Chapter 16
Sidney
Magic seared across my skin each time my body reshaped into Ilyana and then fell away to reveal my natural form. I bit down on a scream, jaw clenched so tight it ached, and waited for the magic to stop faltering like a dying candle.
Inside the ringing of my ears came a familiar voice.“Hello again, Sidney Redgrove. Why haven’t you returned to me yet?”
“Sorry, Adelaide,” I croaked.
Zane’s dark brows drew in at the words. When a heavy thud sounded on the other side of the door, he glared over his shoulder. “Why don’t you acquire some bloody patience, Mathias? We’re coming!”
“Not too proud to apologize? I knew I liked you,”the witch whispered. My abused nerve endings crawled at the sensation of her breath on the side of my face. I slowly turned my head, but there was no one behind me.
“I just got finished fighting for my life and couldn’t come to you sooner. Am I out of time?” Though my surroundings seemed perfectly benign, her presence needled me. Like a dozen insects skittering down my spine,each leg a pinprick of dread. My skin erupted in goosebumps, nerves flaring beneath the surface as the wrongness settled in, sharp and deliberate.
She giggled, high and girlish. The smell of freshly turned soil filled the air, damp and rich, chased by a sweet rot that curled in my throat. A hint of decay reminded me of the woman I was dealing with. Her witch magic bridged the space between us, precise and uninvited.
“Oh, no. I felt you touch the bracelet and thought you might need a reminder. Your disguise will fade out in the first hours past daybreak.”
“Then I’ll definitely be heading your way when the sun rises. No matter what.” I fought to keep my breath steady as the scent deepened, twining around my head.
Zane’s gaze lingered on me with quiet concern. If he sensed anything wrong, he didn’t say. His eyes, still mostly brown despite the change, tracked my every move. Though in the low light of a magical element above us, they had an orange gleam.
“I’d best see you while the sun is still in the sky. Else I’ll send Ilyana’s soul to the Dark Mother early and allow the worms their feast. See you soon.”This time, Adelaide murmured in my other ear. I bunched my hands into fists, biting down on my lip to keep from startling. Fresh pain bloomed in the corner of my mouth from the sudden growth of a fang piercing my skin.
I probed the already healing wound with my tongue as I inspected my hands. Ilyana’s porcelain skin tone was back. Her elegant pianist’s hands flexed at my command.
“See you soon,” I echoed in her aristocratic voice.
The witch didn’t say goodbye. The scent of a fresh grave dissolved, and in its place came the damp must of old cloth and a hint of Zane’s cedarwood cologne.
I sagged with relief and rubbed warmth back into my arms. What I wouldn’t do for a bath right now. I itched to cleanse away the lingering sensations Adelaide’s presence left on me. I went to don my armor as quickly as possible.
Zane helped me secure the leather into place. “What just happened?”
“Tell you later.” I feared that speaking of the witch might draw her attention again. I’d rather reveal myself and fight Mathias to the death rather than invite Terrigana’s hand of frost and rot to rest on my shoulder again. The regent was a problem I could stab, unlike the forces Adelaide represented.
Focus and observe.I shook my head sharply.Analyze and adapt.
My worries returned to the forefront of my mind, and dread coursed through my veins. I had bigger problems. The trial, Finn…the Flask. It was entirely likely the artifact was about to render me a pile of ashes, as it should’ve done the moment it’d dubbed me “chaos bringer.”
I had only just found Zane. How bitter a fate it would be to lose him again as a result of my choices.
I grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to bend down for another kiss. He was still the man I loved, tall and solid, with strong features and a faithful smile that now seemed faded at the edges. Vampirism hadn’t stolen the bronze cast to his skin yet. It was his birthright, made deeper by his love of the sun.
I ran my fingers through the tousle of his dark hair and poured months of loss and worry into the meeting of our lips. Zane’s big hands roamed lightly over my body. We ignored Mathias as he banged on the door again, savoring our last moments of privacy.
“Something to remember me by, if the Flask kills me,” I murmured.
Fiery amber flashed in his gaze. “It won’t.”
I tilted my face toward the ground so he wouldn’t see my expression. I doubted he’d spoken with the artifact and had its venom seep into his mind. And I envied that, truly. It was another entity I couldn’t eliminate with a dagger.
My eye twitched as I faced the door and my waiting judgment. How many lives had I taken in the last three days to suddenly see stabbing as a first resort? It all blurred together as exhaustion weighed on my limbs.
Zane bypassed the crates of rations, his focus locking on a small, lead-lined coffer labeledTeas. He pried it open, his fingers plucking a wax-sealed container from the velvet interior.
“What is that?” I asked.
