I bite my tongue. “He’s gone.”
Her brows pinch, a wash of worry sweeping across her face.
“Galen is dead. Roman got to him before I did and Roman he?—”
Elora’s body stiffens, her hands gripping tighter across my back.
“He saved my life.”
She leans away just far enough so I can see her face. “I’m sorry.”
Shaking my head, I twist my finger around her loose hair. “Do you think we’ve done it? Have we stopped the blight?”
Her brow furrows. “Not yet,” she says and I don’t question how she knows. “You and I together were sent back here to heal Teravie. To protect it. To ensure that no harm comes to Enchantresses.”
I nod, unable to speak for the first time perhaps in my entire life.
“If Roman killed Galen, would that mean we failed?” she asks.
“No.” Sera joins us. Her arms are crossed, a smile tugging at her lips. “Glad you made it, heir.” She pats my shoulder, giving Elora a quick nod.
“And how would you know of ending the blight?” Elora asks.
“When you’ve been imprisoned long enough, there’s not much else to do other than learn. Read.Listento others.” She steps closer, grabbing my hand, then Elora’s. “I sensed you out here, I just left the council room.” She glances between Elora and myself. “You two are the very soul of Teravie, not just Bastian and Soleil. But the soul of our country.”
She clasps our hands together and a sting shoots up my palm from where we sliced our flesh open in the Wicked Wood.
“You made a vow to protect us, so do it.” She gestures to our hands. “And when you’re finished, the council is waiting for you. The Lords of Jade and Onyx got to them before I did. Found them hiding in the cellars.” She saunters back to the castle, holding her hands out to the pouring rain.
After she’s gone, it’s just Elora and I in the courtyard. A breeze blows past us, bringing saltwater and brine from the nearby coast. “What do we need to do, love?”
“Blood and bone,” she whispers. “We gave our blood to the Wicked Wood to close it, maybe that’s what we need to do here.” Her eyes are frantic, glancing past me. “There.”
She points over my shoulder so I turn. And there, in the middle of the courtyard is a well, carved deep into the stone ground. She pulls me toward it and unease washes over me.
I’ve been here before.
As we stand before the well, she grabs the blade from my hip, reopening the wound on her hand. She winces, before holding it out for me. “Your turn.” I hesitate but she grabs my hand before I can argue. She slices along the barely healed wound from earlier. “Blood.”
“What about bone?” Blood trickles from my hand, pooling into my palm.
“The magick,” she says. “We give it back.”
I pull the amulets from my pockets and set one of them in her palm.
I wrap Roman’s amulet in my hand, the buzzing of magick thrumming against my skin.
“Take my hand, husband.” Elora smiles as I slide my free hand in hers. The blood of her body, the bone of the many Enchantresses killed, and the blood of my own.
Angling our hands over the well, a few droplets land, stirring the black water below. Elora whispers something, a prayer, a plea, I can’t be certain before she opens her hand, letting the amulet fall to the bottom.
I do the same.
The gold chain flashes briefly before it splashes into the water, disappearing into the murky pool. The breeze from before stops, the sudden stillness clawing at my skin and all at once, the rain ceases.
Mine and Elora’s breathing is the only noise between us until a bubbling sounds from the bottom of the pool. Peering over the ledge, I see our blood staining the stone as the water below hisses and spits. I almost tell Elora it’s time to run when a figure rises from the water.
Holding my breath, I glance at Elora whose eyes are wide, but her lips are turned up.
