“Eden, no!” Sarah raced forward, but an elbow strike sent her sprawling.
Kai took advantage of the distraction, slipping from her grasp.
“This isn’t Eden.” Kai’s blow landed, and Eden was knocked backward. Kai loomed over her. “How did you do this, Bes’tal?”
Sarah struggled to her feet. From the corner of her eye, she saw Quinn was coming to.
“I did nothing.” Eden stumbled, but advanced. “Your friend thought she could best me at my own game.”
Sarah’s mind raced, trying to make sense of it. “But, when you took someone’s soul, you were still you. Where did Eden go? Why isn’t she in control?”
“Because she didn’t take one soul. She took hundreds.”
A sweeping kick knocked Kai off her feet. Eden loomed over her, readying a punch. Kai couldn’t take much more—Sarah had to do something. She didn’t know how to make a fireball, but there had to be something.
Think, Sarah. Think.
But she was out of juice and out of ideas. Sarah launched herself at Eden, and they both tumbled to the ground.
Eden sprang to her feet and followed with a kick that drove deep into Sarah’s ribs. She watched through dazed eyes as Quinn struggled and pulled himself to his feet.
“Eden.” He stumbled but kept moving toward her.
Eden spun. “You are not speaking to your beloved, but offer me your soul, and I would be most happy to reunite you.”
She closed the distance between them.
“Eden, you’ve had my soul since the moment we met.”
“Weren’t you listening, you pantywaist?” She backhanded him. “Eden isn’t—”
Quinn gripped her face in his hands, forcing Eden—Bes’tal—to look him in the eye. “I know you’re in there, Eden. You have to fight. Don’t drown in this darkness. Come back to me, Eden. Come back.”
Curled in the fetal position around her broken rib, all Sarah could do was pray. It was all she had left.
Chapter 29
Eden watched, horrified, as her body betrayed her, beating her friends, her boyfriend. She screamed and scratched and clawed against the glass wall that kept her split, unable to control her movements.
And then Quinn was there, holding her face, looking into her eyes. His words penetrated the barrier, carving deep into her heart.
Tears sprang from her eyes; she felt them as they rolled down her cheeks. She was back in her body. The voices howled, and Bes’tal gnashed his teeth, but she was back in control.
“Quinn.” She touched his face, and she couldn’t believe she’d never noticed how smooth his skin was.
“It’s not her.” Kai, beaten and bleeding, struggled to right herself.
“It is. It’s me.” She turned to Sarah. “It’s me. I’m sorry.”
Sarah seemed cautious, as if she didn’t know what to believe. Who could blame her? Kai was downright hostile. But Quinn… When she turned back, she could see it in his eyes.
“It’s her.” He kissed her, and for the briefest second, there was no screaming inside her mind, only silence, and the sound of Quinn’s breath.
Eden forced herself to pull away. She didn’t have much time.
“Sarah, you have to bind me.”
Sarah was on her feet and took a tentative step forward. “I-I don’t know how.”
“I do, it’s…” She swallowed and tapped her temple. “It’s in here now.”
“Even at full power, I—”
“I’ve got plenty. Please, just do what I ask.”
Eden laid a hand on Sarah’s arm, who gasped when Eden opened the flow. If she only knew. Eden was sending a fraction of what now surged through her. A power so dark it felt wrong in her veins and left a stain on her being.
She was almost finished guiding Sarah through the spell when she heard the sirens. The dome had dissolved, probably when Bes’tal’s body had died.
“Hurry.” It wasn’t just being interrupted that scared her.
“I’m trying.” Sarah sounded flustered.
Not only the firetrucks were coming. Bes’tal was pushing forward, trying to wrest—
“Sarah, please. I can’t hold on much longer.”
“Yes, you can.” Quinn squeezed her hand. “You’re not going anywhere.”
Kai looked on, a coiled snake ready to strike.
One more kick would kill her.
Eden’s breath caught at Bes’tal’s voice in her head and his howling laughter.
Sarah finished just as the trucks pulled up the drive. The binding settled down around her and cut her off from magic, but it might as well have been air. She could hardly breathe.
Eden threw her head back and laughed, unsure if it was her humor or Bes’tal’s.
“What is it?” Quinn regarded her with fear, as did the others.
“It’s still me, it’s just… I was so afraid of the darkness that I let it consume me, and I was so afraid of losing magic that I screwed up the test. And now I’ve lost magic, and I’ve lost the light. What do I have left?”
Once again, Quinn held her face. “Me. You have me.”
“And me.” Sarah laid a hand on her knee.
Kai was silent, getting up to meet the firemen.
Eden tried to take comfort in their words, but inside of her, darkness churned. An ocean of pain and rage bubbled below the surface, desperate to break free. And she was hungry, hungrier than she’d ever been in her life, and she didn’t think it was for food.
Over her shoulder, Coventry House burned.
Chapter 30
Eden watched as the blood drained from her knuckles and forced herself to unclench her fist. She reminded herself to breathe.
Just because you feel like you’re choking, doesn’t mean you are.
The wait was interminable.
It had taken hours for the fire department to put out the blaze, and yet somehow, Coventry House still stood—scorched yet defiant.
Alex had been unconscious but alive when she’d been rushed away in an ambulance. Paramedics had taken one look at Quinn’s burnt arm and insisted he go too.
“Come with me,” he’d said. “You’re hurt.”
“I can’t.” Eden shook her head. “I need to be here when the sisters come back.”
He opened his mouth to protest, but she pressed her lips to his.
“The gods know you’ve done enough for me tonight, but please do this one last thing. Let them take care of you. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
She wasn’t being heroic. Her injuries had healed and then some. She felt strong, almost unbreakable. The feeling terrified her.
She’d watched, trembling, as Quinn’s ambulance pulled away. His absence left a void, and the dead—who seemed very much alive—had rushed in to fill it, all with the same demand.
Feed me.
Now as she waited, the voices still clamored in her head while an oil slick churned in her belly. She shuddered thinking about what they wanted her to eat.
“Your turn.” Sarah’s voice was so quiet Eden almost didn’t hear.
Her friend was ashen and appeared as if she’d aged ten years.
They’d ended up at the hospital after all, though Eden didn’t dare go see Quinn. Better if he was left out of this. Sarah had even managed to send Kai away. She’d protested, but when Sarah mentioned the possibility of a mind wipe, Kai had all but run, extracting a promise that Sarah would come to her dorm as soon as she could.
The Council of Magic had arrived.
A nearby witch had sensed the amount and complexity of the magic being channeled and alerted the council. Unable to reach Carolyn, three members within driving distance had been sent to investigate. They’d arrived as the last of the flames were being extinguished and had immediately taken over.
By then, some of the other sisters had returned, called by the sound of sirens. Eden had looked into each face, grateful even for the ones who looked back at her with anger.
When the fire department refused t
he council entry into Coventry House, they left one member behind while the remaining two shuttled Eden, Sarah, and the others to the hospital.
Once they’d been informed Alex was unconscious but stable, they’d managed to commandeer a conference room. It was just before dawn and not in use, but Eden had sensed the compulsion in the request.
Now she stood on shaky legs and joined Sarah at the door to that conference room.
“How did it go?” Eden searched her friend’s eyes for a sign that she’d been betrayed.
Sarah squeezed her hand. “Just what we agreed on,” she whispered.
Eden exhaled and lowered her gaze. “Thank you.”
“I’m not the one who made a sacrifice tonight.”
“Yes, you did. We all did. Some…” Eden fought back tears thinking of Carolyn and her sisters. “More than others.”
Sarah pressed her hand again. “You’d better get in there. Those two don’t strike me as the type to be kept waiting.”
Sarah stepped away, and when Eden put her hand on the doorknob, panic rose within her. She spun around.
“Wait. You have to—” Eden looked around, self-conscious.
A huddle of sisters sat in the far corner as far away from Eden as possible. The past hour they’d mostly avoided looking at her, but when they did, their expressions ranged from wary to outright hostile.
She pulled Sarah around the corner and out of view.
“What is it?” Sarah was suddenly more alert, her eyes wide.
“You have to unbind me.”
“What?” Sarah’s eyes became saucers.
“Not all the way,” Eden said quickly. “Barely at all. I just need a little.”
“For what?” There was no masking the fear in Sarah’s expression.
“They’ll know. If the witch with all the potential Carolyn has been telling them about can’t even make a light sphere, they’ll want to know why.”
“They’re not going to ask you to make a sph—”
“They’re the freaking council. You don’t know what they’re going to do.” Eden’s breath caught and she clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m just scared. If they find out, I’ll be stripped. I’ll be mind wiped. I’m not even sure it would end there.”
Sarah’s eyes darted, and Eden was relieved she seemed to be considering it.
“Just a trickle. That’s all I’ll ever ask for, I swear.”
Sarah shook her head. “Are you sure we shouldn’t just tell them? Wouldn’t they want to help?”
“Even Carolyn stepped lightly around the council.” It was true. Eden had always sensed an uneasiness whenever Carolyn had spoken of them. “They already know about the borahn. What if they decide I’m more trouble then I’m worth?”
Sarah knitted her brow. “A little and that’s all?”
Eden exhaled. “Yes. I promise. Just enough so they don’t ask questions. And tomorrow we’ll find the magical equivalent of an exorcism, and this will be over.”
It will never be over. Not for you, and not for those who died.
Eden pushed the thought aside. Maybe Carolyn had been right when she’d said this was her life now, but maybe not. Carolyn hadn’t known everything, and Eden had to believe this could be fixed. It was the only thing holding her together.
The modification Sarah made was simple, but the relief was instant. Eden didn’t channel the scrap she now held, but sensing it was enough to make her feel as though she fit inside of her skin.
“Thank you.” Eden placed her hand’s on Sarah’s shoulders. “Thank you.”
Sarah gave a small nod. “You really should get in there.”
Eden observed the wary look in her friend’s eyes and wondered if it would ever go away. She steeled herself and entered the conference room.
The moment she did, she was struck with a wave of power. She had thought Carolyn was strong, but this was something else entirely. She did her best to keep her features neutral as the voices screamed.
“You may sit.” Davida gestured to the chair opposite her and Mikel, her co-council member.
Her raven hair was stick-straight and revealed a sharp widow’s peak. The way she tilted her head and regarded her with dark eyes reminded Eden of a crow eyeing carrion.
“You’ve suffered quite an ordeal.” Mikel’s voice was meant to be soothing but Eden didn’t buy it. These two were hunting.
“We understand you acted as a key.” Davida kept her head cocked to the side.
Eden and Sarah had agreed to admit that much. When Alex woke up—please let her wake up—she wouldn’t keep it secret, so better they were honest from the beginning. Honest about that part, anyway.
“That’s what the Av Rek told me.”
Davida tilted her head the other way. “And you found him trustworthy?”
“Not in the least.”
Eden spoke the words before they’d fully formed in her mind. What was she doing? She needed to be reverential. This was the council; she should be scared to death. Part of her was, the other part…
She gave her head a shake. “I’m sorry. I mean, he was a monster and definitely a liar, but I think maybe he was telling the truth about that. I don’t have any other explanation for what happened.”
“We are inclined to believe him as well,” Mikel said.
His features were soft, his voice was soft, everything about him appeared soft.
“Which leaves us with a troubling question.” Davida tapped a red talon on the conference table and Eden found herself almost hypnotized, watching it as it click, click, clicked… Davida grabbed Eden’s arm and pulled her close. “Tell me, girl. Did you willingly summon the Av Rek?”
“N-no.” Now Eden was afraid. This was compulsion of a different sort. If she were forced to tell the truth…
“How did you defeat him?” Davida trapped Eden in her gaze.
“I snapped his neck.” Davida gripped her arm tighter and Eden added, “He’d been electrocuted. T-the fuse box, it weakened him.”
Eden bit the inside of cheek. All she had was a trickle but it was enough to ward off the full effect of the truth spell.
“Enough, Davida. Can’t you see she’s terrified?” Mikel said.
Davida shot him a look but released Eden’s arm and sat back.“Very well then. Tell your story.”
Relief was immediate. The moment Davida was no longer touching her, the compulsion was gone. Eden took a breath and tried to figure out where to begin.
“Carolyn said I had a problem with balance, but I wouldn’t listen…”
The words tumbled out, often accompanied by tears. She admitted what she could—her arrogance, her fear of the dark.
“And what happened when Jules performed the spell a second time to find out if the stone was a portal key?” Mikel asked.
Eden had thought his compassion was an act, but now she wasn’t sure. He’d been handing her tissues and saying soothing words for the better part of an hour.
Eden dabbed her eyes, the subject of Jules bringing new tears.
“Nothing,” she said. “It was just a stone. But it was too late, he’d found us.”
Alex would know the truth about that part of the story too, but Eden hoped she would let the lie stand. Jules had done what she thought she had to in order to save Coventry House. It had been the wrong choice, but no more wrong than Eden’s. Jules didn’t deserve to die.
Eden left out the bit about her and Bes’tal fighting, instead saying that while he was distracted with Alex, she’d shoved him, and he’d landed on the already sizzling fuse box.
“And that’s when you snapped his neck?” Davida’s expression was implacable.
“Yes.” Under the table, Eden unclenched her fist. The voices had quieted when Sarah loosened the binding, but now they are back in full force. How much longer would they question her?
“That must have been traumatic.” Mikel’s eyes held pity.
“I did what I had to do.”
Take t
hem, take them, take them…
She had to get out of this room.
Eden noticed the startled expression on Mikel’s face and quickly added, “I mean, the whole night was awful, but I had to stop him, no matter what it took.”
Take one and you’ll have silence.
“Of course you did.” He handed her another tissue.
She took it with trembling hands.
“You seem anxious.” Davida’s eyes narrowed.
Anxious? I’m terrified I’m going to reach across this table and suck the life—
“How many Av Rek have you faced, Davida?” Mikel turned to her.
Davida’s eyes glittered. “There hasn’t been an Av Rek encounter in generations, as you well know, Mikel.”
“And yet tonight, this first-year student lost her high priestess and several members of her coven and still managed to defeat one. Does that not deserve a modicum of respect? Of compassion?”
While Davida considered, Eden wondered what they would do if she bolted from the room. How had Bes’tal described it? A symphony of pain? It wasn’t a symphony; it was a cacophony. She had to do something—anything—to shut them up or she would go mad. Her fingernails dug into her palms.
Do it. Now, now, now—
Davida hissed and wiped her nose, frowning at her fingertips when she noticed the faint smear of blood.
“Are you all right?” Mikel passed her a tissue.
Davida cast an annoyed glance but snatched it from him all the same. “I’m fine.” She tilted her head back and waved a dismissive hand in Eden’s direction. “Go. I may have more questions later, but for now, go.”
Eden rose from the table on unsteady legs.
She hadn’t meant to, hadn’t even realized what she was doing. She’d just been so hungry and the screams so loud.
She’d only taken a morsel, not enough to really hurt her. That had to count for something—had to prove she was still herself. And she was okay now; the voices were quiet.
It was just this once. You and Sarah are going to figure out how to undo this and then you’ll be back to normal.
She just had to push through until then.
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