17. Cecilia

17

CECILIA

T he moment Vincent burst into her room unannounced, Cecilia grabbed the wooden chair from her vanity, brandishing it against him. She was certain she'd been found out for spying on one of Xander's council members, Vaughn Salvatore, the previous day while Rainer was on his scavenger hunt. Xander and Isla had set a trap and Cecilia had been tracking Vaughn to see what he would do with the information he'd been fed.

She'd been careful, but it was possible that Rainer read more into her antics than she'd expected.

Vincent rolled his eyes. "No need to make a fuss. I need your help."

"My help?" She glanced at Grant's looming figure in the doorway and dread uncoiled in her stomach. "With what?"

"Does it matter? You know the price of disobedience and if you think I'm done taking from you, I'll be happy to free you of that notion," Vincent said.

It was too optimistic to assume that the absence of her daily delivery of Godsbane had been an oversight. While the Unsummoner bracelet on her wrist kept her cut off from her witch magic, Vincent's diligence in ensuring she took a daily dose of Godsbane was the only thing that kept the remnants of her goddess magic at bay. Occasionally, in the mornings, right before her dose arrived she'd feel the faintest hint of her power returning. But it always drained away as soon as she swallowed the tonic. Without it, she'd thought she might be able to cause some havoc at court, but it seemed Vincent had other plans.

She stood a little straighter, trying to ignore the shaking in her knees. "Will this outfit do?"

Grant rolled his eyes, but Vincent just nodded. "Pants are fine for your room, but in the future I'd prefer if you wore the dresses I had made for you. It's important we present a united front."

Cecilia tried not to laugh at that notion as she followed him out the door. Stumbling along behind him and Grant, she scoured her brain for reasons Vincent might urgently need her. "Where are we going?"

"To the tower," Vincent said. "I'm tired of playing around. Cato made it impossible to tell who is helping my castle staff escape and conspiring against me. If people can't speak their sins, I'll have you dig around in their minds instead."

Cecilia attempted to stall, terrified of who might be waiting for her in the tower. "But the Godsbane?—"

"I intentionally skipped your dose today for this purpose," Vincent said, grabbing her arm to drag her along faster.

She tried not to wince at his touch, but it was impossible to feel his hands on her and not also feel the acute terror in her body. She'd tried so many things to get over that fear. She'd attempted to watch Vincent train—tracking his weaknesses so she'd know how to find her opening if she faced him one-on-one—but he mostly trained privately with Grant in a windowless room, so her opportunities were few and far between.

Vincent glanced back at her. The sadistic glimmer in his eye made her blood run cold.

She tried to mentally prepare herself for seeing one of her friends behind the tower door, but once it was ripped open and she was led into the cell, she was rendered speechless .

The combined smell of blood and mold made her gag, and Reese Reynolds sat strapped to a chair, his face a mess of swollen bruises, cuts, and blood. She gasped, taking a step back, because the person standing in front of him who'd dealt the beating wasn't one of Vincent's minions. It was Rainer.

His eyes went wide when they landed on her. Surprise, anger, and shame bubbled through their connection.

Rainer's clothes were splattered with blood, his knuckles torn open. Cecilia had to remind herself that she couldn't heal them as long as the Unsummoner bracelet was on her wrist.

"What's the matter, McKay? Was I so tough you had to bring a lady to break me?" Reese taunted. It was a relief that he was so spirited for how crumpled his body looked. Reese turned his attention to her. "Well, if it isn't the queen-to-be."

Reese's tone was taunting, but she knew he was trying to remind her to wipe the alarmed look off her face. Seeing him covered in blood transported her back to the moment Teddy had died. Shaking her hands as if she could shake the panic from her limbs, she fixed her face into a frown, despite the growing incessant hum of death whispers.

"Cecilia, we need you to search his mind for signs of treason," Vincent said. He leaned closer and lowered his voice so just she would hear him. "Rainer's methods, while compelling to most, have not made any progress. I'm beginning to see how the trickster's bullshit deal may have kept people from sharing all secrets, not just those secrets I meant to bind."

Cecilia found herself in the strange position of being mildly grateful for Cato. She immediately dismissed the thought as temporary insanity.

She turned to face Rainer, gesturing to Reese's bloody body. "Honestly, how can you be so patient all these years and so short-sighted now? How am I supposed to get anything out of him when you've beat him to pulp?"

Rainer stepped back, looking horrified and chastised. "She shouldn't be here. It's not an appropriate place for a queen," he mumbled.

"How many queens do you know?" Cecilia snapped.

Rainer winced at her sharp tone.

She knelt and took Reese's bloody face in her hands. Think, Cece. Get it together and come up with a plan .

She turned back to Vincent. "He's barely conscious. How am I supposed to get anything?"

Vincent grimaced. "That's very much your problem, dearest. Need I remind you the price of failure?"

She arched a brow at him and nodded toward Rainer.

Vincent seemed to remember himself. "The fate of the kingdom is in your hands, Cecilia. Time to rise to the occasion again and keep our people safe." He turned to speak in hushed tones with Grant in the corner of the cell.

Rainer retreated to the other corner to wipe his hands on a towel.

Cecilia stroked Reese's cheek.

He smiled weakly. "I hope I look better than your face suggests."

"Vanity won't save you," she murmured.

"Says the pretty witch," Reese whispered.

"This face has cost me plenty," she said, sounding more bitter than she intended. "How did you get caught?"

Reese winced as she shifted her hands. "Wrong place. Wrong time. He just suspects and it doesn't help that he's never liked me."

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think of a way to save him. She turned back to Vincent. "What exactly am I looking for? Reese is on the council and is privy to plenty of insider information. How will I know when I've found the right memory? It helps if I can narrow in on something."

Vincent sighed heavily. "Just find out if he's somehow feeding information to the common folk. I've heard rumors several of the Reynolds family soldiers have been helping to feed the crowd at our gates."

"Is feeding the hungry a crime, Your Grace?" Cecilia asked .

Vincent scowled at her. "It is when they're actively committing treason."

"And if I find nothing?" she pressed.

"You'll find something. I'm certain," Vincent said. "When you do, I want to see the evidence and then I want you to wipe his memory."

Cecilia turned back to Reese. She felt Rainer's heavy gaze on her and panic clenched in her chest. Sensing his agitation through their bond, she watched Rainer out of the corner of her eye, wondering if he was putting it together that the only person he'd seen resort to memory erasing since he'd woken was Vincent.

She would not make Reese a mindless husk. The days of vengeful Goddess Cecilia were over, at least when it came to allies. She'd consider revisiting that part of herself for vengeance against Vincent.

An idea hit her like a lightning strike.

"Lord Reynolds, I need you to stay conscious so that I can search your mind," she said aloud.

Then she closed her eyes and plunged into his memory. He strained against her magic for a moment before letting her in. She created a false memory like she had many times before when she was a full goddess. She was rusty after weeks without practice, but it was all she had.

In the memory, she told Reese he was going to have to carry on as if she was stealing memories and it hurt a great deal.

She pulled out of his mind and waited for his eyes to clear. When they did, he gave her a small nod.

"It's probably going to take a while," Cecilia said, hoping Grant and Vincent would leave.

She turned to look at them and saw nothing but determination in Vincent's dark eyes. It didn't seem likely that they'd leave her alone with Reese. She turned back and settled in to do it the hard way—to try to save the brother of the man who'd once saved her. She owed that much to Teddy.

She dug her nails into Reese's bruised face and he let out a yelp as if she was savaging his mind. It was impossible to tell if it was better to pretend she'd found something or nothing at all .

For his part, Reese did a great job of acting, though he was probably already in so much pain it likely wasn't acting at all.

She turned back to Vincent. "I've only seen him around the castle and running errands in town."

Vincent narrowed his eyes at her. "Well, if you don't find anything of use, then simply wipe his mind."

Her jaw dropped. "He's a member of your council and one of the major landowners of Argaria, Your Grace. Surely you don't mean to cause a stir."

Vincent turned to Grant. "Are there others in the family line?"

"Two more boys, the oldest eighteen," the guard said.

Cecilia scowled at Grant, planning his death for the hundredth time since the day he'd held her down while Vincent carved up her leg.

"Eighteen is plenty old enough to take over and he'll be easily managed," Vincent said.

Cecilia felt Reese go rigid behind her. "You must be joking. Wiping Reese's mind will raise a lot of questions."

"And I welcome those questions." Letting out a belabored sigh, Vincent took a step toward her. "Dearest, I'm sure you don't want to give me a reason to doubt your allegiance."

"Not at all, my sweet," she said. "I simply wondered if Lord Reynolds might have some knowledge worth holding on to. Once I take his mind, it will be lost."

"Can't you store it?" Vincent asked, eyes narrowed.

She shook her head. "Not the entirety of someone else's memory."

Vincent pursed his lips. "Well, I guess we'll have to risk losing it."

She turned back to Reese. "I'm sorry to say this will be quite uncomfortable, Lord Reynolds."

Bringing her hands to his cheeks, Cecilia pushed her goddess power into him, and he let her in immediately. She planted a memory for him to act as pained as possible before sitting there like an empty husk.

He played it very well, but by the time his shouts turned to whimpers, Cecilia's nerves were as shot as if she'd actually done as Vincent requested. She felt sick and exhausted, and she called up every bit of grief from the past few weeks to bring tears to her eyes as she turned back to Vincent and Grant.

"Happy?" she asked.

Vincent poked Reese's shoulder. Reese sat slack-jawed, staring at the wall.

"You really did it."

"Of course I did," Cecilia huffed.

Vincent sighed as if this was an enormous inconvenience to his day. "Very well. I'll have Xander send word to the family first thing tomorrow. Rainer, you'll lock up. Grant, with me."

Vincent and Grant left Cecilia in the cell with Rainer and Reese.

Cecilia bent low so Rainer wouldn't hear her and whispered, "I'll be back soon. Hang in there and keep up the act."

Then she brushed past Rainer and walked out the door. He pulled the bars closed and turned the key in the lock and she followed him out of the tower. Rainer locked the heavy wooden door behind them with a resounding click.

He turned to face her with a coldness in his eyes that made Cecilia both angry and terrified for him.

"Lady Reznik."

"Cece!" She only came up to his chest, but it didn't stop her from giving him a shove. "Is that what you are now? A big man who tortures people nearly to death? You'll make yourself a weapon because you don't know what else to be? Are you so proud of what you've done?"

Rainer crossed his arms. "I'll do as my king commands."

"And if your king commands you to jump off the top of the castle, will you do that also?"

"If it will save my kingdom," Rainer gritted out.

"How far you've come in just a few days. Eloise must be really compelling."

Rainer crossed his arms. "She is, actually."

Cecilia could not catch her breath. She'd heard so little about their courting over the past week, she'd hoped that it had fizzled .

Cecilia stared up at Rainer, searching his face for the man she loved—the man who had been horrified when she'd broken a few bones in Davide Savero's hand. But there was no sign of that Rainer. Was it fair of her to not accept him like this when he'd always accepted all parts of her?

" There's no part of you less lovely than the whole ," he'd said.

It wasn't that Cecilia was frightened of his violence; she was more terrified that it would chase away what sweetness Rainer had left. Her heart ached for how lonely and angry he felt now. It was easy to underestimate your effect on someone when you were around them all the time. Now that he had forgotten, she could clearly see how much damage unrooting herself from Rainer's memories had on his personality.

"What do you want from me?" Rainer asked.

"I want you to think for yourself for once. Why is the king having you torture his own council members? Does the rest of the council know?"

Rainer frowned.

She arched a brow. "Does that seem like protocol to you? Does it seem like the kind of thing that will garner good will?"

He said nothing. She saw the doubt in his eyes, but it wasn't enough. Rainer couldn't be trusted to do the right thing as he was now. He was too driven by the need for approval and Vincent was the perfect surrogate for Raymond McKay. The king hadn't stopped singing Rainer's praises and rewarding him for his good work.

She shook her head. She'd need to use Rainer if she wanted to get Reese out in one piece.

"Come here," she snapped.

Rainer frowned but walked toward her and gasped when she tugged him into a hug. She called up her power of hope and pressed it into him. He shivered, then relaxed against her as the tingling power pressed into him.

"What is that?" Rainer asked.

"It's called a hug. Gods, that slayer must have really done a number on you if you don't remember basic affection," she teased .

Rainer sighed. "I mean the magic that smells like your skin and feels like sunshine."

"It's hope, Rainer," she said, reaching her fingers into his pocket to steal the tower key.

Leo Reznik had taught her to pickpocket when she was seven years old, and she'd perfected it with years and years of practice. She'd only ever used it for silly things, like leaving notes in Xander's pockets or sneaking biscuits from Aunt Clara's kitchen. These stakes were considerably higher.

She craned her neck to meet Rainer's eyes as she drew away, carefully dropping the key in her own pocket.

"Why do you look at me like that?" Rainer asked.

"Like what?"

"Like you're waiting for me to tell you something important."

Cecilia sighed, patting his chest. "Maybe I am."

Then, she brought her hand to his cheek and sent him a memory that he needed to abandon his watch and go to the library to read the entirety of Fairy Tales of Novum, Volume One .

Once he disappeared down the hallway, she dashed down the hall to a passageway that led to Xander's suite.

She popped out of the passageway into Xander's room without warning and nearly took a punch to the face from a woman she'd never seen before. She ducked and spun away.

"Cece?"

Cecilia stared at her, trying to place the familiar voice. "Jess?"

"Goddess bless, you scared me to death," Jessamin said, and Cecilia pulled her into a fierce hug.

"I scared you ? You're not supposed to be here. Do I want to know why you're wearing someone else's face? I can see a bit of you in there, but gods, you surprised me." Cecilia laughed, looking over the woman who had Jessamin's eyes and voice, but much shorter hair and much darker skin.

"Never mind. We can talk about it more later, but right now we need an immediate extraction," Cecilia said, meeting Xander's eye across the room. "Reese Reynolds is in the tower and he's in very bad shape. I had to pretend to steal all his memories and I don't know how long he'll be able to hold up the ruse before they just try to kill him."

Xander looked panicked. "Can he walk?"

Cecilia shook her head. "Not without a healer. Rainer did a number on him."

Xander cringed. "If you can sneak Magdalena in to heal him enough to walk, Isla and I can get him beyond the wards once it's dark. He just needs a way to let the outside team know to come pick him up."

"What about Chris?" Cecilia asked.

Running a hand through his hair, Xander considered it. "He could leave word at the brothel, but it's risky. If Vincent suspects Reese, no doubt Chris will be close behind."

Cecilia shook her head. "I think he needs to get out too. He and Reese have done enough. We need them safe, or they'll become a tool that Vincent can use against us."

"He won't like hearing that."

"He doesn't have to like it. He just needs to get out," Cecilia said. "I used the lack of Godsbane today to send Rainer to read a whole book of fairy tales and bought myself some time to get Magdalena up there, but I don't have forever, so I should go."

"We'll be ready by the time he's done." He grabbed Cecilia's hand before she could duck back into the passage. "Do be careful, love?"

She nodded and disappeared down the narrow corridor. She made her way downstairs to the healer's suite, the constant brush of cobwebs on her face setting her nerves on edge as she fingered the heavy metal key in her pocket.

When Cecilia stepped out from behind the tapestry in the healer's suite, her gaze landed on Mika and Magdalena huddled in the corner by the fire.

"What's wrong?" Magdalena asked, hopping to her feet.

Cecilia looked down at herself, realizing how much of Reese's blood had transferred to her clothes. "It's not mine, but I need you to come heal a prisoner so we can get him out. "

Mika shook her head. "Mags, you can't keep doing that. It's too dangerous and you're too important to this movement."

"I would do it myself if I could," Cecilia said, holding up her wrist.

Magdalena met Mika's gaze. "We do what we have to, dear. You know this. We are at a critical moment and we can't be selfish. I'll be fine."

"I'm going to be with her and I have my goddess power now," Cecilia said.

Mika handed Cecilia a dagger. "Take this too and be back in no less than thirty minutes. Any longer and her absence will be noticed."

It took Magdalena a half hour to heal Reese enough that he could stand and walk on his own. She mended broken ribs, fingers, internal bleeding—every injury a reminder of how brutal Rainer had been. When she was finished, she slathered Reese's wounds with a salve to prevent infection until he could get to safety and have Sylvie take care of the rest. The pungent smell of the salve hung in the air of the cell.

Reese was exhausted and, after such a long day, struggled to keep his eyes open, prompting Magdalena to burn some morning root under his nose to help jolt him awake. As embers from the burnt roots dropped to the prison floor, Cecilia stamped them out.

Finally, Xander and Isla entered the tower, helping Reese out of the room and into the passageway. Cecilia locked the door behind them, sending Magdalena down to the healer's suite. She turned to go find Rainer and return his key when she rounded a corner and slammed into his chest.

"Lady Reznik."

She frowned at him. "Guardian McKay."

He winced as if it hurt to hear her using his formal title after weeks of insisting on calling him Rainer.

"What are you doing up here still?" Rainer asked .

"Looking for you. I thought perhaps you'd be around here brutalizing another member of the king's council."

He crossed his arms. "I was doing what was required of me."

"And you're back for more?"

Rainer's hands flexed on his biceps. "I'm back because I'm supposed to be on guard duty, but I seem to have misplaced my key."

"That sounds irresponsible," she taunted.

"I was disoriented after a tiny witch yelled at me for being a brute," he said.

Cecilia looked past him and gasped, and Rainer turned. She launched into a coughing fit to cover the noise as she dropped the key on the ground.

"What was that about?" he asked.

"Thought I saw a ghost, but it was a shadow from a guttering candle." Cecilia shrugged, her gaze angling toward the ground. "Is that the key?"

Rainer picked it up, trying it in the tower door, which groaned open. Cecilia held her breath, hoping he wouldn't go in so Xander and Isla would have more time to get Reese out.

"Rainer," she said. "Do you like to hurt people like that?"

He kept his back to her, his hand poised on the door. Shame surged through their bond. "You don't have to like your duty to do it. I do what's required, Lady Reznik. I do what my king asks of me." He sighed, hanging his head before turning to give her an exasperated look. "You should try it sometime."

"Oh, did I not just do that? Wipe the mind of a council member who did nothing wrong and risk losing support of a small region of Argaria so that Vincent could feel powerful? Didn't you watch?"

Rainer looked down at the floor. His jaw clenched, then he pulled open the tower door and marched into the cell. She followed, trying to think of a way to slow him down. Her brain was too frozen in panic to be of much assistance.

Rainer barked out a curse as he tore the cell door open and ran inside. She could lock him in, but then she would definitively give herself away as an accomplice. Using her goddess power was a possibility, but she felt so guilty for using it on him for something minor earlier that the thought of taking away more of his memory made her nauseous.

"Where the fuck is he?" Rainer asked.

"Reese?" Cecilia marched into the tower, her eyes widening as they fell on the empty cell. "He couldn't have escaped on his own. I wiped his whole mind. He'd be lucky if he remembered how to walk, even if you hadn't beat him to a pulp."

Rainer sniffed loudly. "What is that smell?"

Panic tightened Cecilia's chest. The scar salve and morning root . The cell still reeked of them.

Cecilia should have stalled him longer. Rainer tore around the cell, checking under the cot and even peeking out the small window as if a man Reese's size could have fit out of it. Finally, his eyes came to rest on the crumbled herbs on the cell floor. He picked them up, eyeing them carefully before bringing them to his nose to smell.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked.

Cecilia crossed her arms. "Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean I know every herb in the two kingdoms, Guardian McKay."

Rainer frowned, his eyes narrowing on her, but instead of asking anything else, he stormed past her and out of the cell to sound the alarm. Once he was gone, the breath rushed out of Cecilia. She didn't know if the gods could hear prayer from within the wards, but she sent up a silent plea that Reese and her friends would be safe.