Nina’s mouth was dry. “My parents?”
“Yes,” Nat said tearfully. “Your parents told us more than we’ve let on.” She hesitated. “They gave us more than we let on.”
Desmond had been clutching a box in his hands the whole time, and Nina finally looked at it closely. It had ancient letters carved into its dark brown surface, and heavy silver clasp held it shut.
“What is that?”
Desmond smiled, his one good eye twinkling. “It’s the Heart, Nina. Your birthright.”
The silence that filled the room was thunderous. Nina felt her heart shake off the icy shackles it had been wearing and start to soar; a laugh actually bubbled to her lips before she could stop it. We’re saved! We have the Heart after all!
“I hate to interrupt,” Eli said nervously. “But there’s another matter at hand. Nina, who had been trying to kill you?”
Her happiness deflated, disappearing as quickly as it had come. She raised her glance to Eli, preparing herself for the frenzy that would follow her words.
“It’s Eka. It’s been Eka the whole time.”
Eli’s face drained of color and he closed his eyes.
“I thought so, when I heard his guard was involved.”
Nina wasn’t finished, though. “He watched Lylah die, and he’d been watching us the whole time. He’s pissed, Eli.” She took a breath and said something she was only realizing just then.
“And he’s coming this way.”
THE FINAL CHAPTER
Nina and Nat were talking quietly on the couch while Pryce, Desmond, Rachel and Eli finished warding the entire structure.
“How did you get it?” Nina asked, holding the heart in her hands. “Lylah thought it had been destroyed, but Eka knew somehow that it was still out there. How did this all happen?”
Nat’s brown eyes were lined and rimmed with dark circles.
“It’s all because of your parents. Like them, we had close ties with Outcasts, right until the very end. We helped them with their efforts to strengthen their community before we ever knew about the prophecy, and they trusted us—so much so that we were trusted with their biggest secret.” Nat paused. “When your parents went to the Heart Island—it’s what they called the uncharted island where the found it—by the time they were on their way back, they knew they were being tailed, so they pulled a switch. The Heart they boarded the plane with was a decoy. They sent the real heart ahead warded in the strongest magic—magic witches and fairies taught them, magic the Council had forsaken due to purity reasons—to disguise it as trinkets.” Nat smiled ruefully. “No one ever suspected that we got the real Heart... to save for you.”
Nina shook her head, a devastating blend of guilt and remorse flooding her veins. “Nat, I should have told you right away. All of this could have been avoided.” She raised her tearful gaze to her adoptive mother’s, her voice trembling. “Why am I so stubborn? Why did I think I could protect everyone?”
“Because you’re just like your mother,” Nat said wistfully. “She tried to do it all alone, too. In fact, we offered to sneak decoys on to the plane itself, disguised with magic, and put them on a different one, or on a cruise ship disguised as an elderly couple. She wouldn’t have it, because she wanted no more people involved.” Her smile was sorrowful. “I don’t blame you for a minute, darling. I just wish you had trusted us to take care of ourselves. Though you wouldn’t have made that mistake if we had been honest with you.”
Nina looked at the heart again. It was a brilliant florescent pink, much darker than many of the rose quartz stones she’d seen other dragons carry around. In the very center of its body was a lovely lavender color that seemed to be made of mist or magic—or perhaps both. It was as though it had been infused with something. Nina passed her fingers over it and saw the misty substance start to whirl under the jagged surface. Her power had stirred it, it seemed. So what was it?
It’s the stone’s power, she realized, though not the same type of power she carried around inside herself. It was not the kind she could absorb, but it was power all the same. For some reason, the huge orb reminded her of the tiny fairy bombs that had wrought havoc on their journey so far. They had nothing in common as far as she could see, but as she held it, she kept seeing that innocuous sphere rolling toward her with the intent of melting the marrow in her bones. The stone mingled with her own energy, and the taste that resulted was something that was familiar, but not familiar enough to identify right off the bat. Nina gave up on trying to decipher the substance and went back to chastising herself. None of this would have happened if you would have just told Nat and Desmond. You’ve been so self-sacrificing, and it got you nothing but pain.
Nat saw her train of thought. Even though she couldn’t read dragon energy, she was still Nina’s mother. She put a hand against Nina’s cheek and looked into her eyes.
“Don’t blame yourself,” she said earnestly. “I know you feel responsible, but this was made by all of us together. I have faith that we’ll find our way out.”
Nina folded Nat into a hug, weeping gently against her slim shoulder as she wondered if this would the last time she saw these people alive. Eka was coming, and there was no plan yet; Nina still wasn’t even sure she’d be able to face him. She might just drop dead from fear the moment he found them. The protection charms would buy them some time, but not enough to escape—only enough to prepare for a fight.
Nina looked at her family, and at the men who had become so vital to her happiness. She’d only come to terms with their strange arrangement recently; was she ready to see it destroyed?
She made a decision. Nina cleared her throat and waited for everyone to look at her.
“If the wards are finished, I’d like everyone to leave. There’s no reason you all need to die with me, and he doesn’t want you. Only me.”
Nina expected them protest, show anger, or even be touched by her suggestion. She didn’t expect them to laugh.
“No,” Nat said simply. “That’s not happening.”
“We’re not deserting you, idiot,” Rachel said as she crossed the room and gave her a fierce hug.
“You’re not getting rid of us that easily.” Pryce held on to her waist and gave her a look of total and complete and adoration, his sky blue eyes quivering with emotion. “I’m sticking by you till the end, Nina. Whenever that may be.”
Eli caught her eye and smiled, nodding his agreement. She was still angry with him, still upset over his deception, but his smile helped ease the storm inside her heart. She still loved him, and she loved knowing he still loved her enough to risk his life.
They really are my family, she thought, tearing up as they surrounded her. My weird, fucked up little family.
The Heart glowed warm in her hands. It was a perfect moment.
And then, suddenly, it wasn’t.
A million hours seemed to pass from the moment they broke their group hug to the moment the ceiling started to cave in. Rachel screeched and covered her head, and the rest of them shielded the air around them with their energies, peering upward as the ground beneath them rumbled and the stone above them fell away. A network of cracks crisscrossed the stone, and the hematite buckled and bulged outward before exploding and sending fist-sized chunks raining over them. They bounced harmlessly away from their patchwork energy field, and larger chunks threatened to slam through their auras and crush their bodies into dust. The ceiling kept crumbling for what appeared to be years, and Nina could feel the confusion choking all of their energies as they tried to keep the shield steady.
“What’s happening?” Desmond shouted. “What’s going on?”
Nina knew he wouldn’t hear her over the din the dragon was making as he pushed through the hematite, so she mouthed the answer at him.
It’s Eka. He was here.
A dragon the color of pale ash dropped gracefully from the hole it had just broken in the ceiling and landed on its monstrous feet. It was much bigger than Pryce had been, and his tee
th were yellow and twisted, resembling a dilapidated lemon-colored fence more than a set of fangs. His huge golden eyes were wild as they settled on Nina, and she felt an air of triumph roll off of him as he focused on her. For a second, she expected him to shoot a column of fire at her and burn her to a crisp—exactly what had happened in her recurring dream. She’d finally found the heart, and now she was going to die. Nina was frozen in panic, so she couldn’t have moved even if she’d thought of it. Instead, she let those huge golden eyes pierce her, letting the icy hand of fear wrap around her neck.
But Eka didn’t stay in dragon form. He rapidly shrunk back into his human shape; despite his change in size. He was no less fearsome, and the smile he gave them held no warmth whatsoever. Nina wondered how she hadn’t seen that his smile had consistently been so empty—it was the same smile he gave her on the day they met.
Eka brushed a patch of white dust off his shoulder and looked around.
“Quaint,” he said in his deep, rumbling voice. His eyes landed on Eli. “Ah. I see Lylah didn’t kill you after all. You know, I assigned you to Nina because I thought you’d fall in love and be too distracted with each other to pay attention to anyone who might try to tip you off the assassination plot I set in motion. That didn’t quite work, but no harm done. Besides a few dead dragons.”
Eli made a noise that sounded more like a squeak than any word Nina knew.
Eka laughed. “And I see we have the whole family here. That will make this quick and clean.”
“I can’t believe we forgot to enchant the ceiling,” Nat said faintly, gazing at Eka is if he’d hypnotized her. “I never forget.”
“Yes, well, accidents happen,” Eka said kindly. His sharp gold eyes rested on Nina again. “I’d like to thank you for uncovering the Heart for me. I know it wasn’t easy, because you’re a stubborn little fool. You resisted every attempt to throw you off course while refusing to confide in an elder, effectively ensuring your failure. It’s so tragic. I do appreciate you handing it over, however. You won’t have time to use it to unlock your power fully before I kill you.” He held his wizened brown hand out and waited patiently.
Nina looked around for a distraction. “Why are you doing this? It was your disgusting, dark energy that dirtied the stone in the first place, you know that? Didn’t you foresee that when you killed the queen and formed the Council?”
“Oh, no,” Eka said tiredly. “I won’t fall for that James Bond get-the-villain-to-make-a-speech trick. I’m not going to rhapsodize like Lylah did and give you a chance to attack. If you won’t give the me the stone, I’ll take it by force, kill your family in front of you, then kill you last. Or,” he said slowly, “you can all die together, painlessly. Your choice.”
That was no choice at all, Nina thought. She knew what she was going to do, and she had a feeling Eka had known, too. There was no way that Nina was going to roll over and let him kill them without a fight. Whether or not she could win, she had to try.
“Nina, you’re not powerful enough,” Eka said testily as he read her energy. “We both know that Heart is the final piece of your prophecy. You need to use it to reach the power needed to defeat me, and I’m not going to let that happen.”
The Heart was glowing more brightly in her hands, and Nina realized the energy was rocketing around between the round chunk of stone, straining to get out. Something told her that Eka wasn’t exactly right. He’d been so wrong about so many things in his lifetime—dragons being better off with the Council, Eli distracting Nina from attempts on her own life, the idea that his plan would work in the first place; what if he was wrong now? What if she could unlock it before he got to it?
“Nina,” Eka said warningly.
Her mind was racing, moving in time with the pounding of her heart. The stone’s vibrations knocked something loose in her. What if this stone isn’t meant to unlock my power at all?
The stone vibrated in her hands more violently, as if to say you’re getting warmer!
What are you? Nina thought desperately. Are you a power booster? Some kind of tool to manipulate energy?
Eka raised his hands and sighed.
Are you a weapon?
The stone nearly vibrated out of her hands, and suddenly, she understood—and she knew Eka didn’t understand at all.
I am the head and the Heart.
“It was nice knowing you, Nina.” Eka’s smile was grim. “You really were something special.”
“Wait!” Nina shouted, raising the Heart. “I’ll give it to you.”
Her family turned toward her with identical expressions of shock on their faces.
“Nina, no!”
Eka, however, was smiling gleefully. “I knew you’d see it my way.”
“I did,” Nina said as she lowered the stone. She started to funnel power into it as she spoke, trusting Eka to hold her gaze and be so concerned with his own aura that he wouldn’t care about hers. “You’re right Eka. You’re older than me, and obviously more cunning. I shouldn’t have tried to cross you.”
“What are you doing?” Pryce cried.
“The right thing,” Eka answered, his eyes dancing with delight. “Toss it to me, now. I don’t want any funny business.”
Nina hesitated, trying to pour as much of her energy into the stone as she could. “And you’ll kill us quickly?”
“Yes,” Eka confirmed.
“Could you give us a minute together first?”
Eka frowned, and a crease appeared in the middle of the gentle wrinkles on his forehead. “I suppose I could give you a minute, Nina. If you hand the stone over now.”
It was now or never. Nina tossed the stone to Eka and watched him catch it with both hands, the glee in his eyes sickening to behold. Beside her, Pryce, Eli, and Rachel were wearing looks of hurt and betrayal, and Pryce had tears in his eyes.
“You could have won, Nina,” he whispered desperately. “You didn’t have to do this!”
But Nina was watching Eka and carefully snaking a tendril of her energy toward him. He was standing stock-still, gazing at the stone with a gaze so intense it was like it was about to make him royalty. He didn’t notice the sliver of energy curl around the Heart until it was too late. It started to glow and smoke in his hands, and his golden eyes bulged with confusion.
“You were wrong again,” she called. “That’s not what you think it is. Nothing is the way you think it is, Eka.”
Her voice was trembling with suppressed emotion, and she felt her own power swelling inside her and then beyond her—more immense than it had ever been. The air around them started to steam, but Nina was too focused to notice the change. She wrapped more of her energy around the stone and it felt it start to wake the energy she’d poured into it. Nina had frozen it, but now it was stirring sleepily between Eka’s hands.
“That’s not for me to unlock my power, or anyone else’s. It’s a weapon, Eka, and it always has been.”
Eka looked up, his eyes furious as the Heart shook between his palms. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Using my Heart,” Nina whispered.
Then she gave the power inside the stone a gentle nudge, pulled her family behind her, and released the compressed energy that had been straining to get out.
It was nothing so neat as an explosion. The energy transferred itself to Eka’s hands, which started to glow red from the inside; the energy slipped through his muscles and traveled up his arms and neck, curling around his head before dipping down his back and seeping into his legs. Even his clothes were glowing. Eka’s eyes were bulging out of his skull, and as they watched, each eye popped individually, sending a stream of gooey liquid creeping down his lined cheeks that evaporated from the heat almost immediately.
“Bitch!” he screamed, his voice warped by the energy destroying his body. “You worthless bitch! You’ll never be a queen! Never!”
A second later, the muscle of his tongue melted in his mouth, and his skin started to slough away from his teeth and jaw. Hi
s head was nothing but a stark white skull another second later, and they watched as the flesh dropped away from his arms and torso, dropping on the floor to settle over the hematite with a wet plop. Nina heard Rachel started to retch, but she couldn't take her eyes away. Not until she knew it was over.
Eka was still standing when the last bit of his body melted from his marrow, and then his bones started to glow. His bones started to grow long, spindly cracks, and the heat showed through the slits like sun streaming through a window. It was almost beautiful. Nina had a moment to marvel at the stately skeleton before her, and then both the Heart and the long white bones exploded outward in a puff of white dust and a shower of pink sparks. The dust drifted down to settle over the black sludge that was the remains of Eka’s body.
Nina’s ears were ringing. She was rooted to the spot, unable to take her eyes away from the black pool of filth that slowly spreading over the floor. As her hearing returned to normal, the sounds of chaos started to sharpen.
“Are you bleeding?”
“Did it get on you?”
“Nina, Nina, are you okay?”
None of the words reached her. Nina walked forward, feeling like a zombie as she stood over the remains of the dead Head of Council. Was it over? Was it really over? Was someone else about to barge in and start the whole fucking process again?
A hand touched her back and guided her away. Nina blinked and looked over her shoulder; it was Pryce. She felt a rush of relief, followed by an overwhelming wave of exhaustion.
“Let’s get you to bed,” Pryce said kindly.
In a daze, Nina heard herself laugh. “Really? Right now?”
“You’re in shock,” Pryce said firmly. “You need sleep.”
A cheer went up behind them, and they both turned to find Nat, Desmond, and Eli hugging Rachel as she jumped up and down in excitement. The pool of black filth was gone. It seemed that Rachel had vanished it.
“Now that’s why you have a witch on the team!” she shouted, raising her hands in the air.
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