by Eva Brandt
“Accursed magic has a very distinctive signature and the place was teeming with it,” Blossom replied. “Vandale did a good job hiding his tracks from the humans, but he didn’t bother being discreet in other ways. It’s pretty obvious that it was him.”
“If that’s the case, why haven’t you tracked him down yet?” Pierce asked.
The words came out as a little too accusing and I shot him a chastising look. I regretted it mere seconds later, when Pierce tensed further.
If the two delegates noticed Pierce’s lapse, they didn’t show it. “It’s not that simple,” Blossom explained. “While we found the magic potent on site, it faded into nothing as soon as we left the prison. Surely you must be aware air manipulation is like that, Mr. Garnier.”
“Yes, of course.” Pierce coughed awkwardly. “I merely assumed you might have other methods of holding onto a plague’s energy signature than we do. My apologies for my presumptuousness.”
That wasn’t true. Pierce had no reason to think the El Dorado fae were in any way better equipped to find the scavengers than we were. After this conversation was over, I had to pull him aside and find out what in the name of the gods was up with him.
“If we work together, we might come up with a method of solving this issue that we haven’t been able to use on our own,” I said, too distracted by my thoughts to provide an actual suggestion.
“My king has authorized me to use the full strength of the Guardian and Enforcer Corps to find Mathias Vandale and retrieve Prince Darius from him. We might not be able to track down the air magic the plagues use, but we’re all very familiar with our prince, so we’ve been trying to find his energy signature.”
That made sense. Alarian magic was unique, as each individual had his or her own way of using it. The skills and specializations of the Alarians were so varied that they were far easier to distinguish than a plague, a twice-blessed, or an incubus.
And yet, Valerian was here, so he’d obviously not had any luck in his quest. “I assume something went wrong with the process if you haven’t been able to locate Prince Darius.”
Valerian didn’t exactly fidget, but I suspected he would have, had he not been Alarian. “It’s complicated. His Highness’s magic is... blurred. We believe it has something to do with what Vandale did to Prince Darius’s mind. You might have better luck, Your Highness.”
Me? Why would I have better luck? I had no real connection to Darius Alarisson. Or did I?
I thought about Darius’s reflection in the mirror shard in my bathroom, about his strange request and his desperation. I hadn’t done much that day except threaten him, and yet, it had seemed to reassure him.
I would have deemed it some kind of crazy mind-control induced scheme. But if that was the case, why would Valerian say this now? Why would he ask me to do this?
Everyone was staring at me expectantly, even Pierce. Once again, I had the feeling I was missing something big.
My reflection had told me I was being lied to. That, at least, I could believe. But if so, what truth were these people hiding? What weren’t they telling me?
Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to not lose my temper. “I can certainly attempt it, but I’m afraid it’s not my field of expertise. I’m nowhere near as proficient at mind magic as my aunts or my father.”
“There’s no need to be modest, Your Highness,” Valerian replied. “We’re all certain that you’re more than qualified to handle this.”
Were they? Why? I didn’t think I’d done anything that special, nothing that would warrant such a show of trust. If Darius’s own family couldn’t find him, I shouldn’t have been able to. None of this made sense, and yet, everyone else was acting like it was perfectly normal. Everyone except Pierce.
With the corner of my eye, I stole a look at my soulmate. He’d become even tenser since Valerian had made that suggestion. His whole stance was screaming ‘no, Lucienne, don’t do this.’
I wanted to listen to what he was silently telling me, but at the same time, I knew I couldn’t. If my aunts had sent me here, it was for a reason. I still believed that, no matter what my mysterious reflections were telling me. Besides, I owed myself some answers too.
“Well, then, we might as well get started,” I said. “The sooner we find the scavengers, the better.”
“I concur,” Blossom replied. “If you’ll please follow us, we can take you to the prison.”
Before we could do exactly that, a male voice shattered the tentative peace in the grove. “It’s kind of you to offer, but there’s really no need to prolong this and play this game. I’m right here.”
We all shot to our feet and turned toward the source of the sound. Prince Darius was standing at the edge of the clearing. He had appeared out of nowhere. He looked just like he had when I’d spoken to him through the mirror shard, and yet, there was something about him that was unmistakably different.
“You!” Valerian spat with an anger I hadn’t deemed him capable of. “Release His Royal Highness at once.”
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Darius replied, “although I’m flattered by your impassioned defense.”
Realization struck me like a bolt of lightning. That wasn’t Darius at all. It was Mathias Vandale. It was the man who’d attacked and almost murdered my father.
Fire started to dance over my skin, miraculously leaving my clothes intact, but scorching the grass beneath my feet. “Why did you come here?” I asked him. “There’s no one to help you now, no one to save you from me. Are you really so arrogant or is it stupidity that drives you?”
My words didn’t intimidate him. “Come now, my love,” he said with a small smile. “Don’t be so harsh. I know I should’ve come for you sooner, but in my defense, I was recovering from a bad injury as well.”
Anger surged through me at the affection in his voice, at the pet name he dared to use for me. No one but Pierce had the right to call me that. “You’re not going to recover at all from the next injury you receive. I’ll make sure of it.”
Mathias’s expression sobered and his eyes lit up with inner magic. “I know you think that’s what you want, but I won’t allow it. We need each other. Once you remember that, we’ll be able to build the life we were always supposed to have.”
Darius had told me something similar when we’d spoken through the mirror shard. Meanwhile, Pierce kept dancing around this thing that was between us, and I didn’t even know what he was thinking anymore.
Maybe it was all my fault. Maybe I was the one making all the mistakes. But right then and there, I couldn’t bring myself to care. I offered Mathias a small, dishonest smile. “You know what? I’m getting pretty sick of people making promises they won’t keep, of everyone trying to use me, but not giving me a straight answer once and for all.”
Mathias’s eyes widened. Pierce’s breath caught. “Oh shit,” they said at the same time.
They were right to be concerned. An uncontrollable blast emerged from my body, sweeping over the grove like wildfire, destroying everything in its path. With the corner of my eye, I caught sight of Pierce erecting a hasty shield. Mathias didn’t bother with that. He simply lifted his hand and his fire magic met mine in a clash so powerful it made me stagger. The increase in temperature didn’t bother me, but his energy output was insane.
So, he would fight back. That was okay. I liked it when they played hard to get.
Somewhere to my right, the Alarian representative was standing up, shielding his face with his hand and trying to breathe in the suddenly suffocating atmosphere. “Your Highness, you can’t do this!” he choked out. “You have to fight him!”
This time, he wasn’t talking to me. He was talking to Darius, or at least trying to. He was trying to reach Darius beyond the mind control Vandale had placed him under.
I wasn’t surprised when the attempt failed. “I appreciate the confidence you place in me, Enforcer Christensen,” Mathias said, “but you should know by now that we’re beyond words. You’v
e taken something that belongs to me. I will not allow it.”
Was he really calling me a thing? I couldn’t get over the sheer gall of the man.
I would’ve been more irritated with him than I already was if I hadn’t noticed something very interesting. He was trying to pretend he actually was Darius, although I knew for a fact that wasn’t the case. Valerian was also aware and for Blossom and the others, it wasn’t an issue.
So why would he do that? Why would he keep up the pretense?
The answer was simple, and I had just enough time to berate myself for my own blindness before the plagues descended upon us and everything exploded into chaos.
Much to my shame, my first reaction upon their appearance wasn’t to fight back. I froze, my muscles going rigid, my mind fuzzy with conflicting memories and thoughts.
I’d seen plagues fight before. They’d attacked my wedding, hadn’t they? I wasn’t sure. When I watched them move, electricity arching around them in dizzying, lethal spirals, it wasn’t my wedding I remembered.
They all made a beeline for me. Pierce cursed viciously and placed himself in front of me, shielding me with his own body. I could protect myself, so it wasn’t necessary, but I appreciated the gesture anyway.
The rest of our little group tried to usher me away. Blossom grabbed my arm and began to pull me toward the edge of the grove. “Lady de Hastingues, we need to go. It’s you they’re after.”
That was pretty obvious, but I wasn’t about to run away because Mathias Vandale had decided he had a crush on me. It was time to end this whole fiasco and start over, preferably without the specter of these fucking scavengers looming over me.
Maybe then, I’d be able to get my father back.
Maybe then, I’d be able to have my soulmate to myself.
Maybe then, I’d have the family I’d always wanted, with him, with Pierce.
I was tired of holding back, of trying to tame this power inside me, only to fail, over and over again. It might be stupid of me to let go, but somehow, I knew that if I didn’t, I’d never find my own path.
When the plagues had appeared, I’d been so taken aback my magic had faded into the background, still licking lazily over my skin, but nowhere near as intense as before. As soon as I made my decision, the fire reemerged, more powerful than ever. Blossom let out a cry and stumbled away from me, blisters and burns covering half his body.
I should’ve felt at least a little bit sorry that I’d hurt him, even if it had been an accident. I didn’t, not really.
I wasn’t angry anymore. Hell, I wasn’t even upset. A feeling of cold clarity had invaded my mind, chasing away my fury, my tempestuous emotions, leaving behind only the knowledge of what I needed to do.
The fire snaked over the grove, zeroing in on the plagues. Mathias got in the way. “Oh, no, you don’t,” he said, his magic intercepting mine once again.
Thick tendrils of flames cut me off from my targets, preventing me from turning the plagues to ash like I’d planned. When I tried to break through them, Mathias’s power entwined with my own. I felt it straining against mine, his mastery over the element fighting me every step of the way.
I had to hand it to him, he was very good at this. Even so, I refused to be thwarted. I jerked on the binding he’d attempted to cast on me. He hissed in pain, but didn’t let go. His voice echoed in my head, loud and desperate. “I won’t lose you again. Not ever again.”
“You never had me,” I replied, out loud.
He had more training, but I was more powerful. Both of us were equally as determined. Honestly, I didn’t know what would’ve happened had Pierce not stepped in. All of a sudden, he grabbed my wrist, and his twice-blessed magic did what I couldn’t manage on my own.
It overpowered Mathias, shattering his enchantment and allowing me to break free of his hold.
Mathias hissed in anger and pain as both our spells lashed out against him. It was the perfect moment to launch a counter-attack. But Pierce didn’t pursue his advantage. He grabbed my shoulders and forced me to face him. “Lucienne, they don’t matter. Nothing here matters. Just ignore them. They’re not important. Breathe and stay with me.”
“I am with you,” I pointed out calmly. “I’m right here, Pierce.”
“You’re really not,” Pierce whispered. I suspected he hadn’t intended to say that at all, because mere seconds later, he snapped his mouth shut.
Before I could ask him what he meant, the ground beneath our feet cracked. Pierce shoved me aside, tackling me down and rolling us away, just in time to avoid us being swallowed up by the earth.
Several of the fae were not so lucky. They’d received some injuries from the battle with the plagues and perhaps also from me, so they didn’t have time to fly away. Before they could do anything at all, they were dragged down into a dark, premature grave.
In the aftermath of their disappearance, another figure stepped into my line of sight. “Sorry about that,” the new arrival said, scratching his head. His green eyes glinted with a mix of apprehension, relief, and hunger. “I’m new at this earth magic thing. I’ve only been trying to use it for ten minutes, give or take.”
Earth magic. The only Accursed that used earth magic were shape-shifters, but as far as I knew, the ability had been lost. There was the occasional Alarian who had a vague skill in it, but it was rare and not very powerful. A plague certainly shouldn’t have been able to do this.
Who was this new arrival and how did he know me? More importantly, how did I know him? He seemed awfully familiar, but for the life of me, I couldn’t remember where we’d met.
Enforcer Christensen did better. “Guardian Whelan, I see rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated.”
Guardian Whelan shrugged. “What can I say? I always throw my lot in with whoever offers me the best perks. In this case, that person just happens to be Mathias Vandale. And I think we all know why that is.”
He was looking straight at me as he spoke. I hated that all of their actions were in some way related to me for reasons I couldn’t understand. To make matters worse, he was not alone in his approach.
A vampire walked up to Declan’s side, and in his crimson eyes, I saw the same fire that lived in my heart. It was Malachai Braun. I remembered him from the attack on my wedding. “Just come with us, Lucienne,” he said. “No one else has to get hurt and you know it’s the right thing to do.”
I should’ve turned him into ash on the spot. Gods only knew I’d thought about it plenty of times. But something about his expression stayed my hand. “Is that a threat?” I asked him. “Because threatening girls is not the best way to win them over, you know.”
“It’s not a threat,” Bjorn Lindberg replied in the vampire’s stead. He appeared out of nowhere right behind me and offered me his hand. “It’s a promise, one of the many we’ve made to you. This time, though, we’ll keep it.”
A dim purple aura surrounded his body and I guessed he might have been the reason why the plagues had managed to approach us without any of us sensing them. Then again, Mathias Vandale was a talented mind mage as well, so who the hell even knew at this point?
I ignored his offer and got up on my own. Pierce was still by my side, tensely staring between the men. “Whatever promise you think you made her doesn’t matter now. She has me. She doesn’t need anyone else.”
“If that were true, we wouldn’t exist at all,” Bjorn said. “I told you, Pierce. You have to stop focusing on your selfish needs and think about Lucienne.”
“That’s all well and good,” I interrupted their exchange, “but I don’t remember anyone asking me what I need. You seem to just miraculously know what I’m supposed to be or do, but I haven’t given you the permission to make any decisions in my stead. Maybe I want to stay with Pierce. Didn’t that thought occur to you?”
“It did, yes,” Malachai replied with a nod, “and we don’t want to push you. But that’s just it. You don’t have all the information you need to make a decision of your o
wn. You’re stumbling through the dark. I don’t think that’s what you want.”
“In fairness, we’re not doing much better,” Declan said. “We’ve been stumbling for so long, Lucienne. And maybe we’ll still get lost. I don’t know. But we have to try to find the light anyway, don’t we?
“You told me once that you always need to try, that you hate the thought of abandoning a fight without giving it your all, that there’s nothing worse than always wondering ‘what if.’ I don’t think I understood what you meant, not then, at least, but I understand now.”
His words made me hesitate. I didn’t remember having a conversation like that with him, but I remembered something else. There had been a man in my tavern wench dream. His hand had felt warm in my own. His eyes had been green, so very green, just like Declan’s.
Declan Whelan. Guardian Whelan. Yes. I knew the name. I remembered him now, although he hadn’t been among the people who’d attacked my family. There had been another fight, though, someplace else. Where? I couldn’t recall. Gods, why was this so hard? Why was I having trouble with something so simple?
“Your Highness, you can’t trust him,” Valerian said, oblivious to my thoughts and my struggle. “He’s a scavenger. He admitted to it himself. High King only knows how many innocents he killed to acquire his new convenient earth magic.”
“I don’t see why that should matter to me,” I heard myself answer. “Mortals are like dust under our feet. They wither away and die in the blink of an eye. If we use their lives for our benefit, why should we mourn them?”
“Lucienne, you don’t mean that,” Pierce said. “Please.”
His voice cracked and the sheer desperation in that final word snapped me out of my trance. “W-What?” I stammered. “Right. Of course. Of course I don’t mean that.”
Scavengers were monsters. They preyed on humans to live and feed their powers. Shape-shifters actually cannibalized humans. It was likely that this man in front of me, who was looking at me with such gentle eyes, had eaten at least a few human beings recently.
