Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

“ T hat makes a lot of sense, actually.” Luc’s voice broke through the stillness in Rose’s head after reading the journal entry that used Andie’s full name.

Her suspicions had been confirmed. The how was more devastating than she could have imagined.

“ Which part?” she asked. The entire thing made perfect sense. It wrapped all the pieces they had together in a nice, neat bow. Rose didn’t have siblings, she couldn’t even begin to imagine Cassandra’s heartbreak. She’d suspected Celeste had done something terrible, but this surpassed her expectations. Celeste and Andie’s—Cassandra’s—journal was part research, part confession.

Cassandra had been human once.

Her entries stopped after waking up beyond the veil with a host of veil cats surrounding her and calling her one of their own. What followed was wholly different. A confession of a woman responsible for the lives of many and deciding their care was worth the existence of others—was worth the price of her sister’s human life. It took Rose longer than she cared to accept who Andie was—what Andie would become based on Celeste’s actions.

Taking it all? Desperation could drive one to reckless actions. She knew that. But this seemed particularly careless.

The gods’ carelessness had driven Cassandra’s twin sister to a level of desperation Rose couldn’t comprehend. To steal her sister’s decision from her—to force her to a life beyond the veil. No wonder Cassandra didn’t take kindly to visitors.

“The Suden only have these journals because they were encased within a protected area on the continent, even after the Flood. It took a lot of earth magic to…excavate them,” he replied.

The fortress Celeste built around her village with the magic from the spirits she stole would have been the only thing protecting the text. No wonder so few remain. How could Arie and Aurora not have known this had happened? She shook her head, realizing this was further proof of their negligence.

Her gaze raised to meet Arie’s. Seated next to her, he looked a little sad, but not like he wanted her pity. Next to him, Aurora’s shoulders fell as she finished the last passage.

Arie coughed. “Well,” he started, “I guess we know why Cassandra dislikes us so much.”

Rose searched his features. Regret and remorse were plain to see, but something like fear etched the lines of his face. Her mind called forth their conversation over breakfast. She didn’t know all he’d done—and he wasn’t sure he wanted her to. This was part of that history, she guessed.

He feared her reaction.

She meant what she’d said. He was different now. The way he carefully considered her reaction showed it. A god so separated from the continent, incapable of noticing his people in need, or this level of blood magic enacted—he was nowhere in the god before her.

“That’s generous phrasing, Arie.” Rose smirked, reassuring him in the only way she knew how. The situation wasn’t funny. Rose couldn’t imagine the weight that led to Celeste’s actions. She seemed to understand what her decisions would cost but was more than willing to let her sister pay the price.

Rose nodded at Arie in reassurance as she teased him. He smiled softly in return.

The god had plenty of faults, but he wasn’t the same as the callous god not even described on the page because he was so remote. He hadn’t let Rose be alone on this continent. He’d supported her when she had no one else. She respected that he was trying to do better.

Cassandra though… This didn’t help their dealings with Cassandra, but at least it made them make more sense.

“What would emptying that lake of spirits have done to the realm beyond the veil?” Rose asked, already fearing the answer.

Arie and Aurora’s gazes met in silent conference. It was one of shared guilt. “It would not have been good,” Arie said.

Aurora flipped through more pages in the journal. “We obviously don’t have Cassandra’s perspective after the act. It appears she visited her father once after the lake was emptied, but wasn’t in a sharing mood.” Aurora closed the book for now.

Rose nodded. She knew blood magic could be powerful, but what Celeste described was more than power. It was an explosion of hope and desperation. Her words indicated it combined all four of the god’s elements to protect a single village. Rose hadn’t heard of anything like it. Though, looking at the god’s faces in this room, the shock still plain in their features as they read, it was clear it was a well-kept secret from all.

“We didn’t intend to keep it a secret,” Luc said. “I don’t think I’ve read all of this—I’m not sure we knew that blood magic and spirits saved the village.”

Rose believed him. Without a connection to the realm beyond the veil, the information in the journals added little value other than the earth magic farming techniques the Suden fae had pulled from the pages. “ I know. I also don’t know what anyone would have done with the information up to this point.”

“Cassandra had to have given herself to the land to save it. It must have been another twist on a blood magic offering like her sister describes, with the land soaking up Cassandra’s blood when they visited together.” Neither sister had been in a particularly good situation, but reading Celeste’s account, she knew the consequences of her decisions—she made them anyway.

“I agree with that,” Arie started, pulling Rose’s focus. “I assume, on some level, she would have had to offer her entire human life. I’m not sure what Cassandra is, but I assure you, she’s no longer human.”

“Would that have been enough to save the realm?”

Arie shrugged. “I don’t know. I think the fact that it still exists proves she figured it out. Whatever price she had to pay, she paid it.”

“At least the reasons she hates you are becoming clear,” Rose said wryly.

“This does bring back the question of why she let Zrak stay,” Luc added. He was right. It wasn’t just dislike Rose could sense between Cassandra and the Osten god.

“He promised her someone would come. Someone who could help.”

“Whatever she did could still be some kind of temporary solution. She could be holding her realm together through sheer force of will; she seems capable. The important part is that Zrak promised her some kind of relief. She is waiting for…something.”

“Zrak seems to do that a lot.” Rose let the words sit in her mind. How could he always gain others’ confidence in his plans and ideas? He must have built enough credibility with Arie and Aurora over the years that, eventually, he’d been correct enough times for them to believe him. But how was he always right? So many things about the Osten god didn’t add up. He might be on their side, but his secrets seemed more abundant than gusts of wind across Compass Lake in the autumn.

“The realm doesn’t seem ruined,” Rose stated the obvious as she stood. It reminded her of Zrak’s words from Luc’s memory.

“You’re so well adept at preventing ruin.”

Her fingers opened and closed into fists at her side, itching to be interlocked with Luc’s as she thought. His voice in her head was a balm. It soothed her nerves to have him there—but his physical presence was a grounding force—one she desperately missed. If Cassandra’s fix was only temporary, had she held it in place for over five hundred years on her own?

“I know,” Aurora said, her forehead scrunching with thought. “I knew she was powerful, but this is something else.” Rose watched as Arie’s hand rested gently on Aurora’s lower back as she thought.

“It makes sense, at least, why she closed her borders,” Arie said. “If Celeste’s villagers tried to capture a veil cat, likely to help with the collection of spirits for magical energy…that was another level of betrayal for Cassandra.”

“Especially given that Cassandra was the veil cat in that case.” Rose didn’t discount the connection between Cassandra and her cats. “Do you think they helped her?”

If Cassandra tying herself to the land wasn’t enough, maybe the veil cats had also done so. Celeste’s journal didn’t focus much on the cats other than to say they had already considered Cassandra their leader before Celeste emptied the lake.

Rose was afraid she knew part of the answer. It was the only logical one, given everything they knew about balance in a realm and what it required. Zrak wanted to leave, but he was filling the role of shepherding spirits beyond the veil now. A veil cat, or veil cat shifter, was most adept at this role. The only question was, why not let her host of veil cats take over again? And if, as Rose suspected, she waited for a veil cat shifter from the continent, what did Cassandra need from the shifter, and how long could she afford to hold out for one?

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Rose tried again as she and Carter entered the Burning Garden on Vesten Property. She may be frustrated, but she took the time to appreciate the orange, red, and yellow blooms. After Carter had read the new journal entries, his mind was made up. Like Rose, he believed Cassandra needed a veil cat shifter from the continent.

Carter gave her the glare her comment deserved and closed the metal garden gate behind them.

It was a fair reaction. Rose’s interpretation was the same as his, but she didn’t agree with him walking up to Cassandra to tell her what he was and offering his services in exchange for Luc and Zrak. Rose shook her head as she followed him to the willow tree.

They hadn’t been able to change his mind. He was set on traveling beyond the veil and walking right up to Cassandra.

“What if she takes the whole fight-first approach again?”

“We agreed. If that happens, I’ll shift. It should catch her attention.” Carter ran his hand through his shaggy brown hair. “I felt the onslaught of magic last time as much—maybe more—than you did. I know what she’s capable of, but I’m sure of what she needs.” He sighed heavily. “You are, too. We’ve been over this. I need you to trust me.”

Rose sighed. “I do, Carter. I hope you know that. I just don’t want you to feel an undue burden here. We might agree she needs a veil cat shifter for something, but that doesn’t mean it has to be you. It doesn’t mean you revealing yourself is the way to find out what she needs one for is for either.”

Carter’s answering sigh was heavier than Rose’s. He was right. They had been through this before—at length in the Norden library. After their initial discussion, Arie flew to Osten and Vesten houses to retrieve the Compass Points. Everyone agreed with Rose’s conclusion. Zrak was waiting for a veil cat shifter to take his place, shepherding spirits beyond the veil. Rose suspected Cassandra needed the shifter for more than just Zrak’s replacement though.

“It’s my turn to shoulder something for the continent. Juliette has been sustaining her people for hundreds of years. You unmasked an imposter within the Compass Points and tracked down a rogue god. I haven’t had anything to give yet. This is my thing. I get to decide how it unfolds.”

Rose understood that sentiment. It was the same way she felt when they were trying to learn how their magic worked together. Evaluation of power and weapons-making were her things. She’d felt the weight of the continent on her shoulder as she’d tried to find a way for them all to work together.

“Just know you don’t have to do it alone,” Rose said. It was the one piece of advice she could offer.

They may still not know what Cassandra needed a veil cat shifter for—but they were confident she needed one. Rose didn’t understand Cassandra’s magic nearly as well as Carter did, but even she could tell the veil cats had a unique connection to the Lady of the Veil. It made even more sense knowing Cassandra could also shift into one of them. But Rose feared what Cassandra needed of him.

None of them were asking Carter to be their bargaining chip. He had kept his shifter form a secret for his entire life. They wouldn’t force him to share now, especially since none of them knew what the Lady of the Veil would ask of him. As he stomped through the garden, his determination clear in the direction of his path towards the willow tree, Rose knew she wouldn’t change his mind.

Rose feared the Lady of the Veil might already know Carter’s secret. She had some experience with the way another’s magic called to her. In her case, Luc’s magic called to hers as much as her magic called to his. Cassandra may be more aware of Carter’s unique magic than they were willing to admit.

Carter, of course, argued it didn’t matter. He said if anything, it meant she wouldn’t try to attack them upon their arrival. Rose let out a sigh as she walked.

“You can’t stop him.” Luc’s words through their connection were unhelpful but true.

“ Oh, I know that,” she mentally whined. She couldn’t stop him—nor would she if she could, as Luc had reminded her of his actions under Mount Bury. It was his choice. No matter how much she wished she could bear the burden, she had already proved they were stronger together. That meant she had to let each of them shoulder their share of the weight they carried.

No, Rose wouldn’t stop him. She just wished they had more information. Based on the events detailed in the sisters’ journals, the only one with the information they sought was The Lady of the Veil herself.

“You know this is the right move.” Yes, she knew that, but that didn’t mean she had to be happy about it. Luc’s words weren’t as reassuring as he thought they were.

“ I heard that.”

Rose could almost hear the smirk in his tone. It gave her a brief moment of comfort before jumping into the unknown—again.

“Are you there, Rose?” Carter’s voice broke through her thoughts and silent conversation with Luc. Carter’s head was cocked. It must not be the first time he’d tried to get her attention.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“I was just asking if you’re ready. We’re here.” He gestured to the tree as he parted the curtain of willow branches, and they walked under its canopy.

The tree looked normal now. The last time they came, a crack appeared in the trunk at the veil cat’s growl. Rose hadn’t given it a second thought as to whether the tunnel that opened had remained so. Apparently, it had closed.

“I’m ready if you’re ready,” Rose said.

Carter glared at her again and then shifted into his veil cat form. He raised his paw to let her poke him with Aurora’s blade—covering the tip with drops of his blood. His growl shook the land. She wrapped her fingers into the scruff of his neck, a now familiar practice, as the tree cracked and the tunnel opened.

As if in retaliation for her last comment, he didn’t give her a moment to adjust her grip before he was off and running at the tree. They plunged together into darkness, sending Rose and Carter beyond the veil again.