Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

T he crowd was silent for a heartbeat; no sound of breathing could even be heard in the ballroom. And then, from the side of the room, a woman spoke.

"I will show you, Odyssa." Camelya stepped through the crowd and made her way to the stage. Her eyes landed on Eadric's body before lifting back to mine. "I know where he keeps it, and I would be honored to give it all to you and Tallon."

"Camelya." Tallon acknowledged her with a deep nod. "Thank you for your cooperation."

"Thank you for freeing us," she said quietly, so no one else would hear.

I narrowed my eyes but did not reply.

She shook her head. "Think whatever you want of me. Kill me after I get you the treatment if you wish. But let me do this. My daughter is still on the outside, and I'd like to help you save her."

Turning, I looked at Tallon, searching for his opinion. He seemed to know Camelya far better than I, and of anyone in this room besides Zaharya, I trusted his judgement. He nodded. I lifted my chin and met Camelya's eyes once more. "Where is it?"

Before she could reply, there was a commotion at the back of the hall. Someone, a desperate soul, charged Zaharya and was trying to grab her and shove her out of the way. My anger snapped out and my marks took flight and soared over the crowds, striking like a viper at the man who was so foolish as to lay his hands on her. Unlike Eadric, there was no long, drawn-out moment of his death. The marks—the magic—struck once, and the man fell convulsing and bleeding to the ground.

"No one touches them." I didn't need to know that Tallon hadn't been the one to amplify my voice that time; I could feel the surprise beneath his carefully schooled features.

"The other vials are hidden in the wine cellar, Odyssa," Camelya said quietly, drawing my attention back to her.

I will accompany her and ensure she returns, Sylviana spoke. Her head turned up to Tallon. May I show my true form now?

There was no chance for me to ask what that meant, because as soon as Tallon offered a huff, an eye roll, and a small nod, Sylviana prowled in front of us and changed . As a cat, she'd been abnormally sized, too large for the features she had, but this was beyond that. Her body shifted and shimmered as she grew even larger, her features shifting out of a house cat and more into something better suited for sitting in the trees and stalking her prey by night.

Nearly sitting at my waist, Sylviana sank back on her haunches and looked up at me. The only thing about her face that remained the same was her eyes, and when she licked her chops, that forked tongue. Her yellow eyes sparkled with amusement. Are you ready, Odyssa? They are going to see me now. It always gets a rather…visceral reaction.

I knew the exact moment she revealed herself to the ballroom because the entire crowd let out a collective gasp, and one lady in the front screamed before fainting against her companion. It filled me with an indescribable joy that this creature, who had only ever been kind to me, exacted so much fear from these horrible people.

I nodded to Camelya, who was pale and trembling. "Sylviana here will escort you while you retrieve it."

A hushed, forced silence fell over the ballroom as they departed, the doors echoing loudly behind them as they closed. Tallon kept his eyes on the crowd, never staying on one person for too long, assessing the threat constantly. My magic may have been cooperating in the face of the current situation, but I could feel my energy fading, and if the crowd truly wanted us dead, they vastly outnumbered us.

As if thinking it brought it to life, the partner of the lady who'd fainted surged toward the stage, screaming, "Traitors!"

Before I could react, Tallon's own magic was holding the man by the throat. He slowly walked forward, his shoes clicking on the mirrored floors as he approached the man.

"You would die for your prince?" he asked the man, nodding down at where Eadric's body still lay. The man did not answer, so Tallon shrugged. "So be it."

The crowd's murmurs were almost loud enough to drown out the choking breaths of the man, but not quite. Again, I did not retreat into my own head at the sound of them. My focus remained entirely on Tallon, on the bright defiance in his eyes, on his relaxed jaw and loose shoulders. How I wished to be as at ease as him. But I would not relax until I was back in my home, until I saw Emyl with my own eyes.

He turned his back on the crowd as the man slumped to the floor and he returned to my side. A frown tugged at his lips and he reached for my hand, sending those warm tingles up my arm to settle in my chest. "It's almost over, my wolf. I swear it. And then we will get to your brother."

I nodded, but the softness in his eyes, only for me, emboldened me to add, "And then, we will have that conversation about us."

The answering smile was wicked, and his voice was like the black velvet that draped from the ceilings. "I'm not sure how much of a conversation it would be, but yes, we absolutely will."

My face and neck flushed as heat coursed through my body, and I was immensely grateful for the high neckline of the dress that would, at least, cover the worst of the redness.

His face turned serious once more. "I want you to know that I am proud of you. What you did here tonight, I understand it might be difficult. You are a good person, and this…" He shook his head as if he couldn't find the right words. "I am proud of you. Your grasp of your magic is phenomenal, and…"—he stepped up closer and bent his head to my ear, his voice turning teasing—"to be quite honest, that you have this much power is making you even more devastatingly attractive than you already were."

I couldn't find the words to reply, to tell him that it should have been hard, taking not one but two lives, but it was perhaps the easiest thing I'd ever done. If he thought it should have been difficult, I didn't know what he would think of me if he knew it hadn't been. I bit my lip. "I?—"

Sylviana once again rescued me, this time by returning with Camelya, who was clutching a bulging black pouch in her hands. The crowd fell into that forced silence once more, everyone waiting for Tallon or me to say something.

Sylviana looked between the two of us, still standing close together and Tallon's back still to the crowd, with an amused expression. What is happening here?

Tallon narrowed his eyes at the cat. "Does she have it?"

Sylviana inclined her head.

Camelya's trembling hand held the pouch out towards me and I snatched it, pulling it tight to my chest and opening it. A quick count later, and adding the two I'd retrieved from Eadric's body, we had fifteen vials. Enough for everyone in Veressia. I swallowed back the burning tears of relief and nodded at Tallon.

"Good," he said with a smile. He nodded out toward the crowd, still gathered and waiting with bated breath for their fates. "They are yours to decide what to do with."

"Me? But you?—"

He shook his head, bending to press a quick kiss to my lips. "I am having my vengeance through you, Odyssa, as you have yours. Eadric is dead. I am free. We are free. They are yours. Do what you think is best."

My magic flickered in that pit in my chest as I surveyed the gathered revelers, both pleased by the confidence in me and anxious to get out of the castle as quickly as possible. I hardly wanted to be responsible for these horrible people, but Tallon was right that something needed to be done with them.

They would atone for their actions, or rather their inactions, in one way or another, that much I knew with certainty.

"Your prince is dead, and now you all must make a decision," I called into the room, pulling their attention back to me entirely. Some in the front shifted nervously at the sight of Sylviana sitting protectively in front of me. "If you are still loyal to the corpse there on the floor, you can choose to die here and now. You have my word Tallon will make your deaths quick."

They looked amongst themselves, waiting for someone to speak up. No one did.

"If you are loyal to Veressia and her people, and you want to atone for your appalling behavior while protected behind your walls of lies, then you will help me distribute this treatment throughout the kingdom and help whoever you can, however you can. Whatever it takes."

The crowd came alive, small murmurs at first until people were talking loudly amongst themselves. I tensed, waiting for someone with foolish plans to try rushing us again, but it seemed the warning blows from earlier held true.

Tallon nudged my back, and I took a deep breath. "Whoever knows where the prince kept his money, I want it distributed throughout Veressia as well. To those who need it most. To those who lost the most first." I stepped forward to the edge of the stage, letting coldness into my voice. "If I discover any of you take any of that money for yourselves, you will not like the outcome."

Silence washed over the crowd on a wave of anxious shifting. Finally, someone spoke. The voice was so soft and timid I could hardly hear it through my fever-addled ears and the ringing that still filled them. "Does this mean we can leave the castle now?"

"I insist upon it." I nodded to Camelya. "Camelya is going to oversee getting the treatment split out and distributing it throughout the kingdom. None of you are to leave without seeing her first and ensuring you have both direction and treatment to take with you. By dawn, everyone is to be out of the castle."

"What happens at dawn?" someone shouted. "Why do they need the treatment now? It's over!"

"At dawn, Castle Auretras will become the tomb it was always intended to be." I turned my back to the crowd and let out a shuddering breath. It was nearly over. "And there are those who've been afflicted who are not dead yet. They will not die ."

"Why me?" Camelya whispered, her eyes wide.

"This is how you make your amends," I said. "We will stay until just before dawn to help, but I have somewhere else I need to go."

She nodded and something shifted in her eyes, becoming much more like the Camelya I had known in my time here. She snapped her fingers at the crowd, and one young man jumped and rushed over, his eyes wide and flickering between Tallon and me. "Yes, Camelya?"

"Go get me that map of the kingdom from the library. Bring it here. And bring some parchment and ink, too, lots of it." She waved him off and peered out over the crowd again, finding her next target. "Luca, come here please."

An older man with white hair and wrinkled hands approached. His body held none of the unease the young man's had but did have a weariness that made him hunch slightly. "Yes, Camelya?"

"We need to split these vials into small enough doses that everyone can take some with them. Is there anything in the medical suite that can aid in that?"

Tallon and I shared a look, but he shrugged and turned his focus back on Camelya. I supposed if he had a problem with my approach, he would have told me by now. My heart was pounding still, and the events of the evening were beginning to catch up to me, my vision swimming slightly. I stepped closer to Tallon, not listening as the older man gave his response. "I am not sure how much longer I will be upright," I murmured.

"It's the magic. I wish I could take the burden from you," he replied, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. Offering me his strength. I leaned into it readily. "We are almost finished here, my wolf. You can make it a bit longer, I promise."

The older man disappeared through the doors into the castle as well, and Camelya turned to me. "I need the others. Can they come off the doors now?"

I bit my lip, unsure. Tallon stepped in smoothly though. "Yes, I will watch the crowd. If anyone goes near the doors, they will be stopped."

She hesitated for a moment, and then gave a decisive nod, stalking through the crowd to fetch the others. Tallon and I both watched the crowd intently as they returned to the front of the ballroom, but no one tried for the doors.

"Take those damned things off," I commanded as soon as they were close to the stage. "You will never need to wear those ever again."

At once, all three of them ripped the red fabric from their heads. Elena and Maricara watched me suspiciously, but they lacked the usual venom in their eyes. Zaharya kept her eyes on Sylviana but still approached me, pulling me into a fierce hug. "You did it," she whispered into my ear. "We're free because of you. Thank you. "

"We are all free now," I replied, hugging her back just as tightly.

Separating, she went back to the others, and Camelya directed them to clear a table from the side walls and bring it to the stage. "And can we please do something with his body?" she asked while looking at Tallon.

The flicker of a smirk was so brief I almost missed it, and he nodded. "Of course."

"What will you do with it?" I asked, eyeing the bodies that littered the stage.

"Take them to the Beyond."

"Oh."

"Would you like to accompany me? I don't need to go with them, but if you'd like to see the Beyond you remember, but under different circumstances, now would be ideal while Camelya organizes everyone." His voice was soft, and I knew that if I said no, he would respect it.

Perhaps a part of me wanted to say no, but another part of me was curious as to why Tallon was so adamant I was wrong about the Beyond being a nightmarish place. His room had been nice enough, but the craggy canyons were far different. "If I want to return, we can?"

"Of course, at any time."

"Alright, I will go with you."

"Camelya," he called. "We'll return in just a moment."

She nodded absently, still talking with Zaharya.

A wave of Tallon's hand and the ballroom disappeared, leaving only us and Eadric's corpse, now in another world. The Beyond looked similar to what I'd seen before, all dark, soaring cliffs and rivers of crimson in the carved-out canyons below. But it was different now.

Instead of the icy-cold wind that had whistled and pierced my skin, there was a gentle breeze, almost warm against my face. There were no screams, no imminent feeling of being watched, no pit of dread curled in my stomach waiting for something bad to happen. The cliffs did not seem daunting, and the river meandered slowly.

"How?" I asked on a shaking exhale.

"I suspect the castle was influencing things some, but most of all, I think you were afraid of the darkness inside you. You've accepted it now, accepted the truth of yourself."

"Why would you ever leave here?" I asked. "If it's so nice, why did you leave?"

"Do you see anyone else here?" He shrugged and looked around at the empty void. "Occasionally, someone would pass through. And of course, I could speak with Kalyx in the palace, but I was lonely, Odyssa. I was a herald of Death— people were not pleased to see me. They ran in terror when they discovered what my presence meant. I wanted to live, wanted to know what it felt like for someone to be happy I was with them for once."

"And Eadric just made it so everyone still feared you anyways," I murmured, my heart breaking for him.

He ran his thumb over my lower lip. "Until you."

"I was afraid of you at first," I admitted.

His laugh was like silk washing over my body and I couldn't stop from smiling with him. He moved his hand to cup the back of my head and pulled me ever closer into his body. "No, Odyssa, you were never afraid of me. You were curious, certainly. Suspicious and angry, absolutely, but never afraid."

"I should have been afraid."

"Yes, you should have. But I will be forever grateful that you weren't. You are what I've been looking for my entire existence, my wolf, and I will never let you go."

My heart soared, secretly pleased by the possessiveness in his voice. No one had ever wanted me before, only what I could do for them. He was what I'd been looking for, too, and what I'd never allowed myself to have. I would never let him go either; he was mine now. "Kiss me, Tallon."

His eyes flashed silver, and then he did.

When we returned to Veressia and the ballroom, Camelya had somehow formed the crowd into four long lines in front of the spread of tables across the stage, stretching back to the end of the ballroom. At the head of each line stood Camelya, Zaharya, Maricara, and Elena, each with a map in front of them and a stack of boxes at their elbows filled with tiny glass vials. I watched as each person stepped up to the table and, after a short discussion, was directed to a section on the map and given a vial of crimson from the box.

The lines moved quickly, and before long, the ballroom was only filled with people waiting to be given leave for their work. And just in time, too, as the sky began to slowly lighten. Not quite dawn yet, but near it. I looked up at Tallon, who was staring out over the room, assessing everything.

"Is this the right thing to do?" I asked, suddenly uncertain of what I'd commanded.

His gaze softened when he looked down at me. "Yes, absolutely."

"We're ready," Camelya called, interrupting only more of my hesitancy.

Before I could respond, Tallon nodded at her, and I squeezed his hand to express my gratitude. "Send them off, then. We will be leaving as well. Clear the castle and then lock the gates from the outside." He paused. "All of the gates, Camelya, even the ones to the tunnels. Once the gates are locked, throw the keys into the river. No one will ever enter this castle again."

I was practically vibrating by the time everyone had filed out of the ballroom, anxious to get out myself and get to Emyl. Every moment that passed, I felt my muscles grow tighter, coiling like a spring. Finally, finally , the ballroom was empty of those who'd been here as guests. It was solemn now, only us six still remaining.

Despite my anxiety, I wanted to address the others. "You are all free now, and I hope you return home and find what this castle has taken from you."

"You as well." Maricara surprised me as the first to respond. "This castle brought out the worst in us all, but it brings me hope to see how you overcame that. I hope we can all do the same."

"Be safe in your journey," Tallon rumbled from behind me.

We all said our goodbyes to each other, Tallon reminding Camelya again about his instructions. Another moment, and then Tallon and I were alone in the ballroom at last. I let my mask fall, both the physical one and the emotional one. I was trembling with the need to get out of this castle. "Emyl now, please."

Tallon nodded, pulling off his own mask as he pulled me to his side. A whirl of his magic surrounded us, and when it fell, we were in the street in front of my house, and the dawn sky was red no longer.

I swallowed back the burning tears in my throat and approached the door. Testing the handle, it gave way, unlocked.

But the smell of death and decay rushed out of the door to meet me, and I fell to my knees, unshed tears burning at the back of my throat.

I was too late. Emyl was dead.