25

25

I could hear my name being shouted as the light began to fade.

It was on Tauren’s tongue, on Brecan’s lips. I could feel Mira’s hand clutch mine, and taste the brine of Fate’s sorrow from within. But all those sensations drifted into nothingness as I slipped into a pale gray void somewhere between this world – this life – and the next.

In death, time was meaningless. Only life gave it shape. I realized this fact within the span of a few moments as I died, and as Fate tugged me from Death’s cold clutches, gifting me a second chance and breathing life back into my lungs. He squeezed my heart until the rhythm suited him, and then bade me open my eyes once more .

I woke feeling numb, only to find that I wasn’t the only one who had danced with Death and returned to the living.

The instant Cyril died, the flames surrounding Ethne, Bay, and Wayra winked out. When Mira began to cry, the sky cried with her. Torrents of rain soaked the earth and everything on it. The droplets hissed as they evaporated off the charred wood beneath Cyril’s victims. Tauren gathered me in his arms. “You’re okay,” he breathed.

“So are you.” I couldn’t have been more thankful.

“I was so scared,” he admitted.

“I was terrified for you, too.” Terrified was too soft a word for what I felt when my mother whisked him from the Night Garden, or the events that unfolded afterward.

Dry coughing startled everyone… because it came from Ethne. Mira rushed to her. “Oh, my goddess. You’re alive.”

She untied the Priestess and helped her out of the pile of charred logs stacked around the base of the stake. Ethne blinked, took in Bay and Wayra’s still forms, and let out a shrill, keening sound I never wanted to hear again.

She fell to her knees with heaving sobs. “I thought I could protect them!” she cried, her hands trembling violently. Mira knelt at her side, offering what comfort she could. Ethne’s sorrow and rage were difficult to endure, but the Priestess gathered her wits and calmed herself to the best of her ability. Moments later, she stood with Mira’s help and the two of them assisted Brecan as he took Bay’s body down. Brecan hefted the Priest’s weight as the ladies unbound him .

Brecan lay Bay on the earth for a moment while he helped free Wayra, and then he carried her to his House. All the lingering Wind witches trailed behind their new Priest, mourning the loss of their former Priestess.

Mira made her way to Bay. Water flowed over her palms, forming an aquatic stretcher, and she carried him to her House.

Ethne stood in the pouring rain, staring at Cyril’s charred body. “You did it,” she whispered.

I swallowed thickly. Tauren grasped my hand and squeezed.

“You saved us,” she said.

“I’m sorry I was too late to save Bay and Wayra,” I rasped.

The flame in Ethne’s eyes had nearly been put out, but within their depths, it flickered. Her once vibrant, red robes were charred and stiff, but even they had survived. “Their deaths were not your doing. You shouldn’t blame yourself for someone else’s acts, Sable.” It was the first time Ethne had ever used my name, and the kindest words she’d spoken to me.

The Fire Priestess looked at Cyril again, raised her hand, and incinerated my mother’s body. It burned white-hot and was consumed within seconds. The second she was gone, I could breathe easier.

The Center’s pentagram paths were scorched, and the lawn was a mess of mud and clumps of thick grass.

“I think I’ll go home and rest, if you don’t mind,” Ethne finally said, exhaustion filling her voice.

She stiffly walked toward the House of Fire, her witches surrounding her with love and flame as they guided her inside. She met my eye before entering the door and inclined her head respectfully. I nodded back in silent understanding.

Tauren was still holding my hand. “Thirteen suffered great losses, but much more was saved, thanks to you.”

“When Cyril made me choose – you or them – I chose you, Tauren. I’m not sure how the witches will feel about my divided loyalty once the shock of everything that happened wears off.”

Tauren and I slept in the House of Fate in the room I claimed before he sent the invitation, wrapped in each other’s arms, both too afraid to let go. But dawn broke and with it, the responsibilities of the world returned and settled on our shoulders again.

Standing awkwardly on the steps of my House, we joined hands. Tauren’s golden eyes searched mine the same way they had when I first read his fate.

“I have to go to him. He’s probably worried sick, and that’s the last thing he needs,” he softly explained.

“I know. I’ll take you to him.”

“You won’t stay?” he asked, clasping my hands a little tighter.

I shook my head. “I can’t. There’s so much to do now that they’re gone. The important thing is that you’re safe, and that’s all that matters. The witches my mother used to strike at you will be swiftly dealt with.”

“How will you find them?”

Fate conjured an image in my mind. He had inscribed his sigil in their foreheads. They would be easy to identify now. I silently thanked him – again .

“Fate marked them. I will find them and see that they pay for their attempts on your life.”

He bent down and placed a lingering kiss at the corner of my mouth, then I closed my eyes and spirited him to the palace. In a blink we were standing outside his father’s bedroom, our sudden appearance startling the guards from their posts.

At the sound of the commotion, the King’s chamber door opened and Annalina rushed to her son, hugging him tight and crying into his neck. Her tears made my throat feel tight.

Tauren did his best to comfort his mother. He promised to tell her everything and assured her that Thirteen was safe – thanks to me. She dragged him into the room where the King waited, propped up on his pile of pillows. I met his eye and gave a small wave, which he returned. But I didn’t step foot inside.

When Tauren turned to wave me in, I gave him a small smile and hooked my thumb over my shoulder. “I’m needed in The Gallows.”

“Now?” he asked, sadness arcing through his eyes. “I thought you might stay for a few hours, at least.”

“Now.” I nodded, affirming the most difficult lie I’d ever spoken. While no one had called for me to return, my friends needed me. Tomorrow would be a day of mourning. The day after would be the first of many we would spend attempting to restore what had been destroyed. Though it was a noble enough excuse, it wasn’t the only reason I needed to leave his side. I couldn’t stay there a second longer or I knew I would never leave.

Tauren needed the following days with his father, for they would be his last .

“I wish you well, my prince,” I whispered, disappearing from the palace.

His glittering golden eyes and the look of longing mixed with disappointment marring his beautiful features burned into my mind.

I landed back on my cold, rain-soaked steps and opened the door to the House of Fate, wondering if I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life and feeling sure I had by the time I reached my bedroom.

I changed out of my sodden dress with trembling hands and laid down. When the tension finally flooded from my muscles, I let myself cry.

Lightning lit the room in fiery bursts as booming thunder cracked across the sky.