I chuckled, and a moment later she was gone. Motioning to Jaspar, I gestured for him to go next. His eyes closed as he drew in a deep breath.
“You have so much left to do, Jas.” I paused. “Thank you for coming when I didn’t deserve your help, and I’m sorry for blaming you for Kam. I should’ve asked.”
“I can’t leave you.” His blue eyes were watery.
“You can.” I bit back tears. “We all have choices to make, and staying is mine.”
Bending down, he laid a gentle kiss on my forehead and waited one last breath to let me change my mind.
“Go,” I said, pushing away tears. “I’ll figure it out one way or another, I promise.”
“And if you don’t?”
I grinned. “Then I’ll tell Kam you said hello.”
The door bowed as the shouting grew behind it.
“Fuck.” Jaspar exhaled, then stepped into my hands, and pulled himself up to the window.
“Tell Col we would have been great together,” I shouted after him, watching his feet disappear through the small space.
My stomach fluttered as I realized I was left alone to face the guards on my own, even though I’d requested it. Forced it. I sat next to Fisher, who was still unconscious. The hum of my magic worked through me as I felt the threat coming closer. I was as good as dead, but refused to go quietly.
In a moment of insanity, I came up with an idea that would not only kill me, but take out every last one of the guards too.
Focusing down through the floor and into the land, I poured out my magic, begging the land to obey faster than it had ever before. The ground shook slowly at first. Small, smooth waves rolled through the surface, making the stone groan. I pushed and pushed; pushed down just as I had at the seeps until the land quaked in jerky movements. Forcing the stone to collapse and crush us all would be my last act of defiance against the Suttons and their guards.
“It’s okay,” I said to Fisher, “I’m with you.”
The irony that I would finally get to kill my brother’s executioner wasn’t lost on me. The situation had played on repeat the last few days, and I’d decided we were all just a part in Sutton’s fucked-up game. Killing Fisher wouldn’t bring my brother back; none of it would.
“I forgive you. Kamden would have forgiven you too.” I leaned down and rested the side of my face on his forehead. “You’ll see, he’s going to tell you when we see him.”
Bits of stone fell away, and cracks formed in the floor beneath us, exposing patches of soil. The flickering flame of the fire waved more violently as if it were a fish tossed around in the ocean’s current. I was the current.
Minutes passed, but the walls refused to come down. I’d nearly drained myself, and even with my mother and my father’s magic, it wasn’t enough. I looked down at Fisher, whose head lay on top of my arm. My eyes roamed over my tattoo and landed on the little sleeping bee so close to the guard’s face.
“Hi, Kam.” My chest tightened, nearly unable to draw in a breath from the grief cracked wide open. Tears streamed, and the threat of sobs was thick in my throat.
Looking at the newly formed cracks, I found a patch of dirt and my mind worked once more. There was another way to accomplish the same goal. Just because the first plan hadn’t worked, didn’t mean I needed to give up. I had to adjust to the land, just as I had in Kuroden.
Carefully, I conjured the earth to form shrubs of oleander. It required only a trickle of magic for the stems to grow long with the flowering buds blooming on the ends. With the raging fire next to me, I unsheathed Jaspar’s dagger and cut the sprigs from the bush. I began hauling them into the flame by the fistful.
I moved frantically with one hand while continuing to cradle Fisher’s head with the other. He looked content, and for the first time I realized I had never seen him at peace. With death pushing down on us, not only had I found my serenity, but he had too.
“My mother is going to adore you,” I whispered in short breaths. “Thank you for keeping me safe.”
Smoke began billowing from the fireplace and crowded the room in thick puffs. I laid down on the floor, keeping Fisher close to me and hoping to stay below the smoke to give me more time. Continuing to grab the flowers with one hand, I regenerated growth from the land. There would need to be a lot of smoke for it to work, and I hoped I could create enough to kill the others before it took me first.
Nausea started to come in waves and I urged my body tohold it together just a little while longer. I’d already failed at so much, I refused to do so with my own death.
Coughing erupted from behind the door, shifting my focus to the other side of the hazy room. My mind began to spin and hallucinate somewhere amid the chaos. I saw my father and mother’s figures in the corner wrapped in a warm embrace. My mother looked happier than I last remembered, with a wide toothy smile; she was beaming. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her so happy.
My parents pulled away, revealing Kamden standing in the center. He moved to my father’s side and threw his arms around our father’s neck. They all looked so peaceful; it was a feeling I’d missed for so long. Our family was together once again. Kamden turned to me, his bright blue eyes brilliantly calling me to him.
“I’m coming, Kam,” I mumbled while I laid on my side, sleep pulling me in. I moved my hand to my mother’s necklace and rubbed the pendant. “Wait for me.”
36
