by Meg Anne
There were some dubious eyebrows, but the group took a few tentative steps toward him.
“Oh, this is fun!” Kragen said, seeing what Joquil had meant. “Helena, we definitely need one of these at the Palace.”
A few paces behind the others, it took her a bit longer to understand what they were talking about. Once she did, she certainly understood the appeal.
From a distance, Joquil appeared to be standing in front of a solid stone wall. Once you were standing next to him, however, it was clearly an optical illusion. There was another, identical, half-wall directly in front of the other. This allowed for a hidden hallway to be put in plain view. A great place to hide and eavesdrop if nothing else. Helena wondered how many other secret passageways existed in the keep, and if there were, in fact, some in the Palace.
The passage was only large enough for them to walk single file, so Joquil took the lead while one of the Daejarans took the rear. Von insisted on walking in front of Helena, which she couldn’t say she overly minded. It gave her a nice view.
Ever since they completed the bond, it had become easier to catch snippets of her Mate’s thoughts. Von had clearly just picked up on hers because he asked, “Like what you see, Mira?”
“Always.”
“Aren’t you the one always reminding me we have to stay focused?”
“We could die in the next twenty seconds. If I’m about to return to the Mother, I want to know I spent my last few moments on Her earth wisely.”
She could see his shoulders shaking with laughter. “Fair point well made, as always. Ogle away.”
“As if I needed your permission.”
“I’m going to remember you said that.”
The distraction was a welcome reprieve from the darkness that surrounded them. Every little sliver of light was the difference between holding on to hope or falling into despair. Helena would selfishly take what happiness she could, for as long as she could. Rowena didn’t get to steal that from her, like she had with so much else. The day that they stopped holding on to hope, to the light, was the day that Rowena won. Helena would rather die than let that happen. These stolen moments were the proof that it wasn’t over yet.
The hallway dipped, bringing them down a moldy smelling ramp and into a smaller chamber. They filtered into the room, one by one, each of them spreading out to allow the others to step inside. There was little light here, and what small bit was available was from a few flickering candles that were suspended from the walls.
Effie’s gasp was the only confirmation Helena needed that this was the place from her vision. The room was long but narrow, a row of cages along the back half of the room. Cages that were occupied. There were about ten children chained in half as many cages. They seemed to be drugged, their small heads dangling down to their chests, and none of them reacting to the appearance of the others in the room.
Helena’s rage was swift and absolute. Not waiting for anyone else, she pushed ahead, her hand already outstretched with the intention of breaking open each of the cages.
“Helena, wait,” Timmins cautioned softly.
She spun around, her teeth bared in a snarl. “You dare stop me, Advisor?” She had made the transition from Helena to Vessel so quickly, the sound of her harmonious voice surprised even her. It was low and throaty, and there was no mistaking the threat beneath her question.
Timmins held his hands up. “I mean no offense, Kiri. It’s just, the children appear to be in stasis. There might be some kind of alarm you could trigger if you touch them.”
“Good,” she growled, her teeth feeling too large for her mouth. “Let them know I am here. Let them face me.” She could feel the black claws pushing their way out of her hands, the predator inside her primed to fight.
Timmins nodded, backing slowly away from her.
Helena reached the first cage, her magic-enhanced claws tearing the door from the cage with a loud crash.
“Who needs an alarm?” Ronan asked.
She was careful to sheath the claws as she reached to brush limp brown hair off the child’s face. It was a little girl, her features pinched with fear, even in her unconscious state. There were deep shadows beneath her eyes, and her skin looked waxy. She was clearly unwell. Helena eyed the chains, trying to determine the best way to release the girl, without her getting hurt.
There was an audible click and a hidden door opened, an Endoshan man Helena recognized storming into the room.
Effie whimpered, her skin bone-white. “It’s happening,” she whispered.
The Chosen went on high alert, knowing that Rowena had been in Effie’s vision.
“What do you think you’re—” the man’s eyes went wide, recognition cutting his tirade short. “Kiri?”
Helena’s iridescent eyes were narrowed into twin slits as she stalked toward him. “Where is your queen?” she demanded.
“I don’t know, Kiri.”
“Liar!” she screamed, throwing her arm up as a bolt of purple power blasted from her palm and into his chest. The Endoshan went flying back into the wall, crumpling to the floor.
“I-I swear, Kiri. I have not seen her since Kai left with her.”
“Get up!”
The man struggled to push himself back into a standing position.
“We know about your little boneyard,” Helena said, her voice low and menacing.
He gulped audibly. “I tried to reason with him, but he said it was the only way to ensure Endoshan’s future.”
Helena closed the distance between them, her steps slow and measured. “Is your future more meaningful than theirs?” she asked once they were almost nose to nose, gesturing toward the children in the cages.
“N-no, Kiri.”
“So why do you get to live when you’ve sentenced them to death?”
“I-I haven’t, Kiri.” The man was crying now, tears falling freely from his golden eyes.
“How do we release them?” she asked, giving him a final opportunity to save himself.
“I don’t know,” he moaned. “Please, believe me.”
“If you do not want to answer for her crimes, it would serve you well to tell me what you know.”
“N-nothing, I swear!”
Her power was already coiled and ready to strike. Helena saw nothing but the man’s eyes as she warned him, “I will give you until the count of three.”
“K-Kiri,” he begged.
“One.”
“I don’t know!”
“Two.”
Whatever he saw in her face had him trying to run. Helena’s hand snapped out, closing around his throat and holding him in place. His fate was sealed.
“Three,” she whispered.
Helena unleashed her power, the full force of it moving through her arm and slamming into his body where they were connected. He gasped, his eyes bulging. One second, he was there; the next, he was gone. It was over as quickly as it began.
She stepped back, looking at her now empty hand. It was coated in a fine red dust. All that remained of him was the dust, which now covered everything between her and the wall she’d held him against. Her power had completely vaporized him. The bloodlust was beginning to fade, and what she’d just done was starting to seep into her awareness.
Helena turned toward the others, her breaths coming in shallow pants. They stared at her in stunned silence, Effie’s hand pressed to her mouth. The fact that they didn’t know how to approach her right now only increased the sense of alienation she was feeling. What have I done?
Reyna was the first to speak, not having the same sense of hesitation as the others. “Are you alright, Kiri?”
She wordlessly shook her head. Helena honestly didn’t know what she was. She had never killed another person unprovoked before. She had fought during battles, protecting those she loved and destroying Rowena’s Shadows without a second thought, but this had been different. There was no conscious thought, no decision to act. She just did.
Von approached her slowly. �
�Mira, look at me.”
She lifted her eyes to his.
“You were well within your right to enact justice for those children.”
She sucked in another breath, feeling lightheaded.
“Just focus on me.”
Helena nodded to indicate she was trying.
“You did nothing wrong.”
“I killed him.” Even her psychic voice was trembling.
“You are the Mother’s justice. Your actions are her own.”
“I am the Mother’s justice,” she repeated slowly, her voice hollow.
“She was displeased, and She acted through Her Vessel,” Timmins chimed in, his voice measured.
The rest of her Circle nodded their agreement, none of them looking at her with anything close to judgment. It was concern for her that had stayed their action, not disgust at what she had done. Their acceptance did more than anything else could.
Helena nodded, her breathing starting to slow. She looked down, shuddering as she realized she was still coated in what was left of the Endoshan.
“Let me help,” Joquil murmured, stepping toward her. He waited for Helena’s nod before saying, “Close your eyes.”
She obeyed, and he moved his open palm over her, a gentle breeze stirring up the strands of hair that had escaped from her braid.
“You can open them,” he murmured.
When Helena looked down, she was clean again. All trace of the red dust was gone.
“Thank you,” she breathed.
“Of course, Kiri.” Joquil stepped back, and Helena turned toward the cages.
The rage that had settled with the Endoshan’s death lifted its head again at the sight of the children. Helena forced herself to breathe, pushing the anger down. It had no place here since it would not help the children be any less caged.
Helena walked back toward them, focusing on a sense of icy calm rather than fiery rage. She ran her fingers along the cool steel bars, walking the length of the cage doors that remained. The bars froze beneath the contact. Once she reached the end, she turned and released a breath, the bars snapping and falling to the ground.
Without being asked, the rest of the Chosen moved forward, using their various powers or simply their brute strength to snap the chains that held the children. The small bodies sagged, but the Chosen caught them before they fell, carefully lifting them and carrying them out. From there the children were gently laid out on the floor until each one looked like they might only be sleeping.
“Can you wake them?” Reyna asked.
“Of course she can,” Ronan said, winking at Helena.
She gave him a small smile, appreciating the show of support. “It really depends what she’s done to them,” Helena admitted.
“A bigger concern is what we’re going to do with them once they are awake,” Timmins said.
He had a point. They couldn’t very well take the children with them.
“We’ll send them to the Palace,” Helena decided on the spot. “We will raise them in Tigaera. If the Endoshans did not think they were worth keeping, they do not deserve to have them back.”
There were murmurs of approval.
One of Ronan’s men stepped forward. “If you will lend me a stone, Kiri, I can make sure they arrive safely and are well cared for.”
“Thank you, Geralt.”
The dark-haired man nodded. “It is the least we can do for them.”
That much settled, Helena knelt next to the nearest child. It was the same one she’d first discovered. Helena placed her hand gently on the girl’s forehead, her eyes fluttering closed as she used her power to seek out the source of the unnatural sleep.
Helena half expected that Rowena had kept the children drugged with Bella Morte as she had with Von, but there wasn’t a trace of the hallucinogen in her body. Thank the Mother for small miracles.
Losing track of time and awareness of her physical body, Helena sent her power out, searching for any sign of interference. It took a couple of passes until she realized it was not a physical issue.
Her eyes opened and she sighed. It was deceptively simple, but no less evil for its simplicity. Rowena had used some of her Spirit to force the children into this state. All it took was a compulsion telling the children to go to sleep, and they had been helpless to fight the urge. Without Rowena here to remove the order, they could not wake on their own.
Not wanting the poor things to be terrified upon waking, Helena crafted her own finely woven compulsion. Bright purple tendrils began to flow out of Helena and wrap themselves around each of the sleeping bodies. She reinforced each tendril with some of her healing magic so that they would wake feeling rested and without any lingering side effects of the obvious drain Rowena had already performed.
Once she was certain the magic had taken hold, Helena said, “You are safe. It’s time to wake up now.”
The glowing tendrils, which had formed a tightly woven net around each of them, sank into the children until the strands disappeared entirely.
With a rather undignified yawn, the little girl beside Helena stretched and opened her eyes. “Is it time for breakfast?” she asked with a sweet lisp.
“Just about, dear one,” Helena replied, brushing the soft hair off her forehead.
The girl scrunched her upturned nose. “Why are you crying? Did something bad happen?”
Helena brushed at her eyes. “It’s nothing you need to worry about right now, darling.”
Around her, the others began to wake up, the children curiously, but fearlessly, inspecting the grown-ups around them. Helena knew, had it not been for her magic, they would be much more suspicious of the strangers, especially had they remembered what had happened to them.
Von helped her stand, and Helena hid her face in his neck. At least this time her tears were from relief.
She’d finally arrived in time to save someone.
Chapter Seventeen
“Are we returning to Tigaera as well?”
The children had been sent to the Palace almost immediately. Without having searched the rest of the keep, no one felt comfortable with the idea of letting them remain there any longer than strictly necessary.
After a thorough search, they were able to determine that the rest of the keep was, in fact, abandoned. The man Helena had killed, the one whose name she didn’t even know, had been the only one that remained. Probably to keep an eye on Rowena’s pets.
Not sure of their next steps, the Circle gathered in the kitchen. The others, minus Effie who stayed behind, had been sent back to fill in the rest of the army on what had transpired.
“Without a clear destination, where else would we go?” Helena asked, in reply to Kragen’s question.
“We could see if asking about Rowena triggers another vision,” Ronan said, his eyes shooting over to Effie apologetically.
Effie licked her lips, her eyes darting between Helena and Ronan. “But I was wrong before. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“No one blames you, Effie. Look at what we were able to accomplish today because your vision led us here,” Ronan said.
“But I was wrong,” she insisted.
Timmins was studying Effie carefully. “Your vision is simply a series of images that require your interpretation to decipher their message. Without training, it’s understandable that you might infer the wrong meaning.”
“It’s a shitty time to try and learn,” Effie huffed.
Helena’s lips twitched up; she liked this side of her. Their sweet flower had grown thorns.
The ghost of a smile made a brief appearance on Timmins’ face. “We just need to learn what the images mean to you. Perhaps there were subtle details you missed because you didn’t know to look for them.”
“What do you mean?” Effie asked, her brows lowering in confusion.
“Well,” Timmins paused, choosing his words with care. “Your vision was triggered by a question. The series of images chosen to answer the question are unique to you. They co
uld only be things that held some sort of personal significance or meaning since you cannot See what you do not already know. There’d be no way for you to accurately explain or discern its significance. So, therefore the images must be intimately tied to you and your understanding of them.”
Helena could see where he was coming from, but she didn’t fully agree with his assessment. “Miranda told me that visions are never straightforward. I doubt we can take them at face value.”
“How would we explain that Effie knew to come to Endoshan then?” Von asked.
“Maybe it’s not just the images themselves, but their relationship to each other?” Joquil asked.
“Technically Effie didn’t know. You were the ones that made the connection to the man she described and Endoshan,” Helena reminded them.
The others fell silent. It was hard to solve a puzzle when you couldn’t see the pieces.
“Effie, I want you to try something for me, if you wouldn’t mind,” Von said.
She nodded, biting down on her bottom lip hard enough Helena was worried she might draw blood.
“Close your eyes and try to picture what you Saw.”
Effie’s eyes widened, but she nodded again and followed his direction.
“Can you see it?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“What are you looking at?”
“The man.”
“Had you seen him before?”
“I’m not sure.”
“What is it about him that stands out?”
“His leathers. I recognized them.” Her eyes popped open. “Joquil was right, it must be association.”
“That’s great, Effie,” Von smiled warmly. “Try again, and this time I want you to focus on the moment when Rowena appears.”
Effie swallowed and closed her eyes. After a moment she whispered, “Okay.”
“Why do you think the vision is showing you Rowena?”
Her brows furrowed, not understanding the question. “Because it is Rowena.”
“Is it?”
“It’s her,” Effie said emphatically.