Chapter 38
LYRAE
Rooke was waiting on the shore when we landed on Frostveil Keep, his snow-dusted silhouette unyielding against the approaching storm front.
Ariel was fast asleep, limply draped over me until Varian gently extricated her and swung her up into his arms, her face whiter than the snow-filled wind wailing around us in the near-dark.
“Storm is almost here,” Rooke murmured with a dismissive glance toward the lot of us. “It’ll be on us within the hour. My guess is, the snow will last all day.”
Wonderful.
I was exhausted to the bone, and the day was only just beginning.
Dawn was close at hand, but with the dark clouds rolling in, you’d never know. Overhead, I still caught glimpses of a star-flecked sky, the moon dropping to the opposite horizon, the barest blush of color to the east.
Ryland pulled the Crown from beneath his cloak, the shards of bloodstones glinting. “Success all the way around. Lyrae has Ariel, and look what we found. We’re back in business.”
I didn’t know where they’d found the thing, only that Ryland was covered in blood and sporting a wicked black eye.
But that story could wait.
“You gave her the emergency draught?” Surprisingly, Rooke didn’t reach for the Crown, his gaze turning distant, staring out across the ice with a thousand-yard stare I’d never seen from him before.
How long had he been out here, anyway?
His cheeks were an angry red, almost an inch of snow was layered on his shoulders, stuck to his hair and eyelashes. He’s lost too much blood to be this exposed, I fussed internally. He should be inside by the fire, not out here, freezing his ass off.
“I didn’t have a choice.” I touched my sister’s cold cheek as Varian cradled her like she was made of glass. “Ariel…she didn’t even recognize me. She didn’t want to leave, even when I told her why I was there. You were right, she’s been hypnotized or spelled, or something.”
“She belongs to Gravelock now,” Rooke murmured, his tone colder—angrier—than I’d ever heard, no hint of that perpetual amusement he always seemed to have in excess. “I’d hoped for a better outcome, but…this will be a problem.”
“She doesn’t belong to him,” I snapped. “She’s my sister and whatever hold he has over her, we’ll break. There has to be a spell, or another potion…something to cure her, right?”
I’d seen some shit, since I’d allied with Anaria.
Monsters, beyond my wildest imaginings. Seen a plague nearly decimate an entire realm. Watched Cosimo brew potions that could even change people’s faces into something their own mothers wouldn’t recognize. Surely, we could reverse whatever was wrong with Ariel.
“We need to get her inside,” I insisted, the wind blasting my face. “Out of this wind. She was already half frozen when I found her and she doesn’t even have shoes.”
I started walking toward the castle, Varian right behind me.
Fuck Gravelock and fuck whatever this bullshit was. There was no way I was leaving my sister in this state. And I wouldn’t allow her to be cold and hungry for one more second. She needed to be in front of a fire, tucked into a bed with food in her belly.
She needed to be safe, and I would watch over her until she woke up and then…
Well, then I didn’t know.
But we’d sort everything out later, after Rooke united the Triune and we killed Gravelock.
From my past experiences, chances were, whatever was wrong with Ariel would die, right along with the Butcher.
“Not so fast, commander.” Rooke stepped in front of me and Varian, blocking our path.
Kaden’s expression darkened as his gaze flicked over Ariel, silver hair tangled over Varian’s arm.
“I did some thinking after you left and started putting some things together. You’ve been less than truthful with me, commander.
Your sister is a godsdamned Wyrdtracker,” he said quietly, as if to himself.
“No wonder Gravelock wanted her so badly. No wonder she’s his most prized possession. ”
“What are you talking about?” I was close enough to detect the waves of anger coming off him, to see how tightly he’d clenched his hands. “Yes, Ariel’s always been an excellent thief, but…you’re talking like she has…powers.” I huffed out a white breath.
“My sister doesn’t have magic. Neither of us do.”
But beside me, Var had gone quiet.
Ryland’s eyes suddenly seemed to be looking anywhere but my direction.
“Wyrdtrackers,” Kaden continued, vibrating with barely contained rage, “track raw, wild magic, not just gold, like Varian. They can see where objects of power have been, sometimes, even sense where they will be in the future. They follow trails of energy, even ancient ones, hidden thousands of years ago. Which is why it only took your sister a handful of years to find all three pieces.”
The prince shook his head, that bitter edge to his voice growing sharper. “My father looked for those artifacts for a thousand years. A thousand years. And never found a single one, even though our own ancestor hid them. We know the Shadowlands like the back of our hands, and even he failed.”
He sighed, running a hand through his dark hair, then lifted his cold glare to mine, a muscle feathering his jaw.
“You lied to me. And that lie will get us all killed. Not only will Gravelock never let your sister go, she’ll obey his every command.
If he told her to kill the three of you, you would be dead.
She would wrap her hands around your throat, Lyrae, and never even question his order. ”
The blood drained out of my face. “I never lied…I don’t even know what you’re talking about. And my sister would never—”
“Oh, your precious Ariel will do anything he tells her to,” Rooke interrupted, his dark gaze drifting from me to my sister.
“Your sister is bound to him now. His slave, for all intents and purposes. She won’t even realize—she won’t care—that she’s betraying some sisterly bond.
Her will belongs to Gravelock, and when he calls, she has no choice but to answer.
One word, and she’ll kill us all to take back the Thorn and the Mirror and the Crown. ”
“Rooke, I’m telling you the truth, neither of us has magic, which was why we were abandoned.
” I closed my eyes. “Our parents had no use for us, so they turned us out onto the streets, because we were worthless, nothing but mouths to feed. If my sister had even a hint of this power you’re talking about, she’d be worth her weight in gold. ”
Something softened in his face, then he shook his head, that expressionless mask falling back into place. “Your parents never knew, because this gift doesn’t present until adulthood. But someone knew.” His eyes hardened as they moved to Ryland.
“Well, Lyrae didn’t, so stop accusing her. As for me…I’d always suspected Ariel had some type of magic akin to Varian’s, but she was still so young, the last time I saw her,” Ryland admitted softly, his eyes pleading with me to understand.
“If I knew she was a Wyrdtracker, I would have fucking said something.”
“The past hardly matters now,” Rooke shook his head, snow sticking to his face. “You were tricked today. I was tricked. We were all tricked.”
“What are you talking about?” Ryland demanded, the Crown tucked under his arm. “We got in, we got out and the Butcher lost his two biggest bargaining chips. We have everything, Kade. We’ve won.”
“Don’t you understand? We won nothing.” Rooke’s eyes turned even colder.
“Gravelock let you take her, because he wanted you to bring her back to Frostveil,” he pointed at the castle.
“He wants her here because he needs all three pieces. Now that she is here…it’s only a matter of time before he has them. ”
I glanced at my unconscious sister, trying to place the source of the simmering anger—the betrayal—in Rooke’s face.
This frigid coldness I seemed to be on the receiving end of.
Did he think…I betrayed him? That I’d somehow hatched a plan to bring my Wyrdtracker sister inside the castle to what…take back the Triune?
Was that why we were all outside? My heart slammed against my ribs and Ryland moved quickly to my side, both of us closing ranks in front of Varian and my sister out of sheer habit.
Was he planning to kill my sister, like he’d planned to kill me when we’d first arrived?
Rooke’s lips thinned, and I went still, hand dropping to my weapon, prepared to draw my blade, to fight him if he moved on her.
The pair of crows soared down, landed on one of his broad shoulders, fluffing their snow-covered feathers before making a soft, almost humming sound.
Rooke’s anger faded, replaced by something like disappointment.
“I’m not a fucking monster, commander. I’m not going to hurt your sister, but know this.
We cannot allow her to wake up. The moment she does, and her connection with Gravelock is established, she will have to be restrained.
Or locked up. And I have a feeling you and I will not see eye to eye on the manner of restraint. ”
Then he turned and stalked back toward the castle, leaving us no choice but to follow in his wake.