by D G Swank
I turned up the sensitivity of my magic and saw right through the glamour. All of it. The resplendent courtyard was full of dead plants and flowers, and fake Celeste was really a dark-haired woman. “No,” I said. “It’s not her.”
“Then who is it?” Logan asked.
“I don’t know,” I said, “but I intend to find out.”
“Is that Dad near the altar?” Phoebe asked, her voice tight.
“And Zane,” Logan said with a growl. His anger caught me off guard, but then I realized he was the one carrying Celeste’s body.
“If there is anyone here who protests this union,” Peter Savage said, leading the wedding ceremony with his hands held wide. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
I was about to stomp forward when fake Celeste turned to face me, wearing a knowing smile.
She could see me.
And she knew I could see her.
“Zane,” she announced, her voice floating to us through the courtyard. “It’s time.”
Zane lifted his hand, and the blue glow emanating from his palm became blinding.
I had all the proof I needed to try and convict Zane Chambers for my sister’s murder. We were going in without a plan, or at least without a good one, but if I went down, I was damned sure going to take Zane with me.
“Yes,” I shouted, throwing off my glamour as I strode down the aisle. “It’s time.”
Zane’s mouth dropped as his eyes widened in horror.
“Rowan,” our father called out. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m here to prove that Zane Chambers is a fraud and a murderer.” I turned and pointed to my sister’s imposter. “And that is not my sister!”
As if reading my mind, Phoebe used her telekinesis power to remove Celeste’s body from Logan’s arms and float her down the aisle toward the altar. I dropped the glamour I’d swathed her in, revealing her face to the crowd.
Zane gasped and shot me a panicked look, while Donall gaped at the strange woman next to him, his face taking on the cast of a ripe tomato.
“If that’s Celeste, who the hell are you?”
The woman ignored him, coming down the steps toward me. “You brought the book.”
“Rowan!” Zane shouted. “Get out of here!”
Something in his voice made me doubt my own interpretation of events. But it was too late for doubt. We wouldn’t have been able to leave if we’d wanted to. The wedding guests were on their feet now, looking outraged, and Donall was on his way down the steps from the altar.
I took a step back.
Donall stopped next to Celeste’s body, taking in her still-bruised face, her bloody shirt, and the dagger sticking out of her body. He slowly turned to Zane. “Who was I about to marry?”
“Marij,” the woman said. “You know me as the witch of the book.”
I turned to her in shock, but I recognized the voice. It had come from the book. Somehow she’d been inside the Book of Sindal. She was the sentient voice. She was what had made it more than a book of spells.
Marij Clais, our ancestor. Somehow she was still alive.
Marij reached for the dagger in Celeste’s gut and pulled it free. She turned to Zane and smiled. “I’ll take that orb now. The time has come for me to wear the Crown of Blood.”
I had the impulse to grab Phoebe and Logan and leave. Now. But I seriously doubted that would be possible, and it wouldn’t resolve anything. If we left, we’d spend the rest of our lives fighting the Dark Set and Marij. No, we had to fight.
Zane stood his ground, the blue orb glowing on his palm. He pointed his hand toward the woman as she advanced on him with the dagger, intent on cutting it from his hand.
The air filled with ozone, and the witch stopped in her tracks as Zane continued to point the orb at her.
“You can’t do that!” she shouted as she dropped to her knees. “We had a bargain!”
“You betrayed Celeste,” Zane snarled, his face distorted with his anger.
Her body began to glow.
“Rowan,” Phoebe said in warning. I turned to look at her, but Celeste’s body caught my eye. It was glowing too, just like it had in the trunk of the car earlier.
What was Zane doing?
Donall watched it all in excitement. A few of the mages tried to leave the audience, but he raised a hand, stilling them.
Phoebe lowered Celeste’s body to the ground, and we knelt beside her, trying to figure out what was happening.
“Is the twelve hours up?” I asked. “Do you think she’s crossing over the rest of the way?”
“I don’t know,” Phoebe said. “I still can’t access her magic.”
Celeste’s body jerked, and she sat upright as if pulled by a string. She drew in a deep, gasping breath.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Celeste
I glanced down at my blood-stiffened shirt in confusion, then up at my sisters and the crowd of people around us, most of them wearing white-tie finery. Through my shock, I realized I recognized our surroundings. We were in the Dark Set courtyard, glamoured to look seductive and beautiful. What was going on? Where was I?
It all came rushing back in a flood. Donall’s beating. The spirit of the book. My sacrifice.
Zane’s expression of horror as he saw me plunge the knife into my stomach.
But why was I still alive? Why was I here, of all paces, and why were my sisters here too?
“You live!” the book’s witch cried out when she saw me, but she didn’t look happy. She’d counted on me being gone. Something had sapped her of strength and put her on her knees, but I sensed it wasn’t a permanent situation.
“Celeste?” a familiar voice said. I looked up, my heart in my throat, and saw Zane taking a step toward me. The hope and love on his face stole my breath. “It worked?”
“You love her!” Donall called out in an accusatory tone, glaring at Zane.
My magic began to awaken, and I realized the book was present. My gaze followed its call to Rowan’s back. She’d disguised it as a backpack. It felt different now, and I realized what had made the change—the witch had left it behind.
Now that she was gone, the book called out to me again, only this time it was different, and I knew what to do.
I stretched my hand out toward Rowan. “I need the book.”
“What?” she asked in confusion, then shook her head when she realized what I was asking for. She didn’t trust me with it anymore, not that I could blame her. The three times I’d taken it before had all ended in disaster.
“Rowan,” I pleaded. “Please. I can end this.”
She gave me an assessing look, and whatever she saw in my eyes must have convinced her because she shrugged it off her back. It changed back into the Book of Sindal, only not the leather-bound version, the real one—scraps of spells in a loose binding.
I held the Book of Sindal splayed open in my hands and asked it to show me the spell for the Crown of Blood. The pages flipped through the air, but this time it was my own magic that searched for the spell, not Marij’s. The pages finally stopped turning on the correct spell, and I skimmed through it quickly. I needed the orb’s power to make it work.
And I needed Zane.
Marij was still on her knees, but she was regaining her strength. Based on a quick reading of the situation, I assumed Zane had used the orb to siphon away some of her power in an attempt to give it to me. Only it had weakened her instead of turning her human.
“You think you can take this from me?” Donall yelled at Zane. He started charging toward him. “You think you can steal what I’ve built?”
The blue glow of the orb faded, and Zane sent a blast of power that sent Donall flying backward several feet. It struck me that this was likely the first time Donall had ever experienced Zane’s true power.
“Donall!” Brandon called out from behind us. “You’re surrounded. Give up while you still can!”
I took advantage of the distraction to run up to Zane on the ma
keshift altar.
Zane’s power encased us in a shield while he ran his hands down my arms, avoiding contact with the Book of Sindal. “Celeste? Is it really you?”
“It’s me.”
He shook his head. “How is it possible? You were dead. I know it. I felt your life fade away.” He released a sob. “I should never have left you there.”
“I was dead. I don’t know how I’m back, but I suspect my sisters had something to do with it. And the book. And you.” I grabbed his hand. “Zane. I know how to stop them all. The witch wasn’t talking nonsense when she called us the son of Theodos and the daughter of Rebecca. The two of us can stop all this madness with the orb, the dagger, and the Crown of Blood.”
“How do you know this, Celeste?” he asked, his eyes wide.
“I don’t know.” Some of it was in the book, yes, but my knowledge of the situation went deeper than that, in a way I couldn’t properly explain. The answer tickled my consciousness, but it wouldn’t float to the surface.
He gave me a quick kiss. “I don’t care. If you’re sure, tell me what to do.”
“We need the dagger,” I said.
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll lower the shield, use my magic to snatch the dagger from Marij, then put the dome back up.”
“No,” I said. “Once I start, we can’t contain it. We need to let it loose.”
Worry etched his brow, but he nodded. “Okay. Hopefully, Brandon and your sisters will keep Donall occupied.” He wrapped an arm around my back and turned me so that his body was protecting mine.
His magic called out for the dagger, but Marij still held it and the blade resisted. It recognized her as its long-time master. But when I added my magic to his, the blade wiggled free of his grasp and flew toward us. I held out my hand, my palm, which had been bloody and was now scarred, up and ready for the hilt. Once the blade landed, I closed my fingers around it, then looked up at Zane. “Be ready.”
He nodded, not even asking what he was supposed to be ready for. He simply trusted me—just like I’d learned to trust him.
I held up the open book and began to chant the spell for the Crown of Blood. When the book started to glow, I instinctively dug the tip of the blade into the page, still chanting.
A translucent crown appeared, hovering over the Book of Sindal.
“No!” Marij screamed and lunged for us, but Phoebe used her magic to pick her up and hold her aloft.
Brandon and his men were dealing with Donall and the agents from the Protective Force. Half the guests had run off, and the other half seemed to be held in place with magic, likely the work of one of Brandon’s mages, but it was easy to see they could easily lose their ground. Which meant we needed to hurry.
I read more of the spell, and to my surprise, Zane began to say the words too, only he was staring at me, not the book. The orb in his hand began to glow again, and the crown burned brighter. It started to look firm. Solid.
As we recited the last line, Zane placed the orb on the book and spirals of magic shot out in every direction. They launched into the air, then burrowed into the chests of everyone on the grounds. Shock and fear sliced into me—had our people been hurt as well?—but then I realized the attack hadn’t targeted everyone. Only members of the Dark Set had been hit. And Marij.
She clutched her chest and shot me an accusing glare. At first I thought they might be dead—but then the arrows of magic started returning to the orb. They shot back from Marij, from Donall, Peter, my father, and dozens of others.
With each returning arrow, the orb became brighter—until it was so bright it nearly blinded us. When it dimmed, the crown had become a solid piece of red, sculpted metal. It hovered between Zane and me.
Although his attempt to take Marij’s power hadn’t worked, not fully, we’d managed it together.
“Son of Theodos and Daughter of Rebecca,” a woman’s voice called out, clear as a bell. This was not Marij—something told me this magic was much older, deeper. “Behold the Crown of Blood.”
I shot Zane a look of panic. “I think someone has to wear it.”
“You,” he said in an undertone. Then he called out, “Her. The crown belongs to Celeste.”
The crown rose, then settled on my head, and dread rushed through me. What did this mean? Who would shed the blood?
But then the truth settled on my shoulders. It had been mine all along. Marij had likely been desperate for it, but the crown belonged to me whether I liked it or not. I had paid the sacrifice. I had paid the fee with my blood and my life.
This was what my mother had predicted, although I doubted she’d understood her prophecy any better than Marij had. It struck me that perhaps Marij had possessed a touch of sight as well. If she had, it hadn’t saved her.
The crown rested on my head, and for a single moment my body glowed with bright light from my head to my toes. When it faded, I wore a sapphire blue gown that matched Zane’s eyes.
“Behold,” the female voice called out again in a regal tone. “Behold your queen, who wears the Crown of Blood, and her consort, the holder of the Orb.”
Then, to my shock and horror, everyone on the grounds dropped to one knee, and said, “Hail Queen Celeste.”
My sisters had kneeled as well, watching me with pride.
Somehow I knew the reign of the Dark Set was over. Zane and I were now in charge, and things were about to drastically change. For the better.
Epilogue
Three months later
“Celeste?” Rowan called out from the front door of the farmhouse. “You in?”
“Upstairs,” I shouted from my bedroom. “I’m coming down.”
When I got downstairs, she was already making a pot of coffee in the kitchen.
“I saw your newest YouTube show,” I said. “Seems like bringing Logan on as a guest has upped your viewership.”
She grinned, her cheeks turning rosy. “He has a certain appeal to the female demographic.”
“It looks like Logan’s kitchen is working out too.”
She nodded, looking guilty. “He has a new-ish apartment.”
“With granite counters and cabinets designed in the last century,” I teased. “You traded up.” When I saw her look of horror, I put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m teasing, Ro. You look happy. I want you to be happy.”
“I am,” she admitted.
Rowan had been the first to leave the farm, moving in with Logan. And they were happy. Logan wanted to marry her, but Rowan insisted she didn’t see the point. Logan didn’t seem to mind, saying a piece of paper didn’t change a thing, but the moment she agreed to a marriage, I suspected he would whisk her off to a judge to make it official.
“Phoebe’s coming back this weekend,” I said. “She’s bringing Brandon with her.”
“Of course she is,” Rowan said with a chuckle.
Phoebe and Brandon were even more inseparable now that they were engaged. She’d been the second to leave, and the two of them now lived in his place in Cleveland.
“She wants us to help her with the wedding plans,” I said.
Rowan’s gaze dipped to my empty left ring finger. “Any news about an engagement from you?”
“Not yet,” I said with mixed feelings. “We’re too busy trying to figure out how to balance things.”
She nodded with a sad smile.
The Crown of Blood was heavy, but Zane had insisted he would help carry the load. We had dissolved both the Small and Large Councils and had held elections for a governing board. Just like Zane had promised the Druids, we’d stricken the laws outlawing spells and potions. And because enforced inequality always led to conflict in the end, we’d committed to trying to address the centuries-old imbalance of power between mages and witches.
Zane had moved into the farmhouse almost immediately after my sisters had moved out. It turned out that the farm enhanced his expression magic, just as it had always enhanced mine. Lisa had even moved to a nearby town to be close to us.
I was happier than I’d ever been in my life. I’d learned to control my magic, and I had a man who adored me. I’d finally figured out my place in this world, and I was sure Zane and I could make a lasting difference to Valeria.
“How’s the book?” Rowan asked.
We no longer held our monthly rituals to fortify the Book of Sindal, but we hadn’t destroyed it yet either. My sisters had agreed to give me and Zane six months to go through the spells, and we’d pledged to destroy it once we were done.
Rowan cleared her throat. “Logan says Donall’s trial is coming up soon.”
“Ah…”
The orb had stolen Donall’s power that night, and now that he was human, local authorities had found multiple charges to bring against him, including armed robbery, kidnapping, and rape. Logan was certain Donall was going to prison for several years. Several of the other members of the Dark Set had been leveled with charges as well.
But not our father. He had taken off again, and none of us had heard from him since. It felt just that he had lost the thing that meant the most to him. Magic.
Marij had disappeared too, although we were all fairly certain she didn’t pose much harm without magic or the book. It wouldn’t have surprised me if she ended up moving to Hollywood. Zane had told me how excited she’d been to live again, although losing her magic must have dampened that.
“What was it like?” Rowan asked in a whisper. “Dying.”
I pushed out a breath. “Uh…I don’t remember.” When I could see she didn’t believe me, I added, “I know something happened, but it was like it was all erased when you brought me back.”
“Are you sorry?” she asked. “Do you wish we hadn’t brought you back?”
“No!” I protested. “I want to be alive. I’m excited for the future. I’m excited for a second chance with you and Phoebe.”
Rowan reached out and grabbed my hand. “Me too.”
The front door opened, and Zane walked in, his gaze searching the room until it landed on me.
I was grateful for a second chance with him too.
He beamed at me and it felt like the entire world slipped away, leaving only me and Zane.
