Crown of Blood

by D G Swank

  “We need to work together.”

  He shook his head. “No. You’ve endured enough.”

  “I could have blasted Donall with my magic, but I took his beating so I’d have a shot at destroying the entire organization.”

  “That was suicidal.”

  “Then why didn’t you try to save me?”

  His jaw worked, and he swallowed. “Standing back and watching him beat the shit out of you was the hardest thing I’ve ever endured in my life.”

  “Maybe so,” I said. “But you didn’t stop him.”

  Shame filled his eyes and he glanced away.

  “It’s not a judgment, Zane. It’s an observation. I’m sure part of your motivation was to protect Lisa, but you were also trying to preserve your cover. Because your goal is the same as mine. You want to bring them down from the inside. We should do it together.” Deciding to take a chance, I held out my right palm and let the orb burst to life. “I have a plan.”

  “You want to use the orb?” he asked, then he groaned and leaned forward. “Gods be damned. That’s why you were so insistent on the farce of marrying Donall. He’s inviting the elite of the Dark Set to the wedding.” His eyes widened. “You barely know how to use it.”

  “Maybe not, but the book does.”

  “You’re playing with fire,” he warned. “The book won’t give you something for nothing. It’ll want you to wear that crown, and neither of us knows what it means. But it’s a Crown of Blood. You know that can’t be good. I don’t like it. I don’t like any of this.”

  “Neither do I,” I said, looking into his eyes, “but you and I both know the Dark Set has to be stopped. At any cost.”

  He stared at me for a long moment, then grabbed my left hand and laced our fingers together. We sat like that for a moment, our hands twined together, before he nodded.

  “If it’s a suicide mission, we’ll go down together. I want to be part of whatever it is you’re doing. I can help you.”

  Relief washed over me. My mother had always told me I had to do this alone, but she’d been wrong about that too. Zane would be with me. But that didn’t mean it was going to be easy. “My sisters won’t like it,” I told him. “And neither will Brandon. They’re going to try to keep me away from the book, not that I blame them. The book tried to make Rowan kill Logan as a sacrifice. It got me to try to convince her.” I looked into his eyes. “The book is dangerous, Zane, but I need it.”

  “Yeah, I figured that out when she started going on about the ‘Crown of Blood.’”

  “I suspect you’re right, and it’s the price I’ll need to pay for her help.”

  He pushed out a frustrated sigh. “Let’s not make a decision yet. We can discuss it later. Right now we need to go inside because Brandon’s getting suspicious about us sitting out here.”

  Brandon was standing on the front porch with my sister and her boyfriend, all three of them watching us closely. No one else appeared to be around.

  “Well, we better give them a reason,” I said, leaning forward to kiss him.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Zane made a surprised sound in the back of his throat, then pressed forward and kissed me back, his lips gentle but soft, so very different than Donall’s. His magic twined with mine, comforting and seductive, as we both opened our lips. His tongue twined with mine, and it felt like the dancing of our magic—fire and ice. I wanted to explore this—him—but three very impatient people were watching us, so I forced myself to pull back.

  He smiled at me. “You have no idea how much I’ve been wanting to do that.”

  “Oh, I think I do,” I said.

  He insisted on helping me out of the car, then scooped me into his arms and carried me into the house.

  “I can walk, Zane,” I protested weakly, but even as I said it, I wasn’t sure that was true.

  Rowan and Logan stood at the front door, holding it open so he could carry me inside. My sister’s eyes were dancing, which told me she’d seen that kiss, but the playfulness leaked out of them at the sight of my weakness.

  “Celeste,” Phoebe called out, waiting by the door in the small, sparsely furnished living room. She held her fisted hand against her chest as she started to cry. “Rowan called and told me you were hurt.”

  “Bee. I’ll be okay.” But I wasn’t so sure it was true. A pulse of dark energy reached out to me. Pulling at me. The book wanted me.

  Fear filled Phoebe’s eyes as she directed Zane to carry me to a bedroom.

  “Not yet,” I said. “We have things to discuss.”

  “It can wait, Cee-Cee,” Phoebe protested. “We need to take care of you first.”

  “Not yet,” I repeated to Zane, then turned my attention to my sister. “Unless you’ve got a healer or a surgeon hanging out here, taking me to a bed won’t matter.”

  She stared at me with fearful eyes, but Zane didn’t question me. He carried me to the sofa and laid me down, barking that he needed pillows and a blanket.

  The book wasn’t happy that I wasn’t answering its summons, but it wasn’t giving me a sense of urgency either. It hummed in the background, waiting for me to give it my attention. The spirit stayed within the pages, for now. I wondered if it was because Rowan would have been able to see her too. My sister wasn’t likely to greet her with open arms.

  Phoebe disappeared down a short hall as Logan and Brandon came inside, shutting the door behind them. Rowan cast a glamour to conceal our magic and change the appearance of our cars.

  When Phoebe returned with several pillows and a comforter, she insisted on helping fluff the pillows behind my head while Rowan covered me with a blanket. Zane stood at the end of the sofa by my head.

  Brandon leaned his back against the wall, his hands at the small of his back. “First of all, where the hell is the orb with Phoebe’s magic?”

  I held out my right palm, the orb glowing faintly.

  “Celeste,” Phoebe gasped. Her worry for me eclipsed her longing, but the longing was so acute I could feel it.

  “It’s not as bright as when you took it,” Rowan said, sitting on the floor, her legs angled to the side. “Have you learned how to control it?”

  “Last night was the first time I tried to use it,” I said. “It had mixed results.”

  Zane’s fingers stroked the top of my head, his magic sending a wave of comfort through me like a soft blanket. I lifted my left hand to hold his.

  “What does that mean?” Brandon asked, his eyes hard.

  “Upon Donall’s order, she took the magic from a mage and a witch,” Zane said in a confrontational tone. “He told her to give the mage the witch’s magic, only Celeste gave him glamour instead. The witch’s magic was horticulture.”

  I hadn’t told Zane all of that. He must have sensed the magics with his own power.

  “So you provoked him?” Rowan asked without accusation. “By defying his order?”

  “No one other than Zane realized I’d given him a different magic,” I said. “And I didn’t do it on purpose. The orb decided what he got, and it chose glamour. Donall told him to make a flower grow, and obviously he didn’t know how, but our father tried to convince him that the mage needed to learn how to use the new magic. I suggested it might work differently if he added a new power to an existing power, like what Donall did with his sacrifices.”

  “Sacrifices?” Rowan asked.

  I gave her a frown. “Donall has been killing witches and mages to take their magic.”

  “My brother is evil,” Brandon said flatly.

  I wasn’t going to argue with that.

  “Why did he beat you, Cee-Cee?” Phoebe asked, barely above a whisper.

  I shook my head. “He doesn’t need a reason, Bee. He does it because he likes it. He does it because he can.”

  “She stood up to him,” Zane said, his voice cracking. “She tried to save my sister’s magic.”

  Brandon shifted his weight, and I glanced up at him. “Did he hurt you when you were little?”


  “No. I guess I was lucky.” Or maybe Donall hadn’t been totally corrupted yet. He pushed away from the wall, standing straighter. “What’s the Dark Set planning?”

  “He’s planning to use Celeste and the orb to steal the magic of the Large Council,” Zane said.

  “Well, that plan fell through,” Logan said. “Celeste’s with us now.”

  Zane stayed silent and I followed suit.

  “We need to figure out how to get Cee-Cee help,” Phoebe said. “She’s obviously in bad shape.”

  “I’ll make some inquiries,” Brandon said with a frown. “We might be able to get her help tomorrow. If not, we can take her south. That’s likely out of Donall’s reach.”

  Rowan shot a glare up at Zane. “Will she survive until tomorrow? And don’t give me some bullshit answer. I want the truth.”

  “I don’t think so,” Zane said, squeezing my hand. “Honestly, she needs a surgeon and blood transfusions. Donall lacerated her spleen and it keeps leaking. I’ve done everything in my power, but I’m not sure even my sister could heal her.”

  Rowan’s eyes widened. “Wait. Your sister’s a healer? What’s her name?”

  “Lisa.”

  She gasped, then turned back to Brandon. “She’s the one I told you about. She did more than just heal me. She risked her life for me multiple times. We have to help her!”

  Brandon groaned in frustration. He’d probably known who Lisa was to Zane, but I didn’t see the point in saying so. “One thing at a time, Rowan.”

  Phoebe moved to his side and placed a hand on his arm. Even without her magic, she clearly had the power to soothe him. His shoulders fell slightly, and he glanced down at her with an agonized expression.

  She lifted a hand to his cheek and gave him a soft smile. “You don’t have to fix this alone. We’re all here to help.”

  “I’m going back tomorrow,” Zane said. “I’m not leaving my sister there any longer than necessary. But there’s something else you should know.” He paused and shot a questioning glance at me.

  I wondered if this meant he was backing off from our deal. If my sisters learned about our plan, they’d do everything in their power to prevent me from following through on it. But Lisa was still in there, and Zane would need help getting her out. I wasn’t about to do anything to hurt his chances. I nodded, then swallowed the dread rising up in my throat.

  “Celeste doesn’t have full use of the orb,” Zane said, “but she thinks she can give Phoebe back her magic. From my understanding of ancestral magic, you may even be able to summon a healing ability if anyone from your bloodline is buried nearby.”

  Unlikely, but not impossible. Also not at all what I had expected him to say.

  I tried to hide my shock. I was certain he’d planned to tell them about my plan to destroy the Dark Set. Why had he changed his mind?

  I sent him a questioning look, and he squeezed my hand reassuringly.

  “She can?” Phoebe asked. “Isn’t she too weak?”

  “The orb’s magic is distinct from mine,” I said, reaching out to her. “Let me try.”

  “Celeste,” she said as she crossed the short distance to me. “I don’t think this is a good idea. It’s not worth the risk.”

  “It’s a great idea, and if I need help, Zane’s here to pitch in.”

  He squeezed my hand. “That’s right.”

  “What should I do?” Phoebe asked, her gaze darting between me and Zane.

  “Kneel next to her,” Zane said. “She might need to touch you with the orb.”

  Phoebe flinched when I opened my hand, and the orb surfaced and flared to life. The image must have brought back terrible memories for her. I had a flash of Lester, stabbed by hundreds of leaves turned knives, but I shook it off. I needed to do this for Phoebe. It might be the last thing I could do for her.

  “You should think this through,” Brandon protested. “Celeste has already admitted she has limited use of that thing.”

  I stretched out my hand toward my sister. “I can do this, Bee. The orb decides which power it wants to bestow, but if it starts to give you something else, I’ll stop it.”

  A soft smile lit up her eyes. “I trust you.”

  Her words brought tears to my eyes. For so many years neither of my sisters had trusted me, not that I could blame them. The instability of my magic had infiltrated every aspect of my life…and my mother’s message—to keep them at arm’s length—had only deepened the distance between us. I was their burden. Their ball and chain. And now I was also the only person who could restore my sister’s magic.

  “Will it hurt like it did when he removed it?” she asked under her breath.

  “No,” I whispered. “I don’t think so, although it might feel strange.”

  She nodded. “Okay.”

  Holding my upturned palm next to her cheek, I used my weakened power to connect with the orb as I’d done before. Zane’s power joined mine through our still-entwined hands. When I ordered it to return Phoebe’s magic, I could feel it spinning through the available options. The orb began to settle on Ashley’s horticulture magic, but I pulled my hand away from Phoebe’s cheek, impressing upon the orb that it would obey and give my sister back her ancestral magic.

  The spirit of the book pulsed to life, sensing my struggle. She didn’t appear to me this time, likely for the reason I’d settled on earlier—Rowan would see her, too—but she communicated that she could help me guide the orb. The spirit wasn’t trying to possess me or coerce me, but I still didn’t want to use the book. Not for this.

  Zane must have sensed my struggle. He sent a new surge of power into the orb, forcing it to settle on Phoebe’s power. Together, our magics steered it into her body, and when it was done, my hand dropped and the orb stopped glowing.

  “Did it work?” Rowan asked anxiously.

  “I think so,” Phoebe murmured, “but it’s all getting settled back into place. I’ll need some time before I can use it, I think.”

  Brandon stood to the side, looking anxious but saying nothing.

  Zane released my hand and moved around the edge of the sofa. “Okay, she’s done,” he said, already scooping me up into his arms. “Rowan, if you’d be so kind to show me where the bedroom is…”

  I sank into his chest, his magic more comforting than any cushiony bed could be. How had he become so familiar in such a short period of time?

  Rowan jumped to her feet and started down the short hall. “We’re short on space, there’s only a full-size bed—”

  “Doesn’t matter,” he said, turning sideways to enter the hall. “I won’t be sleeping on the bed with her.”

  “Oh,” she said, seeming taken aback. “Okay.” It didn’t take a genius to guess she was thinking about that kiss she’d seen.

  “Don’t misunderstand,” Zane said in a no-nonsense tone. “I’m staying with her. I just won’t be jostling her on the bed.”

  Rowan entered the small bedroom, which barely had room for the double bed and a nightstand. She shot me a worried look as he gently laid me down, and I knew it had nothing to do with his short tone and everything to do with my condition.

  “She should be at the hospital,” Rowan said. “You won’t let her die, will you?”

  His gaze locked with hers. “No. I absolutely will not let that happen.”

  Her shoulders sank with relief. “You do care about her.”

  He grinned, but I could see the exhaustion on his face. “Have I not made it obvious enough?”

  She grinned back. “It’s pretty obvious, but I had to make sure.”

  His face fell and he lowered his voice. “Can you stay with her for a few minutes? I need to talk to Brandon.”

  “I’ll stay with her all night,” she said.

  “No,” he said, his no-nonsense tone back. “I’ll be staying with her.” Then, as if realizing he no longer had to act like a misogynistic prick for Dark Set observers, he lowered his gaze to mine. “If that’s okay with you.”
/>   I gave him a slight nod, surprised at how much I wanted him with me.

  He leaned over and gave me a long, lingering kiss on my forehead. “I’ll be right back.”

  Rowan carefully sat on the edge of the bed as she watched him walk out. “Where’d you find him?”

  “He’s been training me.”

  She grinned. “Must be some interesting training.”

  I released a small laugh that sent a dull wave of pain through my gut. “Magic. He’s been training me with magic. I’m learning how to use my expression magic, Ro. My head is so much clearer now.”

  She grabbed my hand and squeezed. “Is that really why you left? To learn how to use your magic?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Or at least that’s what I told them.”

  “Why did you really go?” she whispered.

  I stared up into her bright green eyes. While she and I were both much closer to Phoebe than we were to each other, we shared a different bond now, one forged in blood and connected by the book we’d pledged to protect with our lives.

  “The truth?” I whispered.

  She squeezed my hand. “Yes.”

  And it struck me viscerally that the truth was something she’d been denied too often. My mother had driven a wedge between us by forcing me to erase Ro’s memory of her true power. Maybe I could still fix things. It was a risk, but this was a risk worth taking.

  “I need you to trust me, Ro. Can you do that?”

  “Yeah, Cee-Cee. I trust you.”

  She said it without hesitation, something that filled my heart to bursting. After what I’d done in Radcliffe, and earlier, back when we were kids, I was surprised she trusted me at all.

  “I’m going back tomorrow for my wedding to Donall.”

  She stared at me for several long seconds. “After he nearly killed you?”

  “Yes.”

  “So what’s your plan?” she asked, “because I know you have one.”

  “I’m still working on it,” I admitted, “but it involves using the orb and getting Lisa out of there.”

  She nodded, her lips pursed. “You realize you couldn’t even walk from the sofa to the bed, yet you plan on going back to the Dark Set and…doing something dramatic.” The words might have sounded harder had I not seen the tears in her eyes.