by Ashley Meira
The dining room was more of the same, with one noticeable exception that made my gut clench.
Blood.
A lot of blood.
Despite being a self-proclaimed hermit and living by himself deep inside a dragon sanctuary, Bane had kept a rather large and ornate dining table. It stretched across the entire room and could comfortably seat twenty people. That table was on its side in the corner, and a giant blood stain laid in its place. And when I said “in its place,” I meant that literally. The dark red puddle stretched across the dining room exactly like the table had. Farther, actually, because it only began tapering off a foot past the exit.
That was an amount of blood that made me doubt the victim’s survival. I checked the room again, looking for a body I may have missed, but I was the only one here. The blood’s sheen told me it was still wet, but I touched it to check anyway. It transferred to my fingertips easily, and I estimated this had been here less than an hour. Still relatively fresh. Bane was strong. He could hold on for an hour. We could still save him.
I swallowed thickly and forced myself to believe that as I followed the blood.
There was no body at the end of the trail, but there was more blood. Medium-sized droplets that indicated movement. Bane, or whoever had been hurt, survived the attack and staggered down this hall.
My footsteps were quiet as I continued forward, senses primed and sword at the ready. Fiona and Adam were nowhere to be found, but the first floor was much larger than the second. Plus, though he had never confirmed it, I was pretty sure Bane had space carved out underground, too. They could be anywhere. My communication ring burned against my pinky, but I decided to hold off calling anyone until I finished investigating this blood trail. I didn’t want to alert any possible intruders of my presence.
The trail split into two directions, down two different hallways. I sighed. Why couldn’t anything be simple? At least the second trail meant Bane might not have been the one gravely injured. Or he survived just long enough to go one direction, then the other. I shook my head, forcing the thought out of my mind, and focused on the task at hand. The trail straight ahead was bloodier, so I decided to continue down that way first.
A broken door greeted me, its top half in splinters at my feet. The opening revealed an empty room, but I took a look anyway. It looked like an office, but it was hard to tell with all the detritus littering the floor. Remnants of a large desk laid shattered in the center, surrounded by charred pieces of paper. In fact, everything here appeared to have been burnt. Perhaps Bane was trying to hide something?
Looking through half-destroyed pages was as appealing as jumping in lava — without my Fireborn powers — so I decided to pat the walls first. Maybe I’d get lucky and find a hidden switch, possibly a safe. Considering all the bookcases were either broken or toppled on the floor, I doubted they held any such secrets, so that left the walls. The stone was cold as it scraped against my fingertips, but none of the squares held anything of use. It was possible Bane’s secrets were hidden with magic. In which case I’d need to swallow my pride and ask Adam to take a look.
Sighing, I began sifting through the papers near Bane’s ruined desk. Just a quick look, I told myself. Then, I’d follow up on the other blood trail.
Or I could do that now, because all these pages appeared to be written in Latin. Maybe. I wasn’t fluent, but my Latin skills were passable, and none of these words made sense to me. A secret code? Wouldn’t put it past Bane.
I sifted through a few more pages, but they either crumbled to ash or were covered in that same unreadable language. Not a single picture on any of them. Maybe he was as shitty an artist as Adam. I made a note to ask if I saw him again.
When I saw him again.
My fingertips brushed against something solid. I brushed aside the pages to reveal a necklace. It was plain — a black band with a silver medallion hanging from it. The medallion had no design on it, so that was a dead end. What was this doing here? A communication charm maybe? I wracked my brain trying to remember if this matched what Ollie’s dad used to call Bane when we visited, but I couldn’t remember.
Frowning, I pocketed the necklace to show to Adam. He should be able to sense any magic from it. As I stood up, the back of my neck began to prickle. I knelt back down, listening for footsteps. There were none, but a professional wasn’t likely to be heard.
Whatever this presence was, it was getting closer. I could feel a pressure building as they approached. It set my blood pumping with anticipation. I brought my sword forward so they couldn’t see it was drawn and waited.
Closer now. Close enough that I felt the vibration of the steps when I pressed my hand against the ground. That was a trick that had served Fiona and I well when we were younger. We’d hide in abandoned homes and touch the floor, waiting for the heavy footsteps of the police to fade away lest we get kicked out.
When I could feel the stranger’s presence against my back, I lashed out. My foot slammed into something solid as I rose up. Seizing the moment, I whipped around and gave another kick to the stranger’s midsection. My body was thrumming with anticipation, but I forced myself to hold back for now. I wanted answers, and the dead weren’t as chatty as the living.
“Ow,” a deep voice groaned as my victim hunched over clutching his stomach. “Why do you always do that?”
I let out a loud sigh and propped my hands on my hips. “Why do you always sneak up behind me knowing I’ll do that? Damn it, Adam. You’re hurt. I could’ve killed you!”
His narrowed eyes told me I’d wounded more than just his ribs, but I met his frustrated gaze with my own. Guilt began eating away at me soon enough, but he began to speak before I could crack and apologize.
“All the rooms I’ve checked have been like this.” He gestured around the room. “Something big happened here.”
“Recently. The blood is still fresh.” I stared at his midsection, specifically where the dragon had bitten him. He didn’t appear to be bleeding anymore, but his shirt was still soggy with blood in some places and crusting over in others. “Are you okay?”
“Worried?” A small smile tugged at his lips and his eyes turned gentle. “Don’t be. I’m healed, though I could use a nap when this is all over.”
I held out the necklace I found. “Can you read anything off this?”
He took it and turned it over. “Magic, but nothing big. Communication charm. Didn’t Ollie say he never wore it?”
“Maybe he ran here to get it,” I said softly, trying not to picture the events I’d pieced together. It was nearly impossible to imagine someone as stoic as Bane running in fear, but I had a damn good imagination. “There’s another trail of blood. I haven’t checked it yet.”
He nodded. “I saw it. Fiona went to check it out. She—”
The sound of breaking class interrupted us, followed by a series of loud thumps. The familiar sound of steel against steel rang out soon after.
“Fiona’s magic,” Adam said, hurrying into the hall. “I can’t sense another.”
“Let’s hurry,” I said, racing after him.
We made it to Fiona in less than a minute. The room she was in resembled the others. Broken furniture everywhere and a lot of blood. This blood was pooled in the corner of the room, and there was more of it than I expected from the drops leading here.
But what really surprised me was Fiona’s opponent. It shouldn’t have. Not after all I’d been through — and not after Adam said he couldn’t sense anyone else’s magic, but I still froze upon seeing that fanged white mask.
Diana.
Chapter Ten
I wasn’t sure why they’d foregone magic, but both women were locked in brutal melee combat. A white hot rage seemed to have overtaken Fiona, because she fought like a woman possessed. The orichalcum blade slammed against Diana’s phoenix-hilted sword as they danced around each other before swooping into the fray once more.
Fiona claimed to have never used this weapon before, but she must h
ave been practicing her sword skills. She met Diana blow for blow, matching her in a way that she hadn’t come close to months ago.
A burst of ice flew from Diana’s hand. Fiona rolled away before shrinking down. She charged toward Diana and grew once she was right in front of her, a charged Fairy Blast glowing in her hand. The pink glow faded, and I could make out the realization glimmering in Fiona’s eyes before Diana slammed the hilt of her sword into the fairy’s ribs. Magic wouldn’t work on a Fireborn. She’d just absorb it. But Fiona remembered too late.
Instead of following up on her attack, Diana took a step back. Sweat drenched her forehead, and her pristine white uniform was caked in dirt, blood, and shards of glass. She panted heavily as she down at Fiona’s staggered form.
But Adam didn’t give her a chance to breathe. He leapt into the fray with a punch aimed at her face. She barely dodged, his fist glancing her ponytail. She ducked before he could grab her hair and kicked out, catching him in the knee. He buckled but caught himself in time to throw a sweeping kick in her direction. Fiona dusted herself off and began helping him.
The two of them were an imposing sight together. True, they didn’t have a rhythm going, but they were keeping Diana off balance. They hadn’t been able to do that before. None of us had.
I should have been helping them. I needed to do something, but my brain was working so hard there was no energy left for my body. Something was there. It had to be, otherwise my damn legs would be moving.
They were moving at a regular pace, but they may as well have been hitting warp speed with how much my brain was processing. Everything I’d seen leading up to here, my sisters fighting against each other with my partner joining in…. It all mixed together in a mush of half-formed thoughts.
Slowly, like pieces of a puzzle, it came to me. Split path, blood pooled in the corner, Diana’s movements, the fact that she wasn’t fending them off with her usual finesse….
“Stop!” I yelled as Diana threw a fireball.
She froze, her eyes bulging open as she tumbled to the ground. Her eyes were livid when they shot up to meet mine, but before I could speak, Fiona’s sword came flying toward her. She deflected the blow before slashing at her, then at Adam. Her sword was keeping them at bay, but she wouldn’t be able to push them both back for long.
“I said stop!” I took another step, then another, until I was in the middle of the fight and two very pointy blades were pointed at my neck. “Knock it off!”
“What the hell?” Fiona cried. She took a step back but kept her sword pointed at Diana. Or rather, at me since I was standing in front of her. “She’s trying to kill us!”
“Sophia,” Adam started. His eyes held none of the betrayal Fiona’s did, but there wasn’t much patience either. “This isn’t the time—”
“Why come to Bane’s to kill us?” I blurted out, trying to think of a way to diffuse this situation. “She couldn’t have known we were here. Gadot chose this place at random, and he didn’t tell Nicholas.”
Neither of their expressions changed. In fact, Fiona seemed to get even angrier. “Then, she’s here to kill Bane. Look at this place! It’s a damn bloodbath.”
“I know,” I said, turning to Diana. She hadn’t tried to stab me, which made me feel better about doing this. Of course, it would be hard for her to thrust forward with the way she was clutching her torso. “The blood here is hers. Look.”
The efforts she’d exerted during the fight had worsened her injuries. Fresh blood blossomed from underneath the tarnished layers of her uniform and seeped into the sleeve of the arm she had wrapped around herself.
She’d been able to fight through her injuries, but they’d slowed her down. No wonder this fight appeared so easy. Pride fluttered in my chest at knowing Diana could have held her own much better at full strength, but I quickly quashed that feeling down — along with the guilt that came from siding against Adam and Fiona.
“Fine,” Fiona spat. “So, Bane injured her before she killed him.”
“He’s no use to us dead,” Diana ground out. I guess pissing people off with a single sentence was a family trait.
Fiona’s face turned red as her hair. “See? ‘Us’ as in Nicholas. You remember — the man who kidnapped us!”
“He kidnapped her, too,” I said, my voice soft and my hands held up.
The strangled scoff Fiona let out didn’t bode well. A litany of emotions flashed behind her emerald eyes, none of them remotely positive. But she dropped her sword. It clattered to the ground with a resounding echo as she threw up her arms and shook her head.
Deciding Fiona wasn’t likely to stab me in the back — hopefully — I reached for Diana. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding pretty badly—”
She jerked back, bumping her shoulder against the wall. “I’m fine.”
“You’re a healing mage.” I didn’t try to touch her again, but I did keep my eyes trained on her sword. “And you were able to cast a spell at Fiona—”
“To kill me,” the fairy snapped.
“You were trying to kill me,” Diana growled.
“Why don’t you heal it?” I finished.
With a frustrated sigh, Diana dropped her sword and slid down the wall. “His spell…. The wounds it causes are heavily resistant to healing. I need to use five times the magic for it to take effect. I was interrupted.” She glared at Fiona, but the fairy’s back was turned to us. “This is not staying hidden, by the way.”
For some reason, her admonishment made me chuckle. “Technically, this place is hidden.”
“Not anymore.”
“Argh!” Fiona threw up her arms again and whipped around to face us. “What the hell is going on?! Why do you want Bane? What did you do to him? And what the actual fuck do you mean by ‘staying hidden’?” She turned her glare toward Adam. “Do you know what this is about? Why aren’t you as confused as I am?”
Adam sighed and gave me an apologetic look. “When Sophia was in prison—”
“Wait,” I said. “I’ll tell her. Can you please help Diana while I do?”
He raised a brow while Fiona broke the sound barrier.
“What?!”
I reached for her, then quickly pulled my hand back. With the look she was giving me, I’d have lost my entire arm. “Hear me out. Come on.”
I led Fiona to a corner, making sure to keep everyone in my line of sight. Adam looked like he was being held at gunpoint, but he knelt by Diana and held his hand over her injuries. I waited until I saw healing magic glow from both their hands before turning back to face the terrifying presence that was my sister. Other sister. Second sister. Fuck. Whatever.
Her arms were crossed, and I could see angry red marks from where her nails had dug into the skin. “Talk. Now.”
Taking a deep breath, I told her the same thing I told Adam on the plane. In hindsight, I should have waited until they were together to do it, but I was hoping Adam would support me when I told Fiona. Or vice-versa. One of them might’ve been able to handle “working with the enemy,” but two? I never had that kind of luck.
When I finished my explanation, I added, “I know this is insane. I was skeptical at first, too, but she’s my sister. Other sister. She suffered the way we did, too. She’s the only tie I have to my past. Don’t you remember how it felt learning about Roman?”
Bringing up her supposed father was a low blow, but it made my point in a way no other words would. It also made the vein in her forehead throb like no other words would, and I found myself very glad her sword was a few feet away.
After what felt like a decade, Fiona took a deep breath and said, “You. Are. Fucking. Crazy.”
“Fion—”
“She took Bane!” Fiona jabbed a finger in her direction. “Probably nearly killed him considering all the blood around here.”
“I had—” Diana wheezed. Her breaths were more labored. What the hell was taking them so long to heal her? What kind of spell had Bane used? “I had my orders.”
&n
bsp; Fiona held my gaze. “Exactly.”
“Where did you take Bane?” Adam asked.
Diana looked at him like he was stupid. “Nowhere.”
Smoke shot out his nose and he took a deep breath that put Fiona’s to shame. “Where was Bane taken?”
Her eyes darted to mine. I gave her my best pleading look. She sighed and muttered, “Our base.”
“In?” Fiona took a step forward.
Diana stared her down. “Europe.”
“Okay.” I placed myself between the two women. “Everyone—”
“This is our chance to found out where he is!” Fiona cried. “Screw Seraphine! We cut the head off the snake then clean house. Don’t you want to burn that damn castle to the ground?”
I did. I wanted nothing more than to see everything associated with Nicholas reduced to ash. Less than ash. I wanted it all gone.
But fear held my tongue. For all my talk of wanting him dead, I had no idea how to go about actually doing it. My magic was gone — and so was my only chance to get it back.
Was I supposed to rely on Adam for this? Was that what I’d come to? Years of being self-sufficient only to fall back and leave everything to the man in my life? Or worse, to the Council that would have killed me if they knew what I was, what I’d been?
“You’ll be dead before you reach the front door,” Diana said. Color had returned to her cheeks, but her breathing hadn’t improved. “After you two escaped, the master changed bases. He moved somewhere more secure and buffed up his security.”
“Why does he want Bane?” Adam asked, wiping the sweat from his brow as he continued healing. “To flush us out?”
Either she was exhausted, or he’d won her over with kindness, because she actually answered. “I don’t think so. The master has been looking for this man for years. He said the man’s magic should be gone but it isn’t. He wants to know why that is, so we came for him.”