“Lower your enchantment, Jeriyah,” Cas demanded, marching to the old man. He watched the wall with a bored, blank look, whispering mumbles and oaths to keep his makeshift ward intact.
Cas hated the Dark Magic enchantments. They were an abomination to Warren’s Wards, to the Light Magic that birthed the skill.
Rimemere would rather put souls in peril than ask for assistance from Wardens in other territories—though they were scarce nowadays. The wretched enchantments often glitched or caused tunnels to crumble, since they were mostly used beneath land. Or, like today, when they seemed to be testing his morals and his patience. Because he could just knock Jeriyah out… that would drop the thing.
As if sensing the unspoken threat, Jeriyah took a step back. “Trust in her, boy.” The Scribe gave him a long look. “Trust.”
“Screw your trust, Jeriyah!” Cas yelled, stalking toward the stone, to the wall of thick, oily ripples that would tear him to pieces if he tried to cross. “Let me back in.”
Cas’s magic rebelled inside him, begging to be unleashed. He gritted his teeth and cut a small wound along the edge of his tattoo to relieve some of the charged, incessant surge of power. Having two gods call to him was madness, especially when mixed with adrenaline.
Take the blood, Warren, and let me breathe.
Cas knew Loumallet wouldn’t take his blood offerings—he never had. He had no temple.
How he continued to grant him Shadows was a mystery Cas hadn’t bothered to decipher.
“Please, Ezra is doing us a favor,” Cade spat, still kneeling on the ground. His face oozed red. “I won't be yielding my status at the end for her—we will have more fun fighting amongst ourselves for the spot in the Semmena court.”
Cas peered at him over a shoulder, slow and lethal. “You were never going to make it to the end, Lane.”
The laugh the man exhaled gave Cas just the edge he needed to continue beating him. Until the crackle of the enchantment made him pause.
Sol looked devastating.
Her pants were torn, tattered at her knees and thighs. She dragged herself forward with pure will, her boots pulling the vines wrapped around her ankles. The sleeves of her blouse were ripped from her shoulders, her pale hair now completely out of the braid she usually wore. Every time she was near, he saw the embodiment of the sea, lethally beautiful. Right now, though, she looked like a storm.
Cas stepped forward, unsure what to do.
Her skin was smeared with mud and soaked from the rain, blood, and cuts and??—
“Sol,” Cas breathed, reaching to the gash on her chest. She evaded his touch, her usually bright, emerald eyes muted.
She continued forward, slowly passing him, giving him only a light touch on the shoulder to signal it wasn’t about him.
And Cas understood.
“Princess!” Phil sprinted forward, burying his face in Sol’s waist. She placed a gentle hand on his head, but her expression remained ice cold.
Jonah strode forward as well, his attention shifting from her, to his brother, then finally to Cas.
Cas shook his head slightly. Don’t talk about it yet.
“I assume you are the final prospect, Miss Yarrow?” Jeriyahlowered his hands, killing the enchantment.
Sol nodded bleakly.
“Great. I will send kingsmen to search for the bodies of the others.”
Sol ambled forward, Phil still in her embrace. She stopped beside Jeriyah, but looked straight at Cade as she said, “You will only find Zeri’s. There is no body left of the other to search for.”
Thirty Five
Nina
TO THANK FLORAfor sparing Cas and Sol, Nina spent the day planting lilies in the castle’s bare gardens. She woke up at dawn to tend to the soil, releasing the hounds to keep her company. Gardening soothed her. The dirt beneath her nails, instead of the blood of battle, was a welcome change, and the soft fragrance of the blooms wrapped her in a much-needed hug.
She tended to the dirt for hours, ensuring it was tender and rich enough to plant the seeds. She could’ve made the process faster with her magic, but there was a sort of magic in letting things happen naturally, too.
