He looked at me, assessing me the way he did during combat training.
“He was ready to destroy her, Elias,” I said. “His own sister. In a way, he did destroy her. And he made that choice knowing it would destroy him. That’s not betrayal. That’s sacrifice. That’s love. He did it to protect you. To protect all of us.”
Elias exhaled slowly, his anger draining out of him as his shoulders loosened some of their tension. “Do you really think he loves her? After everything she did to him and Blaise?”
“In their own ways, I think they both do.” I rubbed the back of my neck, trying to piece the right words together. “They were raised with the intent of avenging their people. They were raised to be weapons. Maybe the love between them doesn’t look like ours. But it’s still love.”
The door creaked open from behind us, and Teddy stuck her head out. Alastor hovered from behind her, pale and tired, but his eyes shone in a way I’d never seen.
“We know how to free Blaise,” she said.
Elias was the first to move, stepping through the open door and tugging on Teddy’s hand while he clapped Alastor’s shoulder, quick to forgive and eager to assist.
“How can we help?” he asked.
Back at the dining table, Alastor’s attention went to the glowing script hovering above the open book. I pointed at them, a half laugh escaping from deep within me.
“I’m not the only one seeing this, right?” I asked.
Finley wrapped an arm across my back, a small laugh coming from her as well.
Alastor almost grinned. “If you’re seeing words suspended in the air, no, that’s only you. You should see a healer about that.” His words came out dry but amused before his expression turned solemn. “The answer isn’t in the words, though. It was hidden in the sigils, in the spaces between them.” He gently shook his head as if he were still piecing it together. “I’d never used sigils until today. I was taught them, but never dared until instinct took hold. The sigils, though, create a path. Teddy figured out how to walk it.”
Teddy’s shoulder lifted in a shrug. “We figured it out together.”
Alastor’s eyes held hers, a silent communication passing through them before he straightened his tall frame. “To open this path, I’ll need more strength than I have.”
Elias shifted, but it was Etienne who spoke. “I’ll lend you from mine. You can absorb my magic.”
Alastor shook his head. “I appreciate the offer, but this magic is old and specific. Teddy’s mage blood aligns with mine. It’ll be enough.”
Teddy frowned. “No, it won’t. You’ll burn out before the connection stabilizes.”
He remained quiet.
“You can use mine, though,” I said. “You used it last year to poke around Elias’s and Teddy’s heads.”
Teddy huffed out a laugh while Elias smacked the back of my head good-naturedly. All I felt was Finley’s hand in mine, squeezing in reassurance.
“My sibling bond with Ted is strong enough to anchor through her,” I said.
Teddy’s hand went to my shoulder while she reached her other hand to Alastor’s wrist. “With Brenton, this could work.”
Hope flared behind his eyes, and he bit on his bottom lip in contemplation.
“I already told you, Alastor,” I said. “Whatever you need.”
Finley looked between us, her brows knitting. “My magic wields both life and death.” Her attention went to Alastor. “I think I can help too.”
Alastor blinked, and for a few beats, he didn’t seem to know what to do with the offer. Then he inclined his head, and a faint tremble ran through him. “I think so.”
“It’s worth a shot, cousin,” Teddy said.
Alastor shifted to grip her hand, and after he pulled the Orb of Sacrifice from his pocket of magic, he guided us to my living room. We formed a circle, Teddy to his left, Finley to mine, the living book at the center, and the orb on Alastor’s lap. All but Finley took our turn pinching our fingers so three drops of blooddripped into his bowl. When our hands touched, heat surged through our link.
It wasn’t gentle but a raw current that demanded reverence, with Finley’s surging forward, seeming to call for the life that lived in death.
Alastor began to chant, sigils forming from his shadows, Finley’s red threads spearing through them. His voice, rough and harsh, rose and fell like waves. Teddy repeated each word a breath behind him, their voices coming together in a strange harmony.
