Chapter 9
Mina
I left my companions behind, riding forward to meet the pack of Xastors head on.
Their excited yips mixed with curiosity as they reached me.
“Stop!” I commanded, heart pounding. I could feel eyes boring into my back.
“You will not touch my companions. There is a group of witches not far behind. Attack them instead. See that they do not reach us.”
I hoped beyond hope that they understood.
If I got out of this alive, I promised to practice more.
It went against everything I was as a witch, but if it meant protecting the people I cared about, it was worth it.
Besides, I wasn’t sure I could call myself a witch anymore. These days, I didn’t know what I was.
Several excited barks rang out and I exhaled with relief. The Xastor’s eyes glowed an unholy red in the darkness. Saliva dripped from their jowls.
“Go. Now,” I commanded, watching for any sign of disobedience.
They took off, their snarls fading into the night.
My breaths were coming fast, turning to little puffs of air, but they began to calm. The sound of movement pulled me from my thoughts. Before Herrin could speak I said, “There’s no time. Come, we must hurry.”
“You’re right. You have some explaining to do,” he growled, spurring his horse into action.
“I know.” I didn’t look behind me, urging Jarrow into motion. I couldn’t bear to see whatever expressions my companions wore. Herrin barked an order that had the others quickening their pace.
A deep longing rose within me. I wished Rixon were here. This would be so much easier if he were. He would have my back. He always had my back, no matter what.
Regret followed that thought. I should have kissed him longer. I should have accepted the angry sex he’d offered before leaving. If we made it out of this and reached the capital, the first thing I’d do was tell him I loved him.
Dawn painted the sky before we stopped to water the horses. Plumes of moisture poured from their mouths, froth coating their bits. “We cannot stop for long,” I warned. “I do not know if the Xastors were successful, or how much time it bought us.”
“The horses need to rest,” said Elianna. “We won’t get far if they drop.”
“And I demand answers—before we go any further,” said Herrin.
I turned to find his wary gaze boring into me.
“Is there anything to eat?” Anne asked brightly and I could have hugged her for breaking the tension.
“Not much,” said Herrin, pulling his gaze from me and removing the bag he’d been carrying.
He sorted through it, pulling a small journal and tossing it to me, before distributing a few wrapped bundles of rations.
I looked down to find it was Ophelia’s journal.
“Fiona wanted you to have that. Was one of the last things she asked me.”
“Is she…?”
“I’m not answering a single question until you tell me why you were able to control those demons,” he hissed.
“It’s a long story, and we don’t have time.”
“Then we’ll make time,” he growled. I flinched at his tone. “Now, sit.”
The others watched curiously as I followed his order. They took places a little further away. I tried not to let that hurt me. They had no reason to fear me, but I couldn’t blame them if they did.
“You can talk to them?” Elianna asked. “The demons?”
“Sort of.” I turned to Herrin and added, “For the record, I was going to tell Fiona in the morning, before the council meeting.”
His expression tightened at the mention of Fiona, but he said nothing.
Knowing there was no way around it, I told them everything.
I told them how Rixon had almost died fighting a Bolrun.
How I’d acted instead of thinking. How I’d seen the little blip of magic and simply pulled it to me, using it to heal him.
How the magical seeds had called to me after that.
How I’d continued to experiment until I utilized this new ability to close the rift.
How it had changed me, coloring my hair and turning my eyes black. How it was still changing me.
Elianna’s caramel skin was pale. Anne simply sat with wide eyes and parted lips, the food ignored in her hands. Herrin’s expression was hard. The other two wielders gave nothing away.
“I…I understand if you think I’m evil and want nothing to do with me now,” I managed. “I only ask that you let me leave in peace.”
“I don’t think you’re evil,” Anne piped up.
Elianna was slower to answer. “All this time, and you’ve never done anything to harm us.”
“I would never.” I put all my honesty into that statement.
“Will it get worse?” Herrin asked, studying me.
“I don’t know. I…I hope not. But if it does, if it turns me into a demon…” I didn’t finish.
“In the stable earlier, with Gianna—?” Elianna started.
“I lost control. She saw my eyes blacken, saw a brief glimpse of the darkness living inside me.”
Herrin gave a rough nod. He handed me a small wrapped bundle and I tore it open, biting into the hunk of cheese before taking a bite of bread, but only to give myself something to do beneath their intense gazes. I took this as a good sign that Herrin wasn’t going to harm me or abandon me.
“Guess that explains why Skye was so intent on catching you,” he mused.
“Is that why she was after us?” Elianna asked. “It hardly explains the explosions.”
Unlike Elianna, I didn’t need to seek clarification. Somehow, I already knew. Still, that didn’t prepare me for the weight of Herrin’s next words.
“The Citadel has fallen.” His voice was rough.
“There are many witches who do not like the current way of doing things. Nearly half the council. Skye has seized control, killing Fiona in her rise to power. I tried to…” He exhaled.
“They overwhelmed us. We were outnumbered and outmatched.
She ordered me to leave, Mina, to get you out.
I wanted to refuse but—“ He sucked in a breath. “I felt her death.”
I glanced down at his left hand. The markings that displayed a witch and wielder’s bond were gone. The sight made my stomach roil. All I could think about was losing Rixon like that.
Suddenly, everything that had happened between us seemed inconsequential.
So what if he’d made a decision without consulting me?
Hadn’t I done the same when I’d chosen to save his life using the soul of a demon?
That had changed things irrevocably between us.
And yet, he’d made a promise that no matter what happened to me, we’d face it together.
He hadn’t abandoned me, or given me the silent treatment. Gods, he hadn’t even gotten angry with me. And yet, look how I’d acted.
I quickly wrapped the remaining food in my hands, tucking it away for later. What little I’d eaten turned sour in my stomach. It felt like I’d never eat again.
“I’m sorry, Herrin.” I looked at him, hoping he could see just how much my heart was breaking. “If I hadn’t lost control with Gianna. If she hadn’t seen—”
“Enough,” Herrin snapped. “I’ll not have Fiona’s last wishes poisoned by your guilt. Skye was going to make a move sooner or later. What’s done is done.”
“How many witches follow her?” Anne asked quietly. “Which ones from the council?”
“Does it matter?” Elianna asked.
“It does to me. Because…because…” Anne shrank in on herself.
“What?” I asked.
“I’ve been sending letters to Leilani for years,” she admitted, voice hoarse.
“She wanted me and Lola to keep her abreast of all the activity taking place in the capital. We weren’t supposed to tell anyone that we were in correspondence.
But she wanted to know strange things—about the king, especially.
And when…when Mina and Rixon arrived, she asked even more questions.
” Anne’s eyes glossed over. “Were they…were they planning this the whole time? Were they using us to…to gather the information to stage a coup?!”
Elianna reached for Anne’s trembling hand. “You couldn’t have known,” she said in a low voice.
“I…I promise I didn’t. I never would have—I don’t believe in killing witches to steal power. I—”
“None of us blames you or believes you and Lola had anything to do with this,” said Herrin.
“Skye intended to supplant herself as witch queen. She saw Mina as a threat, given her position with the crown. She wants to pit the might of witches against it. Those who don’t follow her will be killed.”
“But there aren’t that many witches anymore.” Elianna frowned.
“She plans to make more,” I said, remembering what Fiona had said. I swallowed against the sour taste in my mouth.
“Make…make more?!” Elianna’s eyes widened.
“It’s possible, if you expose someone to something horrible enough,” said Herrin.
My thoughts solidified and I froze, glancing down at Ophelia’s journal. I wanted to flip it open and comb through it again, but we were short on time. Even now, our pursuers could be gaining ground.
Reading my mind, Herrin stood. “The rest of our discussion can wait. For now, the plan is to reach the capital and warn the king. We will rendezvous with the witches already there. Fiona has been warning those loyal to us that something like this could happen. They will know what to do.”
Under normal circumstances, we were still six days from the capital. If we pushed hard, we could make it in four or five. “What supplies did you bring?” I asked Herrin.
“Fiona planned for the worst, in case the council’s ruling wasn’t favorable.
She had a bag already packed for you.” He motioned to the one he’d been carrying.
“It’s enough food to comfortably sustain one person for a week.
We’ll have to make it last between us. We can’t afford to stop off, not if we’re being pursued by Skye’s people. ”
“Maybe the demons finished them off,” said Anne, sounding particularly gleeful.
“I doubt it.” Though it was a nice thought. “Not a group of trained council witches, especially not if their wielders were with them.”
“What about more demons?” Anne’s head tilted to the side. “If you can communicate with them.”
“I’ll do what I can. If we come across any more, I’ll try to direct them as I can.”
We set off, Jarrow taking the lead. I relied on the sun until we found a road. It eventually led to a small settlement, its Nebrine walls a welcome sight. We bypassed it.
Herrin was quiet. There wasn’t much time to talk, anyway. But I could feel the death of Fiona pressing in around him and it made my heart ache.
Two days into our journey, Viktor swore he could see a plume of dust far behind us. We didn’t slow to see if it was our pursuers. Our rests were short, two hours here, four hours there. Just enough to feed the horses and squeeze in a nap.
I usually found myself pacing, restless energy caged inside me.
The others mirrored my behavior. I watched with envy as Herrin, Ronan, and Viktor went through various movements to ease their sore muscles.
I don’t know why I never joined them. I’d already told them about the darkness within me, but this was my stick in the mud?
Herrin must have sensed my struggle because on the third day, he demanded we spar. “No use in keeping more secrets at this point,” he said. “Come now, you still have those blades I got you?”
“What’s he talking about?” Elianna nudged me. We were sitting together, having just finished off a small portion of rations.
“No idea.”
“She’s lying,” said Anne, smirking. “I can see it in her expression.”
“All right, fine.” I came to my feet and walked over. The others regarded me curiously. It wasn’t until I reached behind me, freeing the invisible dual blades at my back, that I heard their gasps.
Herrin’s eyes gleamed. It was the first time in days I’d seen this expression on his face. Now I wished we’d done this sooner. “You’ll heal me if you draw blood?”
“Of course,” I said.
We circled. When he lunged, I welcomed the exertion, pulling movements from memory like they were a part of me. Xastor Chases a Cat. Akonn Crests the Hill. I was perspiring by the time we called it quits. Only then did I take in the shocked expressions of my companions, the wielders especially.
Herrin didn’t give them time to ask questions, ordering that we mount up and get going.
At the dawn of the fourth day, we crossed paths with a mixed pack of demons.
I was more explicit with my orders, including the foresight to delegate a scout, this one a Trong.
It returned to me hours later. While I couldn’t speak directly with it, couldn’t hope to understand its clicking sounds, I knew what its return meant.
I had told it to hang back and return only if its comrades died.
Desiring little to travel with a demon, I snared it and freed one of my blades, beheading it in a clean sweep.
For the first time in my life, I felt a thimble of guilt over using a creature in such a way.
Was it because of my interaction with the princep?
Because I knew that princes of hell, at least, could communicate in some manner?
“Given the amount of time it took to reach our pursuers and return,” said Herrin, “I think we have a good chance of outrunning them. We should reach the capital by nightfall. After that, short of breaking down the city walls, we’ll have won—for now.”
I found little relief in that.
My body ached, despite my ability to heal.
Sitting so many hours in the saddle was a drain.
I used much of my magic to replenish the horses and set wards whenever we stopped.
It was obvious that my well was much deeper than Anne and Elianna’s.
They didn’t ask about this other magic flowing through my veins.
I was relieved they hadn’t shunned me. They still acted friendly, but that could have been a ruse. It was difficult to ask questions I was afraid to hear the answers to, especially in the presence of others. There were things I wanted to say to Herrin, too, but I was too much of a coward.
Instead, I spent all those hours in the saddle thinking about Rixon.
I thought of all the ways I’d apologize.
All the ways I’d tell him I loved him—show him I loved him.
It wasn’t until I crested a hill and saw the smudge of Corinna in the distance that I realized I would be able to.
Then, I used Jarrow’s last burst of energy to reach its gates.