by Donna Grant
Synne relaxed her body. Then she went through her memories again. This time, she didn’t see a face. Instead, she saw the back of a man. Long, black hair. Memories of a beard over a hard jaw. A laugh that made her grin. A Scottish brogue she couldn’t get enough of.
“Lachlan.” The name came to her out of nowhere. Synne opened her eyes and looked at Elin. “I was with Lachlan.”
Elin smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “That’s right.”
Fear gripped Synne. “Tell me he’s all right. Tell me he isn’t dead.”
“I don’t think so.”
“What do you mean, you don’t think so?” Synne’s entire body shook from anger and panic.
Elin’s gaze was steady, her voice smooth. “I got there to find you already in battle with the witch. I heard another fighting not too far away and gathered that was Lachlan. When you took the hit of magic, I stepped in and took you.”
“So, Lachlan might think I’m dead? You need to find him and let him know that I’m okay.”
“We’ll look for him.”
Synne shook her head furiously. “Now. We need to go now.”
“We can’t. You aren’t ready.”
“Put me on a horse. I’ll be fine.”
“You won’t.”
Synne whipped back the covers, intending to throw her legs over the side of the bed, but she could hardly move them an inch.
Elin’s voice was soft when she said, “I told you it would take time.”
“What exactly happened to me?”
The witch set aside the bowl and covered Synne with the blanket once more. “The spell was meant to kill you.”
“You’ve told me that twice already. What are you leaving out?”
Elin straightened and reluctantly met Synne’s gaze. “The witch got into your mind.”
“Meaning?”
“She knows everything you know.”
Cold hands of terror squeezed Synne’s heart. “Lachlan’s sword. The witch will know about it.”
“Aye.”
“Don’t you see? I’ve got to get to him.”
“There’s a chance the sword is already in Sybbyl’s grasp.”
“I don’t care if it is. I have to find Lachlan. I have to know he’s all right.”
Elin’s face sagged with regret. “But you’re in no position to do anything right now.”
Synne fought not to give in to the scream of frustration that welled up within her. “How long have I been here?”
“Two days.”
Two days! That was two full days that Lachlan would’ve been on his own. He was good, and with the sword, he might just be able to ward off attacks. But an assault by Sybbyl? Synne wasn’t so sure. She wished her body was healed. It looked fine, but inside, she felt something altogether different.
“It’s your mind, not your body,” Elin said.
Synne cut her eyes to the witch. “Did you read my mind?”
“I didn’t have to. I could see it on your face. I’ve only seen the spell that was used once before. The witch gets into the mind of the person she uses the magic on. It allows her to know everything that person does.”
Synne asked, “Does she have to kill the person to use the spell?”
“Nay, but she prefers to because it allows her to carry out the second part of the hex.”
The fact that Elin knew so much about the witch and the spell led Synne to believe that Elin knew the witch personally. “And what’s the second part?”
“The witch makes herself look like the one she’s now killed.”
“So, Lachlan may very well believe I’m alive and with him, when in fact, it’s the witch.”
Elin glanced away. “Aye.”
“Who is she?” There was something in Elin’s face that made Synne aware that the witch knew the other woman.
It took a long time before she answered. “My sister, Avis.”
The hits just kept coming. Synne squeezed her eyes closed as she tried to hold back the tide of anger. “If you knew what she was doing, then you should’ve stopped it.”
“I was worried about saving you!” Elin exploded. “Perhaps I should’ve let you die and saved Lachlan instead.”
“That’s exactly what you should’ve done. Saved Lachlan and killed your sister.”
Elin’s nostrils flared. “Regardless of what she’s done or who she is, she’s my sibling.”
“And she chose a side. Just as you did.”
“It’s easy for you to sit there and tell me what to do. You wouldn’t be so demanding if your sister were still alive.”
Synne gasped as if kicked in the stomach by a horse. She had no time to react because Elin spun around and walked out of the cottage, slamming the door behind her.
For long minutes, Synne sat there with Elin’s words going around and around in her head. She’d had a sister? Why couldn’t she remember that? Why had Asrail not said anything? Synne wanted to discount everything Elin had said, but she wasn’t sure she could. Elin had no reason to lie. She had spoken out in anger, which meant it was likely something Elin hadn’t meant to share—and wouldn’t have shared if she hadn’t been so furious.
Synne leaned forward and managed to get a hand on the bowl. She couldn’t pick it up, however. Instead, she lay back down and turned on her stomach as she pulled the stool closer. It took her several tries and more soup on the floor than in her mouth, but Synne finally managed to eat. With each spoonful, she could feel her body getting stronger.
“Elin said it was in my mind, not my body.”
That meant that Synne simply had to use her mind to get past the weakness. Edra used to tell her all the time that a person could do whatever they wanted if they only set their mind to it. And Synne wanted to get to Lachlan. Nothing would stop her.
Not a spell, not weakness, and certainly not Sybbyl.
29
“I doona like this,” Lachlan grumbled for the fifth time that morning as he paced the tower in Blackglade.
Malene turned the page of the book she was reading and casually said, “None of us do.”
“I should be out there with Armir and Jarin.” He’d met the Varroki warrior after Malene had brought him and Armir back to Blackglade. The fact that the two were out searching for any sign of Synne without him made things worse.
Helena came into the room, her green eyes moving from Malene to Lachlan. The witch was comely with delicate features. While Synne had mentioned that the witch carried Jarin’s child, Lachlan could see no evidence of that as yet.
“We’ve been over why you need to remain here,” Malene told him.
Lachlan halted and scrubbed a hand down his face. “Aye, I know. The bloody sword. But I could leave it here.”
“That wouldn’t be wise at all,” Helena told him as she walked toward where Malene sat at the table.
“Because I’m nothing without the sword,” he snapped.
Malene softly closed the book and looked at him. “You need to remain here because you’re the owner of the sword. Anyone might be able to wield it, but it’s been part of your family. It was given to you, and you chose to come here with Synne. That means you’re in charge of it. If you go out there with the others and encounter witches without the sword, you might not return. Armir will come back with Synne. I don’t want to be the one to tell her that you died simply because your pride couldn’t stand being left behind with the women.”
Lachlan stalked to her as anger simmered inside him. He didn’t hide it from his face or his voice when he said, “I want to be out there looking for Synne, the woman I love. It has nothing to do with anything else. If you knew me, you’d understand that.”
“You’re upset,” Helena said as she put a hand on his arm. “And rightly so. No one is questioning that, Lachlan.”
He dropped his chin to his chest and shook his head. “I can no’ lose her. She’s…”
“Everything,” Malene finished for him.
Lachlan lifted his gaze to her
and realized for the first time that she understood exactly how he felt. How had he missed it before? Then again, he hadn’t been looking. He probably wouldn’t have seen it now had she not said the words. Or perhaps she was allowing him to see what she usually kept hidden.
Who was it that she loved? Lachlan had seen very few since he’d been brought to Blackglade. They hadn’t walked through the gates but arrived by a spell that had left him emptying his stomach for far longer than he cared to remember.
“Aye,” he said with a nod. “Synne is everything to me.”
Helena’s hand dropped from his arm. “Does she return your feelings?”
“I think so.” He looked at the witch.
“Then she’ll find her way back to you.”
“If she isna dead.” Lachlan turned away. His mind had been spinning with those thoughts.
Malene stood and walked past him as she said, “Come with me.”
Lachlan watched her before he looked to Helena, who raised a brow and said, “I suggest you do as the Lady of the Varroki commands.”
He followed Malene as she walked out of her chambers and took the stairs to the roof of the tower. Lachlan had known that he was high up in the structure, but he hadn’t realized they had been at the top. Nor had he realized there was a way to reach the roof of the building. His steps slowed when he saw the stone pillars that were curved inward.
“There is much about the Varroki you don’t know,” Malene said from the middle of the roof. Her soft gray eyes held his in the morning sunlight. “There was much I didn’t know either. I’ve only recently come into this power.”
As she said the words, she lifted her hands out, and blue light shot from her palms. The blue radiance that Synne had told him about. Lachlan took the last few steps to the roof but didn’t go farther. He wasn’t sure if he should.
“I’m meant to keep this city from view of the Coven and the outside world. For a long time, I resigned myself to that simple act. Until I realized there was so much more I could do, so much more I wanted to do. So much more I needed to do. I never asked for any of this,” she continued. “But it’s mine to bear, and I do it with as much grace as I can. But if for one moment you think I enjoy being here instead of out there looking for Synne or hunting the Coven, you’re wrong.”
Lachlan released a breath. “You stay because people are counting on you.”
“Each time I leave, I do so at the peril of those who look to me for protection. They put their Fates in my hands. It’s not a burden I assumed easily at first.”
“I understand.”
She gave him a hard look. “Nay, you don’t. Synne told you about the Coven, but you don’t truly know what they’re capable of.”
“I heard stories.”
“Hearing isn’t the same as seeing. If I’d have known you had one of the First Witch’s bones, I would’ve come to get you and Synne days ago. Every day the two of you were out there, Sybbyl had a chance to realize what you had and come for you. I can’t allow that to happen.”
Lachlan pulled his sword from his scabbard and held it out to her. “It may be in my possession, but I’m giving it to you.”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I know it’ll be safe here.”
Malene shook her head of flaxen hair. “As I told you inside, the sword is yours. You were given it, and because of that, you must wield it.”
“Anyone can use it,” he argued.
“Tell me something. Since you’ve had it, have you ever been defeated?”
“Nay.”
She quirked a pale brow. “What about before?”
“Only a few times.”
“Not in battle, though.”
Lachlan shook his head slowly. “Nay, no’ in battle. All that shows is that I know how to handle myself.”
“What that proves to me is that the bone chose you.”
“My father gave me the sword. No one else decided that.”
Malene smiled and flashed him a pointed look. “How old were you, Lachlan?”
That’s when he realized how young he’d been when his father had first handed him the sword. Even then, Lachlan—as well as others in the clan—had been surprised by the move. A laird held onto his sword for a long time before passing it on.
“Exactly,” Malene said into the silence. “No matter what you may think, the sword chose you. With it, you’ve protected your clan.”
“And yet, I left them.”
“For something bigger. You did the right thing.”
“Would you feel that way if you left Blackglade for something bigger?” he asked.
Her gray eyes briefly looked away. “That decision may yet lie before me.” She drew in a sharp breath and motioned him toward her. “Come. Look out over the Varroki.”
Lachlan walked to her side before he turned to view the city. He’d seen some of it from the windows of the tower, but it was nothing compared to what he saw now. The city was much bigger than he’d first imagined. There were shops with various-sized buildings and streets lined with cobblestones. In the distance, he could see farmland and pastures.
“What do you see?” Malene asked.
Lachlan turned his head toward the sea and the churning waters. He kept turning until he looked out past the huge gates that closed Blackglade off from the rest of the world. He wondered why there were gates if the city was hidden by the Lady of the Varroki, but he had to admit, he would’ve erected such a wall around the city, as well.
“I see a place that has withstood time,” Lachlan said as he looked down at Malene. “I see a place and its people who are separate from the rest of the world. Somewhere that is beautiful and strange and needs to remain hidden.”
She cocked her head to the side as the wind lifted the ends of her hair. “Why would you say that?”
“Because there will always be magic, and the Varroki need to be here to keep witches in line.”
“You assume the Varroki won’t stray to do evil.”
“You haven’t before.”
Malene’s lips split into a wide smile. “You think of me as a Varroki?”
“You call it your home. So, aye.”
“Thank you,” she replied with a bow of her head. “As for your earlier statement, every being must choose good or evil. Sometimes, the battle happens when we’re young, and we don’t even know it. Other times, it happens much later in life, and the choices a person makes lead them to that point. What I’m trying to say is that we’re not perfect. We make mistakes just like everyone else. Some of the Varroki chose to leave this place and forget the teachings. Some don’t make that choice on their own.”
Lachlan frowned as he listened. “You would allow someone to know of this place and its location and leave? That isna verra smart.”
“I never said they retained the memories of Blackglade or anything about the Varroki. Magic is used to erase it from their minds.”
“What would happen of a Coven member stumbled across such a person?”
“Let’s hope that never happens.”
“Because the Coven could undo the magic put into place to make that person forget about Blackglade and the Varroki,” Lachlan stated.
Malene nodded. “That’s right.”
Lachlan pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Because you’re a part of this world now. If you leave without the sword, you put the Varroki and everyone fighting the Coven at risk, because the Coven will find you and force the information from you.”
“And if I leave with the sword?”
Malene held his gaze. “Then you’re giving Sybbyl the chance to take it from you and possess another bone of the First Witch.”
“Aye. So, I remain.”
“So we both remain,” she said and looked out over the gates of the city.
Lachlan watched her for a moment. It was then that he realized what he’d glimpsed below. “You care about him.”
Malene tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and said, “Does it show?”
He was surprised that she didn’t try to deny it because it was obvious she didn’t want others to know. “Nay.”
“Obviously, it does, or you wouldn’t have said anything.” She turned her head to him, locking their gazes.
“It was the way you knew how I felt about Synne when we spoke in your chambers. I guessed then that there was someone who had your affections.”
“Sometimes, I think it might be easier if he could discern them for himself.”
“Why no’ just tell him?” Lachlan asked.
She smiled sadly and turned away. “Things are never that easy.”
“If you love him, then it should be that easy.”
“Maybe it should.”
Lachlan stared off into the distance. “What happens if Armir and Jarin can no’ find Synne? We’re no’ even sure she isna dead.”
“I have no answers for you.”
“Can you no’ search for Synne?”
Malene’s shoulders lifted as she drew in a deep breath. “I’ve tried many times and found nothing.”
“Does that mean she’s…gone?”
“Magic could be shielding her. I don’t know.”
Lachlan nodded, his mind turning to another issue. “And the witch we have who looks like Synne? Why is she no’ dead?”
“It isn’t her time yet.”
“It should be,” he said and stormed off.
Malene watched Lachlan walk to the stairs and descend them. She didn’t know where he was going, but she knew he wouldn’t leave Blackglade. He finally understood why he needed to remain, even though every fiber of his being wanted to search for his beloved.
A gust of wind whipped her skirts around her legs, pushing against her body so she had to lean into it so as not to topple over. There was much she hadn’t disclosed to Lachlan. While she’d admitted to using her magic to look for Synne, she hadn’t told him that she had found something that could be Synne. It was faint, so indistinct, Malene wasn’t sure it was even the Hunter. It could be a trick by Sybbyl and the Coven.