by Ashley Meira
Shit, shit, shit. “We never retrieved it right? He doesn’t have it?”
“No, he doesn’t.”
“Thank fuck.” I heaved a sigh of relief before another question worked its way out. “Why did he wait, though? He’s hundreds of years old. Why not go after these ‘soul’ containers from the start? Did he need us?”
“The seals placed on those artifacts are extremely powerful; they have to be in order to contain the souls within. However, after over time, those seals fade. Not enough for the soul inside to break through, but enough for someone on the outside to do so — assuming they can get their hands on the object before the seals are renewed. That’s why the nereids were transporting the Fang that night — and why that was our only chance to steal it.”
“Because the seal was going to be reinforced,” I finished. “Meaning Nicholas wouldn’t be able to crack it.”
She nodded, her eyes darkening. “When we returned, I was terrified. We were useful to him, important even, but the master’s wrath…. We were kneeling before him as we always did when we reported. I had opened my mouth to speak, but you interrupted. Said it was your fault we couldn’t retrieve the artifact.”
Diana unclenched her hands and stared at her palms as if they held the secrets of the universe. “I have never seen the master more furious. But he didn’t even look at you. He knew you were lying, and the only reason you’d do that was to protect me. But he had no proof, and despite your immense skill, you weren’t infallible. He pressed. You persisted. Eventually, he gave up all pretense and turned toward me. That’s when you insulted him.”
I scoffed, but it felt hollow. “Now that sounds like me.”
“You said things that made my blood run cold. Nothing particularly inventive, but the fact that you dared speak back to him…. He almost killed you there. Instead, he took you to the dungeons.”
“Punished— Tortured me,” I said as the pieces clicked together. “Trauma, pain in the end — that’s what you meant. What he did down there was so bad my brain wiped it all out.”
There were crescent-shaped gouges in my palms and an ache in my back. I tried to relax my spine from the rigid position it’d taken when this story started, but the damn thing refused to bend. I sat ramrod straight as I tried to process all this new information.
Nicholas hadn’t wiped my memories. Or had he? Diana didn’t think so, and based on what she’d said, I didn’t either. Besides, Nicholas didn’t seem like the type to let me forget a punishment like that. He’d want it to stay in my mind. No, I did it to myself; my psyche acted out in self-preservation.
I’d tried to protect my sister and suffered for it. Good, I suppose. Not good that I suffered, but that it was for a worthy cause. I would do anything to protect my family, and it seemed past me shared that sentiment.
“That’s when it all clicked into place,” Diana said, snapping me out of my reverie. “I realized what you’d been doing. You hadn’t forgotten our parents. You hadn’t replaced them. You looked into the master’s eyes that very first time and knew resisting was futile. It wouldn’t have mattered how much we cried and screamed, demanding to see our mother and father. If we hadn’t complied, the master would have forced us. Somehow, deep inside, you knew that. You knew you had to play his game to survive, to help me survive. When you took the blame and punishment in my place, I realized that’s what you’d been doing the entire time — surviving, protecting me.”
“You’re my sister. It’s my job to protect you.”
She looked at me then, eyes raw with emotion for the first time. Hope, like she’d been waiting for me to say that, like she couldn’t be sure I was really her sister until I said those words. Maybe I was imagining it, but that’s what I saw when I looked at her.
“There were others,” she stammered out, pink creeping up her cheeks as she looked back at the floor. “Kids like us. Usually Fireborn but sometimes not. When they disobeyed, he took them down there. They never came back. I thought the same would happen to you. I tried to convince myself it wouldn’t happen. The master said we were important to his plans — surely, he’d keep you alive for that, at least?”
She wrapped her arms around her legs and propped her chin up on her knees. “I spent that night in bed, listening to you scream. I knew I had to do something, but what? He was too powerful. I didn’t stand a chance. But you’d made him angry, and he was distracted. Being the master’s top soldiers gave us free reign of the castle. There were guards around, but they knew to leave us alone.”
“What did you do?”
“The first night? Cowered. I’d hoped to see you the next day, but you were nowhere to be found. The master caught me looking around and said he wasn’t finished. He needed time to let the lesson ‘really sink in.’ The look he gave me made it clear: I was being punished as much as you were. He knew it was my fault, and he was forcing me to wallow in my cowardice.”
“You weren’t—”
“Yes,” she said darkly. “I was. That night, I made my way to his office, but the damned guards were littering the halls installing something I couldn’t see. The master didn’t like us asking questions — he told us only what he deemed necessary — so I didn’t know what was going on. But they were gone the next day, and I was finally able to sneak into the his office.”
I nodded along, trying to read her face while a tempest brewed in my head. This was the information I’d been looking for, but now that it was being laid out before me…. It was more overwhelming than I could have ever imagined.
“I stole his key. The master had to leave for business that evening, so I waited until he departed the castle. I snuck into the dungeons and found your cell. You were an absolute—” Diana licked her lips as the lines on her face deepened “I tried to heal you as best as I could. But before I could fully wake you up, I heard the guards. If they saw me, they’d report it, and if I knocked them out, it’d cause more problems. So, I slipped the key under your foot and hoped you’d understand.”
A silence fell over us, heavier than the ocean. It was suffocating as we sat there, me reliving my traumatic awakening and escape, her the events that came immediately before and after.
She was the reason I’d been able to escape. If she hadn’t left me the key, I’d still be a slave, and Fiona…. Well, I had no idea, but I didn’t think now was the time to ask.
“When the master came home, he sent squadrons after you and the fairy, but you had a head start, and he’d trained you well. Still, I thought you’d come back,” she said, her voice more vulnerable than I’d ever heard. “Maybe with a Council vanguard. I don’t know. Something, anything, that could save me. But there was nothing. Eventually, I made myself believe you were dead. It was better than thinking you’d abandoned me.”
Damn. She didn’t need to suplex me to do any damage. My gut clenched, and if I’d eaten anything recently, it’d have come right out. “I didn’t remember. I really didn’t. If I had—”
“I didn’t know about your memory until you told me.” The words came out cold, factual.
“During the Seraphine thing,” I said solemnly. The urge to punch a hole through a wall washed over me, and I was sorely tempted to trash the entire room.
“Once I’d… made my peace with your disappearance, I realized the only one who could protect me now was me. So, I dove into my training and tried to be the way you’d been: cold, strong, obedient, a survivor. With that as my motivation, I improved quickly. The master even made a joke once that we’d switched places but for the taste of our magic. My new aptitude made it seem like you’d never left.”
Once more, we sat in silence. Except this time, Diana didn’t speak again. I wished she would. This was too much. Even in top form, I’d have a hard time processing this — if a person even could process something like this. Now? I was dead tired. But I’d gotten some of the answers I’d been searching for. And I had my twin with me, someone who could continue filling in the blanks, someone who had essentially sacrificed
herself to save me.
Someone I let down. “You saved my life, and I—”
“You saved me first,” she said. “Kept me alive for seven years.”
I shook my head. “You kept yourself alive.”
“Because I had a reason to: you.”
Great. Both our faces were red now, and we were avoiding eye contact like it could kill. Quick, think of something to diffuse the situation. “Since you saved me, is there any chance you wanna go for extra credit and tell me how to get my magic back?”
She frowned. “You keep saying that like it’s gone. You aren’t making sense.”
I blinked at her. Once, twice, then I winced because my damn eyes were too dry. “It is gone. I gave it to— I brought someone back to life.”
“That hermit—”
“Bane.”
“Did he tell you anything about Fireborns?”
“Yeah,” I said, furrowing my brow. This time, I was the storyteller, repeating the tales Bane had told me. “But I don’t see what that has to do with anything. It supports what I said.”
“Twin souls.”
“Gonna need a little more than that.”
“Bane said the master lost his magic when his twin died.”
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “But what does that— Holy shit on a mackerel.”
Diana arched a brow. “Mackerel?”
She’d conjured a flame. She healed herself at Bane’s house. She still had her magic.
My heart restarted its Olympic sprint with renewed gusto. If Diana still had her magic, then mine had to be around somewhere. Wait. My sense of hope vanished as quickly as it came. “Like the legend, I gave it away to someone else. It still exists, but it’s not mine anymore. Isn’t that the more likely scenario?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t think so. You broke my magic.”
My eyes widened. “What?”
“At Bane’s house. When I was about to throw that fireball. You yelled ‘stop’ and my magic snapped.”
I winced. Breaking someone’s magic was painful, and I regretted that I had caused her pain when she was already so injured. But I couldn’t fight the excitement bubbling up at the same thought. If I was able to break her magic, then….
“There’s really a chance,” I whispered in awe.
She nodded. “And another thing: mom and dad told us that story, too. Not about the master, but our origins, our heritage, who you and I were. We asked to hear the story a lot, and whenever they finished, they always told us to come to them immediately if we couldn’t use our magic.”
“What?” I straightened further, wincing at the cracking sound my back made. “What did they mean?”
“I don’t know,” she repeated patiently. “We were children. They didn’t elaborate. They said if we couldn’t use our magic, or if we felt really sick — like we were empty — to find each other, then them. It was important.”
“But not important enough to tell us what they meant,” I growled. It felt like a dick move to be pissed at my parents, but I couldn’t help the heat rushing through my veins. “Fan-fucking-tastic. What else did they say about our powers? Anything you can think of.”
Diana ran her fingers through her hair before pulling the strands over one shoulder. “Dad always told us to maintain a deep connection with our Fire. I remember that part specifically because my Fire had panicked upon seeing the master. It was terrified of him. That’s what made me cry so hard.”
I wanted to reach out and hug her, but it didn’t feel appropriate just yet. “Maintain a deep connection?”
She took a deep breath and recited, “‘Always listen to your Fire. It is part of your innermost soul, an ancient gifted dedicated to keeping you safe. You must learn to achieve unity with your Fire, for when the two parts of your soul merge, your true power will awaken. That power, my daughters, is the legacy of the Warrior and Protector, the legacy passed down from the very first Fireborn to you.’”
“You have a good memory.”
“That’s how we were trained,” she said dryly. “And I made it a point to remember as much about our parents as possible. They said it often enough, too.”
“Did they say what it meant?” I asked. “I remember reaching for my Fire when I brought Charlotte back, trying to work with it, but it mostly did its own thing. Even when I used to cast magic, it never felt like I was ‘one’ with my Fire. I always thought it was just a deep-seated Fireborn instinct.”
“I’m sorry, but I truly don’t know. My Fire pulls me towards certain actions and spells like — as you said — an second instinct. Acquiescing with it seems to work in my favor, but I’m not sure that counts as connecting with it. If our ‘’true power’ is something different than the magic we currently use, I haven’t discovered it.”
I swore under my breath, then did it again a few more times as I began pacing at the foot of the bed. I wish our parents were here so I could ask them. I wish Bane was here, too. I wish Nicholas hadn’t taken him. I wish I could storm his damn stronghold and rescue Bane. I wish my life wasn’t a total, goddamn mess. Maybe if I’d never had a Fire in the first place—
I gasped.
“Another mackerel?” Diana asked dryly.
“What if that’s it?” I whispered in horror. “I spent so long rejecting my gift, wishing I’d never had it…. What if I ruined it? What if I severed our connection with my anti—”
“Breathe.”
I tried but the tightness in my chest told me I wasn’t doing a very good job. “Did Nicholas mention anything? Maybe that’s how he got his power back. Could that be it? Would that even work with his brother dead?”
She gave me a pointed look that I figured meant “I have no fucking idea. Stop asking.”
“Any ideas?”
“All he said was that our powers would help him.”
I pursed my lips. “I knew that much. What else?”
She raised a brow.
I came to stop in front of her and sighed. “Damn it. You’re right. I’m sorry. You filled in a lot of blanks tonight. Hell, you did more than that. Thank you.”
Her lips twisted downwards as a blush crept up her cheeks. “It’s late. You should get some rest.”
“We’re sisters,” I said tentatively. “You don’t need to feel embarrassed.”
Her cheeks turned bright red. “I’m not— You’re one to talk!”
I bit back a laugh at her flustered response but couldn’t hide the smile. “I’m just saying thank you.”
“Get your magic sorted out instead,” she huffed as she stomped toward the door. “We’ll need it for Seraphine.”
My smile didn’t fade as I approached her. Instead of exiting the room, I stood in front of her and wondered if I should bite the bullet. Hell, what was the worst that could happen? She’d body-slam me? Wouldn’t be the first time tonight.
Squaring my shoulders, I took a step closer and a pulled her into a hug. She went stiff, so stiff she made marble seem like melted chocolate. I rested my chin on her shoulder. “Thank you, Diana. I’m really glad your here.”
There was a pounding against my chest. I wasn’t sure if it was her heartbeat or mine. Maybe both. I counted off another five seconds before pulling away. Just as my hands left her, she touched my shoulders. It was more of an awkward pat than a hug, but her reddened cheeks told me I shouldn’t tease her.
“Good night,” she mumbled before wrenching the door open and shoving me out.
I laughed, clamping a hand over my mouth at the sudden noise. Even if she didn’t pop out and stab me, there was a chance I’d wake someone else. Figuring it was late enough, I made my way back to my room. It wasn’t until I was two doors away that I realized I was still in a damn towel and hotel slippers. Geez. Prison did wonders for my observational skills.
Our room was dark save for a lamp on the desk. Adam must have left it on for me. I watched his chest rise and fall from underneath the blankets. I always felt bad waking him, so he’d taken to fei
gning sleep even when I did. It was one of those stupid, thoughtful things that made me feel bad for being such a handful.
I stared at him a moment longer before pulling my towel off, draping it across the back of the couch, and searching for something new to wear. I didn’t give a damn how fancy this place was, I wasn’t sleeping naked in a hotel bed. The desk lamp shut off with what felt like a deafening click, and I eased myself into bed.
Sleep didn’t come easy, but it did come eventually, and after the day I’d had, that was all I could ask for.
Chapter Fifteen
“No, it’s MY turn!” I cried, stomping my foot. “Diana, get off now!”
Diana peeked her head over papa’s shoulder and shot me a cheshire grin. Her sweet-scented magic filled the room with childish glee as she lorded over me. Her victory was short-lived, however, and the grin that left her face made its way onto mine when Papa set her down.
“Play nice, girls,” he said, eyes crinkling as he smiled at us. “I’m not going anywhere.”
I pouted. “It’s still my turn! Diana’s getting all the attention.”
“Then why’d he put me down?” she huffed, her petulant expression mirroring mine.
We stared each other down, arms crossed and magic zinging around the room. Mages couldn’t smell their own magic, but mama had told us many times that we smelled like delicious, freshly baked cookies when our magic mixed. Delicious, freshly baked, incredibly grumpy cookies. Despite our parents attempts to teach us control, our magic was never more prominent than when we were upset.
“Calm down, you two,” Papa said, his kind voice taking on a sterner lilt. “Control your magic.”
“I would if she wasn’t so annoying!” Diana and I said at the same time. The words drew our attention back to each other, and we resumed our glaring contest.
Strong arms pulled me forward, and I gave up the contest in favor of burying my face in Papa’s sweater. It was soft and warm and carried the scent of toffee that I recognized as his magic. My tiny fingers clung to him as I ignored the fact that he’d pulled Diana into his arms as well. She’d taken up the same position I had, nestling contently against his chest.