Chapter 39 Ren Monroe

Ren had been watching the sky.

So far, she'd seen two carriages arrive. One landed by the southern gates, where she'd entered. A second was landing to the north. She had no way of confirming who was inside either of them. Thugar had not returned, though a servant had been tasked with meeting her every need. Ren suspected this was partly to do with good manners but mostly to do with having someone keep an eye on her. Maybe they thought she was going to steal a golden paperweight on her way out. The servant vanished, however, when they heard the sound of boots echoing down the hallway.

Landwin Brood had arrived.

In the carriage that landed to the south.

"Apologies for my delay," he said, crossing the room. "I had matters to attend to in the city."

He slid out of a coat, draping it over the back of his chair. He was holding a lone satchel that appeared to be empty, except for a few papers. He set it down in his lap.

"I don't mind the wait," Ren answered. "I know you're a busy man."

"I am. Like you, I've been so very busy." He patted the satchel in his lap. "Now. I understand that you've been rethinking your position. It's also my understanding that you visited my son in Nostra."

Ren's throat bobbed only slightly. She'd known there was a possibility that he would figure that out. His spies were good at what they did. Not to mention the Hairbone Valley was very much Brood territory. Most of the locals in those towns would see them as one of their main benefactors.

"I visited him, yes. I needed to really know what there was between us. We met in the middle of a tragedy. One that we barely survived. And when we got home, I had just a few months with Theo. Most of them full of various obligations. We were not given much time to enjoy a normal relationship." Ren heaved a pretend sigh. Like it was all so very difficult. "At the Collective, I met other people my age. It was… easier to imagine another life. I felt like I needed to go visit Theo and really figure out if we were meant to be with each other. Especially considering what being together would mean. I was in Nostra for a few days. Long enough to make up my mind."

Landwin Brood snorted. "And what? You found my son to be lacking? Gods above. I wish he was here to witness the reward for this kind of foolishness. He stoops to bond with you. He stubbornly resists a severance. A boy who is destined to be matched with any number of princesses, and he chose you. But you will not choose him. What a humbling moment this will be for my son. Good. He is long overdue for such a lesson."

Ren knew it would not serve the show she was putting on, but she felt a burning need to defend Theo. She liked him too much to let his father talk that way about him.

"You make it sound like this is his fault. I would choose Theo if that meant I was just marrying him, but to marry him is to marry your family. The choice isn't between Theo and some other person. It's between him and enough money to secure my entire future. What father bids against his own son's affections?"

That drew a real smile out of him. It was as if Ren had finally struck a chord that Landwin Brood liked. He reached for the satchel, extracting a few papers. He set them on the table.

"I'm glad you brought up the subject of your payment. After all, we are here to negotiate the terms of your severance. Your letter mentioned that you hoped I might find it in my heart to be a little more generous. I was willing to do that—until some of my own research finally came through. I had a full magical analysis run on the waxway room at Balmerick. Borrowed a friend of yours, actually. A boy named Pecking? He's fully synesthetic. Quite a gift."

Ren had felt so in control. Now the conversation turned—and it was not turning in her favor. "Pecking is no friend of mine."

"That's true. He's not. Which made him even more eager to help me. Remarkable that you could make such an enemy in such a short span of time. Bravo. Now, while the results were not perfectly conclusive, we did manage to determine that someone cast a coil spell in that room. Do you know what coil spells do?"

Ren nodded. She could feel the heat crawling up her neck. "Of course I know what they do. I was the one who cast that spell."

Landwin looked surprised by her admission. "You admit to it?"

"Yes. When I went back to visit the room. After everything that had happened. I don't know. It was silly, really. I was trying to… bind the memory of them all. I cast a coil spell. It didn't really do anything. Just fizzled in the air. I guess it was more symbolic than anything else. I just didn't want to forget the people we'd lost. But yes. I was the one who cast the coil spell."

This was a prepared lie. Ren had performed these actions for precisely this moment—so that she might have an explanation at the ready. Unexpectedly, Landwin began to laugh. She'd never really heard him laugh. It was a brittle and lifeless sound. "See, that's the best part. According to Pecking, there were two coil spells. Do you know why there would be two coil spells, Ren Monroe?"

She said nothing. Of course she knew why. She always knew the answers to their stupid questions. Landwin was leaning forward in his chair, like a predator preparing to strike.

"Not only were there two coil spells, but they were both cast in the same direction. Both cast in the same general area. Pecking had his theories, but you just provided an even better answer. The final piece of the puzzle, really." Landwin tapped the documents on the table. "There were two spells because you cast the first coil spell. On the day of the accident. That's why all of your travel distances merged in the waxways. You know, I looked back at the report. Everything you and Theo said to the authorities. There are descriptions from him about everyone else in the room. Where they were standing. What they said or did. But Theo didn't describe you at all. He couldn't stop talking about what you did after landing in the forest. All your brilliant magic. But not a single word about how you behaved in the waxway room on campus."

Landwin's eyes were boring into her. Ren was trying to summon explanations, but each one felt less and less likely. She could not possibly trust herself to speak.

"Curious, isn't it? That he didn't see what you did. It's almost like you were smart enough to wait until no one was watching. And then, for some unthinkable reason, you cast a coil spell in a teleportation room. The travel distances merged. You got all of your friends lost. Subsequently, you got most of them killed. And then when you saw the chance to bind yourself to my son, you took it. And ever since then you've been tugging on that survivor's guilt to make sure he stays in love with you. But I have to wonder, Ren Monroe. If he knew about this, what do you think he would say then?"

Distantly, Ren was aware of Theo. There was that familiar pull across their bond. He could probably sense what she was feeling. The numbness that was spreading. A sort of helpless fear. She ignored the pull and focused on the task at hand. She could not risk Theo witnessing this moment.

It would ruin everything.

Landwin Brood looked perfectly satisfied. Ren couldn't believe he'd actually figured it all out. She thought she'd been so clever to cast the spell again and cover her tracks. That no one could possibly perceive the difference between those two spells, cast as they were, perfectly overlapping each other. She'd made an error, and her professors had always been fond of telling her that errors in the real world had consequences.

"My new proposal," he said. "You can work for Seminar Shiverian. I'll write a letter to them myself. In exchange, you will sever your bond with my son. Immediately. And you will get nothing else. If you accept this offer now, you have my sworn goodwill in recommending you for their house."

Ren sputtered. "But… that's way less than before.…"

Landwin smiled. "Indeed. That is precisely how a negotiation works. It is called leverage. Maybe they don't teach this down in the Lower Quarter. But when one person has more power than the other, they are better positioned to negotiate. I hope the alternative to this course is obvious. If you do not accept my terms, I will take all of this information to Theo. I will tell him exactly what happened and the part that you played in it. And then I will ask him to sever the bond himself. You're right. It's possible he'll say no. It's possible he'll still trust you. But how much confidence do you have that he'll keep you around?"

Ren sat there, pretending to be shocked by it all. It wasn't hard. She actually was a little shocked. True, she was not here to actually sever herself from Theo. It was all a ruse. But now there was a small satchel full of information that could ruin her future. Even if she won today, she might lose tomorrow. Theo could not be allowed to learn any of this. She was trying to figure out what to say when a servant shadowed into view by the entrance. Landwin Brood waved them away, too busy relishing the moment, only to watch his servant ignore the command and enter the room without permission.

"Sir, it is urgent. At the gates."

He looked annoyed that his victory over her would be interrupted. Ren did not smile. She did not gloat. That part would come later. She was doing her very best to continue to look stricken by this turn of events. Landwin stood impatiently.

"You have until I return to decide what you would like to do."

Ren nodded, watching as he departed. As soon as he was out of sight, she darted over to the window. In the distance, there was movement. Dust rising over the hill. She could see soldiers running. Great flashes of magic. Could it really have worked? Had Nevelyn actually gotten the army through the gate? Ren's next duty was to make sure the Brood family didn't seal themselves in the main houses. It would be hard for them to do it now—they'd already allowed one of the wolves inside the walls.

She started walking toward the hallway, trying to remember the layout of the house, when the bond between her and Theo roared to life. It hammered into her like a two-ton anvil. Ren stumbled sideways, colliding with a bookshelf, and had no choice as she was ripped away from the sitting room.…

No, no, no… Theo… what are you doing?

Her feet set down in snow. She expected to see the castle or maybe Nostra. Instead, she found herself in the heart of a forest. At first, it looked unrecognizable. And then she noticed the tracks in the snow. This was the trail that Theo's predecessors had built. The same slopes she'd witnessed him sledding down when she'd first visited. But where was he?

Footsteps crunched in the snow behind her. Ren whipped around. Dahl Winters was walking down the trail. The thin girl stalked patiently forward. She looked utterly transformed. This was not the mousy servant girl who always hunched her shoulders and avoided eye contact. Dahl stood tall, walked confidently, and held a wicked-looking wand. Ren could not help feeling like she was watching an ancient huntress stalking its…

Prey. She's looking for Theo.

The girl walked right past her. Of course. Ren was there but not there. She turned, following, and saw the obvious signs of an accident. One of the sleds had veered off the path. Ren stumbled to the edge at the same time that Dahl arrived there.

Below, through gaps in the trees, she saw Theo. He'd fallen a long way, though the snow where he landed was thick and untouched. Likely it was the only reason he wasn't dead. He was staring up at the ridge where Ren stood. His eyes looked unfocused, and blood was running from his nose. Dahl made a disgusted noise and then started making her patient way down to him. It was clear that she was not going to help him.

"Hey!" Ren shouted. "What are you doing?"

The girl didn't hear. Didn't even turn. Ren felt helpless. She reached for the horseshoe wand on her belt. She took two steps forward and aimed a spell at Dahl's back, but no magic came.

"Shit."

She followed Dahl down the hill. What else could she do? It felt the same way that moving through Theo's memory had—last year, when they'd faced Clyde on that bridge. There was a resistance. A thickening of gravity that made Ren feel like she was walking underwater.

"Please," Theo said. "Please help me."

He was reaching out. She realized he was not looking at Dahl. He was staring just over the girl's shoulder, at Ren. He could sense her presence. Ren raised her horseshoe wand again and attempted another spell. Nothing happened. Not even a fizzle of magic.

Dahl navigated around a larger snowdrift and stopped a few feet away from him. Ren waited for Theo to raise his own wand. Anything to defend himself. It took her a second to remember that Vega was on her shoulder, not his. Theo did not reach for his waist, either. Ren saw there was nothing there. He didn't have his other vessel for some reason. He had no way to defend himself at all.

"Help," Dahl repeated. "Look around, golden boy. There is no one here to help you. It's just the two of us. Gods, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this. All of the damn chatter. All of your ceaseless conversation. Having to pretend to enjoy the company of a Brood. Finally, your time has come. Just had to wait for my brother to get through the pass first."

Theo's breathing came in uneven gasps. "Your brother?"

"Oh. Yes. That's right. We have not been properly introduced." She made a mockery of it, seizing his hand and moving it forcefully up and down. The motion dragged a painful hiss from him. "I am Ava Tin'Vori. A survivor of House Tin'Vori. You know, the one that your family tried to burn to the ground. You should have made sure we were all dead. Huge mistake."

She kicked him in the stomach. Ren felt that pain flick across her bond. She could not believe what she was hearing. Nevelyn and Dahvid had claimed their sister was dead. Mat Tully had even reported that Nevelyn visited the graveside once a week. This revelation explained their initial reaction to the news that Theo had taken the post in Nostra. They'd already had someone on the inside.

"I've always wondered what death would feel like. Ever since that night. Down in the tunnels. We could smell the bodies burning, you know." Ava knelt down beside him. Ren's own breathing hitched slightly. She didn't want Theo to die, but at the same time, she could hear her own pain in Ava's words. "That's not a smell you forget. And it wasn't even the worst part. The end of the tunnel led to the canal. We had the best view of the harbor from there… and the three of us got to watch our parents' ship as it burned. As they burned with it. I was seven years old."

Ava traced an idle finger through the snow. Theo wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the spot where Ren stood, his lips moving, struggling to form words.

"Seven. You see shit like that when you're that young and you become fascinated with death. What's on the other side? What comes next? How does it feel? Does your soul leave your body? Is there even such a thing as a soul? I had so many questions about it. My brother and sister would get annoyed by them, so I used to sneak out at night and talk with priests. Random strangers. I'd ask everyone I could. What did they think? What comes next?"

Ava took her feet again. She pointed her wand down at Theo.

"You'll have to tell me when you get there."

Theo and Ren both cried out at the same time. They both mentally reached for their bond. Theo gave a heaving, desperate pull. Ren gave a frantic, final shove. Vega was the unexpected answer. Ren watched as the stone bird flew from her shoulder and landed on his. An impossibility. Ava startled back at the bird's sudden appearance. Her wand tip was already igniting with a spell. Vega's flight created a path for Ren to travel.

Impossible, breathless, but real.

Ren Monroe moved through space and time. As if she had her own private waxways. This time, her feet truly set down in the snow. She felt the cold and the wind of that dark forest. It was all real. She raised her wand at Ava Tin'Vori and cast the first stun spell that came to mind.

But what roared out of her wand was something more. Powered by all that emotion and desperation. Powered by her bone-deep fear of actually losing Theo. Her spell lit the entire hillside up with blinding light. It struck the girl right in the chest. Like a backhand from a god. There was a great clap of thunder, and then Ava Tin'Vori was thrown through the air. With so much force that Ren lost sight of her vaulting through the trees. No one could survive a drop like that. Ren collapsed at Theo's side.

"Are you okay? What hurts?"

"You're here," he gasped. "Actually here. How did you do that?"

"I traveled across our bond."

He closed his eyes for a second. "That's… not possible?"

"It's bond magic. Historically—"

"Ren. Not now. No history right now." He offered a small smile, and then his eyes widened. "Wait. You're here. You can't be here, Ren. You have to be there. At the estate. My father…"

"Your father."

They had the same realization. She could not simply leave Landwin Brood to his own devices during the attack. Ren was supposed to be there. She was supposed to limit his options, forcing him into certain actions. She could not do any of that from this wintry pass.

"Push me back," Ren said.

Theo nodded. "The opposite… okay. You pull. I'll push. Get ready."

It had to work. They could not take down House Brood and allow Landwin to survive. If he found refuge with one of the other houses, nothing would change. Ren stood.

"I'm ready."

Theo was groaning with the pain. After a second, though, he nodded to her.

"All right. Vega. Go."

With all her mental strength, Ren pulled. She could feel Theo pushing on the other end of their bond. Vega fluttered through the air, landing on her shoulder, and Ren's vision of the surrounding forest was snatched away. The world vanished. She vaulted between here and there, and the magic set her back down in Landwin Brood's office. Something was wrong, though. Ren felt like she was still falling. Almost like she'd overshot the landing somehow. She could feel the magic burning and she was briefly afraid she'd end up like Clyde, seared from the inside out.

Instead, Theo stumbled into the room with her. He fell straight into Ren. The two of them collapsed together. His weight was too much for her. Theo let out a guttural cry of pain.

"No, no, no… I pulled you too hard. Theo, you can't…"

He wasn't supposed to be here. Ren had wanted him to be in the mountains—somewhere safe while they finished burning everything down. They were meant to come back together and sift through the ashes. But now he was here.

Ren reached for their bond, hoping she could push him back across, but it felt like setting her hands inside an inferno. She pulled back, hissing with pain. Their connection was on fire. All scorched earth. Not dead, she knew, but certainly unusable for now. They'd pushed the magic too far already. Ren helped Theo stumble over to the chair she'd been sitting in. Outside, there were skirmishes happening everywhere. Individual fights. Smaller units working together. Ren could barely tell who was who.

"Your father… he was just…"

Footsteps echoed down the hall. The shadows stretched and flickered. Landwin Brood appeared. He took three strides into the room before realizing there was a new guest. He held a polished dragon's tooth in his right hand—a unique choice of vessel. Ren had only seen him use his signet rings for spells.

"Theo? What are you…"

Ren saw no benefit to talking him through the sequence of events. Far better if they used the element of surprise. She'd waited long enough for this. She raised her horseshoe wand and cast a thundering projectile. As expected, the counterspells built into Landwin's clothing activated. They devoured most of the impact, so that the only effect was a slight sideways stumble. He steadied himself on a nearby bookcase while Ren let loose another spell, and another, and another. She was going through her list with calculated efficiency. Physical magic, fire, acidic. Anything she could do to eat away at the edges of his shields.

She was about to call for Theo to help her when a concussive blast rushed past her from the left. Her bond-mate stood there in proper battle stance, even though he was clearly hurt. They locked eyes for a second and then began to move forward. Spell after spell struck home, pinning Landwin Brood in on both sides. This was one of Able Ockley's favorite tactics. A barrage of successful strikes would activate defensive magic. And if defensive magic was active, offensive spells were nearly impossible to cast.

Ren circled to the right and timed a barrier spell with one of Theo's offensive castings. It webbed the entryway with invisible magic. Landwin could still run, but passing through that barrier would cost him now. She swung her wand back, mentally preparing her next casting, when Landwin Brood spoke again. His voice echoed strangely. As if he were elsewhere, and his voice could not fully carry the distance between worlds.

"My son," he said. "You have made a grave error."

He raised the vessel in his off-hand and snapped his fingers.

Ren cast a shield spell at the very last moment but realized she wasn't the target of Landwin's wrath. Vega shot instinctively across the room to Theo. The bird dragged Ren's summoned shield across that distance in her claws. Theo's eyes went wide as his father unleashed a spell that shook the entire castle. Darkness pulsed out from him.

All the light in the room—all the light outside, too—briefly blotted. Ren's shield made it to Theo just in time. It caught the direct blast before splintering inward. She could only watch as Landwin's spell unmade the world around them. The back wall exploded outward. All the windows vaporized instantly. The tables and the chairs, reduced to nothing. Theo was writhing on the ground. Ren knew if he'd taken the full spell, there'd be nothing left of him but ash and bone. There was no time to rush to his side. Landwin Brood was turning. In her direction.

His wand tip ignited as he cast a second spell.