by Rye Brewer
“It’s what he’ll announce himself with that disturbs me,” I murmured.
She surprised me then by linking her arm with mine. “Come. I need to prepare the enchantment. We must keep moving forward and do the best we can with what is in our power to control.”
Her words were a much-needed comfort in the midst of my turmoil—and it didn’t escape me that she kept using the word “we.”
I didn’t bother correcting her, since her presence was a comfort.
3
Anissa
I couldn’t breathe easily again until the Witch Senate swept away, moving as one.
Their ghostly skin and white hair stood out against the dark sky and black robes as they bobbed away, down the stone road which led from the castle. Where they were going, I had no idea—nor did I have the desire to follow them. The greater the distance between us, the better.
Instead, I broke free of the stunned surprise which had kept me frozen in place and went to Sara. She trembled in my arms as we held each other. She wasn’t the only one.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered into her ear.
“I should ask you the same question.” She pulled back, arms still around me, frowning. Her eyes searched my face for an explanation.
There it was again, that extra something about her. A sharpness, an understanding that had never been there before. She wasn’t my frail sister anymore, the one I had to protect at all costs. Good, because for once, I had no idea how we were going to get out of the mess we’d landed in.
“It’s a long story—one which you’ll hear all about when we meet with the Senate.” I glanced over in Scott’s direction.
He was still encased in ice at least six inches thick on all sides, and still brooding. His eyes shot daggers in our direction. No sense in hiding his disgust, I supposed.
Sara noticed, too, and very deliberately let go of me to allow Stark’s arm to slide protectively around her shoulders. I would’ve felt bad for Scott if he hadn’t been the one to get us all into trouble.
“We’ll all be all right,” Sara whispered, looking up at him. “Won’t we?”
I looked at him, too. Who was this Stark? The one who was supposed to be training her, if I remembered Mom’s explanation correctly. Considering the way he held her and the looks he repeatedly shot Scott’s way, there was obviously much more between them. It had to be serious for her to have forgotten everything that had happened since we met the Bourkes—like the way she and Scott had been joined at the hip.
Stark didn’t look as confident as I would’ve hoped. “I don’t know. I have to be honest. I’ve seen what they can do. I know how seriously they take their laws. This may not end well.”
“Then why did you bring her here?” I snarled, forgetting any attempt to be cordial for my sister’s sake.
His eyes widened. “I didn’t mean that it wouldn’t end well for us.”
Us.
Witches.
My stomach dropped. I looked to Sara for answers. She drew a deep breath, glancing at Stark one more time before explaining. “I’m here in order to train with a witch. Elewyn, the one who was clapping. She’s an extremely powerful elemental who can help me develop my abilities.”
Just when I was sure she couldn’t surprise me any further. “You’re training to become a stronger witch?” I whispered, horrified. This wasn’t at all what I’d expected. She couldn’t help being who or what she was—that had been done to her, and it seemed it couldn’t be reversed—but the idea hadn’t been to embrace it. “You were supposed to be learning how to handle your powers, even suppress them, not develop them.”
“Things have changed.” Her voice was heavy with meaning, and the way she glared at me told me there was much more behind her statement. She couldn’t say it out loud, either in present company, or to me in general.
I hoped it wasn’t the latter. We had always at least been able to share things with each other. I would hate to lose that.
“Just tell me this then, do you want to be a witch, full-on? For good? Live as one, work as one, everything?”
When she nodded, I had to wonder how much I’d missed out on. Again, there was something about her that told me there was more to the story.
Had Stark influenced her, and she was afraid to admit it? I studied him, the way his arm tightened around her almost reflexively. Did he care for her, or was he trying to turn her into something like himself?
No. There was too much warmth in his eyes when he looked down at her. I compared that to the possessive, angry light in Scott’s when he’d asked about her back at Hallowthorn Landing. As if she were something he owned. Like she owed him something. Stark seemed to care. I only wished I knew what that caring would mean for her.
I drew closer, whispering. “What aren’t you telling me? Now isn’t the time to hold out.”
She shook her head just enough for me to register the movement.
Trust me, she said without saying a word.
I wanted to. I wanted to very badly. It wasn’t that simple. Not when there were a matter of hours before the Senate would pass judgment on our being there. What if they didn’t take kindly to the thought of a vampire-witch hybrid being on their island?
“All right,” I breathed, resigned, turning away with a deep sense of betrayal.
I told myself it was silly—there was no reason to take her silence personally—but she had never been so secretive with me before. I had made innumerable sacrifices for her sake and would make them again in a heartbeat, but she couldn’t be bothered to clue me into what she was doing. Even hiding Sara out and spiriting her away to ShadesRealm had been fraught with danger. And she wanted me to trust her.
A cold wind blew across the courtyard and into my bones, making me shiver. Was I home? Would Shadowsbane be my home now? Where I’d have no choice but to live for the rest of my life?
Jonah, I’m sorry I did this to us.
Granted, it wasn’t my fault the Senate became aware of our presence, but Jonah had warned me. And he was right.
Fane’s eyes met mine. He was still standing by Scott’s side, though the two of them wouldn’t look at each other. I went to him, feeling the eyes of the prisoners on me all the while. They knew I would be one of them soon, didn’t they? Did they feel sorry for me, or were they looking forward to sharing their misery?
“What are we going to do?” I whispered through chattering teeth.
“The only thing we can do,” he informed me with a grimace. “Appear before the Senate at the appointed time and explain our presence on the island.”
“We can’t very well do that, can we? What will we say? That we were planning on breaking someone out?”
His eyes darted back and forth, like he was expecting to find someone listening in.
I wouldn’t have said what I had if I thought there was a chance of being overheard.
“I’m not sure yet. There are still a few hours before we go in. Plenty of time to think things over.”
“Plenty of time for the Senate to decide what they’re going to do with us before we ever get the chance to defend ourselves,” I hissed. “They don’t care about the truth. I don’t have to know them to understand that. They want to punish us, make sure they set a precedent.”
“I never expected this. I’m sorry.” Fane looked utterly heartbroken. “Truly. I warned you it was dangerous, yes, but for things to take a turn like this… before we ever had the chance to do what we set out to do…”
I glared at Scott, who looked considerably more subdued than he had earlier. I wanted to melt the ice and strangle him, tear him to pieces, look him straight in the eyes as the life drained out of him because it was all his fault. All of it. A child, a bratty child who didn’t get what he wanted. A lifetime in prison wouldn’t be enough to make me stop hating him for what he’d put us through. Not to mention the way he’d tried to attack Sara.
I was alone, more or less.
Sara and Stark were in their own little
world, one where she wanted to be a witch and forget all about the vampire she’d been born as. Scott was less than nothing to me now. Fane looked lost, like a man whose mission had been put on hold and left him with nowhere to go.
“What do we do?” I asked, looking back and forth, waiting for somebody to come up with something. “Do we just stand here and wait? Where can we go?”
“I’m sure you can wait inside.”
My head snapped around at an unfamiliar female voice.
Elewyn, the beautiful witch who had clapped after Stark encased Scott in ice. “Come. There are sitting rooms, fireplaces. Rest yourselves before the meeting. Don’t wait out here in the cold.”
She acted as though she owned the place. “You’re sure the Senate won’t take it as another crime?” I asked, and I couldn’t my sarcasm.
“I can speak on your behalf if they do, but I doubt they will.” Her lovely face showed no sign of insult, though her eyes seemed to harden somewhat. Or they may always have looked that hard. Maybe that was it.
“We’ll go down to our cottage,” Stark announced, as two guards came out to move Scott.
“Your cottage?” I spat. “You already have a place to stay?”
“Yes. We do.” Again, Sara glared at me, willing me to leave things to her.
I wished she could at least tell me why.
Elewyn cleared her throat. “Do you think it’s a good idea to leave the prison grounds?” she asked, and it was clear she wasn’t speaking to Sara. She only had eyes for Stark.
He frowned. “You make a good point. The last thing I want is a visit from them.” He led Sara by the hand, following us up the stairs and inside.
I caught Elewyn’s eye, and even in the middle of my confusion and anxiety, I had to wonder what she was up to.
The ring Jonah had given me was cold against my skin.
A reminder of what I might never live to see.
My wedding.
My happiness.
All that was left was waiting for midnight. The longest hours of my life.
4
Elewyn
Hundreds of years. It had taken hundreds of years for something interesting to happen. Something I hadn’t caused, at any rate.
The moment I saw them on the stairs, I’d known something was afoot. It was only a matter of waiting for the inevitable. Granted, I hadn’t expected such a huge fracas. That was a gift, really. A big, splashy gift. The sort I liked best. And it was Stark who delivered it. All the better, really.
“You seem very familiar with this place,” said the white-haired vampire hybrid.
Anissa, I’d heard one of them call her.
She thought she was something, I could tell. It was written all over her posture, the way she spoke, the way her eyes swept the room when I was gracious enough to lead the newcomers inside. She had led a life, that was for certain—granted, nothing as colorful or checkered as mine, but not everyone was as fortunate as me.
“I am,” I replied, spreading my hands in a half-shrug. “My twin has been here for several centuries. This castle is very nearly my second home.”
“Prison,” she corrected.
“Excuse me?”
“It’s a prison. It may have been a castle once, but we all know its real use now.”
I shrugged again, as though I didn’t want to send a thousand volts through her body until she foamed at the mouth and cooked from the inside out. “It’s not a prison for me, as I’m not a prisoner.”
“Lucky you,” she muttered, walking around, doing everything she could to make it look as though she wasn’t terrified.
She wasn’t doing a good job of it. I had always been able to see through people, so perhaps I had an unfair advantage. She examined the sparse, ancient furnishings with skepticism.
It was hardly a room furnished with comfort in mind. It was warm, however, thanks to the fire which blazed in a hearth the size of one of the cottages in the village.
Fane entered after she did. The legend himself.
A bit weathered, I’d say, but on the whole, a much more impressive specimen than I’d imagined. His witch privileges were the only thing keeping him on the island—otherwise, there was no way the Senate would’ve allowed him to wait around until midnight. They’d have passed sentence right there in the courtyard, regardless of whether every single prisoner in the place was watching. It wouldn’t have gone well for him, either.
Stark came in, holding the hand of that dark-haired hybrid he’d introduced me to earlier in the day. It took every ounce of my not-inconsiderable self-control to keep from snarling at her.
Who did she think she was?
She didn’t know him. Not the way I did.
She hadn’t seen him at his absolute worst and helped him through it. She hadn’t talked him down from the proverbial ledge countless times, through endless nights when he was certain he wanted to give up hope of ever being free. She saw his handsome face and allowed that to be enough for her. She knew nothing.
What was worse was the way he looked at her. This wishy-washy, weak little thing who only thought she was strong and worth my time because she’d discovered her powers. What a laugh.
She didn’t know what true power was. And yet, he looked at her as though she had hung the moon and stars. I wasn’t a jealous person by nature—I’d never known a reason to be—so the ache in my chest was foreign.
“If you’ll excuse me.” I didn’t know what they were doing with the filthy, nasty vampire who Stark had encased in ice, but I loved knowing he was still trapped in there.
It was no secret to me, the way Stark felt about bloodsuckers. If anything, it was surprising that he’d only gone that far with the one in ice. He could have done so much more to damage him. I couldn’t wait for the bloodsucker to be brought into the castle, however much it pleased me to see what a fool he’d made out of himself.
Instead, I hurried up to the second floor and followed a route I had followed many times before. The route which led me to my brother’s cell.
He sat perfectly erect on the edge of the cot which passed for a bed, hands folded. As though he were waiting for me. He was, naturally—he knew me well enough to know I’d make a beeline for him.
“What happened out there?” he asked with a pleasant smile. As though he were asking about the weather.
“You saw for yourself,” I admonished him with a distracted shake of my head. “You can see the courtyard from the window.”
“Indeed.” Eyes that were so like mine flashed with barely-suppressed humor. “But what does it mean? You look as though you’ve been shaken. Hard.”
“I have,” I admitted, dropping my voice until it was barely a whisper.
Elazar and I had enough practice with reading each other’s lips that it didn’t surprise or challenge him.
I leaned closer. “Something’s going to happen. Something which will change everything.”
He rose to his feet, coming as close as he could to the bars without triggering an alarm. When a visitor stood just outside the cell, both they and the imprisoned had to maintain a distance from the bars. Not that it mattered much—there was no way for either of us to pass an item to the other, anyway, without again triggering an alarm. But rules were rules.
“What do you have in mind?” he asked in a low, nearly teasing voice.
He loved this, I knew. He lived for intrigue such as that which I was bringing him. What else did he have to live for, in all honesty?
I frowned. “Not now.”
“Why?” he mouthed.
“Because it would only bring you trouble, knowing what I have planned. If it goes wrong, they’ll come to you first. You’re my twin. They know how devoted I am to you. They’ll assume I told you everything, and they’ll use you against me. I need to be sure you’re as innocent in this as can be.”
“It sounds serious.”
“It couldn’t be more serious.”
He jerked his thumb in the direction of the window overlo
oking the scene of all the drama. “And you think that little disturbance is going to serve as the conduit for something big?”
“I’m sure of it. I’ve only been waiting for an opportunity like this one. I can’t believe it fell into my lap.”
“And what do you intend to get out of this?” I tilted my head to the side, lips pursed. “Tell me.”
“I’ve already said no.”
“You want to get me out, don’t you?”
“What do you think?” That wasn’t all. Not by a long shot. But it was enough to satisfy him against asking further questions.
“Why is he here, anyway? Fane. Did he tell you anything?”
I shook my head, deciding it best to hold back. “No. I never had the chance to speak with him before things blew up out there.”
If Elazar knew Fane was looking for Nivia, it could mean trouble. I didn’t know how or exactly what the trouble would be, but the fewer potential conflicts, the better.
I continued, “The Senate is meeting at midnight. You’ll know before morning whether things went according to my plans.”
“Elewyn.” His face lost that teasing, chiding quality it so often took when the two of us plotted.
Our plots had never amounted to anything, since he was still locked up with another century to go. It was merely a way to pass the time, to distract him from the misery of his situation.
“Yes?”
“Be careful.”
“Always.” I awarded him one confident smile before sweeping down the corridor, down the stairs, and out to the courtyard. They must have found a way to transport the vampire, since all that was left of the block of ice was a puddle in the center of the stone circle.
My cottage was near the road which led up to the castle, a road my feet had worn smooth over the centuries. Centuries of waiting. Waiting which was about to be richly rewarded, if I had anything to do with it.
I burst through the door just before rain started falling in gusty sheets and flicked my wrist absentmindedly, causing flames to jump and flicker in the hearth. The room seemed to glow, revealing the sparse but serviceable furnishings I’d adjusted to living amongst.