Chapter Sixteen
Jasper returned before breakfast, a deep cut sliced into his upper arm. He looked weary and tired and defeated, and he wouldn’t meet my eyes when he stalked into the hall. He sunk into the furthest chair away from mine, his large hand pressed tightly against his wound.
“What happened to you?” I asked, heart hammering hard.
“I got into a scuffle with a gang of witch hunters,” he said grumpily. “I would have been able to take them out, but they had a shadow witch with them. She used some spell against me, tied my legs and arms together with some dark vines.”
I sucked in a breath and glanced at Silas. My dream. My nightmare.
We hadn’t spoken, not since I returned to my room and found him awake in my bed. I didn’t know if he’d overheard my discussion with Tess. Or if he felt he’d made a mistake staying in my room last night.
He’d quietly excused himself, with that hooded, haunted expression in his eyes, and that had been that.
“What did she look like?” I asked Jasper, eyes locked on that horrible wound.
“Really long blonde hair. Almost to her waist.” He grimaced as blood began to pour around his fingers. “Dammit, can someone help me please?”
“I’ll go get the healing kit.” Kipling scurried off, Eli just behind him.
“That’s Rebecca,” I said to Silas, who pursed his lips and nodded.
“What are you talking about?” Tess asked sharply.
I hadn’t told Tess about my dreams. There’d never been a right time to bring them up. I didn’t want her to think I was crazy. I didn’t want to blame Rebecca for something she’d never even done, at least not yet. If ever. I still didn’t know what part of it was real or merely my imagination filling in the blanks of a story I didn’t know.
But now, things were beginning to click into place.
“This place is even more of a shit hole than the last time I was here.” Heavy footsteps sounded by the door. And they belonged to a guy whose swirling tattoos were the first thing I saw. Along with a deep scar gorged across one cheek. He wore nothing more than a sleeveless shirt, and every inch of his visible skin—save for his face—was covered in colorful, intricate designs.
His hair went to his shoulders, brown and slicked back behind his head. He cocked his head and sized me up, his gaze lingering on my breasts. “You must be Rowena. Jasper wouldn’t shut the fuck up about you.”
“Sebastian.” Jasper shot him a scowl.
“I’ll be in my tower.” Silas strode off before I could stop him. Not that I blamed him. I’d only just met the guy, but Sebastian made my skin crawl already. There was something leering in his gaze that made me desperate for escape.
“You know, I’ve always thought that guy is a dick,” Sebastian said with a laugh.
Marcus was silent, even though he’d said the very same thing once before.
“Why’s everyone so broody? Come on, lighten up. Jasper is saved. The witch hunters are dead. You’ve got a hot piece of ass in the city for the first time in, what, a century?”
I ignored that last bit, instead focusing on the more important part of his comment. “The witch hunters are dead?”
“You got it, babe. Dead as a motherfucking doornail.”
Relief whooshed out of me as I turned to Jasper, searching for confirmation. If this were true, then it changed, well, everything. The shadow witches could go back to the mainland and make a new home for themselves, gathering together from whatever corners of the earth they’d all chosen to hide. Magic would continue to soldier on, and no one would be out to kill me.
And I…I could go wherever I wanted.
I wouldn’t be trapped here anymore.
I wouldn’t be trapped anywhere anymore.
“I know that look,” Jasper grumbled. “It’s that hungry-for-freedom look. Unfortunately, Ro, Sebastian is just talking shit. The witch hunters aren’t dead. Not all of them, at least. He swooped in and knocked the witch out cold, which broke the magical ropes tying me down. She managed to get away, but we killed five or six hunters. Problem is, there’s a hell of a lot more where they come from.”
Kipling returned with the healing kit and got to work on Jasper’s arm. I swallowed and glanced away. The cut was so deep.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tess nod. “I think Dreadford Castle appearing next to Buckingham Palace helped them recruit a ton more hunters. There’s at least a hundred or so. But what is this about Rebecca? What does she have to do with anything?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “I keep having this nightmare—”
“Silas believes it’s a vision,” Kipling said.
I cocked an eyebrow at him but continued. “This vision nightmare thing where one of the hunters has captured me and is about to kill me. Rebecca is there.” I pressed my lips together and glanced at Jasper. “And it sounds like the witch who helped the hunters attack Jasper was also Rebecca. The description of her appearance fits.”
“Lots of witches have long blonde hair,” Tess countered.
“To their waist?”
“Now that you mention it,” Marcus said, frowning. “Rebecca was the one who came to me and told me about the hunters. She’s the one who suggested I should drop into Dreadford Castle for a visit.”
“What was she hoping that would accomplish?” I asked, shaking my head.
“Maybe she didn’t expect the Queen to go along with it,” Tess murmured, furrowing her eyebrows. “Selene doesn’t do alliances. She doesn’t do treaties and truces. Maybe she thought it might cause a fight. Give her a chance to slip Rowena out of the castle so the hunters could get to her.”
Kipling finished smearing a valve of healing cream onto Jasper’s wound and wrapped a gauzy cloth around his arm. “That should do. Just don’t overly exert yourself for the next twenty-four hours, and you’ll be back to brand new.”
“Twenty-four hours?” I asked. “For that wound.”
“He’s immortal, my dear. He heals faster,” Kipling said. “Now, here is an important question that I don’t believe anyone has considered. We seem to be missing some of our guests for breakfast this morning. Some who might have some insight into this Rebecca situation. Has anyone seen the Queen?”
Queen Selene and the six other shadow witches were not in their rooms. They’d been given one of the nicer townhouses in the lower part of the city. It meant they had to trudge up a lot of stairs to get to the dining hall in the castle, but I couldn’t say I felt particularly bad for them.
Tess, of course, had been given a room near mine. So, she hadn’t seen where they’d gone.
“All of their things are here,” I said as I stood in the doorway. Not that it was much. A few shirts, a bit of jewellery, though the Queen’s ever-present necklace wasn’t here. The beds were rumpled and unmade. It didn’t look as though they’d relocated to another part of the city or else they would have taken their belongings along with them.
“Think they just left?” Tess asked, padding slowly around the room as if it held a clue to their strange disappearance. “They’re shadow witches. They can travel whenever they want to, as long as there are shadows. And this dreary townhouse sure has plenty.”
“Not in and out of here they can’t,” Eli said from behind us. “It’s against the rules of the city. You can only get here by sky or sea. And it is physically impossible to scale those cliffs. Even Jasper, the wonder-boy, couldn’t do it.”
When nothing materialized in the Queen’s house, we all piled onto the cobblestone street outside—me, Tess, Eli, and Marcus. Oh, and Sebastian. He’d followed us down here, too. A fact I was desperately wishing would change soon.
“Keep searching down here. I’ll take to the skies and do a sweep of the city…” Eli turned to me and cocked a brow. A silent question. Are you and Tess okay with these two? But, as arrogant and infuriating as I sometimes found Marcus, I knew he held that same protective instinct toward me as the others.
Sebastian, on the other hand
…
“Go on,” I said with a tight smile. “We’ll be fine.”
“This Queen of yours,” Sebastian said in a low growl as we began to comb the streets for any sign of the shadow witches. “She’s the one who poisoned you for twenty-two years, right?”
With a heavy sigh, I nodded and peered into an abandoned ice cream shop. “That’s right.”
“Then, why the hell do you give a single rat’s ass what’s happened to her?” He laughed. “Fuck that shit, I say. Let them rot in the sewers until they’re nothing but skeletal remains.”
I shot him a glare. “It was a terrible thing to do, but she doesn’t deserve to die for it. None of them do.”
“Getting lost in the City of Wings doesn’t means she’ll die,” he said. “Just get a little dirty. Serves her right.”
“There are hunters chasing her down,” I snapped back. “If they have somehow gotten to her—”
“Human hunters. And she is a powerful sorceress on an island protected by ancient magic. You’re wound way too tight, Rowena. Maybe you need to get laid. If my pals here won’t do you the honor, then I certainly will.”
And with that, I gave one of the strongest beings in the world a slap on the face.
Chapter Seventeen
Sebastian was still rubbing his cheek when Eli returned from the cloudless sky. Marcus had been silent through most of our search, a bemused expression on his face. Maybe he was worried about getting slapped, too.
Eli’s heavy boots landed on the cobblestone, a bitter wind shooting through the alley from the flap of his powerful wings. He tucked them behind his shoulders, but he didn’t shift them away. His entire body was tense, his eyes tight at the corners.
“I’ve got good news, and I’ve got bad news.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his thick hair. “I found the shadow witches, but…”
“But what?” I pressed a hand over my heart and stepped forward. Despite everything they’d done to me, I couldn’t bear it if they were dead.
“It’s the strangest thing,” he said, shaking his head. “They’re on some kind of raft in the middle of the sea.”
“So, they decided to leave without telling anyone.” Tess crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. “Thanks, Queen Selene, for leaving me behind. Not that I would have gone with her anyway. I guess she’s pissed off at me for taking Rowena’s side.”
“Even with their magic, they could not have scaled down those cliffs,” Eli said. “It is impossible.”
“Looks like you lot need to fix your cliffs,” Sebastian rolled back his shoulders and leaned against the frame of the nearest door.
Eli continued on, ignoring Sebastian. “Regardless, they’re in trouble. The magic protecting this place extends far across the sea, so they’re unable to cast their travel spell for awhile yet. Their raft is sinking. And there are sharks circling them. Half a dozen that I could count.”
All the blood drained from my face as his words sunk in. “So, you’re telling me they’re about to be eaten alive by sharks.”
“If we don’t do something,” Eli said, “then yes.”
“They won’t be able to cast any magic out there,” Tess added, dropping back her head to look up at the sky. “It’s a bright day. No shadows.”
“Well, then go get them,” I said to Eli, heart thundering in my chest. “Please, Eli. We can’t leave them out there to die.”
With a soft sigh, he nodded, his expression pained. “Sebastian and Marcus, I’m going to need your help. And we’ll need to grab Jasper and Silas, too, if we don’t want to make two trips. There are seven of them. Five of us. Jasper’s strong enough to get two and so are you, Marcus.”
“Jasper’s wounded,” I whispered.
Eli swore under his breath.
“I’m strong enough for two,” Sebastian said with a shrug. “I’ll be happy to grab myself some little witchies.”
All four of us on the cobblestone street shot Sebastian a glare.
Tess and I watched from the cliffs as five powerful gargoyle shifters took off across the churning sea, sunlight gleaming across their ebony wings. The thin clouds above were as choppy as the water, hurtling across the sky from a harsh and bitter wind. Frost hung in the air, crisp and clear but ice cold.
All five shifters beat their wings in unison, soaring as a single unit.
Tess let out a low whistle. “Maybe I’ll get myself stranded on a raft, too.”
I barked out a laugh, breaking the charging tension I’d felt ever since I’d heard the witches were in danger. “Yeah, they can rescue me any day.”
“I can’t believe Queen Selene didn’t tell me she was leaving,” The laughter vanished from Tess’s voice. “I’ve served her since I was ten years old. That makes twelve years now. And I’ve always done what she’s asked of me, even when I disagreed.”
In the distance, the gargoyles grew closer to the distant raft, a mere spot of dust on the endless blue-gray sea.
“I’m sorry, Tess. It’s my fault. I made you choose between us,” I said, giving her a sad smile. “And you know how the Queen responds to even the slightest hint of betrayal.”
Tess grimaced. “Punishment. Torture. Imprisonment. Why the hell did I serve her for so long?”
“Why did I love her?” I asked.
And there it was, the reason her actions had hurt me so much. Because the Queen, as distant and cruel as she’d been to me at times, had been the only mother I’d ever known. I had loved her. I still did, I realized, as I watched those powerful wings fly further toward the raft. No matter what she’d done.
“Do you think she’s evil?” Tess asked. “That she’s twisted by her powers? Turned into something dark and terrible?”
“No,” I said, almost surprised by my answer. “I think she can be terribly cruel, but I understand where all of it is coming from. She is fiercely protective of her people. She would do anything to keep them safe. It’s just that it has sometimes meant her doing terrible things.”
“You know, I think she did what she did to protect you, too,” Tess said. “I know it doesn’t seem like it, but…maybe she thought the easiest way to keep you safe would be to lock you up.”
I could see that. As a sickly human, I would be no threat to the shadow witches at Dreadford Castle. They’d have no interest in me as anything other than a joke or a poor creature. But as a powerful girl born of prophecy, delivered by the fae themselves, they might take my presence as a challenge. Especially if the Queen thought I was fae. Especially if my powers were stronger than theirs.
If I even had any at all. Because we still had zero proof that prophecy had anything to do with me. Zero proof that I was capable of anything more than five measly push-ups.
“I’d really like to know what my powers are—”
My thought was interrupted by the whizz of arrows through the sky. They flew straight toward the gargoyles, arching in the direction of their wings. I let out a cry of alarm. A warning. But the shifters were too far away to hear.
And then one of the arrows hit their mark. A gargoyle began to fall.
My heart jolted, fear and pain crushing into my soul. I stepped to the edge of the cliff, my body straining toward the shifter plunging toward the sea.
If only I could do something. If only I could help them. If only I could use my powers instead of stand here helpless, wingless, hopeless.
And then one of the winged forms detached from the others, hurtling back toward the rocky cliffs. I stood waiting, horror keeping my hand held tight to my throat.
A moment later, Sebastian landed heavily before us, his wings stretched wide across the stone ground.
“Sebastian, what’s going on?” I asked, taking a glance over my shoulder as another stream of arrows shot toward the gargoyles in the sky. The fallen shifter had righted himself, but the flap of his wings was heavy, wrong, strained.
“This was a trap, I’m afraid to say. A distraction.” His expression was solemnly grim as he rubbed his scarred
cheek. “So that I could take you away from here, Rowena.”
“What?” I blinked and stepped back, my heel scuffing against the rocky edge of the cliff. A scatter of rocks shifted from under my foot and tumbled down into the sea far below.
“Sorry, Rowena. It’s nothing personal. I’ve been hired to do a job, and this one pays the big bucks.” He shrugged.
“So, you’re what?” I asked over the roar of my frantic heart. “Here to kill me?”
“No, no. I’m just here to take you to the hunters.”
Anger flashed within me. “And they’ll kill me.”
“Not if you put up a good fight.” He shrugged again. “Stop stalling. There’s only so long before my boys will realize what’s up.”
“You’re shooting them. Killing them.” I shook my head, hardly daring to believe this was true. “All for what? Some money?”
“Distracting them,” he said. “They’ll live. Only one of them got wounded, and Kipling will patch him right up. Now, come on. I’m losing my patience here.”
Tess suddenly shifted in front of me, her palms raised high as energy crackled from her tense body. “I won’t let you take her, you motherfucking asshole prick.”
Sebastian surprised me by…chuckling. He actually let out a laugh. Another wave of anger tore through my gut. How dare he.
“You’ve got a hell of a vocabulary there, sweetheart, but I know how your power works. Hell, you told us yourself.” He pointed to the sky. The endless blue winter sky. “The clouds are only wispy today. You have no shadows to draw your power from.”
“I don’t need any shadows to kick your ass.” And in the flash of an eye, a dagger was in her hands. She carried it with her wherever she went, hidden in the folds of her leather jacket. And my heart surged with hope and fear.
But, with the flick of his wrist, Tess was thrown across the rocky surface, her body slamming hard into a spiky rock. Her blade clattered from her hands, and her eyes slipped closed. And her chin slumped to her chest.
She was nothing but a rag-doll.
Tears burning the corners of my eyes, I turned toward Sebastian, whose wings were now beating sweeping gusts of bitter wind into my face.
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