragged against her wool pants.
“It seems your brother has finally come to his senses,” their father said wryly. “I thought I’d have to drag him down the aisle on the spring solstice next month.”
Cassia poured herself a glass of wine from the dark bottle sitting in the center of the table. She hoped it would help calm her shaking hands. “Is that still not the plan?”
Not that dragging Cade would work, either. He’d probably be there over his dead…
“I’ve agreed to marry Marin.”
Cassia choked on the liquid she’d been chugging. Red wine sputtered out of her nose and onto the white tablecloth in front of her. Coughing, she gasped for breath and tried to clear the burn suffocating her throat.
Her father clicked his tongue. “You’ll never get your turn with manners like that.”
She wanted to be offended by the snide comment, but it was the only thing that seemed normal about reality at the moment. “What?”
Cade chuckled and took a huge bite out of a roll. Finally, she felt him enter her subconscious. If you want to help, stop pushing.
What are you doing? Is this about what Marin finally told you?
Cassia dug her nails into her thighs when Cade severed their connection with a slicing pop.
“We all know Cass is never getting married,” Cade said. Even though she knew he didn’t really mean it, the comment stung. “No one could handle that for the rest of their life. There are plenty of blondes in Astraeus who are way more fun. I would know.”
Cassia took another large sip of wine. Maybe she really did go back in time to three years ago.
“Back to better topics. Even if it is part of our deal, I still think the spring solstice is the best date for the wedding,” Cade continued. “It’s symbolic… and it will give me the next few weeks to join Finn at the Kastronian border to quell the attacks before the big day.”
Oh, so that was her brother’s plan... butter up their father so he stopped having Orion follow him everywhere. He wanted to leave the palace.
He wanted to find Quinn.
“I agree. The spring solstice would be the best day and give the staff plenty of time to prepare. But…” Too busy cutting off another piece of steak, he didn’t notice Cade’s fists clench. “Your presence is still required in the palace. I think we should finish the tournament.”
Control, obviously. That much was obvious to Cassia. It had been months since their journey to Cavamyne and the last task. All the girls had gone home just a few weeks later with the excuse that it was too dangerous to proceed.
“The point is our people need a distraction right now. It’s our duty to provide that for them and stick to our traditions.
Present a united front in the face of the unknown.
Even though we know Marin will win, the people don’t.
Let them have some excitement.” Their father grinned, but it didn’t reach his dark eyes.
“Why the sour face? Is there something else you’d rather be doing?
I know that you think the border needs you…
but I think Finn can handle his regiment and the situation on his own. ”
Cassia held her breath as she waited to see Cade’s reaction. Her brother’s eyes darkened and for a split-second, his inward struggle allowed her to grasp on to a tether of their connection.
He knows, she told him
He kicked her out again.
“You’re absolutely right,” Cade said. He plastered a smirk on his face. “Invite the girls back. I know there’s a few I’d like to reunite with.”
With a wink, he popped a piece of fruit in his mouth.
The prince was back. Cassia just hoped he knew what he was doing.