Finally, she found the key—heart’s blood.
Ariadne drew the circle, clanking one more time at the childhood trinket of Illiana’s that she’d incinerated to test her idea. Curses and binding spells often worked through physical ties, but emotions were generally the trigger used to break them. Why couldn’t it work the other way? Or even better, combine the two and utilize the power in each. Shared blood and emotion tied Ariadne to her sister. Shared emotion tied Illiana to the king. If she was clever enough, Ariadne could use them both to create a channel that would arrow the curse straight into the king’s treacherous heart.
She was always clever enough.
Ariadne stood in the middle of the circle, using a word and gesture to activate the projection of her original curse. Then, reaching inside herself, she spoke a simple spell she had written herself and called forth another thread of magic from deep inside her own chest. When she pulled it free, it was possible to see little flickers of her sister’s blue magic in the middle of Ariadne’s own purple light.
Then she wove it into the knot she had already made, speaking out loud to focus herself as she adjusted the aim on the spell. “I bind you to the newest star in my sister’s heart,” Ariadne murmured. “Send the new invader into the darkness and leave her free to come home again.” She repeated the words, over and over, as she worked.
When the morning came, she was done.
~
Ariadne used the engagement party as cover. Knowing Illiana was smart enough to have put up magical protections, she slipped in using a magic dampener, careful makeup, and a stolen invitation. She felt a faint shiver as she passed through the shield, but the dampener made her read as a mere mortal and she passed through unharmed.
The party was exactly the kind of glittery nonsense their parents had always abandoned them for, a fresh betrayal on top of all the others. A backwater little kingdom like this one had barely enough nobles for a tea party, so there were plenty of business owners and other solid citizens dancing and snacking on plates of hors devours. It was ridiculous, and so far beneath her sister she could strangle someone.
She watched Illiana and the king mingle with their guests, noting the guarded look in her sister’s eyes. Perhaps Ana was already questioning her decision, realizing that she’d made a mistake to trap herself in this ridiculous twisting castle in some mountainous backwater. Cursing the king would make Ana stubborn again, Ariadne suspected, but in the end she might even see it as a relief.
And if she didn’t, Illiana couldn’t care too much yet. She’d known the man barely any time at all, and she’d known her sister her whole life. She’d forgive her eventually.
Ariadne felt a flicker of doubt, quickly swallowed by a rush of hatred for the man who’d forced her to feel this way. She wanted the king to taste fear before the blackness took him.
Ariadne waited until formal receiving of gifts, shedding the magic dampener that had kept her hidden. The power returned as a visible blaze, clearly a part of the spell her sister had set up, and the crowd gasped appropriately and backed away from her.
From the twin thrones, the king rose. “Guards, seize her.” His expression was furious, and he moved to stand in front of Illiana as if he had the right to do so. “I know your sister ruined your plans, but I won’t let you hurt her.”
“She’s not the one I want to hurt!” Ariadne shot back, anger erasing any mocking speech from her mind.
“You can’t touch him, Ariadne.” Illiana stepped around the fool, her gaze hardening. “All offensive spells have been blocked by my magic, which means you won’t even be able to stop the guards.”
Ariadne lifted her chin, hurt that her sister would let her be dragged away like a common thief. “I’ve found the one avenue you weren’t able to block, sister dear.” She raised her hand, activating the curse.
The king should have collapsed. She’d seen it a thousand times in her mind, dreaming of this moment. Savoring it, knowing the sight would be the only revenge available to her.
When the moment came, however, it was Illiana who dropped to her knees.
For a second, Ariadne could do nothing but stare in horrified shock along with everyone else. Her little sister curled around her stomach, clutching it, as Ariadne’s mind raced to figure out what could have happened.
Then Illiana looked up, eyes full of stunned betrayal, and mouthed a heartbroken question at her sister. My baby? Why?
Only then did Ariadne understand the full weight of what she’d done. Illiana wasn’t far enough along to show yet, but the curse wouldn’t have cared about that. All it knew was that there was an even newer star in her sister’s heart.
One that would never survive a sleeping curse.
Ariadne reeled in horror at what she’d done. There would be no forgiveness for this. No reunion with the sister she’d so longed to have back. Even her career was in ashes, since she’d just murdered an unborn child. Her unborn niece or nephew.
Ignoring the heartbroken screaming inside her head, Ariadne vanished from the room.
Chapter 21
Risks and Rewards
She had drawn so many protective circles in the last few weeks that she’d started seeing them in her dreams.
Elena carefully finished the final glyph, trying to convince herself that this current circle would be her last one. It certainly qualified as her most complex, incorporating a few command glyphs used by the ancient evil sorcerers and a secondary protective circle often used by witches. She’d shut herself up in her mother’s workroom early that morning so she would have extra time to work on it, the necessary reference books laid out open around her. The result was as close to perfect as human hands were capable of.
Of course, the circle wasn’t what she was worried about. The sealing spell had been a last-minute addition to a hastily put-together plan, most commonly used to add more weight to a witness’s statement in a court case. Unfortunately, it had fallen out of favor because it didn’t work on people who truly didn’t believe they had broken their vow.
She wasn’t sure how even Nigel could manage that particular trick, but she’d failed to predict what he was capable of before. Either way, it was a risk she would simply have to be ready to deal with on her own. Their current plan wasn’t great, but she wasn’t sure she had the courage for another one.
Elena sighed, sitting back on her heels. Honestly, she hadn’t truly felt brave enough for even this attempt. But she would have done just about anything to stop the pain she’d seen in Cam’s eyes.
You wanted to give up.
She took one more look at the picture of the witch’s circle to double-check that her mirroring was accurate. The adaptation she’d made was listed in the spell book’s notes, but it was so rarely used the author hadn’t thought to make an illustration of it.
Shaking her head, she brushed away one of the tiny lines and redrew it with a small adjustment. If by some miracle she survived all this, Elena promised herself she’d have a talk with author.
She heard the door open, then a familiar voice. “Even Dame Kadrey would have to be impressed with that circle.”
Elena looked up from her work, smiling at the sight of Robbie standing in the workroom doorway. She hadn’t wanted to include him in the spell itself—too many people were already too close to danger—but she’d asked for suggestions about what elements to incorporate. “Come take a closer look.” She waved him over. “I’d like to get a second opinion.”
He looked surprised, then pleased, and quickly closed the door behind him. “You’ve worked with mixed magic more than I have.” Still, he crossed the room and knelt down by the circle, giving it a thorough study. “I like how you structured it. The two circles should work together rather than draining each other’s energy.” He moved a hand closer to the chalked patterns, fingers hovering over one of the witchcraft-based elements. “You don’t see the tho
rn circle used a lot. Witches don’t tend to pull that one out unless they’re going to battle.”
She heard the question in his voice, phrased carefully enough that she could ignore it if she wanted to. “I thought it worked best with the glyphs Braeth gave me,” she explained, gesturing to one of the symbols in question. “Their energy is dark enough that I needed a protective spell that wouldn’t be overwhelmed.”
Robbie nodded, ever the attentive student. “That’s a lot of protection, though.” When Elena didn’t respond this time, he lifted his head to look at her. “The thorns are in both directions. That means you’re watching out for offensive spells inside the circle, too.”
More unspoken questions, harder to evade than the last ones. If Robbie ever decided to abandon witchcraft and join the police force, he’d be an intimidating interrogator. “Not that anyone was willing to provide me with diagrams. I had to do the mirroring from written notes, which was incredibly frustrating. You’d think no one cared about properly educating future generations.”
“Elena.” Robbie said her name exactly like Cam did when he was being serious, which was the last thing her control needed right now. “If you’re worried that your aunt might try something, or the sealing won’t be enough to keep Nigel in line—”
Elena shook her head, cutting him off. “I’m fine,” she tried to assure him, not quite meeting his eyes. She hadn’t made a promise not to lie to Robbie. “I’m just being paranoid.” She didn’t quite dare risk a smile, but she kept her voice light. “With two people who have made attempts on my life in the same room with me, it seemed like the smartest attitude to take.”
She could feel him still watching her, solemn and more insightful than she would have liked, and she wished fiercely that she would get the chance to finish seeing him grow up. She suspected it would be a sight to behold.
Throat tightening, Elena returned to her work on the circle to hide whatever expression might be on her face. When Robbie spoke, it seemed the questioning was done. “I made you something.”
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, looking up at him again. “Please tell me it’s a charm to make Cam less argumentative.”
“Sorry, even magic doesn’t have the power to silence the Merricks.” He fished a small bottle out of his pocket and handed it to her. “It’s a potion meant to help people think quickly and clearly. It’s one of the first things a witch learns how to brew.” He looked faintly embarrassed. “We tend to use it for tests, but I thought it might help when you’re untangling the curse.”
“Thank you.” She took the bottle, touched. “I’m sure it will.”
Robbie’s cheeks colored a little, and he cleared his throat. “I made one for your mom and aunt, too.” He straightened. “I gave your aunt’s to your mom. I’m not ashamed to admit she terrifies me a little bit.”
Elena raised an eyebrow, letting herself enjoy the teasing. “My aunt, or my mother?”
As he left the room, he shot her one last grin. “I’ll leave that up to your imagination.”
After he was gone, Elena accepted the fact that she’d have to follow him relatively soon. She’d stretched out drawing the circle as far as she reasonably could, but Cam was more than likely awake by now. She’d already broken their unspoken agreement that she be there by the time he opened his eyes.
Standing, she lifted her skirts and carefully stepped outside the circle. Examining it one final time, she sketched a quick shape in the air and murmured the words of a basic preservation spell. Now there was no risk of the shapes being smudged or washed away, at least until the original enchantment had been lifted.
Looking down at the bottle Robbie had given her, she smiled a little and downed it in one long swallow. Then she squared her shoulders, getting ready to face everyone downstairs. All she needed was a few more minutes.
When she heard the door opening behind her again, Elena realized she’d stretched her window of time too far. She stole a few extra seconds to school her features. “I’m sorry I’ve been up here so long. I’m afraid my perfectionist tendencies took over.”
“Or you were hiding.”
Elena turned at the sound of Cam’s voice, surprisingly free of the frustration she would have expected from such a statement. It was, however, far too solemn, which was worrying in its own way. “Of course I was. Braeth and Dr. Flyte have been squabbling so much about the technical details that I’ve been tempted to keep score.”
He smiled briefly, hair still a little mussed from sleep. She curled her fingers in, fighting back the impulse to cross the room simply to smooth it down. Just to touch him. “If you keep score, that also means you need a referee,” he said, thankfully unaware of her thoughts. “No one would be dumb enough to take on that job.” As he spoke, he moved close enough to study the circle she’d just made. “I really need to steal some of Robbie’s spell books.”
“Feel free to make use of mine as well.” Elena watched him, biting her tongue against the impulse to explain the different elements she’d used. She’d never been tempted to drag his father into the day-to-day details of what she did, but the thought of being able to discuss her magic with Cam was far more appealing than it should have been. “Some get bogged down in technical minutiae, but I can point you to the authors who remember they’re speaking to human beings.”
“I’ll still probably need you or Robbie to translate.” He crouched down, fingers tracing the air just above one of the inner thorns, then looked up at her. “You’re worried Nigel will find a way to get around the sealing spell, aren’t you?”
Elena’s confusion immediately transformed into annoyance as she realized what had happened. “It seems as though Robbie’s already doing plenty of translating. Did you ask him to do some reconnaissance, or was that all his idea?”
Cam’s look was entirely unrepentant. “He’s worried about you. He also knows how worried I am about you, and it was either distract me with this or watch me wear holes in the stone floor downstairs.” He straightened, carefully stepping around the circle towards her. “He opted for this.”
Elena scowled, not finding anything in his explanation she could argue with. Frustrated, words slipped out she hadn’t intended to say out loud. “Do you know how incredibly difficult it is to be worried about by so many—” She cut herself off, surprised and a little appalled by what had slipped out.
Cam, however, nearly smiled again. “Have you met my family?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Then you should be more sympathetic. And, by extension, less annoying.”
“Tough.” Eyes still bright, he moved around the rest of the circle. They were only a few steps apart now, and she moved to close the distance between them without even thinking about it. “Because as much as I wanted to hit my sister over the head with something heavy, your family has the right to completely lose their minds wanting to protect you.”
The sudden tenderness in his voice caught in her chest, making it ache. Fighting was so much safer than doing something absurd like burst into tears. “So your family’s response to crisis is to officially adopt me? I hate to say it, but your self-preservation instincts are terrible.”
Suddenly, the humor disappeared from his face. “They’re better than yours.”
“Oh no. You don’t get to do that.” Elena stepped towards him, jabbing a finger into his chest. “I’ve been trying.”
“How hard?” Cam snapped back. “If you were this worried about Nigel doing something, why didn’t you tell me? And if you didn’t think I could do any good, why didn’t you tell someone else who could? You’re not alone in this!”
“I should be!” Elena cursed herself for the sentence as soon as it came out of her mouth, and she cursed herself for being an idiot as she moved to lock the door. Then, for good measure, she threw a quick silencing spell around the room. It would only make things a thousand times worse if her mother overheard any of this
.
The fact that Cam had heard it was going to cause her enough problems. His expression had gone hard again, eyes full of so many emotions she couldn’t pick them apart enough to identify them. “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that.”
Elena was so unspeakably grateful for his response that she forced her temper back into submission. “You’re overreacting about Nigel. Of course there’s a possibility that the shocks won’t be enough to get him to listen to my instructions, but even if he doesn’t we’ll just start the spell over again. The only time it would even be a problem is if he steps out of alignment and the spell misaims. The protective circle should keep the rest of you safe, but if the spell reflects back at me it might reverse—”
Elena finally managed to get her mouth closed, barely resisting the urge to clamp her hand over it. She hadn’t known she’d even been thinking that last bit, but now that she’d said it the logic was undeniable. If the magic reflected in just the wrong way, it was possible that the spell could end up binding Elena to Nigel rather than the other way around. If that happened, she didn’t know if they could ever get Braeth’s spell to work properly.
Of course, the other option was to remove the protective circle and leave one of her family at risk of being bound to Nigel.
Cam watched the horror bloom across her face. “Tell me this is the first time you’ve thought of this.”
Not trusting herself to open her mouth again, Elena just nodded. The original evil sorcerers had probably used mind control to solve the problem, but those spells had been eradicated from the books more than a century before. Even if Braeth could remember it, they’d be committing an even worse crime than the one that had left them in this mess in the first place.
Dreamless Page 25