What did I think?
I thought it was the last thing I wanted.IfI had to stay in Everden, I was selecting quantum. At least that way I had a chance at discovering a quantum spell to teleport me home. Albeit a slim one, considering if anyone was capable of interplanar Teleportation, it would’ve been the Echelon Dashell Eldridge, who’d claimed it was impossible. But at least I could hope.
A Dark Witch, though? I could never be that.
There wasn’t anything wrong with them, or not most of them, anyway. It was only that the Goddess Created them to balance out light witches, which meant what Dark Witches did was take. Dark Deals — you owed a Dark Witch a debt. Siphoning — they sucked your magic right out of you, leaving you bereft. Death Bonds — they’d claim your life for breaking your commitment. They moved in shadows too. Though those were harmless spells, unless the Dark Witch was powerful enough to cast a Shadowcurrent. Those were as good as weapons.
“I’m waiting.” Jaxan’s long nails tapped his bulging biceps.
An urge to scream rose within me, so I dug my fingernails deeper into my arms and dragged them down the surface of my skin. I would not scream in front of Jaxan.
Breathe. This isn’t you, I had to remind myself.It’s only your blood.
After a last steadying breath, I said, “I don’t want to be a Dark Witch. I wouldn’t be a good fit for it.”
It was true. Dark Witches had the ability to scent spelltracks, which meant many of them worked in detective capacities. A Creator obliterated an apartment building? It was a Dark Witch who identified and found them. I didn’t want to be in anyone’s business like that. What I wanted was to be left alone with my flask, away from the uncomfortable gaudiness of this room.
“Of course,” Jaxan said with a certain air, a tension in hiscrooked lips. “Though we’ll see how you feel in August. Three weeks is a long time. Perhaps your mind will be altered by then.”
As mildly as I could manage through the blood rage, I said, “I don’t think so, but thank you for the opportunity. It’s an honor to be invited by an Echelon to join their school.”
My vision zoomed in on the russet antique writing desk behind him, then grew blurry as I waited to be dismissed.
“There’s something else,” he said, jolting me to look back at him. “The Truth-Teller was instructed to manage you this morning. I assumed he’d take that job seriously. Disruptions prevented, corrections exercised when due. He failed in his duties when he allowed you to vandalize the Circle of Seven. I thought about punishing you, but that seemed cruel. You’re new. You don’t know how things operate. Clearly, you were not given adequate instructions. So I’ve determined the fault lies with him. I’ll be removing Leland’s tongue in punishment. Perhaps he will be more inclined to focus on his duties when he cannot speak to you.”
“His tongue?” I blurted. “No! It was an accident! I lost consciousness. Leland couldn’t get to me. He wasn’t distracted. He was watching me the whole time. Leland did nothing wrong. Me” — I pointed at my chest — “Me. I did it.”
“Your power moved the trees?”
“Yes? I mean, I think so? I don’t have power, but it wasn’t Leland. There was nothing he could’ve done differently.”
“In that case,” Jaxan said, and at those words — three small words that fell like a landslide — my throat constricted. “I need you to do something for me. There is an artifact on the terrace of the Allwitch temple,” he went on. “The Sword of Shifting, quantum’s artifact. No witch has ever been able to retrieve it. But you’re a Blackburn.” He paused like that was supposed to mean something. “You moved the trees. You were blessed with magic we’ve never seen. I want you to get it.”
“A sword? Like King Arthur?” That legend was written before the Sundering, so they would’ve known about it. If the sword was real, though, I’m not sure how it ended up here and not in England, or how being a Blackburn had anything to do with it.
“No. Not like King Arthur. Like the Sword of Shifting. Tomorrow would be good. After that — ” He stretched one of his nails toward my mouth and fingered open my lips with the tip of it.
Spreading my mouth wide, he scraped a grotesquely long nail in a slow line down my tongue. I fought every instinct to bite down and sever his knuckle. This is why Leland said don’t talk. This is what I got for doing the opposite. I endured it, quietly staring at bottles of dark magic until my eyes watered and Jaxan’s hand withdrew.
“If I bring it to you,” I asked, desperately wanting to spit out the salty taste left behind on my tongue, “Leland will keep his tongue?”
“If you bring it to me” — Jaxan leaned forward — “I’ll give you whatever you want.”
“How am I supposed to — is there a trick? I just go there and take it? I don’t even know where the Allwitch temple is — ”
I stopped talking when Jaxan removed a knife from his coat pocket. He gave it a twirl, its gleam the only light reflected in his dark eyes. A toy to him, never mind it had a ten-inch blade.
“The Everblade,” he explained. “The artifact I will use to remove both your tongues if you speak of this. Understand?”
At my nod, Jaxan slid the knife back inside his pocket.
“Come,” he said, gesturing for me to follow him out of his office. “We have business in the prison with an Allwitch. Arissa Sivelyn?” As we exited his office, he looked at me to see if I recognized the name. “She was found unlawfully on the mainland. She came all this way to speak with you.”
In my state of shock, I didn’t even startle at the harsh sound ofhis walk.
“Would you like to tell me how you know her?”
“I . . . don’t,” I said, confused and shaking my head. I didn’t know anyone named Arissa and had no clue why an Allwitch would ask for me. “She said she wantedme? Ember Blackburn?”
