“So the gods truly spoke this prophecy to each of you individually, then?”
“They did,” Avery interjected. “It was in Father’s journal. Veli was with him the day it came to her. She said it right to him.”
“Avery,” Veli hissed.
I lifted my hand and halted her as my eyes roamed over the witches who stood before us, watching us intently.
“So that is where you have been hiding all this time? Did you assume the role of the king's pet following the abandonment of your coven?”
“She is ahealer,” I stated. “She helps people. Veli tried to save my father.”
“Interesting that you will do such a thing for another species as you doom your own.”
“Enough!” Veli shrieked at the High Witch. “What I did was to save you. Or attempt to.” She moved to the heart of the ruins before us and spun as she addressed them. “Everything I did was to save you from yourselves!”
“Lies!” They all began to shout at Veli.
“You wanted the book for yourself,” Azenna assumed.
“Look at my eyes, Azenna. My skin. Myyouth!The book had remained untouched for centuries.” Veli’s stare wandered to Avery and then snapped back to her elder. “That is until a few nosey little fae stumbled into my life one day and refused to leave.”
“You had no right to take it from us!” Azenna shouted, the crimson in her stare glowing once more.
“It was destroying you! All of you!” Veli roared.
I took an involuntary step back as power radiated from her.
“Witches were not created to be kind-hearted, Veli!” the crone hissed.
“You took the choice away from us all,” the twins voiced in eerie unison from the edges of the tree line.
“Judging by the hue of your stares, I would say your choice had been made back then, Madalae and Empri.” Veli crossed her arms at them.
The twin witches’ hard stares softened.
“If the cost of all power is our youth, some of us are willing to pay such a price. What use do we have for beauty when we rarely desire the usage of a male? Our choices should not matter to you,” Azenna barked.
“Mother of all the gods above, Azenna, you would have led the realm to its doom if I had allowed you to dig your talons into the book any further.”
“You are blaming me, little witchling? Be mindful of what you accuse, as my skin has yet to crinkle into ruin alongside some of our sisters. I should rip your heart from your chest for your defiance.”
“All those centuries ago, when our coven found the book within this very rift of the realm, you had not dabbled as deeply as those who had brought it to you.” Veli’s eyes shot over to the crone. “You have not yet held the true power you seek, so you still wear the skin of a benevolent witch. It is your eyes that would give you away.”
Azenna’s face twisted into a grimace as her gaze roamed over each of us. A cackle left her. “You speak so confidently, Veli.”
“I am quite confident. I endangered my life and left the protection of my coven to ensure that none of you would succumb to becoming mindless monsters consumed by power.”
Azenna stormed up to Veli—the High Witch and healer now stood chest to chest. “You think you are so much nobler than us because you do not desire the greatest gift the gods gave us? You are not better than us, Veli. You are soft-minded andweak.”
“Is it the book that you seek?” Avery interrupted their stare-down, and all of our gazes moved to her as she stood on the far side of the ruins. “In exchange for your assistance in our war…is that your price? The book.”
My heart started racing as I stared at my sister. Zaela made eye contact with me for a moment and instant panic lit in her stare.
Azenna pivoted away from Veli and took a step toward Avery. “Do not toy with me, girl, for I do not sense the book in our presence. Do not offer something you do not possess.”
Avery then removed her pack that had been strapped from her back. She placed it in the soil at her feet and reached into it—when she pulled her hand from within, it held Veli’s small, woven bag.
“Avery,” I whispered, my eyes bulging in absolute fear.
