Chapter 71
Chapter Seventy-One
Blair
Rook nibbled at Blair’s curls, unbothered as the Sapphire Sea groaned for miles.
At the end of the docks, a ship named the Oilliphéist, the very vessel that had brought Evelyn to Callum before, awaited their team, all thanks to a large sum of money from Tovi.
The sun shined like a silver dollar behind the clouds, its descent towards the horizon a sign they had less than an hour before they left the shores of Sorin.
Nerves prickled across Blair’s skin. She’d never left the continent, but she had every intention of putting as much distance between herself and the Drengr scholar who’d volunteered to remain at Vísdómr to continue research regarding the prophecy.
Workers at the harbor eyed her familiar, wariness bleeding into the calm sea breeze, but their murmurs stopped short as they spotted the towering presence standing to Blair’s right.
Lorkan.
Though he planned to return to Vísdómr, they’d stuck close to one another since they’d left the north, moving as one like a river bent and curved through the land. Yet, unlike when they’d researched in Lorkan’s study, Blair found no comfort in the silence ringing between them.
“You didn’t need to travel all the way to Nūa,” she whispered.
The Sapphire Sea’s winds barreled into them, unforgiving and cold, as if they detected Blair’s lie.
Lorkan peered down at her. “I’d not dare let you leave for another continent without a proper farewell.” He stepped closer, and Rook shot into the air.
Some witches sent prayers to the Goddess to protect them against the bad omen.
Blair almost laughed, considering what Evelyn had detailed about her time in the Otherworld, but Lorkan invaded her space further.
His smoky moss scent unraveled her senses, and she fisted her hands, digging her nails into her fleshy palms to keep her wits.
The winds picked up, and the waves lapped up and over the docks. Salt and brine clung to Blair’s bones as she braced for the hundreds of words swimming in his golden eyes.
“I know there’s a rift between us as large as the sea separating Sorin and Torren,” Lorkan said. “There was a time once when I’d accepted it, left it as is, but I’ll not make that mistake again. The truth is, Blair—”
“There you are!”
Lorkan stiffened as Eldrick grasped his shoulder. The alpha wore traveling furs, a large sack thrown over his shoulder. Beside him, Tovi held her plum cloak close to her face, her Verena hair tucked away and out of sight.
She glanced at Blair, her ancient jade eyes assessing her too closely.
Blair exhaled, breath pluming like smoke. If only she could step foot on the ship, lock herself in her cabin, and get a moment’s peace from curious glances and Lorkan’s presence.
“Are you sure you’re not joining us?” Eldrick asked his brother.
“No,” Lorkan said, rather quickly. “There are matters I need to attend at my post.”
Blair ground her teeth together, tasting chalk. Lorkan didn’t lie exactly. He had his pack to look after and a secret far too difficult to conceal on a ship. But it was his relaxed nature she couldn’t stomach. How easily he deflected his brother’s question.
It left her off-balance, as if she had fallen into the waves and was at the mercy of the current. What if his earlier words weren’t genuine but rehearsed, too? Would she trust him again?
Blair swallowed, running her hands down her black velvet cloak. “Tovi, would you like to head towards the ship with me?”
Beside her, Lorkan’s jaw ticked. Tension bristled in the air. Eldrick cleared his throat, and Tovi forced a small smile.
“Alright.”
She looped her arm with Blair’s, and they weaved through harbor workers. Fish flew across the docks, sailors hollered commands, and boats bobbed against the slick docks.
“What’s going on with you and Lorkan?” Tovi whispered.
Blair winced. “Nothing.”
Tovi snorted.
“What?” Blair couldn’t help herself.
The vampyr peered down at her, one brow raised. “You and Evelyn are so alike. She acted much the same with Kade.”
“Why do you think that is?” Blair asked.
Her friend shrugged. “Fear? Who isn’t afraid when it comes to love.”
Tovi glanced back, her stare landing on Eldrick. The Drengr brothers laughed together, and Blair all but wished Lorkan recognized the care shining in Eldrick’s eyes as he gazed at his brother. Being a vampyr wouldn’t change his brother’s love. She felt that truth to her bones.
She sighed, insides twisting. Yet, it wasn’t love Blair feared, but herself. When she stared into Lorkan’s honey eyes, her own secret reflected back at her.
Secrets, Blair chastised herself.
Because it wasn’t just the shadows any longer. She had a scar from touching Evelyn’s bloodstone, a symbol associated with the Mother of Darkness. Not to mention, that goddess had visited Blair when the veils between worlds had thinned.
Hypocrisy weighed heavy against her limbs like shackles. Blair questioned the anger she harbored, too. Perhaps it festered worse because she and Lorkan were more similar than she wanted admit.
Both had secrets weaved with darkness, and neither understood how to forge ahead with those they loved, all hel-bent on saving Sorin from the curse.
“Psst,” someone hissed a few yards away.
The Carson coven stood at the end of the docks, mingling near the Oilliphéist’s ramp. Roderick, Josepha, Artie, and Emmett stood with their hoods back and cloaks fastened, though they’d chosen various colors and not Carson crimson. Mirella and Ruth, on the other hand, had their hoods up.
Mirella pursed her lips, fighting tears. “Were you really going to leave Sorin without a proper goodbye?”
Blair reached her sister in two long strides and answered her with a tight hug. Mirella wrapped her arms fiercely around Blair, as if she’d never let go.
“Must you leave?” her sister whispered, words thick.
No, a phantom voice said in the back of Blair’s mind. Evelyn and Kade had all they needed to enter the Gray Wood, but where else could Blair venture? She couldn’t stay in Nūa with a bounty still over her head, and Vísdómr included Lorkan, and avoiding one another hadn’t worked before.
Perhaps halfway across the world, she’d find some solace.
Mirella released her and lay a hand on her cheek. “I’m proud of you.”
Emotions lodged in Blair’s throat, and Mirella’s words were a fraction of being truly seen, but Blair inhaled them like a starved woman.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
Goodbyes peppered the air for the next few moments as Blair hugged the rest of the Carsons. Artie handed her a pack full of supplies, cinnamon and citrus tea wafting from inside, and Josepha gave her a few books, ones from Blair’s townhome she’d managed to restore.
“I wish there’d been more to save but . . .”
Blair clutched them to her chest. “This is enough, auntie.”
“Aye, take care of yourself, books,” Artie said.
The Carson coven begrudgingly stepped away from the ship’s ramp, giving Blair and Tovi the space to board. Her friend grasped her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as her family sent tender, backwards glances her way, but commotion up the docks severed the harbor’s peace.
Blair and the Carsons whipped their attention to the culprits gaining all the attention.
Kade weaved through the workers with Bleu trailing behind. Yet, the Son of the God’s face was concealed under his hood. Fisherman inspected his looming height, but it was Evelyn who captured their attention fully.
She’d dropped her hood back, and her obsidian hair twisted in the wind, declaring for all to see she’d returned to Nūa. A sharpness lay in her stare as she dared the witches around her to say something.
Kade followed the Carsons’ line of sight and cursed, but before he had time to say anything to Evelyn, Blair beat him to it.
“You’re a fool,” she hissed.
Evelyn blinked. “We’re about to leave. If Circe hasn’t spotted me yet—”
“That isn’t the point,” Blair said. “You jeopardize the coven, even our plans!”
Evelyn stood toe to toe with her. “I’ll not cower in a city that is as much mine as it is any other witch’s in Sorin.”
Blair reared back. She didn’t recognize the edge in Evelyn’s stare nor the way she said mine, like an angry, spiteful hiss. Blair shook her head,
“Evelyn, this isn’t who are you—”
“By orders of a council member, step aside!” a Guard roared.
“Bloody hel,” Tovi said.
Merchants, traders, and sailors parted on the docks, making way for a unit of Guards to pass. Circe marched at the front, rail-thin hands gripping her skirts as she avoided muck. She sneered and pointed a crooked finger in Blair and Evelyn’s direction.
“Arrest them!” Circe shouted.
Guards rushed forward, but the Carsons fell into a line, blocking their path. Kade knocked back his hood and unsheathed his sword, standing ahead of Blair, Evelyn, and Tovi.
“Move!” a Guard yelled. “We don’t want to fight you!”
“Pathetic!” Circe pushed the Guard out of the way and cast her magic out. Artie and Josepha didn’t block in time. They collapsed to their knees, screaming from the horrors Circe’s visions showed them.
Anise filtered on the wind, and the docks erupted into chaos.
Circe sneered, “Surrender, Evelyn Carson—”
“No.” Blair stormed towards Circe, calling forth her winds and using them as an invisible shield against the witch’s possible attacks. Blasted books, she’d give Evelyn a piece of her mind once they were safely aboard the Oilliphéist, but she’d not let the Elder near her.
“My sister is the key to breaking the Blood Curse,” she said. “Let us leave.”
“Is that so, scholar?” Circe laughed. “It is such a pity you decided to run from your proper place.”
“Blair, don’t listen to her,” Tovi whispered from behind. “We need to get on the ship. Now.”
Circe’s eyes widened. “The lot of you aren’t going anywhere.”
She thrust a wave of her magic, and Blair braced against it with a wall of her own, digging her heels into the planks of wood. Fighting clattered down the dock. The Carsons, Evelyn, and Kade fought the Guards.
“Turn your sister in, Blair, and I’ll reinstate your position at the Nūa Library,” Circe said.
Never, the promise vibrated through Blair like a storm rumbling across Sorin’s plains. She didn’t announce it out loud, not when she harnessed enough power to show Circe.
Yet, Blair called upon too much. Perhaps it was the disarray around her or the sheer audacity that Circe would suggest such a thing, but she lost her grip on her shadows. They unleashed in her next blow. Inky tendrils snaked out from her fingertips, heading towards Circe.
Blasted books, Blair had revealed her secret, and the Carson coven took notice. Bewilderment thickened the briny air.
Circe eyes widened—
Then she laughed. Cackled. The sound grated up Blair’s spine. Circe pivoted, and with a flick of her wrist, deflected Blair’s shadows to the left.
“NO!” Blair and Evelyn screamed at once.
Blair’s shadows hit Mirella square in the chest. She jolted. Gasped. Spidery veins bloomed across her skin. Blair’s eldest sister collapsed to her knees, and it wasn’t sweet anise in the air anymore, but death.
“No, no, no,” Blair sobbed.
She didn’t care for Circe’s continued laughter, Evelyn’s own shouts of rage, or the ripples of shock through the crowd. Blair ran to Mirella’s side. Her sister shivered, and blood seeped from her mouth. Her blue eyes grew darker and darker—no, that was life fading from her.
“Mirella.” Blair’s voice broke. She couldn’t contain the tears streaming down her face or the tremors racking her own body. Blair didn’t know where to put her hands. Didn’t know what to do—
“Somebody help!” she shouted.
But Mirella was the healer. The firstborn. The leader.
“Blair,” her sister rasped. She palmed Blair’s cheek. “My smart, brilliant sister.”
Pain pierced Blair’s heart. It cracked. Ripped in two. The power running through her veins had done this.
“No!” Emmett crashed to his knees. “Mirella—” He winced, drawing his fated into his arms.
The pain lancing through Blair’s heart spread like thorny veins scraping against her insides. Her sister didn’t only face death; Emmett did, too. Strong arms grasped Blair and pulled her back.
“What are you doing—”
“Blair, there’s nothing you can do,” Lorkan breathed into her ear. “Let them be together.”
The sound of his voice broke Blair even more. She’d pushed him away, all because of the darkness within herself. The kind that killed. Yet, he was still there for her. Near. She fell into his embrace, gripping his arms like a lifeline.
Emmett rocked Mirella in his arms, and the two stared at one another until the life in Mirella extinguished entirely. An unnatural sound broke from Emmett as he held her tighter, drawing her lifeless body to his chest.
Soon, he became lifeless, too, and Blair’s mind echoed with nothing but the jarring truth.
She’d killed them.
She’d killed them.
She’d killed them.