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I know what the last trinket is, what soul shard we need to use to break the curse. And somehow, as Tei stares at me with his eyes glowing in his true form, that’s only the second most Earth-shattering revelation to have come out of this moment.
chapter 49
a power death
cannot sever
teizel
This time, she didn’t ask me for a shard of my soul. She’s using one of her own. I’m not sure if she’s just practicing with it, or if she thinks this might break the curse. Regardless, at this point, she’s extracted enough shards that the process is seamless. Eyes closed and legs crossed on the floor, Esme taps a spot right in the middle of her chest as she chants the Catalan spell.
“Amb trossos d’ànima, jo tesso petites joies, brillants fragments del meu ésser, amb amor aglutinats, creacions que fan vibrar l’ànima, com melodies.” Her fingers glow against her chest as she plucks a shard of glass from it, then starts rolling it around between her fingers like putty. “De cada trencadís de l’ànima, en trec un bocí, amb paciència i cura, els modello amb art, convertint-los en talismans de gran valor i magia subtil.”
There’s a moment of complete silence where we both hold our breaths, where the entire room seems to fall still as the soul glass complies to her touch, molds to what she’s asking. She’s shaping it into… a key? At least that’s what it looks like. It’s lovely as it reflects the morning light, refracting a rainbow of color across the room. But before the transparent piece of soul can harden into a true trinket, the bauble shatters, iridescent scraps scattering at our feet.
“No,” Esme bemoans, falling to her feet reaching for the fragments, desperately trying to piece them back together. It’s no use; they’re little more than shreds of glass now, and they scratch her hands, leaving behind trails of blood.
“Little gem,” I call out, following her to the floor and wrapping her in my arms, keeping her from hurting herself any longer. “Let this one go; let’s start with a new one.”
She shakes her head, eyes glassy. “What’s the point? It’d take years for me to become powerful enough to craft the trinket, and we don’t have that kind of time.”
“Listen to me,” I say, grasping her face in my hand and forcing her eyes to mine. My thumbs stroke her cheekbones, catching a runaway tear before it can get far. “You will not give up now. I know you can break this curse. You’re so close.”
While it may be true that time is not exactly on our side, no other challenger has been this close, ever. Esme is right there. The solution to the puzzle is within reach, and all we need to be able to put the pieces together is enough power. I will gather all the magic in the Beyond and serve it to her on a silver platter if that’s what it takes. If it is within my means to give it to her, I will do so. If it isn’t, I will find a way to get it anyway.
Esme will break this curse. I cannot contemplate the alternative.
Love is the kind of power even death cannot sever.
Except my little witch isn’t going to die.
She takes advantage of my distraction to snake out of my grasp and stand, putting several steps between us. Her back is to me as she looks out to the balcony overlooking Ciuadella Park. It’s early in the morning still, but the Ciutat Comtal is already bustling, the sounds of traffic and life making their way up the three stories of our apartment.
“Don’t you get it? The curse will be broken whether I survive this game or not.”
“I don’t…”
“Love, Tei.” She interrupts me. “That’s what Isabel wanted you to find, the one thing you swore you’d never succumb to. My survival is irrelevant. At the end of it, you’ll have a key that can open the locket, even if it’s crafted from my death rather than my magic.”
I step closer, narrowing the distance between us. “What are you saying?”
She keeps herself closed off, leaning against the frame of the balcony, rubbing her bare arms as the chilly October breeze kisses them, leaving goosebumps in its wake. “You know exactly—“
I reach for her, finding the cool skin of her arms — which feels even colder under my hot fingertips — and urging her to turn around to face me. “Spell it out for me. You’ve done so well claiming your fire… don’t go shy on me now.”
Her eyes roam over me. From my chest, to my neck, slowly exploring my face until they meet my eyes. I’ve more than once wished I could strip Esme of all her armor, leave her hanging in nothing but blood and soul; now, I feel as though I’m the one who’s being stripped down to nothing but the feelings I wasn’t supposed to have and yet now fill every corner of my soul. And I let Esme look her fill, search my soul to her heart’s content.
Because it’s hers, now. Love, devotion. Whatever she wishes to call the feelings she’ll find, they’re hers.
“I love you, Tei,” she finally says, and the words spark an explosion of light in me, like I’ve lived in darkness my whole life, and now that I have Esme, someone’s finally invented electricity. “Despite my better judgment, despite all the reasons I shouldn’t… you saw the parts of me I’ve worked all my life to hide and found worth in them. You taught me how to do the same. All I’ve ever wanted was to belong somewhere, and now I belong with you.”
Tears, fat and heavy, stream down her cheeks, and she lowers her head. “A piece of the puzzle you thought you could live your whole life without. You’ve said yourself that love is something your kind can’t indulge in, that you’ve been primed to avoid; A piece you cannot find on your own. That is yours, but someone else’s, too. The trinket isn’t just a missing part of your soul — it’s someone else’s; it’s mine. My love. Isabel wanted you to find love.”
I let my fingers brush her cheek, collecting her tears. The feeling of her skin against my own is soothing even as my mind spins a thousand miles a minute absorbing the information she’s delivering. “So what? This was her way of playing twisted matchmaker?”
Esme scoffs. “I doubt it.”
“But I found you. I found… everything. A whole universe, an entire reason to exist, all in just one, small, incredible person.”
