They tormented me, all of them, and turned my life into one of misery and loneliness. Yet, all I felt for them was compassion; whatever happened here was violent. The fear forever carved into their expressions left me speechless. The smell was nothing compared to the sight.
A hand touched the small of my back, making me jump.
‘You have to focus, Ava. We don’t know what we’re walking into,’ River pleaded.
He was right; I knew he was. ‘Let’s go.’
His battalion, along with Alec and our father, moved past us. They must have assumed I needed time.
I was the weak link.
The one everyone had to protect.
How in the world was I the one to open the Crone box?
‘I wish you didn’t have to see this.' River’s voice was soft, barely above a murmur, as he hovered in front of me. His gaze kept falling to my narrowed eyes as I tried hard to push past the wretchedness of what happened. ‘But you have to focus. I have to be ready to fight. I need to know you can take care of yourself.’
‘I can,’ I quipped too quickly, pushing him away with a light shove.
Only then did I notice that Miriam and Michael stayed behind too. Blanched and uneasy, she looked a smidgen better than after she crossed the threshold. I needed to train my fireto make it perform in situations like this. I couldn’t stay on the sidelines whilst others fought this war on my mother.
Rushed footsteps echoed down the corridor next to us, the one the rest of our group had disappeared into according to my earlier instructions.
Alec ran back, holding somebody close to his chest.
Shit. I knew that smell.
Willow.
‘What the fuck. Is she alive?’ I rushed toward him, stopping him in his tracks.
'Barely.' Alec was breathless. ‘You know her? She needs a medic.’
Without waiting for a response, he pushed past me, running toward the portal.
‘Stop,’ I snarled as he ignored me.
Running at full speed, I eventually caught up. Moving my hand over her body, I focused on the most life-threatening injuries. Her heartbeat was too slow, almost too faint for my witchcraft to pick up on. There was a gash by her kidney, and it was bleeding profusely.
Focusing whatever remained of my green magic, I pushed it around the wound, willing it to close.
It was torturous. Slow.
Alec’s constant pleas to hurry only grated on my nerves.
My powers were drained. I explained it before we made our way to Ortensia. My brother was expecting a miracle. The wicked witch was lucky to get a sliver of my power to heal her. Did she deserve it?
‘Take her to a medic now. There is one on the ground floor of—’
He was gone before I could even explain how to get there.
Oh well.
‘Would your mother have attacked her own daughter?’ Miriam asked, holding a hand to her throat as if the words were too terrible to voice.
A laugh bubbled in my throat. They didn’t know half the things she did to me.
‘She would,’ I said quietly, before looking away and forcing my mind to focus on the carnage inside the castle rather than the one inside my head.
