Lang.
It’s not dawn, so he may still be packing Rose’s and his belongings. I have time to say goodbye. I sprint down the long hallways, winding through the castle as if the route is burned into my memory. Blasting through the kitchen door, it’s empty. I feel my heart crack, hoping I’ll see them both again, my only true family left.
I scan the room, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.‘Good, he left safely,’I think to myself when my eyes catch sight of something in the middle of the table, close to my regular spot. I pick up the piece of paper, flipping it over when I see my name, Briar, written on the underside—a letter. Opening the page, tears instantly fill my eyes as I realize it’s from Rose and Lang.
Briar,
You’ve sat in the kitchen for years with us, mostly not speaking but always there. Our shadow, we started to call you. Since you were a child, we’ve watched you grow into the stunning young woman—the queen you are now. Your mother loved you more than life itself. She told us in secrecy that you were the vessel before she died; she suspected it a long time ago. You don’t even know how strong you truly are. Open yourself up to the power to defeat Carobon, but never let it take over you. With the resurrection crystal, you can raise the dead and put them back in their rightful place. We will see you again one day.
All our love.
Tears stream down my face as I place the letter down. I wipe my vision clear, but the trembling doesn’t stop. My mother didnot tell me this years ago, but she protected me, and we could have stopped this together.
"Stop being weak!" I scream at myself, the voice not all mine.
The longer I wait, the more likely Silas, Maines, and Oak find me and stop what I must do. I need to get to the throne room and my father’s study and find the crystal. If I can return things where they came from, I will send Kalix back—even if I die. But I know now I have a bigger problem on my hands. Someone else is here trying to raise Carobon, the Great Wiitch of Lumor.
Gathering myself, I leave the room, sprinting toward the throne room, where the candles were lit. Maybe the castle staff lit them in memory of my father? Who cares—I just need to look around. Bursting through the wooden double doors, they slam against the stone wall hard enough to rattle the chandeliers. Empty, good. This allows me to search around, so I move toward the throne.
The coldness radiating from the throne hits my body, sending a shiver down my spine. Nothing catches my eye, and nothing in this room draws me in. My darkness calls to whatever darkness lives in that crystal.
The only sound echoing through the room is my beating heart against my chest. Something isn’t right. I turn my body to the door as I move to my father’s study down the hall. The door is cracked open and I can see the shadows of the fire flickering against the walls. I peer my head through the door, cautious not to accidentally walk into something I’m not prepared for.
As I move further into the room, the hair on my arm stands out as if the air in this room were different—thicker and darker. My eyes move to his desk, which is untouched and cluttered, just like always. A black bag catches my eye and seems to pulse like a heartbeat, rattling my vision.
The weight of the bag drops my arms as I hold it firmly in my hand. I loosen the ties around the top, peering into thesmall sack. The resurrection crystal glows with the opposite of light, a pulse of energy throbbing through my body. Darkness swells in my body as I feel the Wiitch deep inside, wanting to break through and touch the stone with her hands—my hands. Swallowing the feeling, I tuck the stone into my pocket with a plan for where I’m heading.
I peel my eyes from my bulging pocket to see a cloaked figure standing between me and the door. I jerk backward, startled by the abrupt intruder. The figure stands a little taller than I am and has a slim build. I notice a subtle movement in the cloak from my presence, alerting me that it knows I’ve seen it.
Not this creature again.
I move with purpose in its direction, unafraid for the first time in its presence. I’m growing tired of the creature’s unexpected visits, providing little to no information about why. Something in the room shifts as I get closer, and my body reacts to the figure's unfamiliarity. Sweat begins to bead on my brow as I approach. I realize this isn’t the creature that has been haunting me, and I’m struck with something hard between my shoulder blades, pain shooting down my spine.
The cold world around me goes silent and dark as I drift into nothingness.
Chapter 38
Iawake in the darkness. My shoulders and head throb from a blow I barely remember taking. I recall finding the crystal, the feeling it left flowing through my body—like the darkness inside me is desperate to make itself whole again, complete. The figure. I remember the figure I saw before my world went dark.
I lift my head, only to realize I’m chained to a bed made of stone; my axes lie on the floor beside me, within reaching distance if my hands weren’t pinned down.
Straining my eyes, I survey the room. Nothing but darkness surrounds me as I suddenly feel like my magic and I are being suffocated. Gray stone walls tower over my body as dim candles cast an image of dancing light around the room. The hair on my neck prickles—I’m not alone.
My mind becomes clearer as it hits me—this is the room where Father locked me up before the first trialandwhere I found Rose weeks later. I notice the cobwebs, the faint blood stains, and that steady, slow drip of water from a crack in the corner, and a figure standing there again.
I’m still in the castle.
But what the fuck is going on?
“Ah, Briar, good. You’re awake! Or should I address you as Queen now?
I jerk my head to the far corner of the room. Calia steps forward, Elrod close to her side—a false light oozing from her body. “Does this room look familiar? You were here not long ago, saving Rose. It's such a shame you found her. We had plans to use her like your mother all those years ago. We thought she was the vessel. You gave us quite a surprise when you announced it was you.”
“What the hell is going on?” I snap.
Calia smiles, her eyes holding anger and hate. My wrists burn in pain from the rusty metal pinning me down. My shadows build and fail against the thick wards, drowning all magic.
“I thought you knew the plans. You’ve been running around here so cocky for weeks. Kalix may be in your body, but we need her gone for good. This half Briar, half Kalix bullshit is exhausting.”
