by Ellie Margot
Riette didn’t speak for a second. “You won’t. We’re leaving here together. With Corin. She needs to know she can’t fuck with us.”
“We don’t need to teach her a lesson, Ri,” Cassian said. “We need to get out of here alive.”
“I’m not going to fuck this up for us or Corin,” said Mekhi, and his face was stony and still.
Riette turned. “I’m ready to talk.”
Sam turned. Damien was still talking, but Riette couldn’t hear his words from where she stood.
Sam shook her head. “And?”
“Let Corin go,” Riette said. “I need to see she’s okay.”
“I’m not going to give her up without something in return,” said Sam.
“I’m not asking you to, but I’m not going to make a deal without knowing you didn’t kill her or fuck her up.”
Sam considered her for a moment before nodding to Damien. He lumbered over to Corin, still slumped in the seat, her eyes hooded. When Damien leaned down, Cassian jerked forward.
“Don’t touch her.”
Damien turned slightly, a chuckle left his lips.
“Cassian—”
“No, I’m not going to watch him—”
“He’s not; he wouldn’t,” said Riette. She looked at Sam, who was watching their exchange.
“Keep him on a short leash,” said Sam.
Riette swallowed her words back. The wind blew her hair, and she pulled Cassian’s arm. “No.”
The wind didn’t die off, but it calmed a little.
Damien touched Corin’s shoulder. A ripple went down his arm and through to her. Corin sat up quickly, sucking in air as she lurched forward, a choking cough leaving her chest.
“Corin,” Mekhi said loudly.
Corin’s head turned quickly. “Mekhi?” She choked back a sob.
Damien released her shoulder, and she slumped back, but her eyes were still open. Tears fell down her face. Riette could see her hands shaking.
“See, alive and well,” said Sam.
“You fucking sick—” said Mekhi.
“No, you’re right,” Riette said. “You didn’t lie. Let her go now.”
“Not so fast,” said Sam.
“Let her go, and you can have me.”
The room was quiet. Sam stopped, her eyes searching Riette’s face.
“You’re lying.”
“I wouldn’t put Corin at risk or any of them. I’m not stupid.”
“Neither am I.” Sam moved forward a step. Her heel clicked.
“Come here.”
Riette took a step forward. Cassian took her hand and held it hard.
Riette turned toward him. “Trust me,” she mouthed. A beat passed. Then another. Finally, Cassian released her hand, and Riette moved ahead.
Sam was in the center of her side of the room, and Riette met her where she stood until only a foot separated them.
“That’s close enough,” said Damien. He stood to his full height.
Sam looked back at him. “It’s okay, Damien. She won’t bite the hand that would save her.” She turned back to Riette. “Would you?”
Riette shook her head. She didn’t trust herself to speak, not with her hands being in such close proximity to Sam’s neck. Not with Damien so close to Corin.
Sam’s hand reached out to touch Riette’s face.
Riette stilled. She could hear Cassian behind her. She didn’t want him to do something that would ruin everything. Making a fist of her hand behind her back, she prayed he would heed her signal.
Sam touched the ends of her long hair. Her hand traveled up to her face, touching her cheek. She watched for a reaction, but Riette didn’t give her one. Her hands were soft, and she smelled like roses that had just bloomed.
“So pretty,” Sam said, and she meant it. Riette could hear the awe in her voice that was barely above a whisper.
“I’m sorry,” said Riette. She barely saw confusion grace Sam’s features before Riette put her hands on Sam’s chest and pushed the solid energy out of her.
It rocked her frame and pushed her off her feet. Sam’s back hit the wall behind them before a second had passed, before any of them knew what had happened.
Damien stood stunned before running to her side.
Riette saw him look at her. His eyes narrowed, but she knew, as he did, that he couldn’t kill her and save Sam from the crack they both knew might have broken something inside of her that only magic could fix.
Riette ran to Corin, stopping only to grab her bag. When she made it to Corin, she grabbed her hand and hauled her up. She didn’t stop to let her find her feet. She didn’t pause to let her own fears catch up to her thinking. Instead, she ran with Corin back to the others.
Riette handed off Corin to Mekhi, and he grabbed her face, looked her over, and they both smiled, a small laugh leaving them, one of complete disbelief.
“Let’s go,” Riette said, and she led them out. She didn’t linger, and Cassian was fast by her side. A commotion sounded out behind her, but she didn’t turn around to look.
Guy ran up to her before she passed him. “Take me with you.”
Riette turned. Her hand found his throat, and she lifted him an inch from the floor. Though struggling, he didn’t fight her enough to make it hard for her. Riette didn’t know if he could. A moment they couldn’t afford to waste passed, and Riette dropped him to his feet.
She nodded, gritting her teeth.
“Thank you,” Guy said, but she said nothing in return.
They made it to the side of the bar, still in sight of the slain and where Damien stood over Sam’s body. Riette looked at them. Damien didn’t turn toward her at all, but the way he held Sam in his arms, in his hands, stopped her.
Her body was lifted part way off of the floor. Something was happening, but what? She couldn’t see, couldn’t tell from there, but her own footing stumbled when she saw Sam sputter and spit. She coughed her way back to life.
It wasn’t possible. It couldn’t happen. The crack, the way her body bent, the angle in which her neck was when she hit the back wall and she fell like a crumpled tissue to the floor. Sam couldn’t be alive.
But there she was. Damien righted her, putting her on her feet, and touched her shoulders with the delicate touch one would have with a doll. Sam cracked her neck by pushing one hand under her chin and snapping her head harshly to the side. Rolling her neck around, she smiled up at Damien. He smiled back at her.
Riette had the eerie feeling that wasn’t the first time he’d saved her like that. What that really made Sam was something Riette didn’t know. Mage? Monster? She watched Sam turn and find where she stood. The Mage’s eyes creased with the smile on her lips.
“Don’t look at her,” said Cassian. He took Riette by the hand and turned her, and his feet moved quickly, trying to get them to keep up with his own.
“She—”
“I know,” he said. He kept his jaw tense.
“Stop,” Sam said. They all heard her. None of them listened.
“Riette of Vitan. Daughter of Alluette. Future queen of the Elves. There is a curse on your head, a bounty for your body. Anyone who brings you back alive will be richer than they’ve ever dreamed. Anyone who helps you cross me will be fucking killed. So help me where I stand.”
Sam’s words weren’t yelled. They were spoken, a creed spoken to the world of Esper, and Riette’s tattoo burned on her back like the words were being etched into her skin.
They didn’t stop running until they were out of the bar. Riette didn’t stop running until she couldn’t even see the bar. Mekhi carried Corin, and Cassian kept up with Riette, but barely. Her feet were possessed.
She had to get away or let her soul die with the promise that came out of Sam’s lips. She couldn’t stop until there was a world of steps between her and where that woman stood.
What felt like miles later, Riette stopped. There were in a building, one rundown and left for ruin. She took her breaths greedily, as if she wan
ted to suck all the air from the room.
Cassian and the rest did the same.
“Are you okay?” he asked when he finally had the ability.
Riette nodded. She didn’t speak.
Mekhi whispered to Corin, his hand not leaving her cheek. Corin nodded in response.
Cassian turned and closed the distance between himself and his sister. They hugged hard, as if they were trying to become one again, as if the action could make both of them whole. He released her enough to kiss the top of her head and hug her again.
Riette smiled. Her vision went blurry for a second, but she blinked it away. The danger wasn’t gone. It had found a new form, and she couldn’t, wouldn’t, rest until they were all safe again.
Guy cleared his throat from the corner of the room where he stood. He looked like he wanted to crumple into himself, but he hadn’t that talent or the ability.
Mekhi, away from Corin, set his eyes on Guy in the corner.
“Why is he here? Why is this fucker anywhere near us?”
Riette moved forward to stand between Mekhi’s glares and Guy’s stance. Guy was here for one reason only. Riette needed answers only he could give.
Chapter 35
“Because I wanted to see if he would lie to my face again,” said Riette.
“I didn’t lie,” said Guy. His voice was small, and he didn’t look at them for more than a second before breaking eye contact and looking at the floor.
“Didn’t lie? You gave my girlfriend to a sick fuck who wanted to drain her like a fucking tick.”
“She’s not a tick; she’s a Mage,” said Guy. His eyes found Riette.
“You gave Corin to a Mage, whatever the fuck she is,” Riette said.
“I trusted you,” said Corin.
“And what did you say you needed?” Guy asked. “A place to stay until they found you. Sam was that place. She was the safest place for you to be in all of Esper.”
“Bullshit,” Riette said. “Don’t justify your shitty choices to serve your needs now.”
Cassian touched her arm, but Riette brushed him away. “No, he doesn’t get to say he gave her a roof over her head like he did her some fucking favor.”
“What has changed since I told you the truth?” Guy asked. “The truth when I met you? Tell me.”
“They made me...” started Corin, but her words trailed off. Mekhi moved to her side.
“And the book?” asked Riette. “Are you going to lie about that too?” She didn’t want Corin to be pushed into sharing. Those horrors would come to light when she was ready. Not before.
“What book?”
“You’re going to sit there and pretend like you haven’t been keeping the book a secret from me?”
“What book, Riette?” Guy took a step forward. He said every word deliberately as if he really didn’t know.
“Riette,” Cassian started.
“That’s why you’re full of shit, Guy. Say whatever you want about what you did to Corin. Tell yourself whatever story, but at least be honest every once in a fucking while. Act like you have some semblance of—”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Guy.
“My grandmother? She told me at the Trial of Truth—”
“They aren’t always right,” said Guy.
“That’s the exact opposite of what you told me before,” said Riette. She knew her body should be tired, but it was still wired to be on alert. She was still in form to fight, but she didn’t want any more blood on her hands.
“They tell you what you want to hear, Riette. It’s a parlor trick.”
“No. Stop lying. She said my grandmother left me a book and you knew about it.”
“Me?” scoffed Guy. “I didn’t know you before you found me, before I met Corin. She told me who you were, yes, but I didn’t know shit about you, let alone your grandmother.”
“You didn’t know Vera left a book for me?”
“Riette,” said Cassian again, but Riette didn’t stop. She marched forward to Guy, her blood boiling under her skin, her tattoo tingling. Guy swallowed as each step took her closer to him and him closer to his death. She took the final steps and gripped his shirt. It was tattered, she assumed from the fight, but maybe he did it to himself. She wouldn’t put it past him.
Riette gripped the shirt harder and forced Guy to the wall behind him. He didn’t fight her, but she could sense the power in him bubbling. She wanted to push him to use it. What little she knew about him let her know he was powerful. Maybe even dangerously so, but she had never seen his potential before.
The energy roared to life inside of her like a jaguar stretching and pulling at her skin from within.
Guy still didn’t fight back. He didn’t struggle. His jaw was tense, and she saw the tic in it from holding it still and resisting. As she pushed him against the wall, the darkness was taking over.
She checked him against it again, and each word she spit out was charged and with much force.
“My world is dying. Our world. Vitan is burning, and the only chance we have to save it is in that book. Stop fucking with me, and tell me where it is.”
“I know where the book is,” said Cassian. His voice cut through the room. Riette’s hand stilled on Guy’s chest. Guy looked over her shoulder to where Cassian stood and then found her eyes again.
Riette didn’t turn. “What did you say?”
No one spoke. She couldn’t hear anyone even breathing, except for Guy in front of her as he tried to regain control. The space between them was so small, she could still feel the heat of his energy, energy unspent, coming off of his skin.
The pain she felt inside her stomach, though, was much worse.
“I know where the book is, your grandmother’s,” said Cassian. His voice didn’t go quiet, but each word was said carefully, as if he could possibly understand what he was undoing in her when he said it.
Riette turned slowly. She saw Corin first, huddled against Mekhi for warmth, support. She saw Mekhi, still covered in blood with his hands around his love. And then she saw Cassian.
He was standing so still that he looked like a statue of himself. His eyes were glassy. She could see he was biting the inside of his cheek.
“How long?” she asked him.
“Riette—”
“How long have you known?”
“Your father—”
“My father?” Riette asked, her voice breaking. “My father told you something, and you kept it from me?”
Cassian took a step toward her.
“No. Tell me now. Tell me what you’ve been keeping from me.”
Cassian stepped back. He looked down and took a breath before looking at her again. “He told me not to tell you. Your grandmother had written a book. She had left it with someone dangerous in Esper. She had written stuff in it, crazy stuff, your father said, and he didn’t want you risking your life to find something that would just get your hopes up.” He said it all in what sounded like one strangled breath. “I wanted to tell you, Riette. You know I did, but I also knew you would have left. Risked your life and the entire future of Vitan to get it back. I couldn’t lose you like that. You have to understand.”
“I don’t have to do anything,” Riette said. Her voice was quiet and not her own. She didn’t look at Cassian when she said it, and when she did, he stumbled back as if she had struck him.
Riette knew her eyes felt different. Black. Cold. She didn’t have to see it on Cassian’s face. She knew something had officially broken inside of her.
“Riette—”
“I don’t have to rule.”
“Don’t say that,” said Cassian. “Please.”
“Yeah,” said Mekhi. “Whatever this is, we’ll get through it. You know we will.”
“I don’t know anything anymore,” said Riette. She knew it sounded petty. Small. Like everything she had fought her entire life against being.
She looked at Cassian, his hands gripped in tight fists by his sides a
s if he wanted to cross the distance between them.
“If you want to find the book, I will help you. I’d do anything—”
Riette laughed. There wasn’t any levity in it.
Mekhi stepped forward. “Riette,” he said. He moved closer to where she still stood trembling, both from the anger and the changes happening inside of her skin. Inside of her skull. Her heart.
Mekhi got close enough to touch her shoulder. “Hey, weirdo. You know we’ll figure out all of this together. Wherever the book is, we’ll find it. You can do anything. You prove that every time you try something new. Every time you set your mind to something, okay? This isn’t any different.”
Corin stepped forward. She touched Cassian’s arm as she moved to stand by Mekhi.
“He’s right. You’re... There aren’t words. What you did in there, how you saved me.”
“I didn’t save you.”
“Yes, you did,” said Cassian. “All of us.”
Riette looked at him but looked away.
“What do you want to do?” asked Mekhi. “We’re with you. All of us are.” He turned to look back at Cassian and then looked to Riette again.
“We can go home,” he said. “We could find the book. It’s your call.”
Riette looked up at him.
She didn’t look at Cassian, at Guy still softly breathing behind her, not at Corin whose eyes, she knew, would be filled with hope and things she couldn’t handle.
She stared at Mekhi, trying to choke back something that burned from her stomach up, something that she trapped in her throat.
“I want to go home,” Riette said. “Hell, I need to. But if that book gives me any chance to save Vitan, then I don’t have a choice.”
And turning, she faced Cassian, forcing herself to do what she had just thought was impossible.
“I never did.”
The End
Continue the Saga…
The Sea Green Siren, Book Two in the Elves series releases May 29th!
Stay informed HERE!
Author Note
Okay, I told myself I’d be honest in these.