Bound by Stone

by Jenna Wolfhart

  She settled onto the couch next to me and pulled her knees to her chest. “I know what it’s like. To wonder who you can trust and who is secretly trying to destroy everything you know and love.”

  “The demon war?” I asked, arching a brow.

  She gave a nod. “Enemies turned into allies, but allies also turned into enemies. There are people in the world who would stop at nothing to get what they want, including betraying those who trust them.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t fight with you,” I said. “But...at the time, I had no idea I even could.”

  “I don’t blame you for that,” she said. “The shadow witches are twisted and full of darkness. There’s something in their souls that corrupts them. And you were wrapped up in it all. Some of the other bone mages think I’m crazy for even wanting to protect them, but...it just doesn’t feel right to stand aside and let an entire coven die.”

  “You keep saying that. About the darkness.” I frowned and shook my head. “But you’re wrong. The shadow witches can be cruel at times, but they aren’t soulless. They aren’t twisted, not like you think they are. I guess you could say they’re...complicated. Just like anyone else.”

  She was quiet for a long moment before she spoke. “You would say that even after what they did to you?”

  I let out a heavy sigh. “What they did is wrong, but I forgave them a long time ago. I understand why they did what they did. In fact I would have stayed in Dreadford Castle if they’d just told me the truth.”

  She leaned forward, her whisper harsh against the silence of the night. “But I have their powers. I’m a shadow mage, and I feel the evil inside me. There’s a darkness there. A dangerous darkness, and it calls to my soul.”

  “And they resist it. Or at least try to,” I said. “Just like I’m sure you do.”

  “You’re not so bad, are you?” She cocked her head, gave a half-smile. “Now, listen. I want to help you, Rowena. You have the power to save us all, but not unless you go from defense to offense. Let Belzus cast the illusion.”

  I let out a harsh laugh. “Oh, believe me. If it were my decision, I’d go for it. We lost a lot of lives to the Unseelie attack, and I don’t want a repeat of that anytime soon. I don’t know if your fae is trustworthy or not, but I don’t even care at this point. I was willing to sacrifice my freedom to save this city. I’d be willing to sacrifice even more.”

  “Belzus isn’t asking you to sacrifice a thing,” she said. “Trust me, he annoys the shit out of me, but that favor isn’t a big deal. He’ll probably never even bring it up again unless he decides he likes annoying you as much as he likes annoying me.”

  I snorted. “He sounds fun.”

  “He’s fae. They’re fucking assholes.”

  Her frankness surprised me. When she’d first shown up, I’d expected the usual song and dance of politicians. Nice bland words. Noncommittal promises. Thinly-veiled disdain toward anyone who didn’t have a title themselves. And an aloofness that I’d never seen in anyone without power.

  Zoe was different though. Everything within me wanted to trust her and not only because I desperately wanted what she said to be the truth.

  “If you think Belzus is bad,” I said with a laugh. “You should have met Oberon.”

  “Oh, I have,” she said. “He threatened to rip my head off.”

  “That sounds about right.” I shook my head.

  “So, you can see how Belzus is nothing like that former king of the fae.”

  “Like I said, if it were up to me, I’d agree to the deal in a heartbeat. The gargoyles and Kipling would never go for it though. They’re more wary than I am. Except for Jasper and he’s...”

  I trailed off, not ready to commit those words aloud. Not to a stranger, even one who was starting to feel like an ally.

  She gave me a sad smile. “The guy who turned to stone permanently? What’s the story on that?” When she saw the look on my face, she winced. “I’m so sorry. That was insensitive of me. If you don’t want to talk about it, then—”

  “No, it’s okay. I need to talk about it, mostly because there isn’t anything else I can do.” I took a deep breath. “He swore an oath to Hecate, promising to protect me. That protection apparently covered not getting physically involved with me, and we…well, we kissed. It’s stupid. I shouldn’t have, and now…”

  Her eyes softened. “It’s easy to do dumb things when feelings are involved. Trust me, I know all about it.”

  “You’re talking about Dorian.”

  “That’s right. When we met, I was still hiding the fact I’m a shadow witch, and he hadn’t told me he was part vampire. When I found out what he was, I completely flipped out and handled things like an asshole. Lucky for me, he’s a better person than I am, and he forgave me almost instantly.”

  “And he’s one hundred percent mortal now,” I said. “You reversed the Unbound curse that turned him into a hybrid vampire.”

  “That’s right,” she said with a smile. “To be honest, I didn’t think he’d go for it. He seemed happy enough in his vampire skin. But, as cheesy as it sounds, love prevailed. He decided he wanted a mortal life with me.”

  My breath caught. “How did you reverse it?”

  “It’s a long story,” Zoe said. “But it’s like my Grams has always said. If a spell can be cast, it can be reversed. For every power, there is an anti-power. Yin and yang. Whatever can be done can also be undone.”

  My heart thundered in my ears as I leaned closer to Zoe. “So, you’re saying you believe I can undo what’s happened to Jasper?”

  “Yep. Not a doubt in my mind.” She gave the tall towering shelves that surrounded us a long stare before continuing. “You could probably find something in all these books of yours, but I can give you an easier hint. A lot of spells can be broken if you have the blood of the mage who cast them.”

  “The mage’s…blood.” I frowned. “But the mage—goddess—was Hecate, and she’s in a different realm. The only way to contact her is through the Oracle who guards the open part of the veil between the realms. She’s the one who helped the gargoyles make the oath. And they said she’s been missing for a couple of years.”

  “Do you know where she was last seen?” Zoe asked.

  “Yeah, Mont Circeo. But the shifters said she’s not there anymore. No one has seen her.”

  “Maybe so, but it sounds like a good place to start to me.”

  “Maybe…” I let out a heavy sigh. “I can’t leave here, Zoe. Not with an entire army of magic hunters on their way.”

  “I’d say it’s time to evacuate, but they might try to pick you off one by one,” she said with a frown. “They’re surprisingly good with bows and arrows. Luckily for me, Belzus is a damn good flyer.”

  I met her steady gaze. It was an open expression, calm and serious and full of confidence. Her eyes dared me to see the truth. Even without considering Jasper’s oath, there was only one solution to the city’s problem that I could see. There was only one way that everyone would stay safe. She didn’t mention what it was, and she didn’t need to. She knew I’d arrive at the destination on my own.

  “I need to make that deal with Belzus, don’t I?” I said. Not really a question as much as a dawning realization. “Even if they hate me for going behind their backs, I need to do it anyway.”

  She lifted her shoulders in a shrug. “Honestly, I can’t make that call, Rowena. Only you can. Not the Queen. Not Kipling. Not your gargoyles. All I can say is, Belzus is not like Oberon. You don’t have to trust him though. Just trust me.”

  “Okay,” I said with a nod before I could chicken out and change my mind. “I’ll make the deal with the fae, but I have one extra condition.”

  She arched an eyebrow. “And that is?”

  “I need him to take me to Mont Circeo so I can reverse Jasper’s damn oath.”

  Part II

  A Cave of Light

  Chapter 8

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Sebastian stood i
n the Scriptorium doorway, his arms crossed over his chest, blocking any hope of my escape. The guy was a tank, and while I very much wasn’t, I had strength that could rival his. Sometimes. When I was able to get a handle on my powers.

  I narrowed my eyes and propped my fists on my hips. “I’m going to Mont Circeo. Alone, since everyone else refuses to go with me. And before you say anything about the damn magic hunter army that’s on the way, don’t worry about it. I made the deal with the fae. This place is protected.”

  He pursed his lips. “Kipling’s going to flip the fuck out.”

  “I don’t care.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “At least he and everyone else in this city will stay alive. Now, move. I have an Oracle to find so I can reverse Jasper’s oath.”

  “You won’t let it go, will you? You won’t stop trying to go to that damn place, even though everyone has told you it’s no goddamn use.”

  “Nope,” I said, clipping the word. “So, you might as well stand aside.”

  “Or,” he said, his grin turning devilish, “I could just lock you up in your room and ask one of the witchies to ward it so you can’t get out.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You could try. Did you happen to forget the fact I’ve kicked your ass once before?”

  He chuckled and waved at something—or someone—behind me. “Come on out, guys. Might as well get on with it. There’s no talking sense into her when she gets like this.”

  I whirled on my feet. Marcus, Eli, and Silas all edged into the Scriptorium’s lobby from down the darkened hallway. They were all looking at me with expressions ranging from amusement to disappointment to irritation, or a combination of all three. And every single one had a weapon strapped to his side, save for Silas.

  “What’s all this?” I asked, whirling back to Sebastian, who I also now noticed had his own sword slung into a scabbard on his back.

  “We knew you’d take the deal,” Sebastian said with a shrug. “And we talked about all the different ways we could try to stop you from going on your stupid Jasper-saving quest. I voted for locking you up, but these idiots wouldn’t hear of it. So, we’re going with you to Mont Circeo instead.”

  “Everyone except for me,” Silas said with his hands slung deep into his pockets. “I’m staying here, just in case something goes wrong.”

  “You’re...wait.” My heart lifted as I spun toward the other shifters. Marcus quirked his lips in a smile, and Eli gave a nod. “You’re not mad? We’re going to go? And you’re actually coming with me? But I thought...you said this was a terrible idea that had no hope of helping anything.”

  “It is a terrible idea, Ro.” Eli shrugged. “But I’ve made my own oath to protect you, and if this is what you insist on doing, then I must come with you. I’m certainly not letting you go with that fae.”

  Sebastian grinned. “Basically, we know you’ll sneak out of here eventually, and we obviously can’t let you go alone. You’ll just end up doing something stupid.”

  I glared at the gargoyle shifter. “Honestly, guys. Do we really need Sebastian to come with us? Maybe he should stay here instead of Silas.”

  “Nope, it’s a done deal. You aren’t going to get rid of me that easily, princess.”

  It took several hours for us to fly from the City of Wings to the Italian coast. Mont Circeo was on the western side of the country, almost halfway between Rome and Naples. The water below was a bright brilliant blue that sparkled under the rising winter sun. A strip of land curved into the sea, full of lush trees and pale sand. Just beyond it, the peak of the mountain jutted up into the wispy clouds like a mossy pyramid.

  It was absolutely breathtaking, and something inside my heart caught fire. A flash of something familiar, something deep within my bones. Like I’d seen this place before. Like I’d been here. A long, long time ago.

  The gargoyles and I set down just behind Paola Tower, a small crumbling fortified structure that had been built into the side of the mountain. Rocks crumbled underneath my feet, but I shifted back onto the stone pathway that led from the tower down to the beach. On all sides, we were surrounded by towering trees and thick vegetation. There was no sign of civilization. Not from what I could see.

  “We have to walk from here. There’s no flying to the sorceress’s home. She put a spell around it to prevent anyone coming and going by wings,” Eli said as he studied the map in his hands. It was an ancient manuscript, one that was surely outdated by now. But everything around us did indeed seem unchanged by the passage of time. It no longer felt as if we were in the present but in years that had long since passed the world by.

  “Sorceress?” I cocked an eyebrow. “I thought this was where we could find the Oracle.”

  “That’s what they call Circe in this manuscript. A sorceress rather than the demigoddess that she was.” The parchment in Eli’s hands rattled in the soft mountain breeze. “She lived here after Hecate went back to the realm of the gods. For awhile, at least. This was her home, and it was Hecate’s home before that.”

  My eyes widened. No wonder this felt like home. Not only had my grandmother lived here, but my mother had as well. Was there a moment embedded deep within my memory of being here? Perhaps this was even where I’d been born. Why had she felt so forced to give me up? Why had she handed me over to the fae? Surely she could have protected me well enough herself, especially in a place like this.

  They were questions I would surely never be able to answer.

  “Come on, let’s make our way up the side of the mountain,” Eli said, pointing to a dirt footpath that cut through a sea of green. “It looks like a mile-long climb from here to her home.”

  We hiked through the forest. Breath puffed from my lungs, my calves aching from the climb. After what felt like an hour, I spotted a clearing through the thick trees that twined together. Once we hit the end of the path and stepped out onto a carpet of green, I gasped. We weren’t quite there, but I could clearly see our destination. Up on top of the next plateau sat the home of the demigoddess Circe, though what I saw was much more than a mere home. It was a mansion. A palace. Surrounded by lush gardens that spread out far on every side, the white structure rose high, held up with thick white pillars. Intricately-carved stone lions sat menacingly on either side of the entranceway, their dull gray eyes locked on the four of us.

  “This is where Hecate lived?” I asked, stunned by the awesome beauty of her home. Why had she ever wanted to leave? Why had she just abandoned us here when she had a home like this?

  Sebastian let out a low whistle. “Looks like I’ve found myself a new place to crash. No reason to go back to that shithole of a city when this place is dying for a tenant.”

  Eli shot Sebastian a sharp look. “You can’t just move into the home of the goddess, Sebastian.”

  “And why the hell not?” he asked, crossing his arms over his thick chest. “Not like she lives here anymore.”

  “Yes, but the Oracle does. Or did,” Eli said. “She’s the steward of Mont Circeo, just as Kipling is the steward of our city. As long as that persists, no one can call this place home.”

  Sebastian grunted. “No one’s seen the Oracle in two damn years. Maybe she’s dead.”

  “She’s not dead,” Eli insisted. “For all we know, she could be inside waiting for us.”

  A hope I myself had been clinging to during our trek from the City of Wings to the home of the Oracle. Just because no one had seen her didn’t mean she wasn’t here, somewhere, waiting for the right moment to reveal herself. I was a demigoddess, the daughter of Circe. Surely she would want to make contact with me, especially when she served Hecate.

  But when we stepped inside the pristine white building, there was no one to be found.

  Chapter 9

  “Oracle!” Sebastian bellowed as we strode through the grand entryway of the mansion. The entire place was glistening with the brilliant morning light that poured through the open archways. The marble floors met granite walls, and every surface was sparkling clean.
This did not look like the kind of place that had been abandoned. Even if the Oracle wasn’t living here, someone clearly was.

  When there was no answer, Sebastian whirled to shoot Eli a smug expression. “See, no Oracle. Time to settle in, boys. We’ve just had an upgrade.”

  “I don’t know why you’re so happy,” I shot back. “The entire point of coming here was to get help from the Oracle so I could undo what’s happened to Jasper.”

  “You’ve got no fucking hope of doing that,” he said. “And you were mad to think otherwise. I mean, come on, princess. What did you expect to happen when you made out with your oath-bound guardian?”

  I curled my hands into fists and stalked toward him, my entire body shaking. “Don’t think because you’re one of the only four gargoyles left that I won’t kick your ass, Sebastian.”

  His lips curled. “Bring it on, princess.”

  “Don’t.” I pushed his chest. “Call.” I pushed again. “Me.” This time, I shoved him halfway across the entryway. “Princess!”

  “Alright.” Marcus held up his hands and strode between us when Sebastian’s eyes glinted with pure rage. “That’s enough. I think it’s time we broke into teams to search the grounds. Someone has clearly been here recently. Maybe they’re living on Mont Circeo, but not staying in the main house for some reason.”

  I ground my teeth together, my veins spiking with tension. Sebastian glowered over Marcus’s shoulder, his jaw rippling as his expression matched mine. He was aching for a fight, and so was I. Even though he’d turned himself around to help me that rain-slicked night in London, I’d never been able to forget what he’d done against us. His change had never been about doing the right thing, or about helping those in need. It had been about saving his own skin.

  “Ro,” Eli said softly when I didn’t budge an inch. “Come on. Fighting amongst ourselves doesn’t solve a thing.”