Chapter Nine
Blair
Blair’s younger sister paced. The dark clouds looming over the city may as well have tunneled into Mirella’s kitchen, brewing above the Carsons as they discussed Circe’s harrowing move.
She’d locked Kade Drengr—third born, protector, and Son of the God—in Tùir.
Nūa’s enemies were demons or scáths; they weren’t exactly the thrown-in-prison sort.
No. Cells in the prison were reserved for the worst witches, those who’d found dark magic.
There were fewer and fewer since the Great Burnings, but it didn’t overshadow the connotations that came with the prison, nor the stain of those who spent time in it.
Circe was making a statement—witches should fear Kade.
Blair fidgeted where she stood, leaning against the kitchen counter.
Her own secrets slithered like hissing snakes in her blood.
She drove her fingernails deep into her biceps, refocusing on that pain instead of the childhood fears that she’d one day end up in that prison.
For witches who possessed powers like she did were branded dark and thrown in Tùir.
“Mirella,” Evelyn pleaded for the tenth time. “There must be something we can do.”
Emmet braced his hands on the Elder’s shoulders. “We will do something, Evelyn, but first, we must take a step back. Recoup, rest—”
“Rest?” Evelyn hissed. “I know he chose this, but I can’t leave him there. I won’t.”
Blair nibbled her lip, wishing she could agree, but she feared if she spoke out loud, all attention would fall on her, shifting Evelyn’s wrath.
Rook, her familiar, shot through the open window, gliding over the table and landing straight atop the counter.
He dropped a silver bead embedded with moonstone, rolling it towards Blair with his beak.
“Little thief,” she whispered, tucking the keepsake into her trousers pocket.
Rook hopped into her awaiting hold, and Blair tucked him into her arms, and ran her hands through his feathers as she thought. Blair remained silent, watchful, her usual tactic since Evelyn had returned home.
Josepha exhaled, thrumming her fingers onto the table. “What do you think Riven will do when he learns Kade is locked away? If he didn’t have a reason to attack before, now he does. Kade’s absence leaves Sorin vulnerable, as well as Evelyn.”
Evelyn bore her stare into the floor tile, the gray shifting back and forth as she considered. “That has to be a reasonable argument to the Council.”
Mirella sighed. “There’s no changing Circe’s mind so quickly.”
Ruth clucked her tongue, her eye widening. “Who says we include that spiteful bitch?”
Evelyn nodded. “I agree. At this point, I’ll be acting with or without the Council’s wishes.”
Blair stiffened, and Rook ruffled his feathers.
Artie and Rodrick shared a silent conversation while Josepha said, “What do you suppose we do?”
Evelyn didn’t bat an eye, and Blair’s insides twisted. For her sister was different. Changed. Prouder and surer of herself than ever before, and Blair hated that brumal sensation crawling up her spine.
“We break him out,” Evelyn said, tone absolute.
No one said a word. Mirella’s brows furrowed, calculative. Was Blair’s eldest sister considering it? Ruth’s eyes danced with excitement, and the other Carsons’ reserved silence screamed agreement. Goddess, where had their unwavering support been last year when she was sacked?
Blair saw red, the angry wave she held back unleashing. Rook shot out of her arms, retreating to the windowsill to look on from afar.
“You all can’t be serious,” she hissed. “Go against the Council? Mirella, you sit on it!”
“As far as I’m aware, they went against Kade and I first,” Evelyn said. “We aren’t players on a chessboard that they can move about whenever they please.”
Blair gritted her teeth, and she held out her hands, gesturing them at Evelyn. “You’re protectors. It is, in fact, exactly what you are.”
Read books. Study until the late hours. Thrive off research.
Arrive on time yet stay late. Shoulders back, presentable.
Speak your mind but think first. And don’t, for the love of the Goddess, step out of line.
Every time Blair had, fate yanked her back.
She’d been born a second, a scholar and a witch.
That was her place. Why didn’t Evelyn, out of all the third borns, not understand that order was in place to keep them safe and on course?
Evelyn’s expression shifted to an unsettling indifference. “Alright, how would you suggest we proceed, then?”
Blair sighed. All she wanted was to sit in the Nūa library again, surrounded by her books and everything she’d worked towards all these years. The prestige and recognition. But that meant the Carson coven had to remain in Circe’s good graces, seeing she was the leading scholar of the city.
“You attend the trial and appease the Council,” she said.
“No.” Evelyn’s nostrils flared, arms tightly folded over her chest.
She scoffed, and the rest of the Carsons looked on, sitting back as the two sisters who’d once been dearest friends fought.
“Is your plan to run again? Need I remind you, it didn’t work out well the first time.” She jabbed a finger towards the bloodstone.
Hurt flashed across Evelyn’s face.
“Blair.” Mirella’s mouth fell open. “That isn’t fair.”
“Neither is a trial,” Evelyn said through gritted teeth.
“You ran!” Blair’s voice ricocheted in the kitchen. Shadows crept over the walls, and Blair blinked. No, her mind played tricks. Evening descended across the city. “Whether you like it or not, you’re being held accountable for your actions. Give it time—”
“Fucking flames, I don’t have time, Blair!” Evelyn said. “I’m dying.”
The air whooshed out of the room. Cold pricked across Blair’s skin like a blanket of mist. “What did you just say?”
Both Mirella and Evelyn clamped their eyes shut.
“Oh my gods, have you both kept this from me?”
The rest of the coven shifted in their seats, mirroring Blair’s surprise.
“It’s news to all of us,” Ruth muttered.
“Does Kade know?” Emmett asked, avoiding Mirella’s pleading stare.
Evelyn nodded. “We realized it together, with the mating bond.”
All these weeks, Blair’d kept her distance.
Two years she’d wished for her sister’s return, and in the days of her homecoming, Blair’d warred with herself.
Be grateful. Feel relief. Yet, resentment had rooted itself in her, so she’d stayed away, and to what end?
She’d wasted time. She was a fool to think her sister’s fractured soul didn’t have dire consequences, impending ones.
The darkness lying dormant rose now more than ever. Anger was so easy to grasp. Blair pushed off the counter, charging towards her sister. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Evelyn’s expression turned tired. Hair amiss, reddened cheeks. “You haven’t exactly been around to tell.”
Blair scoffed. “I’ve been busy, researching how to get your magic back.”
“Is that so?” Evelyn asked. “Where exactly?”
Blair ground her teeth. “I have my ways.” She didn’t go into detail about sneaking into the Nūa Library, not when she’d berated Evelyn about her place.
You’re a hypocrite, cruel voices whispered in the back of her mind.
Rook clacked his beak, ruffling his feathers as if he’d heard them, too. Or worse, agreed with them.
“I also have an extensive library of my own as well as contacts in the city,” Blair said.
Her sister shook her head, snorting. “Were you ever planning to tell me you’d lost your position?”
Mirella cleared her throat. “I’d like to clarify that I thought”—she gave Blair a pointed look—“she’d told you.”
Blair laughed, and the darkness lying dormant in her blood rose like thorny vines crawling up a tree.
“Ah, yes.” She threw her hands in the air. “Continue to grovel, Mirella. It’s such a flattering look for you.”
Emmet rose to his full height. “Watch yourself.”
“Why are you being cruel?” Evelyn’s dark brows pinched, the blue in her eyes dimming to gray.
“Did you forget how horrible Mirella was?” Blair asked. “In the days leading up to your wedding, you begged for time, and she refused, practically using it as a punishment for Mother’s and Father’s deaths.”
Mirella winced, and Evelyn frowned, moisture collecting at the edges of her eyes. Thunder rumbled outside, and lightning flashed across the windows. The streaks of light only darkened the kitchen, sucking the hope out of them all.
“But where were you?” Evelyn asked. “Silent and at Mirella’s side. The only one there for me was Tovi.”
Blair froze. She didn’t want to think of her old friend, someone else who’d left and forgotten her. Who’d lied. Evelyn had found forgiveness, and perhaps her sister was a better witch than her.
“Call it groveling all you like.” Mirella stood, planting both hands on the table as she leaned over it.
Her proud shoulders, stern expression, and kind eye reminded Blair so much of their mother.
“But I was a shit sister when Evelyn needed me most, and I won’t make the same mistake again.
If that means going against the Council and breaking Kade out of Tùir, so be it. ”
Blair’s boots melted to the tile floor.
With eyes closed and a deep inhale, Evelyn took a moment to calm herself. “It doesn’t matter what happened then, it matters more about what we do now—”
“No.” Winds howled outside, and the window shot fully open, clattering against the wall.
Papers furled atop the table, and the pots and pans hanging above the stove rattled as Blair’s wind bronntanas arose with her heightened emotions.
“It does matter. I fought for you and pushed the Council to keep searching. I knew Kade was the key to finding you, argued that point at this very table with all of you, and no one listened. Not even Mirella, who played the obedient firstborn. So, I took matters into my own hands and found Kade myself. He never would’ve left this damn continent if it weren’t for my help, and yet, what do I have to show for it?
I lost my job and none of you”—she glared at those seated at the table—“fought for me, but Evelyn waltzed into the city, and it’s as if she’s done no wrong, like she never even ran.
Even worse, you expect all of us to fall in line behind you, Evelyn—”
“That isn’t true, and you know it,” Evelyn stated. “I know running had consequences, and I’ve carried guilt with me every day since I walked out of this city, but I can’t go back in time, Blair. It was the best decision I could make.”
“I don’t accept that,” Blair said. “You chose to not come to me, to lie, as if I, your sister, wasn’t good enough.”
Evelyn swallowed, moisture collecting in her gray stare. “I’m here now, Blair, asking for your help, and the threat is far worse than when I lost my flame. Will you?”
Six expectant stares landed on her. Rook flew to her shoulder, picking at her curls as she wavered. How could she stand in a room with so many of her coven members and yet feel so alone?
She’s your sister. Blair’s heart thumped with that truth.
The last time she had tried to help Evelyn, though, she’d ended up with nothing. No title, purpose. Fate had taught her time and time again that her birth order protected her from hurt, and as a scholar, she had no place in helping Evelyn.
Worse, her shadows were harder to snuff down with heightened emotions. Blair couldn’t risk something far more fitting for a third born. Especially when the plan hinged on Tùir, a place where witches who had magic like hers were locked away.
“I can’t.” She stepped back.
“Perhaps it was a good thing I never came to you when I lost my flame,” Evelyn whispered.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Blair hissed.
“Only days ago, you said you’d done something wrong as a sister if I couldn’t trust you,” Evelyn’s voice shook. “I believed you, and yet now, you don’t have my back.”
Blair’s chest heaved as she gritted her teeth. “I also recall us promising one another to be honest from here on out. So, here is the truth, Evelyn: You are a third born. With that comes the expectation you listen to orders.”
“I’ll not be caged by my title,” Evelyn shouted, her words shaking the walls. “Especially when the Elders are blind against the looming threat of Riven and the curse.”
Blair threw up her hands. “You only feel trapped because you haven’t accepted the way of things. Our birth order, duties, and titles matter. They keep us in line for a greater purpose. ”
Evelyn shook her head. “I used to think you were so brilliant, so apt in your post as a scholar, jealous even, and now I see all it does is control you.”
Blair seethed, not bothering to draw back her winds as they whirled around her feet. “Fuck you.”
With that, she stormed out of Mirella’s kitchen, leaving the Carson coven and whatever plan they had to face the incomings storms without her.