My magic surged forward with a fresh wind, colliding solidly with the curse. The impact rocked me. Blood filled my mouth.
Then everything died. I thought I must have died myself, because there was nothing. I was too numb to feel the ground. There was pure, ringing silence. But my magic still prowled, the curse still snarling.
It was quieter. Smaller. Like it had retreated to where it had been sleeping, eyes focused on me and plotting its revenge, but content to wait. I felt the ground hit me as my arms gave, and I laid there with my cheek on the cold dirt, breathing. I had no idea if I'd won, but I'd changed something, temporarily. That was close enough to a victory.
My mind spun. The hiss of lanterns lighting came from somewhere nearby. Light blossomed and stung my eyes. Light, cool fingers ran through my hair.
“Neyva?” Aurynn's voice whispered. I blinked but couldn't move. “What did you do?”
“Not enough,” I croaked.
“I'm standing here, aren't I?”
I closed my eyes; keeping them open was too much effort. “It'll come back.”
“Then we'll deal with it when it does,” Rayick added. “Come on, kid, this isn't a good place to sleep.”
“I don't want to sleep,” I mumbled as he hauled me up. I swayed on my feet and he put a steady arm around my shoulders. I had to find Kye. Make sure they were alright. And Idris—I needed to talk to him, to get the full story before something worse happened...
My knees buckled when I tried to take the first step, and Rayick caught me. “We're making a collective decision here, and you're overruled.”
Breathing was a struggle. “Is everyone...alright?”
“Everyone's fine,” Idris said from somewhere behind me. I couldn't open my eyes to check. “Thank you.”
“Thank me by not getting involved in any more blood curses, you dumb fox,” was all I got out as Rayick led me away.
There was a curl of a smile in his voice when he answered. “Goodnight, Neyva.”
Twenty-Seven
“I know what I need to do. To fix all of this.”
Tamsin picked at a loose thread in his sleeve. “Did you not almost kill yourself last night trying to fix it?”
“I didn't almost kill myself, Tam.”
Kye sighed without looking from their writing. I wondered what they were writing this time. What trauma and worries they might be spilling onto the page. Or whether they were recording the incident last night, trying to decide how it factored into how much time they had left. I'd been trying to figure it out myself, with no luck. The curse was levels beyond what I'd thought and was too raw and complex to work out neatly. I couldn't tell.
Which made what was coming next all the more obvious.
“I didn't, Kye,” I added, giving them a long look. They met my eyes, and then turned back to the page.
“You're pushing yourself too hard. Enaelle, then Tulia, and last night. You need to rest.”
“We don't have time for rest,” Idris broke in from his seat along the wall. The seven of us were gathered around the fire, everybody looking ready to collapse but present. Because I'd asked them the instant I'd gotten up; this needed to end. Now. Before anything worse happened. However it needed to end, it needed to.
“Exactly.”
“I don't like it,” Kye murmured, but didn't protest further.
Rayick's laugh was tired and grim, but he managed it. “Don't be a mother hen, Kye. She's a witch; she can handle herself. Can't you?” he added, turning to me with worry shining in his eyes.
“Probably.”
“What do you need to do, then?” Aurynn asked.
I took a breath, straightening my shoulders, even though it felt like lead was sitting on them. “I'm going to find the witch who cursed you.”
Wesley's eyes flashed. “No.”
“Yes, Wesley, and don't try to talk me out of it.”
“Why?”
I paused. Everyone was staring at me, shock and dread lining their faces. Kye had stopped writing, pen in hand. I swallowed the lump in my throat. She meant something completely different to them. She wasn't a faceless story: she was the person who was trying to kill them. I needed to face her. “She can break your curse, to start,” I said and cut off Rayick's half-started argument. “Better than I can. I can hold it off, a little at a time, like I did last night, but not forever. Too much of that could be...bad. It's a blood curse, not a shapeshifting curse, and blood curses can't just be broken. They come from a place of agony and rage.” A muscle in Idris’ jaw twitched. “And two, she can help me.”
“What makes you think she will help you?” Aurynn demanded.
I put on the most perfect smile I could, batting my eyelashes. “Because I'm a Morningspell, of course. I'm one of the deadliest witches in world, whatever kind of curse she can make. She won't have much of a choice.”
Wesley scoffed. “What are you going to do, cast a spell on her? Make her into your little puppet?”
“No. I'm going to talk to her. I'm sure we can come to an agreement.” Despite how pleasant the words sounded, everybody knew their true meaning, and Wesley folded his arms. Rayick raked a hand through his long hair but nodded. Aurynn and Idris looked pleased by the idea.
“You're going to threaten the witch who cursed us?” Tamsin asked. “What if she curses you?”
I swallowed the answer at the tip of my tongue and said, “She won't.”
“You can't know that,” Rayick said.
Idris let out a long breath, shaking his head. “It's not ideal, but we're running out of options. Obviously this curse is more than any of us thought. I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't want whatever happened last night to happen again. So if it breaks it, do it. If she can help stop your family, all the better.”
She was going to help me stop my family. I wasn't going to accept anything less. But I didn't go into that. They would ask my plans, and I couldn't give them. Not yet. Not until it was too late for them to stop me. "If she breaks your curse, we can go back to the original plan of you helping me and not have to rely on her."
“Because we've been so helpful so far?” Tamsin asked under his breath.
Idris ignored him, leaning forward. “What do you need to find her?”
“Anything you can give me.” This was treacherous territory, a topic to be conscientious of and handled delicately. One wrong word could ruin everything—like when I'd first met them. I didn't want to go back to those roots, but I didn't see a choice. Not right now. I told myself they'd forgive me for it, if I survived. It would be fine. “Her name, where you were, what she looked like, whatever information you have.”
“We were never given her name,” Idris said.
“Then anything else.” I watched his expression. As cool and determined as ever. “What really happened,” I added.
Silence. The group exchanged looks before settling on Idris. Mine and his gazes fixated, waiting. And then he nodded, cutting his eyes to his boots. “Her name was Dariah.”
“The girl?”
“The witch's daughter. I never knew a last name, only her first. I was told she was a witch, and... putting her out of her misery would be best for everyone. Witches don't feel anything but pain and anger; it would be no life for her. And that she was a danger to everybody in the village.” Tamsin looked away, shoulders tensing, but the others looked breathless as Idris continued.
“The man who hired us said his son had been taken from him by the witch, and he wanted to keep it from happening again. They were too far from Acalta for the guard to bother, and no word had come back from anybody to help them. She should have been taken away, but she hadn't been, so he was taking matters into his own hands. It was dirty work and I knew it, but at the time it felt right. Stop anybody else from being hurt.”
Kye gauged my reaction. I worked to keep my expression smooth and neutral, but they could see the nausea rolling in my stomach. Hired to get rid of a witch and accepted without question, even knowing what
it would involve. Idris hadn't understood back then. None of them had; I doubted, if Idris had told them what the job really was, that they'd have argued much. “You didn't know,” I said.
There was raw guilt and pain in his blue eyes. “I did, Neyva. And I've regretted accepting it every day since.”
“What did you do, exactly?”
“He and I were the ones who knew what we were doing. I set up the parts everybody else would play, how they would help without really being involved, because I couldn't do it myself. He took care of the magic.”
“How?”
“I don't know. He said if I got him the book, he could take care of it,” he eyes flashed to Wesley. “It had magic in it, I think. Something that let somebody other than a witch use it.”
“That's not possible.”
“I don't know, Neyva, I'm just telling you what happened. We got him the book and he gave a list of things he needed. The claws. Some herbs. And... and the blood of someone close to the witch. That was the hardest find. We didn't know who the witch was. Until...until Enaelle found the little girl. The one the children in the village were scared of. I watched her until I was sure, and when I showed my evidence he was convinced, too. We agreed to use her. It was best.” The he said it like he was trying to convince himself.
Kye’s face had drained of color. “You never told me any of this,” they said.
There was ringing silence. “You knew?” Rayick asked Kye.
“No, I didn't,” they snapped.
Idris pressed his lips together. “Kye didn't know. Not all of it. Just that we needed to get the girl away from her.”
Kye set their notebook down and there was a faint tremor in their hands. Barely noticeable, but there. Anger sparked in their eyes. “You said she was in danger.”
“She was. Look at what witching families do to their children,” he gestured to me.
I swallowed hard. “What happened, Idris?”
His voice had shut down. He finished quickly and cleanly, no trace of emotion left. “We took the girl where I was told to. I made sure nobody else was there to be involved. And I killed her. I didn't stick around to see what he did. I didn't want to. I just stayed long enough to get paid.”
Aurynn shook her head, face pale. “I can't believe you agreed to any of it, Idris.”
“It was good money and a good cause, or so I believed at the time,” he said.
“Not good enough for you to tell us the whole story.”
“Do you think I wanted to tell you we were playing with magic? That we could get killed as easily as we could walk away? That, whatever she was, even if she had been evil, it was going to involve taking a child's life?”
“We all agree or we don't take the job!” she shouted. “That was the deal from the beginning. Maybe we bent the law, but we did it for what was right, not to get little girls murdered by strangers in the dead of night!”
Idris flinched. “I'm not proud of any of it, and I'm not going to pretend I am, but it's done now.”
I stood, demanding my legs stay steady. Not to think deeply on it. How I could have been in that little girl's place, or her mother's. “What's done is done. There's no point arguing. Where was this village?”
Wesley chewed on his words, eyes stone-hard again. “Two days on foot from where we are, if you take the shortcut through the woods and keep on the road from Acalta.”
Two days. That was doable. If I took enough supplies with me and moved fast, maybe caught a cart or carriage traveling in the right direction, I could get there and back easy. And hopefully quickly enough. “I need enough to get me there, then. I can find supplies in the village. What’s the shortcut?”
Idris eyed Wesley. “What is the shortcut?”
“First rule of any good thief, Idris, learn the area. Why do you think half the time I’m not here?”
I’d never thought of it, but it made perfect sense. “Can you show me it?” I asked. He looked like he’d rather chew his own hand off than agree, but he nodded. “Great. Meet me at the entrance in an hour, then. The sooner I go, the better.”
“Neyva—” Tamsin started, pushing off his place on the wall like he intended to physically stop me. I slanted a look at him. “You're not really going to, are you?”
“Of course I am.” I looked around the rough circle, taking a breath. It wouldn't be the most dangerous thing I'd done by far, but I knew why they were worried. It would have been a lie to say there wasn't a little twist of worry in my own gut. But I didn't see another option. We were past options.
I could talk to her. Convince her, one way or another. I knew I could.
“I'll be alright, and I'll be back before you have time to miss me,” I said with a flash of a smile, and then I started off.
There was silence behind me, and then soft footsteps. I knew it was Kye, but I didn't speak. They didn't, either, both of us waiting for the other to start. I gathered food from the stores, trying to decide how much would get me to the village. I didn't need much, just enough to keep from starving. I could get myself a good meal while I was there; I had the money. Maybe bring something back for them. Bread or fruits.
“I'll be alright, Kye,” I said.
“I know you will.” When I looked up at them, worry danced in their eyes, but so did something else. Something more solid and reassuring—pride? “You can handle yourself.”
“Then why try to talk me down?” I slung the pack over my shoulder.
Their golden eyes dug into mine, holding me still. “Because I care about you, Neyva. No matter how well you can handle yourself, she cursed us. And with a lot nastier curse than any of us knew.”
I tightened my grip on the pack's strap. “It'll be nothing compared to taking on my sisters. Trust me.” I took a step forward, closing the space between us and cupping their face in my hands. The faintest shadow of a smile flickered on their lips. “You trust me, don't you?”
“More than most would say I should.”
“Good. Then I'll see you in a few days.”
Kye said nothing more as I stepped around them and continued through the tunnels. Aurynn waited by the entrance, my cloak draped over an arm. I didn't know what silent signal had prompted her to see me off when the others seemed to have disappeared to deal with what Idris had said, but I couldn't deny that I was glad to see her. I took the cloak and adjusted my pack around it.
“Be careful out there,” she said.
“Careful gets boring, Aurynn.” She shot me a look and I laughed. “I will be. But no more goodbyes. I'm just running into town to pick up a witch.”
“That’s not comforting. Do you want someone to come with you? All the way, not just to the road?”
“It’s better for you to stay here. In case.” My stomach knotted itself, and I took a steady breath to keep my smile from faltering. Sarafine was out there, somewhere. “I’m getting tired of saying it’ll be fine.”
“And if you run into your sister?” Kye asked.
“Then maybe we’ll end this sooner than expected.” I stretched on my toes to press my lips to theirs, quick enough to not let my resolve waver. They tucked a stray curl from my face. “Save the worrying for when I get back, alright?”
“Come back.” It was quiet and deadly serious, but I refused to let my smile falter.
“I’ve been pretty terrible at staying away so far.”
“Alright, are we going or not?” Wesley asked as he strode around the corner, arms folded. Kye jerked away. I didn’t want the little knot of guilt to be there in my chest too, but it was. If Wesley noticed, he ignored it and levelled an unreadable look at me.
I stepped away and moved the strap of my bag. “Let’s go.” No more hesitating and stalling. No goodbyes. I had a plan, and it was time to put it into action.
I could have my family, my home, my magic, Kye—everything. If I pulled this off.
There was silence as we walked, Wesley ahead and hardly looking back to make sure I was keeping up. He set a brisk pace,
whether to get this over with, or because he also felt the time limit that weighed the air down I didn’t know, but I matched him step for step. By the time the road came into sight through the trees, the sun had passed across the sky, but there was daylight; I had time. I paused when Wesley did.
“The magic I used last night,” I started. “Sarafine might be able to track it. I don’t know how much time we have before she shows up. Be careful.”
He dipped his head in acknowledgement, and I returned the sentiment. Then he started back the way we’d come, and I faced the road.
There wasn’t time for options. There was time to act. And I hoped there was time to pull together the craziest act. I’d be gambling everything—everything—on myself and a witch I didn’t know or trust, but it was all I had.
I started walking.
The village was tiny, old, but pretty. Quiet. A scattering of little stone houses. I stood at the edge of the road, hands in the pockets of my cloak, and listened to the rumble of wheels and horse’s hooves as the merchant’s cart that had carried me here went on its way. The wind pulled curls loose from the twist I’d secured my hair into. I tucked them out of the way and started down the path that connected to the village proper.
A few young children played in the snow, rolling it into balls or carving into it with long sticks. Laughter drifted through the air. Men and women worked to either side, vanishing in and out of doorways, helped by the older boys. A scrawny cat perched on a post and watched me pass. It was so…easy. Not the bustle of Acalta or the serenity of the forest. Eyes fell on me, but nobody spoke. Nobody stopped me from walking along the cobblestone main street. I waited for the taste of magic to spring into my mouth, or for my power to react to something in the air, but it never did.
“You’re new, lady,” a small voice said. I turned to find a huddle of children watching from where they’d been building a wall with packed snow. A little boy no older than four or five, and a girl a year or two older with defiance bright in her eyes stood apart from the rest. She stepped forward, hands on her hips. “What are you doing here?”
The Ruin of Snow Page 27
