His eyes narrow. “We don’t have a choice, Fen.”
Warrick stands to join Fen, offering a comforting touch to her face.
“We do,” she snaps. “Stop saying that.”
The stare between Silas and Fen could set the world aflame, and that’s one fight I don’t think either would walk away from. They stand, challenging each other, their eyes narrowed and filled with fury. My chest tightens, and my palms begin to clam up with sweat. Silas may win this argument, but I can’t help but feel a sense of relief that someone is on my side, even though it seems I don’t have a real choice.
“I’ll do it,” I declare, standing to join the others. “What… do I have to do?”
Silas offers me a gentle smile tinged with concern as he gazes at the others sitting wide-eyed around the table. “The Rigil must reside on your body permanently. We need to tattoo the symbol on you with ink, blood, and the mixed poison to permanently mark the Rigil on your body, gracing you with the protective barrier.”
They all look at me, and I swallow hard.
Silas moves around the table to stand next to me. Larkin keeps his head down, refusing to meet my eyes. Silas wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close, kissing my temple.
“Briar, we all have one.” Silas points at Larkin, Fen, and Warrick. “This is painful. You will want us to stop—you will beg us to stop—but once we start, we can’t.” Silas cuts his eyes across the table. “Larkin will tattoo you; he knows this poison better than anyone.”
I snap my attention to him. It’s clear to me that Larkin knows more than he’s telling me about my brother.
How did the poison get all the way to Daramveer?
Silas continues, ignoring the building tension in the room. “I will be beside you, and Maines is here if something should go wrong.”
My eyes swiftly scan their bodies for any signs of a tattoo. Larkin stays silent, his face devoid of color as he softly touches his forearm, as if the tattoo he has throbs.
“You don’t have a tattoo, Silas.” I look up at his face.
“You wouldn’t think so,” he says with a gentle smile. “But I do. It takes a few hours to heal, but the Rigil heals to nearly invisible on your skin.”
Silas lifts his shirt, and barely perceptible to the naked eye, a tiny Rigil is embedded in his skin, just below his pec. Mixed with his scars, it’s unnoticeable.
Fen looks at all of us. “Are you all fucking insane? Briar is already possessed. We have no idea how she will react.”
“I’ll take the risk,” I say.
“Larkin, you are not doing this right now,” Fen snaps. “As your superior, I’m saying n…”
She pauses for a moment and turns her head toward the balcony, as if someone just called her name. She stares at the empty space, like she’s waiting for a presence to walk into the room with us.
“Fen?” I question. “Are you alright?”
Fen rapidly shakes her head and returns her gaze to us. Her expression is filled with confusion and anger, and she clenches her fists tightly.
“I thought I heard something,” she responds. “It’s nothing.”
I look around, and my heart pounds against my chest like an animal trapped in a cage. The darkness inside me vibrates, as if Kalix can hear us right now and is urging me to walk away.
My hands tremble as Silas pulls me in closer, noticing the shiver.
“She can do this,” he declares.
“Maybe we should think about this,” Maines chimes in. “I agree with Fen. I’m not sure how she will react to this and what…what if something goes wrong and I can’t heal her.”
“We’ve been through this four times now,” Warrick answers. “I can prep you the best I can, Maines, while Larkin gets set up.”
Maines pales.
“From what I’ve heard, you are extremely skilled in healing, so I imagine you will pick everything up quickly.”
