Chapter 40 Emilio #2
But before Emilio could ask what August had meant, Olivier came running up behind him, nearly stumbling to the ground.
He managed to right himself, holding on to Emilio’s shoulder for stability.
The others were only a few paces behind, and then Catherine and Dina were both standing beside Emilio, the entire group wearing identical expressions of bewilderment as they took in the scene.
They must have been thinking the same thing Emilio had when he’d first seen August.
It couldn’t be real. He couldn’t be real.
But this wasn’t an illusion.
This is real.
August’s eyes darted to the right, landing on Olivier. His gray eyes beamed.
“Olivier.”
Olivier looked as though he’d seen a ghost. His jaw hung open in shock, eyes wide and brows pinched together. A strangled sound escaped his throat, something between a burst of laughter and a gasp.
Catherine stepped forward. Her grip on her spear tightened.
“August?”
The silver-eyed boy gave a hesitant nod in response.
“Catherine.”
A frustrated groan erupted from Dina’s throat.
“Well, fuck, if we’re saying everyone’s name…
Hi. I’m Dina.” She splayed her hand over her chest and mockingly bowed her head, nearly dropping Benji in the process.
Emilio was instantly relieved to see that the little creature appeared to be unharmed.
“We’ve never properly met, but your reputation precedes you, so no need to give me the whole play-by-play.
Now, mind explaining what the hell you’re doing here? ”
August shifted uncomfortably, tugging at the collar of his white shirt.
“I was actually on my way to find you all,” he explained. “Well…to find the Resistance. But then I heard Emilio’s screams…” August trailed off, eyes skating among the group. An awkward current permeated the air. Tension thick enough to drown in.
Catherine thrust the tip of her spear into the ground. A lightning crack of corporeal magic fizzled beneath her feet.
“You were trying to find the Resistance? For what?” Catherine stepped closer, head tilted. “To destroy it?”
“No.” August flinched at the accusation. “I…I was going to ask to join.”
Catherine let out a bark of laughter. “You want to join us? How stupid do you think we are?”
August sighed. “Look. I know you don’t trust me—”
“I tried to get you to join us!” Catherine bellowed, bolts of silver light crackling up and down her spear. “But you said no. You refused to leave the Order. You refused to turn your back on the Soulless One.”
“Things have changed,” August shot back. “I’ve changed.”
“I’m sorry, but I have to chime in here,” Olivier interjected, stepping forward. “As much as I’d love to believe you’re really here to help us—how do you expect me to accept a word out of your mouth when you’ve essentially spent the past two hundred years plotting to destroy us all?”
August’s jaw twitched. When he looked at Olivier, Emilio saw centuries of unspoken words stretching between them. It was a connection that Emilio would never understand. Something forged between two people who had been around long enough to understand the consequences of eternity better than most.
“Olivier.” August spoke his name softly. “I know…I know I’ve disappointed you—”
“I’d say disappointed is a bit of an understatement,” Olivier muttered.
“—and you’re right. I was on their side. For a long, long time. Longer than I’m proud to admit. But I’m not anymore. The only reason I got rid of my humanity was so that I stood a chance of getting Wren back—”
“Wait.” Emilio’s world tilted as he processed August’s words. “What do you mean getting Wren back?” A cautious wave of hope rose inside Emilio. “Didn’t she…we had all assumed she’d…”
August shook his head.
“She wasn’t sacrificed,” he whispered. With those three words, the hope inside Emilio finally burst open. Wren had made it. “Edith took her to the Order’s encampment. Held her prisoner there.”
“Why?” Olivier asked.
August sucked in a sharp intake of breath.
“Right…” He shut his eyes. “You don’t know.”
“Know what?” Catherine pressed.
And then, with another four words, the hope bursting inside Emilio was extinguished.
“Wren is the catalyst,” August muttered, a dark edge to his voice. “The one prophesized to destroy Blackwood.”
Olivier let out a cackle. Even Emilio flinched at the sudden outburst. “Fuck off.”
August blinked. “Excuse me?”
“There’s no way,” Olivier muttered through a chuckle of disbelief.
“Wren. As in Wren Loughty. As in the same Wren Loughty who once nearly had an aneurysm because she was five minutes late to class? The one who would literally throw a tantrum anytime someone almost beat her top score during reaping assignments? You’re telling me she is going to destroy Blackwood? ”
August didn’t hesitate. He didn’t even crack a smile. “Yes.”
Olivier’s face fell. “Oh.”
“Last night…” August swallowed, voice wavering. “She changed. She had a vision. It…transformed her.”
“But…it’s Wren,” Emilio said. “Can’t we just try to talk to her—”
“It’s not Wren,” August snapped. He shut his eyes, inhaling a quivering breath. “I mean, I think she’s still in there…somewhere…but she didn’t just rip her humanity out and succumb to the shadows. It’s like she’s become an extension of the Soulless One.”
A piercing silence fell upon the group.
Catherine reached into her knapsack, unveiling a small amber jar with a strange black liquid inside. The moment she uncorked it, the black liquid rose into the air, billowing until it began to change form, growing larger and larger by the second.
August cocked his head and stepped closer. “What are you doing?”
“I’m sending a message back to the Resistance,” Catherine muttered.
The inky darkness ebbed and flowed until it had morphed into a perfect oval.
But there was something forming inside it.
A face. Catherine’s face. It was like a reflection, as though she were looking into an obsidian mirror.
“If the catalyst has truly awoken—then we’ve run out of time. ”
She cleared her throat and turned to face the strange mirror.