It is all I can ask for.
Walt and Acton go home soon after to spend time together. They need privacy to speak more openly about the potentialoutcomes, which are certainly very scary for Walt. Ada is exhausted, and I help settle her into bed. The witches stay well into the night, as they plan for every possible risk tomorrow.
Elgar pulls me aside once they leave. “I am impressed by everything I have witnessed today. This community has rallied to help your mate… Her uncle is sacrificing some of his own life for her… I am glad we were able to trek into the mountains to find these. It was a small effort for such an important outcome. It is an honor to have played such a part,” he says on a tired sigh.
“She downplays her deep connection with her coven and those who love her. But there are so many who would go to great lengths for her, as we saw today,” I expound, thinking of the last couple months.
“There is a line in a book that stuck with me.Deep roots are not reached by the frost. This hardship reveals the strength of their love for her,” he muses. “It brought you back to her, after all this time. It also brought you back to yourself. I have missed that male.” My brother does not hold his tongue.
“It did bring me back,” I concede. “Something would have eventually. I’m not sure how much longer I could have gone on without her. But this was my chance to prove to her what she has always meant to me.”
“I see why you like it here in Monstera Bluff. I always wondered what your life was like here. But once you came back to the clan, I knew you did not want to talk about it.” He looks away with a mix of emotions on his face. “I need to take a walk to settle my nerves. Thinking about what we face tomorrow makes me uneasy. I do not know whether sleep will find me tonight,” he acknowledges.
“I do not think it will find me either,” I confess.
Chapter 19
Norrell
The purple smudges under Ada’s dulled eyes would worry me more if this were a different day. They will brighten once we have cured her of this fae spell. Esmeralda is going to keep her company and help her around the house until the relics are ready. The arrangement takes away some worry since I will be busy the entire day leading up to this.
Her coven members arrive in shifts to not overcrowd the house. Several healers from the clinic, including Thea, are on standby, making sure that the witches are healthy after donating their magick to the Forged Ruby. Elgar and I work side by side the entire time, helping to control the amount of magick drawn from each witch. Nearly all of them have the same reaction as Esmeralda. It makes them a little woozy and unsteady on their feet. But they recover quickly after having some tea or juice and a bite to eat.
Each draw of magick is quick, taking no more than a minute. Within a few hours, we work through the entire stream of volunteers. Like the healers, Elgar and I have not expended much of our own abilities yet to ensure we are ready to fully harness them later. The gem, the Forged Ruby, is now pulsing heavily on its own, the amount of the witches’ magickal energyinside it staggering. It is much greater than what I would draw from dozens of fae, so I am confident this will be enough to overpower and expel the fae spell.
Walt appears calmer today when he and Acton arrive in the afternoon. Acton must have soothed his frayed nerves. He does not make choices lightly, so I trust that he will accept the result, no matter how it turns out.
When we meet again in the salon, the healers set up three portable gurneys. Walt eyes them warily, letting on his remaining undercurrent of anxiety. The healers lead Ada, Walt, and Acton to them. They choose to sit for the moment. I stand next to Ada, holding her clammy, weak hand. A light sheen of nervous sweat covers her brow. She worries for herself, but mayhap more so for Acton. I rub my warm, steady hand along her back.
While I tend to Ada, the witches talk through their plan one last time to coordinate their use of the relics. I will manage the Banner of Life on Acton and then transfer the life force into Ada first and Walt second. Simultaneously, Elgar will help the other witch unleash the full force of magickal energy into Ada. In doing so, the witches believe we can prevent the waste of any of Acton’s life force.
Even I begin experiencing a case of nerves as we make our final preparations. I need to tamp them down and be fully focused on the task at hand. Niven signals to me that they are ready. I press a lingering kiss to Ada’s lips and then join the witches. Walt and Acton briefly kiss as well and then lie back on their gurneys.
Acton nods at me, telling me he is ready. The witch whispers his spell, commanding the Banner of Life to pull life force from Acton. The magick trickles out at first, but I do not let down my guard. The onslaught will be sudden, fierce, and deadly if left unchecked. As I suspected, its full power bursts forth,commanding a deep pull of Acton’s life force. I immediately absorb as much excess magick as I can, decreasing the potency of the relic to stymie the flow of Acton’s life force to a small stream. Acton loses consciousness but otherwise looks healthy and unchanged. The witch immediately speaks the counterspell, severing its connection to Acton. As planned, the healers wheel Acton away and minister their healing magick to him.
The magick in the crown feels unstable now that it brims with life force, like it could trigger at any moment. All of us get into position around Ada. The power blazing within the Banner of Life instantly explodes, flooding straight into her. I drain down the pulse of fae magick after it hits her with a heavy dose, enough to fill her cheeks with a healthy glow on her skin that has been missing since I returned.
Elgar tempers the current of magick into Ada, slow and steady, but it seems to be working. Ada’s body goes stiff as a board, every muscle pulling taut and her eyes widen in shock… until they roll into the back of her head. Her whole body slackens as she loses consciousness except for the occasional violent full body twitch that sets off alarm bells in my mind. I jerk toward her, needing to reach my mate to make sure she is still breathing, still with me.
“Stay back!” Elgar snarls, tearing me out of my haze to reach her. He is right, this must be so painful for her, an ocean of magick crashing into her, that she passed out. I cannot stand in its way even if my instincts scream otherwise. I force my attention back to the crown and the witch holding it.
“Ready?” he asks, turning his attention to Walt.
“Do it,” I respond immediately.
The crown is still replete with life force. The amount we poured into Ada made up for what she lost and more. I have no concern there. But this leftover glut in the relic could be lifechanging for Walt. I hope so, anyway. With another set ofsoftly spoken words, the witch and I work together to thrust the remaining life force safely into Walt. His eyes are closed, and I cannot tell if he is conscious. The transformation is fast, shedding decades of age in a matter of minutes. The deep lines on his face earned over the years become visibly shallower and many disappear completely. His chest and shoulders fill out and broaden. His silver hair turns a dark blonde and fills in thicker.
Once the relic is emptied of life force, the witch and I share a look of near disbelief. “This is power beyond anything I imagined. The crown scares me if I’m being honest. I’ve never used a relic this powerful,” he says breathlessly, looking pale.
“If this is what it can do after we weakened it yesterday, my ancestors made the right choice hiding it away in a remote mountain,” I concur.
Walt looks incredibly healthy now that the transfer is complete, though he lays unmoving on his gurney. Thea breaks away from the group surrounding Acton and pulls Walt’s gurney to the side to check his vitals. I turn my attention back to Ada. Her ribcage is heaving with deep, forceful breaths. It is a favor from Mother Earth that she is not awake to feel this magick violently coursing through her body.
There was much of it from her coven contained within the relic that Elgar and the other witch are still pouring it into her nearly ten minutes later. Her overall complexion is much improved. Her cheeks and lips are a healthy radiant pink and the lines that exhaustion carved around her eyes have disappeared. Within another minute or two, the gem’s blazing light finally dims as it empties.
I rush to Ada’s side, wiping the sweaty hair from her brow and gently clasping her hand. Her eyes flutter and slowly open. “How do you feel, my ember?”
“Better than I look, I’m sure,” her voice scrapes. She tightens her grip on my hand.
