Chapter 32 Calypso
Chapter thirty-two
Calypso
Calypso awoke to shouting. She sprang out of bed, braced for the threat. Her room was empty, and instead, the voices were radiating from outside the manor.
The events of last night came flooding back.
She threw on the first dress she saw and hurried out onto the balcony attached to the bedchamber. Barreling down the balcony stairs toward the grounds, she saw Astra with a knife to Vidorak’s throat. Flames sparked at her hands before she realized what was happening.
“Stay back, Calypso. It seems Davinger has sent more orcs to finish their contract,” Astra shouted, oblivious to the target of Calypso’s sudden draw of power.
“Let him go, Astra.” Her command was sharp and direct.
Astra leaned her knife in, drawing a bead of blood. “No need to waste your energy. I can take care of a single orc.”
Vidorak held her back defensively, trying not to hurt her sister. While Astra was a strong fighter, Vidorak could easily overtake her.
“I don’t understand,” Nyx said from behind Astra, her eyebrows furrowed. “The wards are still intact. It’s impossible for him to have passed the barrier without even an alert.”
There were other witches outside watching them but keeping their distance. As far as Calypso could see, there was no destruction, and no one looked injured. Yet.
“The mate bond let him.” Calypso pushed herself between them. “Now step back.”
Astra retreated, eyes widening in astonishment. “This orc is bonded to you?”
“Actually, it seems they bonded with each other.” Nyx muttered as her silver eyes focused on the red tattoos on Calypso’s chest.
The thin slip Calypso wore didn't hide the red, Orcish-like mark on her left chest that had appeared after their mate bond.
“You are right, he is my mate,” Calypso confirmed, then stepped aside so they could meet more calmly. “This is Vidorak Ushnarsson. He is also the new chieftain of the Vestrahorn mountain clan.”
There was a moment of stunned silence as the women didn’t know how to respond. Slowly, Astra sheathed her dagger.
“This is . . .” Astra began, clearly not knowing how to phrase things next, “unexpected.”
“I’m assuming this was the orc who let you go?” Nyx asked, her face unreadable.
“She did that on her own,” Vidorak said before she could respond.
She had enough self-awareness to realize that her plan with the crow likely wouldn’t have worked without Vidorak’s help, but she didn’t correct him. Instead, Calypso added, “He is the one who helped Gemma.”
That softened Nyx’s face. “Thank you for helping her.”
The tension had lessened, but Calypso could tell her sisters were still shocked by this news. “I know a lot has changed these past couple of weeks. The bond was unexpected, but I’m grateful for the truths it has helped me see. And I want you to know I am happy.”
That seemed to be the right thing to say because the tension dissipated and she saw her sisters relax.
“That is good.” Nyx actually smiled at that before returning to her neutral expression.
Astra embraced her wordlessly, but when she pulled back, Calypso saw she had tears in her eyes. “You have a mate!”
Calypso felt completely undeserving of their affection. She put them through so much with her moods and unyielding nature, yet even with the war that approached, they still cared for her happiness.
Nyx stepped closer, and Calypso could feel her studying her closely.
“Is that the only thing you are hiding?” Nyx asked quietly.
Before Calypso could respond, Nyx grabbed the amulet hanging around her neck and pulled it toward her, causing her to stumble forward. She could’ve pushed back, but she didn’t want to hurt her sister. Vidorak stiffened at the treatment, but thankfully didn’t intervene.
“It actually exists.” Nyx’s voice was full of wonder as she turned over the stone before releasing it abruptly. “Seems you’ve bloodied it already.”
“What’s going on? What do you mean?” Astra clamored, looking between them.
“This is why I went to the Vestrahorn Mountain,” Calypso explained, hiding the amulet under her dress. “This is the Eye of Azara. Once I complete the spell, we will be a genuine threat to the royal army.”
An excited smile broke out across Astra’s face. “This is great! They won’t stand a chance with a dragon on our side.”
“It is,” Calypso responded half-heartedly.
“I actually believed the things you said about working together for the greater good of witchkind,” Nyx spat out. “As always, it is half-truths as you make unilateral decisions.”
Astra looked back, confusion furrowing her brow. “What do you mean?”
Calypso just stared at her furious sister, half willing her to hold her tongue and half eager to reveal all the secrets.
“Are you going to tell her?” Nyx challenged with an arched black brow. “Because I am eager to know what your mate will think of your impending sacrifice.”
Suddenly, it all became just too much.
Like a coward, Calypso muttered she needed to go and turned on her heel to run back to the manor.
She didn’t look back as she dashed up the stairs and entered the bedchamber only to be met with the still form of Thomas Haworth in the corner of the room.
His chest was a bloody red hole, and his eyes were two black pits.
“Not now.” Her voice shook, and she tore her eyes from the hallucination.
Her trembling hands were searching a pile of clothes for a proper dress when she heard Vidorak enter the room, and the tension rose around them.
“Explain.”
She didn’t dare look at him. “There’s nothing more to say. You already know there is a price for all magic.”
Hands gripped her upper arms, whirling her around, and pressing her into the wall. “You test my patience too much, mate.”
Another evasion sat at the tip of her tongue, but it seemed too exhausting all the sudden. Perhaps his anger would be better than his pain.
“The spell brings forth a life, and for that, it requires a life. The one who casts the spell is sacrificed to provide the magic needed to summon a dragon.”
There was a gasp, and for a moment Calypso thought the Howarth’s ghost had spoken. Instead, she turned to see that Nyx and Astra had followed them into the bedchamber.
“Is that true?” Astra asked, looking at her and then looking back at Nyx.
Nyx’s eyes stared back at her with a cold anger. “Answer her, Calypso.”
She could not speak, could not find the words. As the daughter of the royal advisor, Calypso had access to the vast royal library. Even before her powers had awakened, she would spend hours reading through various texts about magic and spells and the history of witchkind.
The story of Azara was always one she found interesting, perhaps because there was something sad and unfinished within it.
When she’d discovered the spell to unlock the amulet, it had become a bit of an intriguing fantasy.
After Davinger’s decree and their escape from Sanograd, it turned into an obsession.
From the beginning, she knew the price. The final part of the spell required sacrificing her life for the summoning of the last dragon.
She didn’t care. Once her mother was murdered, there was no thought of a future for her.
She just wanted revenge. Giving her life to an unstoppable otherworldly force felt apt for the moment.
Everyone stared at her, and Calypso protected herself in the only way she knew how. She retreated deep within herself and hardened her heart. “I have always known. When did you find out about this?”
“Do you value my skills so little?” Even Nyx’s cool composure broke, and her hand shook with anger. “I’ve been gathering any information I could over the past year as you became more erratic with your black magic. I recently received a letter from Sanograd detailing the specifics of the spell.”
“Yesterday you said that you wanted to focus on rebuilding the covens. Was that all a lie?” Astra asked.
“No!” Calypso exclaimed. “I want the covens to be rebuilt.”
“You just don’t plan on being a part of it,” Nyx concluded bitterly.
Next to Haworth’s ghost, a bruised Mabanok appeared. Neither man spoke, but they looked just as real as everybody else in the room. Calypso swallowed her shock and peeled her eyes away from the hallucinations. “When does the royal army arrive?”
Astra hesitated but then answered. “Less than a week. We received notice that he had crossed the Ihoi River two nights back.”
Five hundred royal soldiers would appear on their doorstep in less than a week, led by none other than the king regent. Even with the newcomers, she doubted there were two dozen witches on the premises. “Perfect. We can end this once and for all.”
“Don’t you dare,” a deep growl came from Vidorak, who’d remained silent since the other women had come into the room. “Don’t you dare refer to your death as perfect.”
The look in his eyes almost made her falter. She stepped forward, unsure of whether she was going to comfort him or plead her case. “It’s the only way to end this. We are not powerful enough to take on the royal army otherwise.”
Vidorak’s jaw tensed in anger. “What is to stop the dragon from attacking the town instead of the army?”
Calypso shook her head and repeated, “There’s no other way. It’s an army of five hundred, Vidorak.”
Her mate growled his response, but Calypso didn’t process his words as the image of Joseph Collier appeared beside him.
She spun around the room, seeing figure after figure appear. Soon the room filled with past victims, even some whose names she didn’t remember. They were all silent, staring, expecting something.
Suddenly, Astra stepped right up to her, taking her hands and staring into her with pleading eyes until all Calypso could see was forest green. “The pact was supposed to make us partners. It was a binding between us and for us. Let us all come up with a plan.”
The pact was originally Astra’s idea. Nyx had arrived at the sanctuary a shell of a person, spending more days in solitude than speaking to others.
Calypso had been too angry to think beyond her rage.
It was Astra who had gathered them and given them purpose.
Given them a reason to wake in the morning.
“I love you.” Calypso felt like her heart was breaking as she stepped out of Astra’s hold. “But there is no other way.”
Too much emotion battered at her unstable defenses, and Calypso felt suffocated by the sudden slip into insanity. She needed to leave, and she needed to leave now. Otherwise, the flames that were bursting within her would erupt so ferociously that she could burn down the manor.