“Apparently not,” Sebastian answered. “Ipersonallymust not have been in immediate danger from him knowing what it says.”
“She really did not want us to see whatever was in that book,” Pia said under her breath. “Damn. It must have been good.”
“Well we got some of it out of her,” Kade replied, then told her and Kohen what we learned.
I stayed silent for the entire conversation until a thought struck me. I turned to Sebastian, whose hand was still in mine. “What did you do with her?”
He shuffled uncomfortably, looking towards Sawyer and Kade. The three of them shared a knowing look.
“We staged her death. When Archer finds her, he’ll think she justdied,” Sawyer answered for Sebastian, his eyes settling briefly on my hand placement.
I didn’t ask any follow up questions. The less I knew, the better.
Sawyer looked at Pia. “Remember when we were questioning what a wrong reason for using dark magic would be in the eyes of the gods?”
She nodded.
“I’m gonna go out on a hunch and say that un-enchanting Cicily’s journal to show Beaumont and then destroying it before its rightful owner could read it are on the list ofwrong reasons. That bitch ain't going into the damn veil,” Sawyer sassed.
“What do you think happens if you break a blood bond?” Pia raised a brow.
“I don’t think you physically can. But if you somehow found a way to, I imagine the consequences would be detrimental,” Kade answered.
“So, where does this leave us on the list now?” Kohen questioned.
“We can scratch off the journal because it's gone. Scratch off Venay becauseshe’sgone. That leaves the creatures, Beaumont, and Maeve's power,” Kohen answered, and thank the gods hedid, because the rest of us seemed to have lost the ability to speak.
“Just to clarify, Beaumontdoesn’tknow about Lumosia?” Pia asked. And when Kade confirmed, she added, “Then I say let's take some time to relax. It’s been a crazy few weeks, and the immediate threat is gone for the time being. Can’t we just have a week or so of normal?”
I couldn’t hide my scoff. Nothing was ever normal anymore.
“We tried that already. Remember?” Sawyer reminded her.
“Well let’s try again,” she snipped. “I’m tired.”
“Tired? You haven’t gone to Draemor once!” Sawyer defended his case.
“Watch it,” Kohen cautioned.
Without putting up an argument, I agreed that some time off was much needed. I had a lot to work through in my own head, especially with the two men whose eyes were settled upon me.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Alone with just my thoughts, I stood in the darkness surrounding the courtyard. Wind tormented the flowers lining the walkway as they fought to stay rooted in the ground. The night was crystal clear, allowing me a perfect view of the stars that I would soon call upon.
I needed to practice more—I knew that. But every time I prepared to wield this power, my entire body flooded with the panic that I would hurt someone. Kade was right with his claim that I couldn’t control this. How I did it the other day with Kohen was a mystery to me.
Settling into my usual wielding pose, I tilted my neck backwards, my face aimed towards the sky. I drew the galaxies into my blood, sucking the power into every pore of my body.
Starlight bled out of my open palms with my release. I held on tightly, using every ounce of focus I had to control it.
In my peripheral vision, I could see the light bouncing off of my skin and hair, and though it should have blinded me, the sight sent a sense of warmth through my veins.
Dropping one arm, I aimed the other at a lonely flower. It crumbled into a pile of ash, settling on the ground in a glittering dust before I pulled back on my power.
Serenity flowed through me as I sank to my knees in the grass. Though I no longer felt weak when I harnessed, it still took a lot from me mentally.
