Chapter 34
Arina
The ground beneath me is so cold it burns the skin on my face. I work to open my eyes, but everything is distorted and my head aches.
Gods, what a fucking nightmare.
No. It wasn’t a nightmare, I realize when the room comes into focus. It’s some kind of storage closet. Phillipa groans, and everything comes flooding back.
“Hey. Shhh,” I attempt to soothe her, scooting closer to where she lies next to me.
“Your friend is a bitch.” Phillipa coughs, and I can’t help but huff out a laugh.
Lavinia. The last thing I remember was running through the halls, looking for somewhere to wait for Raiden to draw Invidia out. Lavinia attacked me. Phillipa, too, apparently.
When I find her, I’m going to … Shit. I pat myself down, knowing that when I reach my inner thigh the sheath will be empty, but my stomach drops regardless.
She took the fucking dagger.
My heart starts to race, and I think I might be sick.
“I have to get out of this closet. I have to find Raiden. Shit. Phillipa, I can’t heal you. I can’t heal either of us. I have to save what I can for Queen Daphne. We have to go.”
I jump to my feet, and the room spins. You just had to hit me in the head, Lavinia? Gods.
Something is blocking the godsdamned door.
“Phil!” I yell for my friend to help me. I know I’m hysterical, but I cannot stop to collect myself.
Phillipa doesn’t respond, she just jumps up next to me and throws her shoulder into the door. It doesn’t budge.
I sit on the floor, kicking against the wood with my heel, and attempting to make as much noise as possible. I don’t care who fucking finds us. I’ll deal with them when they come. I just need the fuck out of this closet.
Tears stream down my face, unbidden.
Phil joins me on the ground, and together we pound and yell for so long my lungs begin to burn.
“I’m here. Move away from the door!”
Baltas. Baltas has found us! I choke on the relief.
We climb to our feet as he slides whatever is against the door away and pulls it open. He seems stunned to see me, and he looks over his shoulder, then back at me. I don’t have time to explain, but thankfully it seems he’s piecing things together.
Desperation propels me forward. I have to get to them. I won’t even think about what happens if he gets hurt and I’m not there to heal him. Or worse, if Lavinia stabs the queen and I’m not there to save her.
Fuck.
The thing that pulses inside me gets stronger, and I know I’m close.
When I reach the throne room, a deafening wail reverberates from deep within my soul. Raiden is sobbing, kneeling over his mother’s body.
I run to him, placing my hand on his shoulder, but he jerks away, then looks up at me with tear-laden eyes.
The look of confusion he wears clears up one thing, at least; he had not known what Lavinia was up to. His confusion morphs into disbelief, and he fumbles between trying to reach me and clinging to his mother’s body.
“Let me. Please?” I ask, hands out, hoping I'm not too late.
“She’s gone, love,” he whispers. The words are too soft. Too final. “I stabbed her thinking you were gone. There was no other choice. I thought I lost you both.”
“I have to try!” I drop to my knees next to him, and put my hands on Queen Daphne. There is nothing for my magic to grab onto, and my throat burns as I scream from the effort.
Raiden puts a comforting hand on mine. “There are others who need you more.” He turns his gaze down the stairs, and I follow it to a body slumped at the bottom, unmoving.
I fly down the steps to where Lavinia lies. She has blood dripping from her open mouth, and there’s a bruise on her head that’s a dark, angry purple.
“You stupid, stupid girl,” I cry. “Why did you do this?”
She groans, but looks up at me with a small smile, showing me her blood-stained teeth.
“Isn’t that what friends do?” she asks, reaching for my hand. “Besides, I couldn't let him lose you.” Her words are weak.
The room around us is slowly coming to life. Stone melts from bodies, and the soldiers stretch and groan as they test out their limbs.
I reach for my magic again, and it’s already a deep, flowing well that should allow me to heal Liv, at the very least.
“Do you mind if I return the favor?” I ask her, hovering both my hands over her body.
“Please.”
I can sense her wounds beneath the skin, and I start with those. I stop the bleeding in her internal organs, sealing off blood vessels and guiding the blood she’s lost back through her body.
Her heart is impenetrable, however, and if there is something wrong with it, I cannot tell.
She seems better, regardless, and I move on to her more visible wounds. The bruises mend easily, and it takes very little effort to have her looking as though nothing had happened at all.
“There,” I breathe, looking up from my work to find a crowd gathered and Raiden at my side.