Chapter 16 #2
“My uncle works at the station. You don’t know how many times I’ve heard him rant about people sneaking on the train without paying,” Delphine said, still a little flushed. “It comes out of the attendants’ pay.”
Cassia tried not to feel sick when Castor squeezed the other girl’s arm in support.
His gaze cut to hers, telling her they both knew the reason for her mishap.
She still was having trouble with magic.
Forcing her gaze to the floor, Cassia channeled her attention to the betrayal swirling in her stomach.
Anger was good. Anger would keep her traitorous thoughts at bay.
“You knew about this earlier,” Cassia hissed, glaring sideways at Castor. “And you didn’t say a word.”
Between them, Delphine sat up straighter. The moment she noticed the frown forming on the other girl’s face, Cassia added, “He was helping me with a spell.”
Finn raised a brow. Once again, Cassia ignored him and hoped he sensed the wave of annoyance she tried to silently direct toward him.
“Why do you always assume the worst?” Castor retorted, shaking his head. “I didn’t know anything until Finn summoned me. There was no letter. It was just a ploy to fill me in.”
“Of course it was,” Cassia seethed, even though his words somewhat calmed her racing heart. Castor wouldn’t lie… no matter how many times she accused him of it. Or wanted to believe he would.
“We knew you would disapprove,” Delphine said placatingly.
That was putting it lightly. Why go after Quinn when she clearly had the upper hand? The Witch had the Bloodstone and seemed to know what the Sanguis wanted.
Staring out the window, Marin finally spoke. “They didn’t think you could keep the secret.”
At least the others had the decency to look ashamed, but beside Marin, Cade cracked a humorless smile. “Well, she’s not lying.”
Ouch. The comment sent a stinging all the way down to Cassia’s toes. Maybe she deserved that one. But she knew better now… even if there was no way to prove to them that she did.
“It's pretty obvious Quinn doesn’t want to be found. A reckless mission to Kastron isn’t going to change that,” Cassia hissed.
Marin rubbed her arm, then fiddled with the hem of her pants.
The casualness of the gesture irked her.
“Have you seen where she is? Or what’s going to happen when we get there? ”
“I told you… I haven’t been able to see anything.”
For once, Cassia heard a hint of frustration in the Tuathan’s usual monotone voice.
Whatever consequence she’d taken for Cade was affecting her more than she wanted to let on.
“I saw her near the border,” Finn said. “You know that.”
Taking a deep breath, Cassia nodded. She did.
And that was only a week ago. Logically, she knew Quinn was probably still in the area.
Despite the growing darkness that seemed to linger around Astraeus, Elyria’s border with Kastron was the area being haunted by unknown forces.
Monsters, she’d heard whispered in the palace.
And even in her own head by Cade when he’d shown her what Finn had seen.
“And you think it’s okay to use him as bait? Because that’s what is essentially happening,” Cassia prodded. “Aren’t fiancées supposed to be a little more protective?”
Cade banged his head against the seat.
“Lay off, Cass,” Delphine whispered.
A sharp pain entered Cassia’s temple. Cade’s annoyed voice echoed through her head. Finn says your emotions are suffocating him.
She glanced at Finn on the floor. He rubbed his temples. Without thinking, she shot back, Tell him to say it to my face.
Cade raised a brow, acceptance of the dare clear on his face. When his gaze cut to Finn, she held up a hand. Don’t. That was the last thing she needed said aloud. Why are you even doing this? You’ve spent months holed up in your room and now you want to go after Quinn?
That was before… everything.
Such a small word… but so weighted. An invisible hand clawed at Cassia’s chest. In theory, her twin brother sat across from her.
The same one she’d known since birth. The boy she’d seen save a bird with a broken wing at age seven.
The person she’d always believed would know her better than anyone…
But apparently, he was someone else entirely.
A Tuathan, with latent powers and a past life.
A prince with a fate tied to a curse. One with an enemy willing to do anything to break it.
The train lurched forward, nearly nudging Cassia from her chair. She took a deep breath. No matter what, Cade was her brother.
“Finally,” Finn mumbled. Castor hummed in agreement.
And what happens after you find Quinn? Cassia shot back at Cade. Do you kill her? Do you use her or the Bloodstone to bring Bridget back?
Across from her, Cade tensed. Bridget won’t come back here.
How do you know? She remembers. After your little stunt, she could be trying to get here on her own. Didn’t you say she was with Echnav?
Cassia peeked at Marin, still leaning against the window, a little paler than usual. The annoying, secretive Shaman still didn’t have an answer for that.
I don’t know what she was doing with him, but she won’t risk her sister. If it was Riker… Would you?
No way in hell. But she didn’t need to answer Cade for him to know that. If this isn’t about seeing Bridget again, then why go after Quinn? The Bloodstone will kill her eventually.
Cade’s brows knitted in frustration. But it hasn’t. Which must mean she’s found some kind of loophole… or is working with Vega, who is still alive in Iegorus and trying to get out. According to Marin. If that’s the case, then I have to do what I can to protect Bridget from her.
But Vega doesn’t need Bridget to break her curse… she needs you.
Why couldn’t her brother comprehend that he wasn’t untouchable?
Huffing, Cassia crossed her arms and fixed her gaze on the window so she wouldn’t glare at him too hard.
He was finally talking to her. No matter what she felt, she didn’t want to mess that up.
Outside, the darkest part of the night shrouded the outer wall of Astraeus which began to approach them at a slowly increasing speed.
It wouldn’t be long before they exited the city completely, or passed the fortified tomb-like structure where she knew the rune protecting the city was hidden.
She imagined her father there tomorrow afternoon with one of his Shamans, effectively locking the city without them inside.
Cade snorted. Tomorrow afternoon? He’ll notice we’re gone before breakfast and send a whole battalion after us.
From the floor, Finn sighed loudly. “You know… your little secret conversations aren’t so secret. We all know when you two do that twin—”
The world around them exploded.
Crunching, spinning, swirling metal mixed with a crisp night sky.
Cassia was in the air, flying toward an unknown destination.
Unable to scream by the sheer amount of confusion freezing her limbs.
And then heat. Blistering and overwhelming.
It pressed in from all directions, impossible to place, but close enough to sear her skin as she spiraled toward it.
Finally, the whirling stopped. The ground caught her at last. The impact jolted through her spine.
Pain lanced up her arms as her palms scraped raw across pavement or stone.
Sparks burst behind her eyes as she skidded through rubble.
Her body only stopped moving when it slammed into something solid.
When she came to a stop, her entire body shivered with adrenaline. Gasping, she rolled to her back, her vision swimming. Smoke curled around her in dense, choking tendrils. What the hell had happened?
Sirens began to blast throughout the city. Wailing and more ominous than she ever imagined they would be. A warning to run. A warning to hide. Which is what she needed to be doing. But she still couldn’t connect her brain to her muscles.
A shuffle reached her ears. Cassia flinched. She needed to get up. Right now.
She dug her bloody palms into the icy ground and tried to push herself up.
Before she could, a blurry Castor crawled over her.
She almost sobbed in relief. Half of his face was covered in dirt and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, but he was alive.
Wordless, he took her wrist gently and inspected the worst of the scrapes on her right hand, then shifted to steady her back as he helped her sit up.
“Are you okay?” he asked, voice barely audible over the sirens.
Now that she was upright, the sight of the wreckage in front of her sent acid up Cassia’s throat.
Around them, the night bled with fire. Beside the broken and ripped train, a giant hole permeated the city wall, jagged and burned.
Fire blazed from the opening to the small domed building containing one of the most powerful runes in her family’s possession.
Between the rubble and the smoke, she couldn’t tell if the building had been breached. If—
Castor squeezed her arm and forced her to look at him. “Are you hurt?”
Cassia shook her head and slowly heaved herself to feet, hoping that would wipe the concern from his face when there were other things to worry about. Like where her brother and their friends were. “What happened? Have you seen anyone else?”
“Some sort of explosion. I landed beside Finn and Marin. She’s trapped underneath part of the train so he went to find Cade. Whatever consequence she took for Cade has severely weakened her. She can’t lift it herself. Him and Delphine couldn’t have been thrown too far from us.”
The sirens suddenly stopped. Then came a growl.
Low and guttural, it slithered out from the southern edge of the Elder Woods just beyond the city’s perimeter. Trees groaned. Branches rattled against each other as the shadows between them shifted.