Maarav stepped forward, clearing his throat, “Brothers, we should get to the matter at hand. We have many to see tonight.”
Caro held up his hand. “You are correct. Your reaper, if you will.”
Rhys growled low in his throat, but it died into a pitiful whine when Kai snapped his head around, glaring at him. “It’s okay,” Kai told him. He squeezed his hand once and turned to face his fate.
A sob caught in Tristin’s throat, she stifled it with the palm of her hand. Kai used one arm to hug her, kissing the side of her head. “You’ll be okay.”
Hadrion looked to each of them; mouth splitting into what Kai assumed was supposed to be a smile. “You need not fear us. We only seek to punish those who break our laws. Those who obey are friends to us. It is our wish to leave as friends.”
His words curdled in Kai’s stomach. It was as if they were playing at being humans. Their gestures and mannerisms forced and their platitudes empty. When they weren’t speaking they were utterly still, like statues. Kai stopped just in front of the four. The three druids looked at Kai, expressions blank. The fourth, Macario, still watched only Tristin. A trickle of fear slid down his spine at Macario’s unwavering interest in his sister.
“I’m the one you are looking for,” Kai said, suddenly hyperaware of everything around him. He could hear Rhys’ heavy breaths, could feel the tension in the wolves’ bodies, if he pressed out with his senses he could feel a powerful energy humming through the room. He imagined it was the druids. He prayed it wasn’t Ember.
Maarav smiled then, the effect was chilling. “Yes, but where is the girl?”
Kai’s gaze shot to Ember, whose eyes widened at the sudden attention. He could feel her anxiety from across the room. She stumbled forward on stiff legs. She took deep measured breaths as she came to stand near him. He linked their fingers and he couldn’t fight the breath that punched out of him. Her magic was pulling at his. He dropped her hand quickly and her eyes darted to his, frantic. He willed her to keep it together.
“Look at you,” Caro said with something akin to excitement. He reached out and stroked her cheek, one long sharp nail millimeters from her eye. Ember rocked back on her heels but didn’t pull away. “So alive.”
Maarav spoke next, returning to the reason for their visit. “Christopher Kai Lonergan, you have been accused of failing in your duties of collection and failing to maintain the balance.”
Kai closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “It’s true. I’ll take whatever punishment the Grove feels is sufficient.”
The room fell silent. Kai swore his heart was going to beat out of his chest. He felt nervous and jumpy and he wanted to take Ember’s hand again and give her back some of the magic that still tingled where she touched him. He clenched and unclenched his fists wondering exactly how much time he really had. Would they exact their punishment immediately?
It was Caro who spoke, “Admirable of you to confess but, alas, there was no crime.”
56
EMBER
Ember gasped and chatter erupted from the pack. Everybody looking at each other in confusion.
“What?” Kai asked.
“We’ve investigated the claim. November’s name was not in the book. Therefore, she was never to die. If she was never to die, you didn’t prevent her death. There was no crime.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. Her name was right here.” Kai rubbed his arm.
Caro shrugged a shoulder, expression unreadable. “I’m afraid I have no answers for you.”
“So, I’m...free to go?” Kai said, blushing when he realized he was in his own house. Rhys deflated against the wall, looking like he’d aged ten years. Ember wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. So much tension; so much pressure and uncertainty, for nothing.
“Unless you’d like to confess to something else,” Hadrion asked.
Kai laughed, shaking his head. Quinn clapped him on the shoulder. “No, but thank you.”
Hadrion inclined his head towards his brother and Ember flinched, skin crawling. They four communicated without speaking, the hollow gaze of their white eyes darting back and forth between the four. She looked to Mace. She wanted his hand. She wanted his reassurance. What she got was anything but. Mace’s expression was dark. Something was wrong.
A quick glance around the room told her they all felt it. It felt like the air had been sucked from the room, making her lungs burn with the force to breathe. She registered somewhere she was just panicking but she knew she wasn’t alone.
“There is one more matter,” Caro said. “One we thought handled long ago when we trusted your father to do what was best.” Ember froze as he continued, “You understand our concerns, of course. The three of you…your very existence is an anomaly, a crime, really. We couldn’t let that stand. We allowed the twins to live only because one held an active power. That has since changed.”
Ember took a step back but Kai snagged her hand again. She tried to hold it together as she felt Tristin take her other hand. A ripple ran through the three of them but they held tight, giving no indication they’d felt anything. “If you’re going to punish Ember, you punish all of us.”
Caro waved a hand, smiling, amused by their display of courage. “Again, admirable; but you misunderstand our motives, we don’t seek to punish. We are here to keep order. We were going to bind and strip your powers. Your father agreed. We even considered letting the boy keep his powers but then your father betrayed us. We cannot allow a betrayal to go unpunished.”
It was like standing on the edge of a knife blade, waiting for the inevitable. “However, a concerned party has intervened on your behalf. They have convinced us to allow you more time. They said you, of course, acknowledge the Grove as authority over all magic and that your power will be our power.”
The three looked between each other. What were they saying? They had to work for the Grove? The Grove owned them? Ember gripped their hands tighter.
“You have yet to come into your full powers. Once we see what you can do, we will determine how to proceed. You have until your eighteenth birthday. We will return at that time.”
Relief flooded through Ember. They weren’t safe but they were safe for now. She swore she’d lived a lifetime in the last twenty-four hours. Tristin released her hand, drifting towards Quinn. Ember sought out Mace, needing his presence to calm the sudden return of her magic.
“We really should take our leave,” Maarav told the others but Macario held up his hand. “A moment, please,” he rasped, voice so dry Ember thought dust would puff from his lips.
He moved then, gliding forward to stand before Tristin. “Aren’t you a pretty thing?”
Quinn moved closer to Tristin who’s mouth fell open, unprepared for the sudden attention. Ember could feel her panic and confusion as if it were her own, but Tristin stood statue still.
“The book, if you please?”
Her eyes darted to Ember’s, her hands beginning to tremble. How did they know about the book? Could they read minds? Had somebody told? It wasn’t possible. She had put the book under the rock herself. Ember swallowed back the metallic taste filling her mouth.
“W-what?” Tristin stuttered.
“The book in your pocket.” He gestured to her jacket, to Quinn’s jacket.
Tristin looked at Quinn, her confused expression turning into panic as she saw the sick look of dread on his face. Ember felt like the world slid into slow motion as Tristin slipped her shaking hand into the jacket pocket, fumbling twice. Her face crumbled, eyes horrified as she pulled the small book free.
Quinn exchanged looks with Kai and Mace. Ember had no idea what was going on. Where had that book come from? Why did they all look so guilty?
An elated giggle cut through the silence, causing Ember to jump. Caro looked delighted, “Oh, brother. You’ve done it again.” He shook his head, voice fond as he
gazed at Macario. “He has a sixth sense about these things. So clever. He never will tell me how he does it.”
It was like time stopped, all of them suspended. Ember didn’t know how things had gone from bad to good to horrifying in less than fifteen minutes. Her magic stirred, her hand reaching for Tristin. Since she and Tristin had locked hands moments ago, it seemed her power sensed her distress. Mace snatched her hand, his magic forcing hers back with the slightest shake of his head.
“Does the book belong to you, child?” Hadrion asked.
“I-I don’t know how…” she looked at Quinn voice trailing off. Ember closed her eyes. If Tristin denied the book, she would have to point the finger at Quinn. If she admitted it, the crime would be hers.
Quinn stepped forward. “The book is mine,” he said quietly, face pale but reconciled.
Allister surged forward, stopping a few feet from his son. “Don’t be stupid, boy. This girl will never be able to thank you for your chivalry if you’re dead.”
Quinn ignored his father, instead speaking to Kai and Mace, “Audrey let me look at it. I got sidetracked after...” he gestured vaguely, “everything.” He shrugged, eyes wide. “I-I just forgot.”
Kai nodded jerkily, tears filling his eyes. Tristin looked back and forth between them in confusion, panic setting in. Ember’s heart pounded so hard she was sure she might pass out but she knew it was her cousin’s terror she felt, not her own. What was happening? Quinn must be just as scared but he just stared at Tristin with a sense of resignation.
“Your own son, how disappointed you must be,” Macario told him, tone bored. Allister flushed, looking more embarrassed than mad. “Much like we were when we found you’d been hiding this girl from us for weeks.”
Ember’s anger surged and her magic flared. Mace sucked in a breath and wrapped himself around her from behind. “Do nothing,” he whispered against her hair, his voice barely audible, “they will kill every one of you and never look back.”
He tangled their fingers together and she squeezed hard enough that she would have broken the bones of a human. He had to feel this, the raw panic filling her. “Please, Ember. Just hold on,” he begged. She was trying. She really was.
“The book belongs to you?”
Quinn looked hard at Tristin, as if he was memorizing every line of her face. He closed his eyes, “Yes.”
“Very well,” Caro said. “We thank you for your honesty.”
Quinn opened his eyes just as Macario flicked his hand. Quinn’s head wrenched to the side with a nauseating crack. He had only enough time to look surprised before the light disappeared from his eyes, body crumbling to the floor.
57
TRISTIN
The wail that ripped from Tristin was entirely human but she felt like her soul escaped with it. She collapsed to her knees, dragging his limp form into her lap. “No. No. No. No. No,” she cried. She tapped his face. “Quinn, no come on. Come on.” She slapped his face again. “Not him. What did you do? Oh, God. What did you do?” Tristin didn’t even know who she was asking. Them? Quinn? Herself?
She stared down at Quinn’s face, so peaceful and perfect, as if he was just sleeping. This couldn’t be real. They could fix this. This wasn’t real. This didn’t happen to people like him. He was the good guy. He was perfect. She looked to her brother beseechingly, silently willing him to do something, anything.
Kai stood, tears streaming, disbelief etched on his face as he stared at the lifeless body of his best friend. The wolves stood ready; eyes trained on the druids, watching for further threat.
“Now we may go,” Macario told the others, turning away from the devastation he’d caused as if it were nothing; as if Quinn was nothing.
At the door, Macario turned back; face calm. “Keep the book. Your friend clearly thought it was worth his life.”
Something exploded inside of Tristin, painting everything in her vision blood red as she launched herself towards their retreating figures, Quinn temporarily forgotten. Two sets of arms, encased her like steel, but she fought anyway. “Let me go. Get off me.”
Rage twisted Tristin’s insides. She would kill them. She would flay the skin from their bones. She would make them pay. If she could scream for their deaths, she would. She’d scream until they bled, until they burned. She’d scream until they exploded, shattered and bloody, just like she was. But wishing didn’t make it so and her screams were human and sad and not at all lethal but she fought anyway, clawing and screaming until she had nothing left.
She didn’t know how long she stayed like that, how she’d gotten to the floor, still enfolded in Wren and Rhys’ arms. They didn’t release her until she sagged in their embrace. She looked at the others through a filter, like she’d survived a terrible explosion. That’s what if felt like; she was a bomb victim with a huge gaping hole in her chest. It was the only explanation for feeling like her heart was in shreds.
There was a flurry of motion at the still open door and Kai gaped. She blinked at the muscled figure at the door. There was no mistaking what he was. Tattoos swirled along almost every available surface including his scalp. He was no novice reaper. She supposed that should be some consolation. Quinn being crossed by somebody worthy.
“You,” her brother said, his voice dull.
The reaper nodded, acknowledging her brother but saying nothing. Tristin blinked at her brother. When had her brother met another reaper? Mace stepped forward, looking angrier than Tristin had ever seen him.
“You knew?” he shouted at the reaper. “You knew and you said nothing?”
“There was nothing to say. It wouldn’t have changed what was to happen here tonight.”
“But still, you couldn’t have said something? You sat across from him for an hour, you talked to him, knowing he was to die? Was this revenge? A way to strike back at me?”
The reaper looked confused. “How would this be getting back at you? Why are you so angry? How are you so angry?”
Mace started to respond but came up short.
The reaper shook his head, “It doesn’t matter. I have to cross him over.”
Tristin was in motion before anybody could stop her, crouching next to Quinn’s body. She growled, more animal than the animals surrounding her. They weren’t taking him.
“The banshee,” the reaper said, looking sad. “You are fierce but you are wasting your time. I will take him. I don’t need your permission.”
“Can’t you just give us a minute?” Mace asked.
“You know I can’t.”
“Let me cross him over.” All eyes swung to Kai. “Please.”
“No.”
Once again it was Mace who spoke, “Cael, just let him cross him over. He’s already dead. He wouldn’t leave his best friend’s soul in there to rot. You owe him that much.”
The reaper, Cael, stared hard at her brother for a long while, measuring him up. “I owe nobody anything. See that his soul makes it across the veil or you will find yourself joining him.”
Cael marched across the room, shoving up his shirtsleeve. He grabbed Kai’s wrist roughly and Rhys growled a warning. The reaper paid him no attention, shoving his wrist against Kai’s until Kai hissed in pain. The reaper made for the door. “Remember what I said.”
And then he was gone.
Once they were alone, the house erupted in chaos. Kai moved to do what he had to but Tristin shook her head. “Don’t you touch him.” She knew what she must look like; feral, hair wild, staring at him like he was the enemy. She didn’t care. They couldn’t take him.
“Tristin,” Kai raised his hand, helpless. “I have to.”
“No. Just don’t. Don’t touch him.” She sat cross-legged on the floor, pulling Quinn back into her lap. She fixed his glasses back onto his face, smoothing his hair. “You’re okay,” she crooned, as if she was soothing a baby. “You’re okay.”
Wren and Isa moved to comfort Neoma who sat all but forgotten on the sofa. She sobbed quietly into Romero’s fur, wrapping her body around the big dog.
Tristin closed her eyes. This couldn’t be real. What kind of world did she live in where people died over a book? The Grove ripped her family apart and walked away as if it were nothing. They’d ripped Quinn from this world, from her world, like he didn’t even matter. The Grove were fairytale monsters snatching people from their loved ones. Nobody meant anything to them. They didn’t value life. They valued magic and order and power. They cared about their precious balance. And they’d be coming back for the rest of them soon.
Tristin opened her eyes, smiling softly as she swiped her tears from Quinn’s face. When they came back, she’d be ready for them. They would all pay for what they’d done.
Every last one of them.
58
KAI
Kai waited two hours before he tried again. The rest of the pack hovered nearby, sitting vigil around their fallen member. Tristin sat with her back to the wall, keeping Quinn close enough to touch but not actively talking to him anymore. Her eyes were bleary and red; her expression dull. She clutched his blue cap in her hands.
Rhys gave Kai a gentle shove towards her. “I don’t know if I can do this,” he whispered, clinging to the wolf.
Rhys sighed and hugged him again, breath against his ear as he said, “You don’t have a choice. Would you leave him trapped in his body? His father is coming for him soon and they will prepare the body for…consecration.”
Rhys was putting it kindly. He had to cross Quinn over now or he’d still be in there when they cremated him. He closed his eyes, leaning into Rhys, burying his nose in his shirt and inhaling deeply, just reveling in the feel of him, the scent of him. He didn’t want to think about what he had to do. He just wanted to go make out with Rhys and pretend that Quinn was at another forced dinner with his dad. He wanted to pretend he would come barreling in the door any minute complaining about how badly his life sucked. But he wouldn’t do that to his friend.
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (Dead Things Series Book 1) Page 34