“We have to tell the others,” she said. “I…I dread telling them.”
“I’ll tell them,” I offered. I’d seen it. I could bear that burden for her, at the very least. I could work a lifetime to make up for her saving me and still come up short.
She swallowed thickly and nodded, her tears beginning anew. “Thank you, River.”
I hugged her again and held her until the sky began to darken, until she told me she was ready.
Then I pictured my Dad and Mom and let my magic take us to them.
I told my parents, Sky, and Lyric what Illana’s bone revealed, including the truth about Edward and Judith Smith.
Sky was livid. A roiling storm assembled in the blink of an eye, but no rain fell, just as no tears fell from her eyes. Thunder and lightning collided and crashed. Wind tore over the land.
Lyric cried, clinging to her slate like it was the only thing keeping her from sinking beneath the surface of a turbulent sea. Omen went to her and pulled her into her arms, hugging her youngest sister and trying her best to console her.
Sky seemed to enjoy being alone with her anger and grief, while Lyric clung to Omen as if she never wanted her to leave.
Once the shock wore off and Sky’s storm dissipated, Mom looked at Dad, then all of us. “The Smiths are in possession of dark magic and weapons spelled with it. It’s too dangerous for you to stay in any of the three villages.”
I knew Omen would argue. She was anxious to find Lindey, but it was too dangerous for any of us to step back within the Smiths’ reach.
They could bind. They could kill.
They had done both before.
“The potion she used…it felt like the same magic in the rope that bound me,” I told Mom, whose eyes sharpened.
“There are plenty of witches living in The Wilds. Most mind their own business, but when their magic is used against the innocent…” Mom shook her head. “I will find the witch responsible.”
Dad shook his head. “We need to consult with Brecan, Mira, Ivy, and Ethne before we do anything rash. They need to be made aware of the situation unfolding just outside their borders and warn the witches not to leave Thirteen’s boundary for the time being.”
“They’re already under advisory, given the witch that was burned,” Mom argued.
“They know not to go into Twelve, but what if they decide to step out of the Kingdom for a moment? How do we know there aren’t more Purists waiting for an opportunity?”
Our somber group was silent for a moment as we weighed the recent revelations against our options, and when my mother suggested we all go to Thirteen, everyone agreed. I knew it was primarily for our safety, but also that it would be more convenient for Dad and her to use Thirteen as their base of operations. They could more easily access Knox and his Guard, there was an army of witches who could protect the borders, and the triplets could see what it was like to live there. They would have an opportunity to learn more about the Houses and of Nautilus as a whole, where it was safer. I wasn’t sure how long they would stay, but was glad when all three sisters agreed to go.
Omen’s assent was conditional. “I’ll go, but only until I figure out where Lindey is.”
“If she’s still alive,” Sky muttered.
Omen leveled her with a glare and the brasher sister cleared her throat and shut her mouth, something I hadn’t been sure she was capable of until that moment.
We prepared to leave, forming a circle. Waiting until Omen offered her hand, I grasped hers tightly and spirited us out of The Wilds and into the Center of The Gallows.
24
Omen
We appeared in the center of a lawn criss-crossed with paths that formed the shape of a pentagon. Witches surrounded us, all wearing long robes in varying colors. River had said they were sorted by affinity and not family here, but it was overwhelming. I had no idea there were so many.
And the magic…It was a swelling wave that stretched above the canopy. pushing down on us from above, up from below, and in on every side. Yet it flowed. It wasn’t unyielding or harsh; it was dense and bold.
“Mira,” Sable greeted as the woman rushed to her, her braids writhing down her back like water snakes caught in a fast current. “We found the woman. Lindey is inside the Kingdom, we just can’t tell exactly where.”
“What do you mean, you can’t tell where?” I asked, letting go of River’s hand and slipping between Sky and Lyric. “Lindey wasn’t welcomed in the Kingdom. Why would they just let her back in? There’s no way she’s in Nautilus.”
Mira quirked a brow. “Allow me to show you how we found her, and how we were able to pinpoint her location.” She waved me forward as she turned and walked toward one of the five large houses surrounding us. It was painted dark blue and trimmed in crisp white, the colors of the crashing tidal wave I imagined the magic here to look like.
On the porch of the House was a large, vellum map. The sketch lines formed an enormous swirling pattern, reminiscent of the nautilus shell River explained the Kingdom was shaped like, and for which it was named.
River crouched down in front of the map and pointed to the center of the sketch. “This is the palace,” His finger slowly swirled outward, “and these are what we refer to as the Core Four. Five and Six are where the artisans live and work. Seven and Eight are industrial sectors, where our factories are established. They produce goods and electricity. Nine through Eleven are farmland. Twelve is timber. And Thirteen…is where we are.”
The Thirteenth Sector was drawn in great detail, including the pentagram lawn and all five affinity Houses. The rest of the nautilus shell was intricately depicted down to the sculptures in the art sectors and the mass of buildings in Two through Four. Sector One was tiny but filled with sprawling estates. And the palace…I didn’t even want to imagine the size if this map had been drawn to scale at all. I felt embarrassed as I realized River probably thought Lindey and I lived in squalor.
At my back, the Center pulsed with magic that felt visceral and alive. I sensed the same magic emanating from the House in front of me, almost as if its walls were constructed of nothing but the sheer will of the witches who’d built it. As if they’d poured all their power into the walls, floors, and ceilings, and then topped it off with a magic-infused roof for protection. Perhaps they did.
Mira sat opposite River and pointed at the map. “We think Lindey is in Three or Four,” Mira said, “but we’re having trouble pinpointing her exact location, which is strange.”
“It sounds like someone is concealing her,” I suggested. If Judith was able to purchase a potion to stun and kill three powerful witches, she could certainly find magic in which to hide Lindey in or out of the Kingdom.
“If we go to the sector and recite the locator spell there, our proximity might help us see through any cloaking spell and find her,” River suggested.
“She’s probably terrified,” I told them. Lindey had kept her past close to her chest until River arrived, but I knew her better than anyone. She didn’t like to leave home most of the time. Being dragged back into the Kingdom that banished her…I assumed there was a heavy penalty for those who broke that law.
River
A storm of emotion rolled over Omen’s face. Worry. Fear. Disgust. Guilt. But none of this was her fault. She hadn’t failed Lindey by going with me to find her sisters. We still didn’t know how Lindey came to be within Nautilus’ borders. If she’d played a role in the Smith’s plan, she may have left on her own accord. If she was innocent, as Omen felt she was, then the Smiths couldn’t hide her long. No longer could they conceal what Judith had done.
“We don’t know why she’s there or how she got there,” Mom said as gently as she could. Hard truths often sounded harsh. “River saw that she didn’t play a direct part in your mother’s death, but is it possible she might – even unknowingly – have been playing a part
in the Smith’s larger plan?”
Omen shook her head. “Lindey barely tolerated the Smiths, and only because they’d brought the two of us together. She’s a good person. And if you won’t take my word for it, consider Fate’s. He is very fond of her,” she promised. “Lindey would never knowingly hurt anyone.”
“Then perhaps someone is using her as bait,” Brecan suggested from behind the triplets. Sky turned to face him and stared in unabashed appreciation until Brecan began to squirm, something I’d never seen before.
Dad nodded. “Maybe that’s why the witches know she’s here but can’t find her exact location. Maybe the witch cloaking her wants you to come looking. The best lures are often the subtlest.”
“If that’s the case, the moment we step foot in her web, she’ll feel the vibration,” Mom alleged. A look of worry slid across the triplets’ faces. “So, we need to make sure we’re ready. If she’s calling on dark magic, there is only one way to fight it.”
Dad’s jaw clenched. “I don’t like this.”
She smiled at him. “You never did, but you must trust me. Let me help Omen find Lindey. She’s like a mother to her. If your mother was missing, wouldn’t you do whatever it took to find her?”
“Don’t bring my mother into this,” he grumbled. She grinned in response. “Fine. I would absolutely do whatever it took to find her, even if it meant employing the magic of a beautiful, dark Fate witch.” He reeled her in and kissed her while everyone averted their eyes. Everyone but Sky. She just smirked, then glanced at Brecan.
He was my mom’s age, but looked closer to ours. I would have to tell her later. Though, to be honest, I didn’t think she’d care about the difference in their ages.
She stared at him boldly, like a challenge she vowed to overcome. “Are you hand-fasted?” she asked him out of the blue.
He smirked. “Are you just curious, or asking because you’re interested?”
I think he meant to rattle her, but she turned the tables with her reply. “Oh, I’m definitely interested.”
Omen’s eyes widened and she looked from them to me in bewilderment. I managed to stifle a laugh just as Lyric was, hiding her smile behind her hand. I didn’t have the heart to tell Sky that Priests didn’t hand-fast. Their sole attention and duty was to the Goddess and to the witches under the care of their Houses.
My grandfather Bay was hand-fasted to Cyril before he ascended to the role of Priest, but he wasn’t allowed to hand-fast to another after the Goddess chose him.
I rolled the map into a tight coil and handed it back to Mira. “When do we leave?” I asked Mom.
“You aren’t going anywhere,” she quickly replied.
“Omen knows Lindey better than anyone. She can find her. And if she goes, I’m going with her.” With my declaration, I left no room for argument. “So if you want to give me a crash course in spell magic, I’d love to learn how to protect myself in the event I get ambushed again.”
Mom’s jaw clenched in irritation. I knew her heart was in the right place and that my disappearance didn’t just rattle her, it terrified her.
“If I can’t protect myself, no place is safe, Mom,” I tried to argue. “Not even The Gallows.”
She nodded, then focused on Omen. “Do you practice spell magic?”
“No,” Omen answered, shaking her head.
“Dark magic?”
“No,” was her answer again. “I only know how to wield stones.”
“You shield better than any witch alive,” Mom complimented.
Omen pressed her lips tightly together and nodded her thanks.
Mom finally relented, sliding an apologetic look to Dad as she addressed the sisters. “The three of you together could conceal us. We could slip into the Sector at night; Sky can use her fog, Lyric her song, and Omen can protect us with stones if things go awry. I’ll find Lindey…through dark magic, if need be.”
“How do you know how to call on the darkness?” Sky asked.
Mom straightened her spine. “My mother taught me. What do you know of it?”
Sky shrugged a shoulder. “Just that villagers sometimes murmured about dark magic and how they were afraid I’d call on it.”
“And did you?”
Sky shook her head. “I couldn’t figure it out.”
Mom smiled. “But you tried…”
“Of course,” Sky answered.
Lyric’s mouth dropped open in bewilderment. She grabbed her stick of chalk and slate, poised to write when Sky reached out and took the slate from her hands. “You don’t need this anymore,” she asserted.
Lyric’s countenance darkened. She stared at her slate in her triplet’s hand, then looked up at Sky. In a voice that sounded split into ten, she ordered, “Give me back my slate. And don’t touch it again, Sky.”
Sky immediately complied. Not because she was afraid or even because she wanted to calm Lyric by returning what she’d taken, but because she had no other choice. Lyric’s voice commanded it. Though she looked ashamed to have used the compulsion of her voice against Sky, she hugged the slate to her chest.
A tense moment stretched between them, Sky looking affronted and shaken from Lyric using her magic on her. The fact that it worked, perhaps.
Omen’s voice slid between them. “Why would you try to summon such a thing?”
Sky stretched her neck back and forth, keeping wary eyes on Lyric, before answering. “I want to learn every aspect of magic – the dark, light, and everything in between. Knowledge is power and ignorance a shackle, and I wasn’t born to live in chains. None of us were.”
“The darkness corrupts,” Mira warned.
Sky gave a smirk and nodded toward Mom. “It didn’t corrupt the Queen.”
Brecan chose that moment to interrupt, suggesting that Mom teach us a few defensive spells, starting with Sky and Lyric. In the meantime, I would teach Omen how to spirit. It was an important skill – one that might save her life if she found herself in a situation where she had to flee something dangerous.
Mira and Brecan gathered the witches in the Center to explain who we were and what was happening. Ethne and Ivy, Priestesses of the Houses of Fire and Earth, joined them. Ethne gave me an encouraging nod as Omen and I walked to the back yard of the House of Fate, situated at the top of the pentagram in the Center.
Stars winked playfully overhead, lending a lightness to the heaviness of the day. We stood in the lush grass, a few feet apart. “Thought you might feel more comfortable without an audience,” I told her.
Omen nervously thanked me, raking her hands down her skirt. “What if I can’t do this?”
“We’ll start out small.”
At her nod, I explained that she needed to feel her magic within. To gather the feeling in her stomach and pretend that all she wanted in the world was to stand directly in front of me.
Omen closed her eyes.
“Do you feel it building?” I asked, only to have her smile and shush me.
Then she vanished, closing half the distance between us in an instant. Her eyes popped open and she covered her mouth, muffling the squeal that erupted. “I did it!”
She did it! Catching her as she leaped at me, I spun her around. Her laughter died when she realized how tightly she was holding on to me, and how our lips were close enough to touch. Hers were all I could look at. All I could think about.
“Sorry,” she whispered.
I eased her to the ground. “Sorry for being such a quick study?” I teased.
She smiled, cautiously avoiding my eyes. “Something like that.”
Deciding to give her a greater challenge, I walked across the lawn. “Try this distance now.” Omen peered at the space between us as if it was a great chasm and the only way across required her to garner the courage to back up, run as fast as she could, and leap, hoping it was enough to propel her ac
ross and not plummet to her death. “You can do this, Omen.”
She gave a serious nod and closed her eyes.
“Think of me,” I reminded her.
“You’re obsessed with me fixating on you, River,” she quipped from behind my shoulder.
Surprised again by the speed at which she adapted, I turned to catch her grinning. “You’re a natural. Now, if you have to flee someone in a hurry, there are a few other things you can do to get away.” I advised her how to focus on one thing in the distance and spirit there, then another, then another. This method would ensure the witch following her wouldn’t be able to predict where she was going. Or, she could focus on someone in particular and spirit away entirely.
“So I could focus on Lindey and my magic would take me there, regardless of the distance between us?” she asked.
“Don’t,” I said abruptly, surprising us both. “Don’t go until we learn more about what we’re up against. And even then, don’t go after her alone. Promise me that. Promise to at least take me with you. And if that’s what you want to do, I won’t say a word to the others.”
She swallowed. “I don’t want to promise that.”
“You could lie to me,” I said.
“I don’t want to lie to you, either. I don’t like lies.”
I smiled. “So I’ve learned.”
When I brushed a strand of hair off her cheek, she closed her eyes and leaned into my touch. When her silken lips parted, I leaned in closer. “Omen,” I breathed. My lips hovered over hers. Our breath mingled.
Her eyes lazily opened. “Yes?”
“You haven’t promised.”
She stiffened and pulled away, chewing on the inside of her lip.
“Please,” I asked.
“I won’t go alone. If I go, I’ll take you with me.”
I wanted to thank her, but couldn’t bring forth the words. All I wanted to do was pull her close and softly kiss her lips, but I didn’t think it was the right time. She was frazzled and consumed by her worry for Lindey.
The Omen of Stones Page 20
