“Very possible. The stone might’ve cursed them.” Finlay sat on a nearby bench to think.
“Then why didn’t the stone kill Septius as well?” I pressed.
“His necromancy magic must have something to do with it. I’m unsure.” Finlay rubbed his chin.
“We should go back.” I turned on my heel, already set on the idea. “We can interrogate Septius until he tells us everything he knows.”
“We won’t get anything out of him. If he doesn’t remember, the Unseelie stone erased his memory. There’s nothing in his brain for us to purge, even with magic.”
I sat beside him, slamming my fist on the arm of the bench. “Dammit. This is another dead end, like you hit before.”
“Nay, it’s worse,” Finlay said darkly. “If we’re right, and the Unseelie stone has a mind of its own, we’ll be hard pressed to locate it.”
“We just have to prove ourselves to it, like we did all the others,” I argued.
“That’s going to be difficult when we know the Unseelie stone is willing to use its magic to influence fate. None of the other stones did that. It could lead us around in circles trying to find it.”
“So how do we outsmart an extremely powerful magical object?” I asked.
“I don’t know. We could be at a loss.” Finlay clasped his hands and stared at the wet ground. “We know from what Septius told us that the Unseelie stone is purposefully manipulative.”
“But we have dark magic,” I insisted. “Unseelie blood runs through my veins, as well as Emma’s. We can show the stone we deserve to have it!”
Finlay fisted a hand in his curly locks. “All I know is, unlike the others, this particular Crystal is willing to yield its power against the people who want to use it. If the Unseelie stone doesn’t want to be found... it won’t be.”
Chapter Six
Emma
Having children in a dark and terrible world like this one seemed like such a mistake. But I couldn’t deny the light of hope that ignited in me each time I looked into Kalina’s eyes.
I’d just put Kazim down for a nap and was giving Kalina a bottle. She sucked at it gently, lids lulling closed. I clutched her to my chest, as if holding her closer would prevent her from dealing with such a destructive existence.
I knew it wouldn’t help. Eventually, Kalina would face— and be put through— terrible things, just like all of us. There was just no telling what kind of ruin she’d have to face once she was out there on her own. But at least now, as a baby, I could protect her.
Tygrys buzzed around the room, flying in little circles above Kazim’s crib and acting like a mobile. He loved the babies, and never left their presence. We’d moved a bunch of plants in here from the greenhouse, so he had all the nectar he could eat, and could sing to the babies whenever he felt like. I guessmalyludwywere particularly attached to children. It was so sweet.
Kalina waved her little hands. Her fingers grasped on to the key dangling off my charm bracelet. She latched on to it, and within her palm, the key began to glow.
I gasped. The key had never donethatbefore.
I wrenched Kalina’s fingers away from the key, and she let out a wail before going silent. The key stopped glowing at her touch. When she reached out to grasp it again, the key emitted that same faint glow. The magic inside of me went off in alarm, emitting a sort of faint hum. Tygrys noticed, and he began to sing along with the song of the necklace.
I frowned. “Strange.” The key was definitely reacting to Kalina’s presence. Since Professor Calliope had given me that key, I hadn’t been able to do a single thing with it, nor sense if it contained any power. It’d been reduced to a simple trinket on my wrist.
With Kalina here, however, the key felt… powerful.
And dangerous.
Vara had said the key was special. Had she known something about it?
I waited for Kalina’s eyes to close before I placed her back in her crib. She drifted off. I placed the key against Kazim’s skin as an experiment, but it didn’t react. Tygrys nestled on Kalina’s nose and fluttered his wings slowly, like a butterfly.
“Come on, Tygrys,” I whispered. He gave a tiny mew before following me.
I hobbled to my room and took off the charm bracelet, placing it inside a drawer within my jewelry box before I locked it tight.
That’s where it would stay, until I could figure out what was going on with it. Both twins were asleep. I figured I might as well get some lunch while they were down.
