Tamsin twitched, her hands in fists, pressing her fingernails into her palms the way she did when she was frustrated or afraid. Wren hoped it wasn’t the latter. Dark magic hovered above them with its putrid stink and its icy grip. While Tamsin might have been the one to call the dark magic all those years ago, she no longer controlled it. Now it was fully in Marlena’s hands. And the way the witch was smiling at Tamsin and Wren, she seemed prepared to use it.
“You don’t have to fight us, Marlena,” Wren said, her wrists screaming beneath her bindings.
“Oh, come now.” Marlena let out a laugh, bitter and raw. “Why do you think I called Tamsin here? It certainly wasn’t to talk.”
Tamsin’s hand grazed Wren’s leg, loosening her bindings. Wren slipped quickly out of Marlena’s ropes, letting them fall to the floor with a thud.
From across the room, Marlena toppled an armchair. Tamsin skittered out of the way. “Don’t look so worried, sister. I’m just experimenting,” Marlena said, her voice light and airy. “Oh, but you don’t want that, do you?” She pursed her lips in an exaggerated pout. “You don’t want me to be strong. You want me weak so you can care for me. So that you can remain superior. But I have to admit, having power is just as much fun as you always made it look.”
“But it’s dark magic.” Tamsin spoke through gritted teeth. “You aren’t feeling the consequences.”
“Oh, and you are?” Marlena’s face was pinched.
“I feel them every day,” Tamsin said, her voice raw and honest. “I know what it’s like to carry that weight. I don’t want that for you.”
“Of course you don’t,” Marlena snapped, a howling gust of wind blowing through the room. The plants shook in their pots; the pages of the books on the floor flapped and rustled. “You never wanted anything for me. That’s entirely my point.”
Tamsin’s hand brushed Wren’s own, so softly it might have been an accident. Wren frowned at her, but Tamsin’s gaze did not leave Marlena. When Tamsin’s fingers met Wren’s again, she realized what was happening. Tamsin was asking for permission.
Tamsin was going to fight her sister, and to combat Marlena’s dark magic, she needed a source. She needed Wren.
Thunder clapped. A flash of lightning bathed the room in white light. Still, Wren hesitated. When first they’d started their journey, Wren had been willing to do whatever she needed to take down the dark witch. She had been prepared to sacrifice one life for hundreds of others. But it was different now, seeing Marlena in the flesh. Watching Tamsin watch her. Tamsin would never forgive herself if something happened to Marlena. Wren would never forgive herself if something happened to Tamsin. But the fight would be lost either way if Wren did not offer up her magic.
She closed her eyes, trying to remember Leya’s words, to focus her power and push it all to the forefront. She tried to imagine it running out of her like a stream. Slow and steady, a babbling brook rather than a roaring river.
Wren reached for Tamsin’s hand, sparks flying as magic surged between them. Tamsin squeezed Wren’s fingers. Wren squeezed back, sending the witch everything she had. Everything she was afraid to say. Wren’s clammy hand held tight to the witch’s icy fingers as Tamsin carefully siphoned Wren’s magic and prepared to turn it all against her sister.
TWENTY-ONE TAMSIN
The first time Tamsin and Marlena had fought, they were five years old. Tamsin had cried for an hour afterward. She had always been more sensitive, more emotional. Marlena had thrown her sister a wary glance before turning her attention back to the toy that had sparked their argument: enchanted blocks gifted to them by Councillor Mari.
In an attempt to distance herself from her tearful twin, Marlena used the blocks to build a castle around herself so that Tamsin could not come in. It was the first time there’d been a wall between them, and Tamsin hated it, pushed against Marlena’s tower with her shoulder, with her hands, to no avail. Anger and hurt swirled within her, and, desperate, she tried to topple the tower with her mind. That did it, sent the blocks tumbling, revealing her sister again. Marlena blinked at her in surprise, asked Tamsin how she had brought her tower crumbling down.
Tamsin told her she didn’t know. But there had been a warm glow within her, almost as though the power had gone straight from her mind to the building blocks. It was a glimmer of magic, and even then, young and curious, Tamsin had known not to say a word, not to give her sister any indication that there might be differences between them. Tamsin had held her magic close and waited for Marlena to catch up.
They were not so different now as Marlena stood before her, their past the wall between them, and the warmth from Wren’s magic filling the hollowness in Tamsin’s chest. Her skin danced with electricity, the same way it always did when Wren was near.
A saucer shattered, the shards skittering across the floor.
“Sorry.” Marlena’s face was split with a grim joy. Her eyes sparkled like cut crystal.
“You’re not.” Tamsin’s shoulders tensed. The sheer magnitude of the moment weighed upon her so heavily it threatened to break her in half.
“I have to admit, this is quite exciting.” There was a wickedness in the slant of Marlena’s smile, curved just so that it might have been a sneer. “Knowing that I carry enough power to best you.”
Now that she had read her sister’s diary, Tamsin could pinpoint the moment Marlena had turned so hateful. As soon as Tamsin had cast the spell, Marlena had changed, her anger festering the longer the dark magic lived inside her. It was clear that as Marlena had slept, that darkness—her hatred of her sister—had only continued to grow.
For Tamsin, the time alone had done the opposite. For five years she had held the memory of Marlena close to her empty heart, and while she could never quite remember the way it felt to love her sister, Tamsin had always held tight to the knowledge that she had.
Now she was beginning to realize that love wasn’t always enough.
Her love had brought her here, to this. Her love had caused her to do something unforgivable. She didn’t blame Marlena for her hatred. In fact she understood it. Tamsin had spent so many years telling herself she had done what was best for Marlena. Instead it was clear that Tamsin had only done what was best for herself.
Now she was faced with making another decision—what was best for Marlena, or what was best for the world.
She was afraid of getting the answer wrong a second time.
In her hand was enough magic to stop her sister. But Tamsin had already almost killed Marlena once. She didn’t know if she could do it again. Didn’t know if her twisted, useless heart would allow it.
“Please don’t make me do this.”
“Do what?” Marlena’s smile was mocking. It was still strange, seeing her face.
“You don’t know what this connection between us has done to the world.” Tamsin took a hesitant step forward, her hand slipping from Wren’s. “Mountains are crumbling. People are forgetting who they are. If we keep this up, the earth won’t be able to hold you, and what good will your power be then?”
“What would you have me do?” Marlena snarled, looking for all the world like a wild animal instead of a girl. Tamsin wondered at the beauty of her. She was so raw, so alive—perhaps even more so for having cheated death.
“Help me,” Tamsin said, reaching out a hand to touch her sister’s cheek. “I’m so sorry, Marlena. I never meant for things to turn out like this. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you now.”
Marlena recoiled from Tamsin’s touch. “But what if I want to hurt you? You never think about what other people want, do you?”
“Are you telling me there’s nothing I can do to repent? There’s not a single, tiny part of you that is happy to see me?” Tamsin hated the way her voice shook. She was again a little girl locked out of her sister’s tower, wanting nothing more than to be let in.
“Oh, Tamsin.” Marlena’s voice filled the room. “Surely it’s clear by now this isn’t going to be a te
ary-eyed reunion.” She took a step forward, the candlelight catching on the glint in her brown eyes. “No, you’re here to take my place as the sleeping sister.”
Marlena moved about the room with a strange grace, shooting sparks forward that splintered the wooden floor beneath their feet. A sharp smack shuddered through the air, and the room shook with a violent quake. Dust floated down, streaking Wren’s hair gray and coating Tamsin’s lungs. She coughed, a deep hacking sound that left her throat sore.
“If you’re asleep, our bond will not break.” Marlena grinned cruelly, stepping lightly as the room continued to shake. “I’ll leave you here to slumber, and escape this miserable place for good. Then I will finally, finally be free.”
There was nothing left in her sister’s eyes that Tamsin recognized. The Marlena she had known might have been sharp, but she wasn’t cruel. She didn’t hurt others for the fun of it. Tamsin gathered her hold on Wren’s magic, its warmth swimming in her fingers and sparking in her toes.
She reveled in the raw power. This was who she was, who she was meant to be. She could stop everything now with the flick of her wrist. Command her enemy. Prove her prowess. She aimed a stream of light toward her sister. Yet at the last second, Marlena turned to face her. Tamsin wavered, changing her magic’s course so that it hit the wall instead. Her sister was alive. She couldn’t be the one to change that.
Marlena’s eyes lingered on the ruined wall. “Come now. It isn’t fun if it isn’t a fair fight.”
But nothing between the two of them had ever been fair. Tamsin sent a flash of light through the room toward her sister, bright enough to shock the eyes. She wanted to disorient Marlena, to get her to pause just long enough to catch her and restrain her. But Marlena merely let out an odd giggle, brighter than the light emanating throughout the room. She easily dodged the stunning spell Tamsin sent her way.
Tamsin felt the spell between her shoulder blades. She was out of practice, had overcompensated, let out too much of her reserve. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to run through Wren’s magic too quickly. Marlena sent a jolt through Tamsin’s arm that pushed her backward onto a broken chair. Tamsin swore, her shoulder and tailbone now aching in equal measure. She threw up a hand to defend herself, casting a wall of resistance around her as she extracted herself from the wreckage.
Marlena shot a rapid succession of sparks and charms her way, the magic burrowing into Tamsin’s flimsy shield. It was growing weaker by the minute, the twinge in her back sharper the longer she held the spell.
Tamsin grimaced through her magic’s toll, staring enviously at Marlena, who was issuing her spells almost lazily. Thoughtlessly.
The room gave another threatening quake. It was not until Marlena glanced nervously at the quivering beams above that Tamsin understood that the shaking was not of Marlena’s design but a consequence of her power. Her sister was not used to the enormity of the magic she possessed. Were she more comfortable, Tamsin and Wren would not have stood a chance against her. But the magic was still unfamiliar to her.
Tamsin let down her shield and found only the slightest bit of warmth clinging to the tips of her fingers. She had too little of Wren’s magic to draw from. The next spell was going to have to come from her alone. Tamsin whispered several soft words, and a wave of water crashed over Marlena, throwing her back and leaving her exposed.
It was the perfect moment to shoot off a disarming spell, but Tamsin, too, crumpled to the floor, her bones screaming with the effort. Wren, who had been huddled near the empty shelves, rushed to her, wrapping her clammy hands around Tamsin’s shaking ones.
“What are you doing?” Wren kept darting looks at Marlena, who was spluttering on the floor.
“I can’t hurt her.” Tears mingled with the sweat dripping down her cheeks. Wren brushed Tamsin’s face, her hands warm. The longer she held on, the duller the pain in Tamsin’s body became. The shrieking of her bones turned to whispers, then to silence.
Tamsin’s eyes searched for Marlena’s shivering form, but her sister wasn’t there. Tamsin swore. The room was small. There was nowhere for Marlena to hide. Yet she had all but vanished.
“Wren.” Tamsin breathed her name so softly her lips barely moved. Wren frowned, leaning closer to Tamsin, but before Tamsin could whisper a warning, pale fingers were tangled in Wren’s hair, pulling her up and away from Tamsin. Her absence set Tamsin to shivering again.
Marlena wrapped her hand around Wren’s neck. Wren gasped for air, tears swimming in her eyes. Marlena flung Wren away with a force too terrible to be her own. Wren’s body slammed into the far wall. She shuddered and went still.
Tamsin reacted before her mind caught up. She threw herself forward, scrambling for her sister, but Marlena vanished again. Tamsin stumbled, catching herself on a leg of the overturned side table.
Wren’s head had lolled to one side, her eyes closed. A thin trickle of blood ran from her temple. Tamsin wanted to scream at Wren to wake up, that she couldn’t die, not now. Wren couldn’t leave Tamsin. Not before Tamsin understood her feelings. Not before she figured out why she felt anything at all.
“Marlena, you can’t…” Tamsin didn’t know how to put her pain into words.
“Yes, I can.” Marlena was suddenly there, eyes sharp even as her voice wavered. “You did.” She stared at Tamsin, accusation swimming in her eyes. “Were you so jealous? You hated that I had someone who cared for me because, not despite, so you took her from me.”
Tamsin did not know what to say. Her spell had killed Amma inadvertently, and for that she was sorrier than she could ever express. But she did not want her sister to have to carry that same level of guilt. She couldn’t bear for Marlena’s heart to have another mar on its already bruised and battered surface.
“I’m sorry,” she said, knowing the words were useless.
Sparks shot from Marlena’s fingers, but they were nothing compared to the fire behind her eyes. “Why won’t you fight?” She let out a shriek, unrestrained and wild, like the howl of a hungry wolf. “I can’t win if you won’t try.” She pushed hair from her eyes with the back of her arm. “You’re the one who made me like this.” She flung her arms out wide. “Isn’t this what you wanted?”
Tamsin shook her head sadly. “I never wanted this.”
There was a groan behind her. Wren was starting to stir. Tamsin turned toward Wren’s limp body, but even as she started forward, she was stopped in her tracks by an invisible barrier.
Wren’s body jerked and jolted with tiny shocks. She writhed and flailed, her red hair falling from its plait and sticking to her sweaty forehead. Tamsin watched helplessly as Wren shuddered, pain written clearly on her face.
“Stop it.” Tamsin clawed at the shield, her fingers finding nothing to hold. There was nothing to tear down, no wall to break through. All she could do was watch Wren scream as her sister laughed, low and sharp. “Stop it.”
Marlena did not stop. Her spell did not waver. But the room did. A crack, deeper than before, forced its way through the floor, dividing the sisters so that they stood firmly on opposite sides.
“It seems that a line has been drawn.” Marlena’s tone was wry. It set Tamsin shaking with fury, the rage creeping through her, fueling her in a way that she had never felt before. Now that Marlena had hurt Wren once, she would do it again. Next time Marlena might even kill her.
Wren’s life was in Tamsin’s hands, had belonged to her since their lips had first met, sealing their pact. Tamsin had put Wren in danger by bringing her Within. She had not considered the consequences, much in the same way she had not considered the consequences of saving her sister all those years ago.
Tamsin sliced at the air, sending the shards of a broken teacup soaring toward Marlena, who darted easily away, shooting bursts of lightning back. Tamsin tried to keep Marlena’s attention solely on her, to buy Wren some time.
She narrowed her eyes, focusing on Marlena’s knees as she sent a stunning spell toward her sister. Marlena stumbled, swe
aring darkly as she nearly fell face-first. Tamsin’s stomach twisted with guilt, watching her sister suffer at her hand. But on the other side of the room, Wren had gone still, covered with a sheen of sweat, her fair skin ghostly pale in the darkening room.
Marlena sent black ribbons flying through the air. Tamsin shot back a stream of spells, but Marlena’s ribbons snaked their way past Tamsin’s defenses. One slithered around her ankle, sending a jolt of exhaustion through her. Commanding her limbs became nearly impossible. Though Tamsin’s brain screamed for her legs to move, for her lips to form the shape of her next spell, her body would not obey. A heaviness weighed her down, exhaustion rippling through her limbs. Tamsin wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep amid the remains of Marlena’s broken furniture.
Focusing her waning energy on the sharp shards of wood at her feet, Tamsin sent a chair leg hurtling across the room. Marlena brushed it away without a second thought. Tamsin fought against her drooping eyelids, but it was no use. The pounding in her head had returned. The magic was taking a toll on her body, while Marlena remained unscathed.
“Go to sleep, Tamsin.” Marlena’s voice was far, then very near. Tamsin forced her eyes open. Her sister’s face swam before her. “Sleep now.” Marlena’s hand brushed against Tamsin’s cheek almost tenderly. “Without you, I’ll finally be free.”
Tamsin’s body screamed for her to get up, to fight back. She owed it to herself, to Wren, to the world falling to pieces. She was so close to saving them all, and yet even as she thought it, the light began to slip away. She was so, so tired. Tired of trying and tired of failing. Maybe it would be better if she just gave up. Gave in.
The room shook wildly. The roar of the ocean nearly drowned out Marlena’s words. “Good night, sister.” Marlena raised her arms, determination on her face.
Sweet & Bitter Magic Page 23
