Mother pulled back, looking me over with a small smile, her eyes still wet with tears. She raised her hand to cup my cheek. “I swear, I have no idea how you turned out so well.”
She chuckled at my surprised expression. “Your father and I were always arguing. Both involved in our own plots and plans. You were raised to be your sister’s sword and shield. I fret sometimes that none of it was fair to you.”
I put my hand over hers on my cheek, dipping my head down and letting her see the truth in my eyes. “I have never resented it for a moment, Mother.”
A single tear tracked down each cheek before she closed her eyes to prevent more from escaping. I wiped them away, and stepped back. I knew her vulnerability never lasted long. After a moment where she forcibly pulled herself together, she asked, “What now?”
“Now, we need to address the humans. Father taking so many away will have left them scared and resentful,” I explained. “If we explain what’s happened and what Asteria plans, we can get them on her side.”
“And what will that accomplish?” Mother raised a brow. “Humans against Fae won’t be much help.”
I smiled slowly, thinking of Soren saving me on the battlefield. “I think you’d be surprised.”
Chapter Thirty-three
Cyrus
The one downsideto using blood magic was that one had to continue using it, and in increasing amounts, for it to continue being effective.
It woreoff quicker as time passed, and I would begin to feel my magic waning once more. The inability to call my lightning always left me off-kilter, but fortunately, there were plenty of humans to provide more magic.
I stood over the cauldron,deep within the bowels of the palace, and poured in several bottles of human blood. I closed my eyes and began the spell to turn it into something useful.
“Cruach,guidheam ort.
ìobraidh mi a' bheatha so dhuibh,
Thoir am fuil gu biadh.
Glan e agus ath-dhèanamh e,
Agus leig leis a bhith na draoidheachd aig a bhunait.”
The blood bubbled and churned,transforming from pure blood red as hints of black appeared, and it all began to shimmer, magic being infused into it. I’d been lucky to find the spell left behind in an old dusty journal from a long-dead seer. Those damn acolytes of the Oracle always had useful visions, despite how much they unsettled me.
They surrounded the Oracle,living in the cavern with her. They wore all black and white in honor of the kings of the gods. While the Oracle was the one to meet with the royals, the seers would occasionally pop up to deliver one of their prophecies to other Fae, whenever the gods deemed it necessary.
Somehow,the journal of this seer had ended up in Dusk. I’d found it while searching desperately for a way to save our magic. It had been tucked behind another book on a far shelf in the upper section of the library that contained books on magic that often went ignored, since we all knew how our magic worked and how to use it.
But searchingthat once irrelevant section had changed everything. At first, I wasn’t sure if the writings could be trusted. Not when the seer spoke of myths as if they were real—creatures who drank blood and gorged on it across the land until they were banished by the gods.
Vampyres.
It was a children’s story,really. I remember my father telling Vissy and me the story when we were young. He’d caught us sneaking treats from the kitchen, and brought us back to my bedroom. It was one of the only times I remembered him being in any way soft to me.
He’d tuckedus in and then began telling the story to warn us away from overindulging. Telling us how the Vampyres had once roamed Adamah, until they grew too bloodthirsty, and had to be locked away to protect the rest of the realm. I didn’t believe it, of course, but the seer’s writings had changed everything.
She had warnedin her journal about the dangers of an awakening. An awakening of what, I wasn’t sure. She had only made sure to mention that blood magic could not be used, or chaos would be unleashed.
But chaos had already been unleashed.
It had already takenmy magic, and I was determined to be the one who would leash chaos for my own gain.
I truly hadn’t believedany of it at first. Nor did I believe the spell she’d detailed in her writing, thinking it all a fanciful story. But then the dreams began.
I had seenthe gods fall. I had seen myself rise. And blood underpinned it all. Blood flowing under and around me, lifting me up until a crown of blood formed on my head.
The gods may have abandonedme, but something out there wanted me to succeed.
