Chapter 63

Molten rage turned to ice when I stepped into the suspended room and saw what Gelvira had done.

Mist from the waterfalls blew straight through one wall of windows and out the other side, water beading on my face, the shirt becoming a second skin.

Tristan was fucking nailed to the floor with long shards of glass spiked into the marble, blood spreading in a shockingly bright-red pool beneath him. He lifted his head an inch, fury burning in his eyes. "Get out of here, Anaria. This is exactly what she wants."

With every move, the glass sliced deeper through Tristan's skin, widening the wounds which had severed every vein. Stay very still, I thought as hard as I could, and his eyes widened.

"Let him go."

"Give me back what is rightfully mine."

"Gladly. Release Tristan and I will give you the magic. I never wanted this fucking power anyway."

"Oh, Anaria. You are too much like your father, I'm afraid."

I ignored the barb, spreading my hands. "Take it. I never asked for any of this. Take the power and release Tristan." I tried to take a steadying breath, but he was losing so much blood…

Ever so slowly, the shards of glass twisted, Tristan groaning through his teeth, his eyes finding mine, fury turning to fear. I lurched forward a step and the Oracle shoved me back with a laugh.

"I should kill every single one of them and make you watch. You always had a too soft a heart for a queen. Far too soft for you to survive in this universe. They were always your greatest weakness and my greatest leverage over you."

Blood dribbled from the corner of Tristan's mouth, his hazel eyes dimming as his body sagged.

"No. Please." I backed away, scanned her face for any shred of mercy, and found nothing. I fell to my knees.

"Take the godsdamned magic. I'll give you back every drop. All three realms worth. Let him go. Stop hurting him," I panted and triumph gilded the angles of her face.

"Say you're a thief."

"I…what?" I gripped the keystone in my hand, the surface warming against my palm. Finally, fucking finally the keystone was going to work.

"Admit you are a thief and a liar and you never deserved the magic. I want to hear you say the truth out loud."

"Fine. I'm a liar and a thief and never deserved the magic. Happy?"

"Infinitesimally so."

"Then take this cursed magic and be gone." Stars danced around us, not even the mist-laden wind powerful enough to carry them away.

A chill trembled down my spine at what I was about to do.

At what I was risking if I failed.

She lifted her arms and the room closed off. Shadows spun through the suddenly still air, wrapping around me, cloyingly sharp like they were filled with thorns. The Oracle threw her head back and groaned. "I have never tasted such power. So new. So undiminished So cold."

My mouth dried out. "Get on with it. Bad enough you're taking my power, I don't need to listen to your little victory speech while you steal what is rightfully mine."

Her face smoothed out.

Oh, that pissed her off.

"But this could be my only chance to say everything I've wished to say, sister." Her shadows tightened, like a reptile squeezing the life out of me, thorns digging in deep. "Surely you won't deprive me of that simple joy?"

"Do I have a choice?" I winced as pain lanced through me, cruel claws scraping against my insides, carving out every last shred of Fae magic like meat out of a pumpkin.

She didn't answer, too focused on stripping me bare. The floor rumbled, cracks spreading from beneath our feet, up the walls, across the ceiling.

Gelvira poked curiously through my head as she stripped my magic away, but I hadn't lied.

Not about anything.

I'd never wanted this power, never wanted to be part of this conspiracy. The only good thing—I managed to raise my head enough to look at Tristan—was them. That I'd gotten this chance to know these males. To love them. To discover I was worthy of love.

Because of them I withstood her assault, let her whittle me hollow from the inside, black eyes glowing with delight as she rent me to pieces, her hatred eternal and final.

I writhed and grunted, bracing for death, but never, ever begged.

Not even when the edges of my vision went black, muscle, bone, and blood held captive as the marble floor sped up to meet me with a sickening crunch.

I cameto staring into Tristan's eyes, all that beautiful golden light ebbing away, only the pulse beating in the hollow of his throat proof he still lived. I reached out my hand, but only managed to drag my fingers through the very edge of the pool he lay in.

Blood coated the inside of my mouth in a thick layer of copper.

I couldn't release the stone, the warm surface glued to my hand, my fingers tightening down until my palm began to burn, but unlike before, the stone didn't boost my magic.

It was the keystone that drained the final vestiges of my power away, drop by precious drop.

Everything from Caladrius. Solarys. Varitus.

Until I was an empty husk.

Gelvira crouched down, poking her nail into the wound on my cheek deep enough that if I had the strength, I would have screamed. "You might be asking yourself why the stone didn't work this time. Because these only work for their true heir."

Gelvira pried the stone from my trembling fingers. "Thank you for keeping my heart safe."

My face scrunched in confusion and a smile took over her face. "How delicious. The mage didn't tell you what the stones really were, did he? Poor little princess, doomed to never know the truth until it's too late."

Was she talking about Bex? Everything was so confusing. There was a searing pain at my center from all that magic being ripped out of me so brutally. Spots danced in my vision, but I focused on the glowing stone in her hand.

Not glowing with warm light.

Dark, burning fire surrounded her fist, wreathing the keystone in an aura of shadow.

"Beautiful, isn't it? You can see why this never truly belonged to you. It was easier for you to believe your magic saved you all those times when it was really mine."

My mouth worked. "But…Carex…"

"I couldn't let your father sacrifice you so quickly, not when you still had to kill the kings and drop the wards, so I arranged for Torin to hide the keystone behind the wyvern's eye. Not that she knew that was me. But a pawn who believes they have a crumb of power is far easier to control than a desperate one. And you, Anaria, were remarkably easy to control."

I hung my head, enduring her cutting gaze on the back of my neck like the edge of an executioner's cleaver.

"Disappointing this was over so quickly when our game could have stretched out for centuries."

As the Oracle stepped away, ripe with power, my beautiful, starlight magic dancing around her, she dragged her fingers down my cheek, leaving a trail of pain behind.

"Goodbye, sister. This world was never meant for the likes of you. This world deserves to be ripped apart by predators, not coddled by dreamers. But, if it's any comfort, you've fought harder than your predecessors."

"You'll…honor your word?" My eyes flicked to Tristan dying beside me, the blood loss slowing as if his heart was almost done beating. Stay with me, I thought, wishing he could hear me. Stay with me, Tristan. This isn't over yet.

His hand, stretched out toward me, twitched ever so slightly.

"My word? You mean the meaningless promise I made to stop my brother and not to touch any of your…friends?" Helpless anger spiraled through me as I saw vengeance written all over her beautiful face.

"My brother is a god." The keystone disappeared into thin air. "This world is ours to do with as we wish."

"But…" I managed to push myself up on my elbows.

"Your so-called friends are already dead. After today, Blackcastle will be my first stop, and that city will burn."

"You'll let him destroy this world…like before?" Every word cost me, but I had to ask.

"I'll shove him back in his cage, then spend the next two centuries fixing your mess. But killing him?" Her teeth gleamed. "My brother has committed many sins, but he is still my brother. I'll save what's left of this world, but I'm not sacrificing my own blood so vermin like you survive. That's not how this works."

This was the end, then.

"As far as the others…" Her smile turned cruel. "You really don't believe the Whitehalls were transformed by the ward falling? I knew the second you were in danger your males would take you far away from the fighting and bring you here. You lot are nothing if not predictable."

She leaned closer, the wind tangling her dark curls around her face. "I turned every last Descendant left in Varitus into a monster. Hundreds of those creatures…against three of you and one spineless mage. Your little rebellion is over, sister."

I took a shuddering breath, tears leaking down my face. "You have what you came for, now slither back under your rock."

"I will, though slithering is more our brother's forte, I think."

She paused before she reached the door. "You never deserved to be queen. Never deserved the throne, or the adoration in their eyes, or their love. It was always supposed to be me."

Her footsteps faded, then the air in the castle lightened, the thready light of early dawn spilling in, filling the room with rainbows everywhere light caught the curls of mist.

She meant for us to die here.

I crawled to Tristan, hands and knees sliding against the blood-slicked marble, the wind shrieking past. I reached for him…then curled back my hand.

I couldn't help him until I was healed.

Without the Fae magic my insides were hollow. Black stained the ends of my fingers. My face, where the Oracle touched me, was swollen and hot, thumping with pain, and one glance at my leg showed dark veins spreading up my thigh.

I was fucked if I didn't get this poison out of me.

Tristan was fucked if I pulled those slivers of glass out and couldn't stop him bleeding out.

Everythingwas fucked if we didn't stop Corvus.

I braced myself, grappling for the end of that cold, silvery thread, silence roaring inside me. There was no more starlight, no more shadow, nothing but an empty void where the Fae magic had been.

My darklings shifted, slowly unwinding themselves from their coiled nest, revealing not only the glistening silvery thread of witch magic, but the depthless pool waiting beneath.

The one I'd somehow, impossibly, managed to keep hidden from the Oracle.

One tug sent power roaring out of me, spilling through the room with a rumble, skating down my leg, instantly mending the infected, gaping wound, my cheek cooling as the cut healed.

Eradicating Corvus's blight.

I sent up a new shield around the room, cutting off the wet wind.

This magic was different.

Like an avalanche barreling down the side of a mountain versus listening to a piano concerto. Witch magic snapped and snarled like a wild, untamed animal, and that was exactly what I needed right now.

No more shadows and starlight.

I would rend Corvus and Gelvira apart with my claws.

Wrapping the bottom of my shirt around my right hand, I firmed my grip on the first sliver of glass pinning Tristan down. I sucked in a breath and yanked, swallowing down bile as the sharpened point slid free. Cold, white magic danced over him, mending and fixing as if this power instinctively knew how to heal.

And maybe it was my imagination, but I swore that gleaming pool of blood at my feet receded.

By the time I tossed the sixth—and last—shard onto the floor, Tristan was pale as death, the puddle nearly gone. I knelt down and touched the dried, crimson edge.

"I never told you why wyvern blood is so coveted by the witches, did I?" I choked down a sob at the sound of his raspy voice, crawling the rest of the way over and curling up on top of him, blood be damned.

His arm came around me. "Wyvern blood heals the most grievous wounds. Along with your witch magic, you saved me."

I poked him in the ribs. Very, very gently. "That's a big secret to keep, Lord DeVayne."

"Not as big as keeping your magic from the Oracle. How did you manage? I thought she took everything."

"She was so busy gloating, she never thought to dig deeper. I gave her all the Fae magic, so technically I even kept my word."

I opened up my hand and we both gazed at the ice-cold flame flickering above my palm.

"Now I have something different. Something the Oracle didn't foresee, and she's going to regret the day I was born."