The energy smacked into Ashton’s back, and he shuddered before stumbling forward. He dropped to his knees. When he tipped back his head, his growl raked down my spine like barbed wire.
With a curse, he tossed the ball of white threads at Donovan. The power hit him, and his arms spiraled as he tumbled backward, off the roof. His cry echoed around us.
Ashton staggered to his feet.
But when he turned to face me, he was no longer Ashton.
Chapter 37
“You?” My mouth flashed dry and, this time, I was the one whose knees bit into the roof. I wrung my hands. I’d unraveled…
It couldn’t be.
“Will Zoriate?” I cried. The librarian. My voice leaked out, full of pain. I was crushed, unable to function. I could only whisper, “My dad.”
As if he had all the time in the world, Will paced toward me and stopped a few feet in front of me. Gone was the kind man who’d helped me find a book in the library. He’d been replaced with an angry fiend.
Lifting his hands, he clapped slowly. “Well done. What was that, a Level Four unraveling? Just enough to end my simple identity bespelling.” The cackle he released made goosebumps jump to the surface of my skin. “But you’ll have to do better than that to unravel anything significant I’ve created.”
“What…” I ran my hands through my hair. Yanked on it as pain and sorrow and horror mashed through me like a furious giant. I staggered sideways, struggling to remain on my feet. “How is this possible? You were Ashton.”
It hurt. So badly. I’d hoped…I’d been a fool to hope for anything from this man.
But my father. I’d found him only to lose him all over again.
“Sometimes I am Ashton.” Fingers like claws flicked to his face. “At other times, I’m Will.” Twisting his body into a caricature of himself, he propped his fist on his crooked hip. “What book can I help you find, my dear?”
“Are you really Will Zoriate?” Or did someone else hide beneath this exterior, too?
He huffed and straightened, his hands slapping down at his sides. “This is who I’ve been since birth. As I will be until the day I die. Unless I bespell myself into someone new.” Tapping his chin, he frowned. “Now, there’s an idea. Who can I bespell myself into next? The princely boyfriend I just tossed off the roof? Oh! I know.” His eyebrows lifted, crinkling his forehead. “I could bespell myself into you. After I dispose of you, of course.”
I stepped backward. I wanted to flee. Or ping Cloven and Justine, but I didn’t dare turn my back or focus on mindspeak for even a second.
He’d be on me before I could think ping.
Something bumped into my calf and Will’s beatleycarne minion tumbled past me. Before it could reel around and attack, I stomped my boot down on it hard.
Squish.
One pest taken care of. I bet the blue diamond on my chest was gone now, too. Only one more pest to eliminate. But he was a full Bespeller, while I… I was at most a Level Four Unraveler while he commanded Level Five.
Hold on. He’d bespelled himself…
“There are magical rules,” I said, sounding too much like one of my snootier professors. “A Bespeller can’t bespell themselves, just like an Unraveler can’t unravel a bespelling on themselves.”
But wait. Alex had said rules were as fluid as Levels. What did he mean?
“Fortunately, none of that’s true.” He tapped his temple. “Clever of me, isn’t it? I can bespell anyone to think whatever I please, including the notion that a Bespeller can’t craft magic on themselves. Few understand the roles of a Bespeller or Unraveler. Honestly, I make them up as I go. Then I ensure everyone believes them.”
What other bespellings had he created to influence the Elite minds around me?
“You’re saying I can unravel the bespelling that keeps me from flitting?” I asked.
“Is that silly ward still hanging around? Rather clever of me, wasn’t it? I warded you in the library then flitted to the hall to join Vik and Eben. I was careful to make the ward look like a bespelling. I imagine it would even fool a healer.”
Creeping sideways, I chanced a glance over my shoulder. If I could reach the stairwell, I could escape.
“I imagine the ward will wear off sometime,” he said. “And you’ll rediscover your ability to flit. Well, it would wear off and you’d be able to flit if you lived long enough, which you won’t.”
I’d already guessed he wouldn’t let me off this roof alive. Did he plan to fling me off like he had Donovan?
Who could be lying dead on the ground.
No! I wouldn’t believe it. Not until I’d seen it with my own eyes. He’d changed, right? Why, then, hadn’t he flown back up here as a dragon?
“Eben knew about this,” I said. “About you. That’s why you two argued in the library the other day.”
“For an outling, he was a decent conspirator. It kept attention away from me. But I’m afraid he became a hindrance.”
“You killed him.”
“Simple when everyone would blame the beatleycarne.” His solemn glance took in the smooshed guts. “I’m sad to lose him but there are others.”
“Is Vik truly your brother?”
“He believes he is. As does his family that used to have only one son but now has two.”
More bespellings. They snaked through the world in a smothering mesh. “Why do you want to kill all the outlings?”
“They were a cover with you my final goal. I was watching from a window when your mother left you at the Academy. You ran toward the crystal dragon. Black threads reached for you…”
“And knew I was an Unraveler.”
“I would’ve ended it then, but you had protection.”
“Ester.”
He dropped his head. “Sketar witches have unique powers.”
“When she brought me to the Academy, I was no longer under her protection.”
“That’s why I had to step up my efforts. I couldn’t take a chance you’d find a Master.”
“They’re all dead.” Even Minerva.
He shrugged. “You seem quite capable of doing the impossible. You might’ve found a way to unravel my spells. I couldn’t let that happen, now could I?”
My fists clenched. “You’re a murderer.”
“Outlings don’t count. They’re not Elite. They’re not much more than pets. One must do whatever is necessary to protect one’s family.”
Pets. I rubbed my chest, where it hurt the most. How could ever have hoped this man would welcome me into his life?
“What did you do to Minerva?”
“Okay.” He smirked. “I don’t only kill outlings. I eliminated a few Elites, as well. But her brat got away.”
I gasped. He’d killed her? He’d murder Cloven, too, if he ever discovered my friend was Minerva’s son. I’d never tell him.
I could run but Will would tackle me. Bespell me to hold still while he killed me. At least I’d understand his motive before I died. I deserved that, didn’t I? “The third family. You—your family framed the consort of the sixth to take the fall. Why?”
Anger and frustration and agony mashed around inside me, each struggling for control. All these years, I’d hoped to discover my father. But this man, this monster, was no one I’d ever long to claim.
“My father was a Bespeller,” he said. “Surely you understand the thrill of power. You’ve had a taste as an Unraveler already.”
“This is all about power?” Like with Katya, it corrupted. I was surrounded by wizards who’d stomp on anyone who got in their way. I had to stop Will. But how?
Trust in yourself. Rules are fluid.
Alex had given me the tools. I just had to figure out how to use them.
He latched onto my arm, and I yelped. “You’ve guessed this much but you haven’t figured out the best part yet, have you?”
I tried to wrench away but his hands tightened on my arm hard enough to make me wince. “What’s that?”
“I
’ve bespelled everyone to forget one big detail.” He released a grin that used to make me happy when I saw him in the library. Now it made me shiver. “I’ll make it easy for you, since it’s brisk up here and I’d like to return to my rooms and sit by the fire. A good book and a glass of wine are waiting.” His smile curved down. “The entire Elite world thinks the sixth family was banished when, in fact, it was the third.”
“What? The book in the library…”
“I bespelled a sketar witch to write it and planted it there for others to find. It served two purposes. It would fool anyone who found it—like you—and it was magicked to renew the bespelling on everyone else.”
I couldn’t believe it. I’d guessed but I’d guessed wrong. I’d been led like everyone else. The thought made bile surge up into the back of my throat. I rubbed my belly, but the pain wouldn’t go away. It would never leave me now.
He scowled, and his hand loosened on my arm. “Hold on. You didn’t call me your father, did you?” A sneer twisted his face. “I only have one child. One daughter. Alys. The murderess. I’m afraid whatever silly delusion you’re living under is pure fiction.”
“Why deny it? It’s true.” My eyes filled against my will as the dream I’d fostered crashed around me. How could I have hoped for some sort of relationship with this man?
“He’s right,” someone said from behind me. “He isn’t your father.” The door to the stairwell slammed shut, and Tria walked over to stand with me. “And Alys isn’t your sister.” Her chin lifted and steel grated in her voice. “You’re my sister. Mine. Our father is Bastian.”
Tricksy.
Sirra lied.
Will’s hand claps shuddered through the air around us. “Delightful. A sixth family reunion. Too bad it’ll end in tragedy.” He waved toward me then drilled Tria with his frown. “Sadly, you’ll both have to die. I can’t leave loose ends lying around.”
I was part of the sixth family. Not the third. Never the third.
Never Alys.
Strangely enough, the thought of losing Alys smarted the most.
I’d… I’d started to care for her. I’d miss what we’d started, a relationship that would never come to fruition.
Yet Tria was my sister? All this time, I should’ve known. She’d been there for me always.
White threads gathered around Will as if he sucked them from the trees and the sky. He was drawing in environmental magic. Level Five Bespeller magic. The white shoved aside my black threads to reach him.
Too bad I couldn’t call them all. Every damn thread in the universe. Then fling them at Will. Anger roared through me with the strength of a lioness. If I could only harness her and ride her to victory.
“You created a ward,” I whispered as it hit me. “To keep me from flitting. Why not a bespelling? You don’t need to kill us. Bespell us instead.”
He gathered more white threads and bunched them into a deep blue stone he wore set in a ring on his pinky finger. “The sixth are impervious to bespellings.”
But Cloven had said he was bespelled like everyone else.
He’d lied to protect me.
“This is why everyone in the sixth family must die.”
He didn’t know about Cloven, and I wouldn’t tell him.
As Will bunched the power together in his hands, Tria and I backed away. We’d be too late to reach the door but perhaps…
I dove at Tria, knocking her down, and we smacked onto the roof. The wind was knocked from my lungs.
Tria thrust me off her. “Let me. I’m a full Seeker now!” She scrambled to her feet as Will smashed the power into a solid mass between his hands.
He’d hurt her. I couldn’t let him! Better I died than my sister.
Sister.
I’d just found her and now I’d lose her. My lungs couldn’t drag in a breath through my throat choked off by the pain of my loss.
We’d never survive this. This wouldn’t be a bespelling. He’d fling magic more powerful than anything I’d seen before at us and snuff out our lives.
My heart spasmed. I’d barely had time to know my real sister and we’d lose each other already.
My pendant flung itself forward, and Alex morphed into view in front of me as if he planned to take this hit for me, too.
“Watch out,” I yelled. “Run Alex. Fly away!”
He zipped toward Will, shouting, “Meeee!”
Will flicked his fingers out and white power flashed toward Alex. It snatched him up and, as I jumped to my feet and gave chase, Will flung Alex off the roof. Magic clung to my friend in a thick gooey white mass. It strangled him, kept him from breaking free, and directed him downward.
No!
He wasn’t going to make it! He’d die on impact. My friend…
I flew to the edge and watched as Alex spiraled like a doomed plane on fire.
My chest burned and I stretched out my arms, but there was nothing I could do to save him.
While I bit my hand to hold back my scream, Alex crashed into the crystal dragon’s spine. He lay there, unmoving.
My eyes streamed and I swiped the tears away. I had to see. Be there for Alex.
The heart inside the crystal beast beat red once. Twice.
Then it faded.
Chapter 38
Will snatched me up with power and flung me at Tria, who was rushing toward him. I smacked into her, sending her tumbling backward. She slammed against the wall and a crack rang out when her head impacted the rough stone. With a soft moan, she slid to the ground.
My world was crashing around me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening.
But I still had my rage.
Spinning around, I faced Will with flames burning through me hotter than lava. I wouldn’t go down without a fight. He wouldn’t hurt anyone else.
Will grinned, and his arms lifted.
Black threads clustered around me, sliding across the white Will had drawn in. Nudging aside the white, I snatched up the black, wove it tight, and fed it into my moonstone.
But wait…
White threads. Power. Controlling the world.
Rules. Trust. And a Bespeller who lies.
Of course. I knew what I needed to do to finally end this. The power had always been mine, I’d just had to grab onto it and control it.
With renewed energy, I gathered white threads along with the black, then tugged more from the trees, the sky, and the Academy building itself. I wove in white I yanked from the earth, the wind, and the planets.
Will shot power at me, a white bolt of lightning that would rip through my chest.
As I gathered energy and lifted my hands in defense, the beam hit my neck and light shattered around me in a rainbow of brilliant colors. I reached up and hissed when my fingers touched on the jewelette Alys had loaned me.
My sister who was not my sister had protected me.
Will roared and gathered more threads.
Scrambling the black and white threads together, I created one huge warpling unlike anything I could’ve even imagined could exist.
As I flung it toward Will, the crystal dragon—alive—rose up behind him. My jaw dropped as it tipped its head back and released a roar filled with ice shards that shot up toward the sky before plunging down around us in frigid spears.
Horror filling his face, Will cowered, covering his head. He wailed when a spike hit his spine, making him stagger forward.
The dragon, his wings creating a furious storm, descended.
Will’s hands lifted in supplication, and he begged for the dragon’s favor all while gathering more white threads into a ball between his hands.
“Watch out,” I cried, rushing toward them.
The dragon snatched up Will in his teeth and, tipping his head back, he gave Will a shake while chomping through the middle of his body. Blood and chunks of things I chose not to analyze flopped onto the roof.
Flapping his wings, the dragon flew over and landed in front of me.
While
tears fled down my face, Alex’s—beautiful, wondrous, Alex’s—voice burst into the air. “See, Fleur? I am a real dragon. I protected the one I cherish most. But now…” His voice dropped off to almost nothing. “I’m terribly sorry.”
My chest was a mass of pain as my heart crushed against my ribcage. I’d never be the same.
Nothing would ever be the same.
“Alex!” I rushed forward, my arms outstretched.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered again. “I wish…”
No. Please.
The crystal dragon exploded.
Light and ice burst into the sky, stretching all the way to the stars.
My fingers reached for my pendant that was no longer there. I’d never feel its weight around my neck again.
My friend. I’d lost him. How could I bear it?
Sobbing, I dropped to my knees and cupped my face in my hands as snowflakes drifted down through the air.
They coated the roof.
Me.
The legend had been fulfilled.
Chapter 39
Staggering to my feet, I went to Tria. My sister.
Still slumped against the wall, she groaned and rubbed the back of my head. “Did I just see…”
I stooped down beside her. “Let me call a healer.”
One ping with a quick explanation, and the head healer appeared beside us. Fortunately, she was too focused on my sister to glance toward the edge of the roof, where Will’s remains smoldered.
After assessing Tria, she nodded. “You’ve got a concussion. I need to get you to the clinic right away for healing.” She placed her hand on Tria’s shoulder. “We’re going now. Hold on.”
They disappeared from view.
Turning, I flopped on the ground and stretched my legs out in front of me. My eyes wouldn’t stop weeping.
Alex. I couldn’t believe he was gone. How could I go on without him? He’d always been here for me to offer advice or a cryptic statement that drove me to be my best.
He’d been my friend, and I’d miss him.
I wiped my face and stared up at the sky.
It had stopped snowing. Stars flickered far away, cold eyes watching without emotion.
Crystal Wing Academy- The Complete Series Page 75