Chapter 51 August
AUGUST
August wasn’t just going to let her wither away.
He refused to simply stand back and watch the light fade from her eyes.
So when he lifted Wren back onto her feet, throwing her arm over his shoulder, he ignored the searing current coursing through his limbs, the shadows digging deeper into his veins.
All of his attention, all of his focus, was on Wren.
On finding a way to save her.
He needed to find the Resistance. Maybe there was something they could do. If he could locate one of their healers in the chaos unfolding outside, then maybe they could mend whatever had broken inside Wren’s soul.
But the moment August dragged Wren out of Silas’s office and into the corridor, he staggered to a halt.
Somebody was waiting for them.
Edith Hughes stood at the center of the narrow corridor. Fury burned behind her eyes.
“It wasn’t enough to betray me once, was it?”
“Please, Edith.” August raised his hand in surrender.
Beside him, Wren let out a groan, head lolling against his shoulder.
She was barely conscious, and it was taking all August’s strength to keep her standing.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” Not to mention that he was desperate not to use another ounce of shadow magic.
He was certain that if he did, if he allowed himself to indulge in his power again, he’d be lost forever.
The shadows were intoxicating. He felt them tearing at his insides, begging to consume him.
Edith let out a bitter chuckle.
“Hurt me? You think you can hurt me?” Edith lifted her hand and a swirling sphere of shadows hovered over her palm. “That’s the point of all of this. Nothing can hurt me anymore. Not you. Not the past. Nothing.”
August shook his head.
“I know a part of you still has to care,” he muttered through gritted teeth, struggling to keep himself upright with the weight of Wren’s limp body in his arms. “You’re still my sister.”
Edith’s scowl only deepened at the accusation.
“I am nothing to you anymore.”
August saw with painful clarity the moment Edith called upon her shadows. Everything seemed to slow down. She extended her arm, poised to strike, hand aimed directly at August’s heart, and then…nothing.
Edith’s face twitched. She stared down at her hand in bewilderment, watching as the sphere of shadows in her palms dissipated, vanishing completely.
She extended her fingers, but still nothing happened.
And then, like the gentle light of the moon breaking through the darkness, the shadows running through her veins began to clear.
One by one, they grew fainter, until every single one of the shadows inside Edith had seemingly vanished, even the infamous shadow crown over her head.
Confusion coursed through August as he felt his own body suddenly grow stronger.
The pain in his limbs vanished. The unbearable ache softened, until he barely felt it.
The shadows that had been seconds away from consuming him were seemingly…gone.
“What is this?” Edith spat out, chest rising and falling with panicked breaths. She fell to her knees. “What’s happening?!”
Wren lifted a shaking hand, tracing the edge of August’s jaw. He turned to look at her and saw her blue eyes beaming up at him. She blinked, sluggish and slow, as if she were using all the strength she had left to stay awake.
“Your face…” She laughed, a brilliant and airy sound. “The shadows…they’ve vanished.”
Edith let out an animalistic howl. She writhed and screamed, tearing at her hair, nails digging into her scalp. August gently rested Wren against the closest wall and tentatively approached his sister.
He knelt beside her.
“Edith.”
But his sister had seemingly lost control.
She looked crazed—eyes wide, wretched sobs bursting out of her as she gripped her hair tightly, pulling and tugging as if she were trying to claw her way through her skull.
Tears streamed down her face. A torrential downpour of bottled-up emotions exploding out of her.
“Make it stop!” she bellowed, frantic. “MAKE IT FUCKING STOP!”
August cupped his sister’s face in his hands.
“Make what stop?”
Edith stared up at him, lips quivering.
“I feel it.” She splayed a palm across her chest, fingers clawing at her skin. “All of it.”
Understanding washed over August.
Her emotions.
Somehow, by some miracle, their shadows had vanished.
Which could only mean that their link to shadow magic had been severed.
All those feelings Edith had kept hidden inside her, all the emotions she’d numbed with the help of her shadows, had come rushing back in.
There was no more running. No more hiding.
This was her eternal punishment.
“We can figure this out,” August whispered encouragingly. “We can—” But his words were cut short when Edith threw a lightning streak of corporeal magic at him, a hoarse scream tearing from her throat.
August dodged it at the last second, sighing in relief when he saw that the spell had barely missed Wren. He whirled back to face his sister, gripping her wrists before she could attempt another spell.
“Stop,” August pleaded. “Don’t do this.”
But Edith wasn’t listening. She screamed and screamed, kicking August in the stomach, sending him flying backward.
He sensed her next attack—a surge of flames bursting from her palms—and threw his hands up in defense, a shimmering golden shield sprouting from his palms, the light of his shield and Edith’s flames meeting in a thunderous crash.
“You did this!” she bellowed. “It’s your fault!
You took the shadows from me! You betrayed me!
You—” Somewhere to the left of them, a sudden gust of wind sent Edith flying backward, her words dying in her throat.
She hit the wall hard, her flames vanishing as she lost her footing and smacked against the window.
August blinked in confusion, and then Quinn was stumbling into view.
Blood stained her pink hair, a streak of it carved against her jaw.
She flicked her wrist and a nearby curtain fluttered and moved under her control, jolting toward Edith as it wrapped itself tightly around her torso, pinning her arms by her side.
“I’LL KILL YOU!” Edith screamed, writhing helplessly, legs kicking as she tried to break free. “I SWEAR I’LL—” And then Quinn snapped her fingers and a strip of the curtain snaked around Edith’s mouth, snuffing out her voice.
Quinn let out a weak laugh.
“Much better.”
She dusted off her hands and approached August, placing a hand against his shoulder.
“You okay there?”
August shrugged numbly.
“Uh…fine. Fine, I think. But—” He sucked in a sharp breath, glancing over his shoulder at Wren. She was still slumped against the wall, shoulders hunched, her eyelids fluttering open and closed as she fought to stay upright.
Quinn’s eyes snagged on Wren.
“Is she…”
August nodded.
“She’s back.”
Quinn let out a breath of relief. She walked toward Wren, approaching her tentatively. A tense moment of silence stretched between them as Wren fought to face Quinn, her own eyes brimming with regret.
“I’m…I’m sorry.” Wren let out a choked cry. “I’m so fucking sorry.” Instantly, Wren’s knees buckled and Quinn caught her in her arms, brushing Wren’s hair away from her face.
“It wasn’t you,” Quinn whispered, voice wavering. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Wren shuddered. She wheezed in strangled breaths.
“I—I killed him.”
Quinn let out a soft, broken laugh.
“He was already dead.”
Wren lifted her eyes to meet Quinn.
“I ruined him,” she whispered. “I destroyed him. I turned him into a monster. I—”
“Wren.” Quinn placed her hands delicately upon Wren’s face.
The moment Quinn’s hands made contact, Wren flinched, as if Quinn’s tenderness—her forgiveness—pained her more than any physical wound ever could.
The next words Quinn spoke were slow and spaced out, each word emphasized carefully. “It. Wasn’t. You.”
Wren let out a broken sigh. She gave a weak nod of her head, mustering a small smile. When she spoke next, her voice came out thready and wrong.
“He deserved…so much better.”
Quinn smiled, but her lip quivered as she fought the tears building behind her eyes. “That we can agree on.” She turned to face August. “Do we know how this happened?”
August didn’t need her to clarify. It was obvious what she was referring to.
He shook his head.
“The shadows just…vanished.”
“The ring,” Wren supplied weakly. “Maybe…maybe the others found a way to destroy it.”
Next to them, Edith’s muffled scream echoed behind the gauzy fabric of the curtain wrapped tightly around her mouth. Quinn stared down at her with a pinch of annoyance.
“Well, I suppose we should do something about her. I’m sure the Resistance will want a chat.” Quinn’s gaze snaked over to Wren, brows furrowing in concern. “Though I highly advise you to stay inside. She’s in no condition to fight.”
“We can’t.” August took Wren gently from Quinn’s arms, scooping her into his own. Instantly, Wren lost consciousness, eyes fluttering again as she fought the exhaustion pulling her under. “We have to go find a healer. She isn’t going to make it if we don’t find someone who can help.”
Quinn’s face hardened under a wave of determination.
“Then go. I can take care of this.”
Wren looked up at Quinn, eyes struggling to stay open.
“Thank you…” she whispered. “For everything.”
Quinn smiled.
“Just doing my job.”
August watched as a tidal wave of conflicting emotions flowed over Wren’s face.
He knew a part of her wanted to stay, to fight alongside Quinn, to ensure her survival, but they were running out of time.
So before either one of them could change their minds, August walked away from Quinn, Wren held delicately in his arms, and ran for their lives.