“I saw you bend laws of nature. That boy should havedied.” His voice grew harder. “You’re not the Fates, Rose—you don’t get to decide who lives and who dies.”
“Screw the Fates! Those families wouldn’t have been attacked if the Fates cared at all about what was happening!”
“What if it had gone wrong? What if you had hurt the boy? That kind of magic is unpredictable and dangerous. And italwayshas a price.”
“All magic can be dangerous!” I shouted, raising my arm in the air. This conversation was eerily similar to the one I’d had with Theodore weeks ago. If only I could make Leo see it the way I eventually had…
“Why are Alchemists the only ones expected to use some sort of aid to do magic?” I pressed. “Why are we the only ones who can’t usewhat we’ve been given, our natural birthright and power?”
Leo clenched his jaw, turning from me and pacing further into the forest. “You sound likehim, Rose.”
I bit my tongue, fighting the urge to defend Theodore. “No, Leo, I sound likeme.For once, I feel like I have a purpose. Like I candosomething. I saved that boy’s life today!” I followed after him, desperate for him to grasp what I was saying. To stop looking at me like he didn’t know me. “Itcanbe harmful, but it can also be controlled. Just like learning any new magic, it takes practice.”
He whirled on me. “And how long have you been practicing? Years? Months? Do you even know what you’re doing?”
“Since—since I started meeting with Gayl,” I confessed, wincing at the anger in his eyes.
He let out a disbelieving breath. “So while we thought you were working for us, trying to find out more about him so we could stop the curse and bring him down, he’s been teaching you dark magic?” He stepped closer, towering over me, the moonlight and shadows making his onyx eyes gleam.
“Rissa asked me to get close to him!” I protested. “What do you think I’m doing? I’mtryingto find a way to end it. Have you ever considered that blood magic may be the solution?”
A vein in his neck throbbed. “Blood magic killed my father, Rose!”
“And itsaved your life!” I exploded, realizing the moment the words left my mouth what I had done.
The air hummed around us as his brow slowly furrowed. I clenched my uninjured hand at my side.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, chest heaving.
I closed my eyes. The fight had drained from us both, leaving a cold emptiness.
The truth was all I had left to offer.
“I found out the full story about the night you were born,” I began. “The night the curse started.”
Leo’s jaw tightened. “What full story? Gayl protected my mother’s life as a ruse for cursing my father’s rule.”
“No, Leo, that—that’s not all of it.” I took a deep breath. “He didn’t just help your mother. He savedyou. Youdiedthat night.”
His head shook, his tail brushing against the leaves and dirt. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Gayl told me how there were complications with your birth and your father summoned him to help. Branock commanded him to do whatever it took to save you both. When your mother gave birth, you…you were born without life. But he used blood magic to bring you back.”
He looked at me, and I prepared for dismissal. For disbelief and rage. What I found was even worse.
He looked scared.
I stepped forward and took his hand, surprised when he didn’t pull away. “Gayl brought you back from the dead. But magic as great as that, it?—”
“Has a price,” Leo finished on an exhale.
I steeled myself and nodded.
“The curse,” he said, realization dawning on him. “The curse is—is because of me.” His words were low and drawn out as he put the pieces together.
“It was the cost Gayl warned your father about,” I whispered. “He tried to reverse it. He and your father tried for years, and almost every Alchemist since. The truth is what eventually drove your father from the throne. He wanted to keep you safe.”
“The truth,” he said slowly, his eyes locking onto our clutched fingers. Then he dropped my hand. “Because I’m the answer to reversing the spell he cast. It’sme. My death, as it should have happened.”
