Her words were distant, and my brain had a hard time catching on to them as they rolled past me.
“Wolfe, what’s wrong?”
She gave me a gentle shake, concern lacing her features, and I met her gaze.
“We have to go,” she said, tugging my arm. But I couldn’t get myself to move. “What is going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I have.” I took a deep breath, not sure I could get the next words out. “My brother.” I swallowed the bile rising in my throat. “Niamh, the Butcher of the Brotherhood is Lor.”
CHAPTER 39
Wolfe
Niamh and I raced toward Fairwitch, my head spinning with what I’d just discovered and what I might discover once we arrived.
They’d broken through the barrier. That’s what those women had said, which shouldn’t have been possible unless they’d figured out how to wield magic like the godwitches had. Not just wield but become magical. That was the only way to break our barrier without needing acceptance. And that thought terrified me.
Then there was the fact that my brother, whom I thought was dead, was the Butcher. He was alive, which I didn’t even understand. Were there multiple butchers? Had the previous Butcher died and my brother took his place?
Lor was working with the enemy.
My other brothers might very well be dead.
It felt like my head might explode with all this new information.
“We’re almost there.” Niamh panted next to me, her cheeks red,hair plastered to her face, which shone with sweat. “I’m only going to hold you back. You go ahead.” She bent over, breathing labored.
“No,” I said, thinking about the brotherhood who might be roaming these hills. “I won’t leave you alone. We trained for a reason, and you can do this. You can make it with me.”
She stood, her chin rising in determination as she nodded, and we took off again, running along the winding cliffside, a sharp pain in my side as my lungs squeezed air in and out.
Soon the muddy path dipped and opened to a sprawling grassy area, and I stopped, heart pounding, sweat dripping down my face.
Niamh stood next to me, chest heaving as she gazed at the area before us with worry etched in her brows. This had become her home as much as it was mine, and if anything happened to Fairwitch, she’d grieve the loss as much as I did.
I swallowed thickly and stepped forward, imagining what I might find on the other side. I looked around the cliffside, not seeing anything but the occasional sheep or rock. Not that it mattered if the brotherhood was lurking, not when they’d figured out how to break the barrier and enter Fairwitch.
I took a deep breath and looked beside me, realizing Niamh wasn’t there. She stood farther back, twisting her hands in front of her.
“It might not let me back in,” she said, “and I’d rather you just go ahead and do what you have to do, then worry about me later. I’ll be okay.” She gave me an encouraging smile.
I grabbed her hand and pulled her forward. “Niamh, I don’t know if I can do this alone. I don’t know if I can face what’s in there by myself.” My voice cracked with the vulnerability this woman tugged out of me.
“You’re not alone. You never were.” She clutched my hand tight. “Let’s go.”
I breathed out a sigh of relief that she was coming with me. She might have had doubts about Fairwitch letting her in, but I didn’t.
We stepped forward, that familiar whoosh filling my ears as we entered Fairwitch, the entire city appearing before us.
Niamh gasped. Smoke filled the air, and it was silent, eerily silent, none of the normal hustle and bustle filling the streets. In fact, I couldn’t see anyone at all, and my heart sank. Where was the royal guard? Surely if they were alive, they’d be fighting the brotherhood, defending our home.
“It’s okay.” Niamh tugged me forward. “Let’s go to the castle first.”
I nodded, unable to move as my gaze swept around Fairwitch, all the smoke making it so hard to see.
Niamh yanked, and I finally stumbled forward as she let go of my hand and we walked along the dirt road that led to the castle. The familiar wood-slat peaks rose high, shooting through the thick smog, and my hand hovered over my sword, ready to pull it from its sheath should someone attack.
We walked up the stairs toward the castle, and Niamh let out a cry, running to the gargoyles, whose heads had been chopped off.
