Chapter 35
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
I happily drowned in the lush landscape of Wald-ness.
Tears of joy mixed with the musky decadence of his mouth.
His scent was charged with life, a vibrance that I hadn’t smelled before.
Like how salt on meat makes your mouth water.
I was fluid, connected, he was mine, and his lips, tongue, and hands devoured me with equal passion.
Britannia clearing her throat was my next conscious thought.
“Really people, take it upstairs. Wald, nice to see you back. I believe that’s mine,” Britannia said, grabbing my hand and twisting the ring. She flew backwards like a doll that could scream.
“The ring isn’t yours,” I said with a growl, tucking my hand inside my jacket.
“You little bitch,” Britannia screeched, getting up and rubbing the back of her head. “You have no idea what you’ve done. By owning the ring, you’ve made it so Wald can never get Donia back, and that means the Grigores now have a real reason to pass him through permanently.”
I crossed my arms and stood my ground. I had no idea what she was talking about. “What does that have to do with me? Once we fix the screwed up things you did, it’ll all work out, right?”
Wald interrupted, sliding a hand over my shoulder.
His touch meant everything. “The ring follows a family. It only works for that family and only three times for the wearer. You aren’t of our blood, and now it’s your ring.
” His voice dry and gravelly. I wanted to hear that sound forever. He could never leave me again.
“But I can alter your past then, and by default, that will fix mine too.”
Wald shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. You’d have to have been there when the accident happened. Only Britannia or I could alter that point in time. I’m sorry.”
Victoria entered from the mirror.
“No!” I yelled. “Agatha wouldn’t do that. She cared about us being together. She would have made it so it would work out.”
“Wait, Agatha doesn’t have that power anymore. Apparently, now you do,” Britannia said with a sneer, which from the sour expression also meant she was jealous.
“What?”
“It’s obvious, you stupid cunt. Agatha gave you her power.”
At cunt , I launched at her with claws ready, but Wald dragged me back. His words chiseled into me. “She can’t give her power to someone outside the family.”
And my brain caught up. “Holy crap. You mean…”
Britannia nodded, tears in her eyes as she gripped the hand that had touched the ring .
I whirled on Victoria. “You knew.”
“I suspected, but I didn’t know for sure. It made sense since Agatha herself couldn’t help Wald, and you had the ring. It’s what I would have done.”
“What does this mean?” I yelled. “Be fricking clear.”
“Agatha transferred her power, her gift to you, because you must have some Eim blood in you. Otherwise, she would not have been able to.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I whirled at Wald, placing my hands on his chest.
“You aren’t entirely human anymore.” His hand covered mine, and he lifted it and kissed it.
The room spun. “What the fuck are you talking about? That’s impossible. Nothing has changed. I’m human,” I said, pinching myself. It hurt. All was well.
“You are and you aren’t. Your form is human, but your spirit had connections to the other worlds.”
“No. I don’t want this! I didn’t sign up for this, and Agatha didn’t ask me. Take it back. Call her, and tell her to take it back,” I shouted at Victoria. Britannia stepped between us.
“You twit. Agatha didn’t make this happen, you did.
The first time you put the ring on and then you bound yourself to the album and used the marble from the other world, your fate was sealed three times over.
But regardless, you weren’t entirely human to begin with or you wouldn’t have been able to do any of that. It’s so clear now.”
The gears of recognition creaked. I wasn’t human?
So this was my father’s fault? Whoever he was.
I didn’t feel any different. Wait, I did feel different.
The glowy bits, the skin warming, the—oh my God.
“Okay let’s say I’m not quite fully human, maybe slightly more so than before. What does that actually mean? ”
“Nothing really, you may go on as you have, but know that now we have found you, you will always be part of our family,” Victoria said soothingly.
“Of course, you’ll want to get back to your life.
Once you’ve used the ring, the Grigores will learn it has a new owner, and you will not interest them.
They need it untethered to a family.” She glared at Britannia.
“And what about Wald?”
“I can take care of myself. You don’t owe us, or me, anything,” he said, his full bottom lip twitching.
Yeah sure, he owed me, and there was no way he was getting off that easy. “I need to talk to you—alone, before we do this ring thing,” I said, meeting his eyes. They were glowing again, and sparks flew between us. I picked up the fallen tarot cards, adding them to the deck in my pocket.
“Mother, I’ll call you when we are prepared for the ritual.” He nodded at Victoria and walked to the mirror as if he could walk through it, but when he approached, the wall opened for him. Mason was waiting on the other side of the door.
“Welcome back, sir. Is there anything you might require?”
“Send a bottle of wine, some meat, and bread to my room.”
“Of course, right away sir,” he said, ambling off with a pronounced stiffness.
Wald’s words, my room, bounced around in my head in time with the butterflies frolicking in my stomach. I had plans. Apparently, Wald did too.