“He’ll likely disapprove of all this,” Tasia purred as she half-heartedly gestured between us, “but what have wereallydone? Nothing. You just proved exactly how inept you are, which helps no one.”
Words formed and died on my tongue. All I could do was glare.
“Well, we haven’t done anything yet.” Amalyss’s grin sharpened. “Though you are here toplay, so...”
A glow lit in Tasia’s eyes. “Show us your power.”
Her words hit hard and fast, needling through my muscles with the swell of magic I had no hope of denying. I swallowed thickly as the itch brewed in my fingers. My body wanted to call on my power even though my mind did not. As I curled my hands into fists, my nails bit into my palms. None of this made sense.
“No. That’s not a game.”
“Maybe not to you.” Tasia smirked as she moved closer. “Now, show us your power.”
I tasted the magic in Tasia’s words now, the fresh, floral scent coating my mouth. I’d smelled that unique, earthy aroma with Orin when he’d first bound me with his vow. With Amalyss on the lawns, I’d just passed it off as a common fragrance drifting through the grounds. I was a damn fool for missing it.
I exhaled forcefully and released my white-knuckled grip. “Why? What good does it do you? You must have seen threadmender magic before.”
“Certainly,” Amalyss replied. “But we want to see it again.”
I cut a hard glance at her before dragging my gaze back to Tasia. My fingers drilled into my thighs as they itched to begin working, to answer her command. Already the burn was settling into my bones, and I desperately wanted to rid myself of her control.
“Begin,” she purred. The word was riddled with power that snapped against my skin. As much as I wanted to resist, I couldn’t. Simply demonstrating my magic didn’t exhaust my lifespan, though, so rather than risk incurring a more demanding order, I clenched my jaw tight and closed my eyes. My power surged forward the moment I called, rushing through to my fingertips and blossoming outward around my being in a shroud of ivory light.
When I peeled open my eyes and stared at Amalyss and Tasia, my lips parted and my breath caught in my chest. They had no life threads. None. I should have seensomething. Anything. A cascade of twirling strands eagerly dancing about their frames, vibrant and full of color and life. Because they were alive. They were staring at me, eyes wide and mouths ajar, as they took in my power. They were the perfect pictures of awe and wonder. I narrowed my gaze. There was a softness to their features that hadn’t been there before, as if something gossamer had been delicately layered over their bodies. Their hazel eyes were muted, their once-lustrous hair now somehow faded. My brow furrowed as I leaned toward them, and I swore I caught glimpses of small, silvery filaments weaving through their locks.
A sense of knowing settled quietly over me. Glamour. The magic was stitched into their bodies, preventing me from seeing what lay beneath. It was both incredible and horrifying, because while their impressive power granted unblemished appearances, it also masked the beauty of their life threads. Of their true, glimmering essences.
“Your glamour,” I murmured, studying every inch of Amalyss in hopes of finding a crack in her magic. Nothing. “Has a threadmender ever seen anyone here without a veil?”
“Mavis.” Amalyss tipped her head to the side as she marveled at my moonlight-drenched fingertips. “But only when they attempted to cure her. You can imagine how that turned out.”
“Why? What’s the point?”
Amalyss smiled daggers. “Who wouldn’t want to be flawless if they could? Once you’ve mastered glamour, it’s as easy as breathing. We hardly even notice it anymore.”
But I noticed it. The strange fabric of magic coating their bodies. What was odder was that in some places, it appeared to be disintegrating. Just small pools of thinness here and there across their arms, their legs, their chests. Maybe they weren’t as practiced at holding it together as their elders.
Tasia looked at me head-on. “Your power is beautiful.”
“Thank you.” The sincerity of her words softened the lingering anger in my bones. The pale light covering my body dwindled, and I was about to fully cap my power when Tasia’s hand darted out and gripped my arm. A glimmer of fear coursed through her eyes.
“Don’t.” Then she ducked her chin. “Not yet.”
“Tasia,” Amalyss whispered. She gently grazed her sister’s shoulder. “It’s all right.”
“I just...” She scratched at her arm, at one of the thin points in her glamour. “I want to experience threadmending. I’m curious to know what itfeelslike.” Tasia skewered her bottom lip with her teeth and dropped her eyes to the floor. Everything in me stilled. In that moment, Amalyss and Tasia didn’t look like Evers. They looked human. Like Noam and Nohr, eyes full and glistening with unspoken emotion. The sight of them chilled me to my core.
Be careful who you trust in this place.Vora’s words surfaced in my mind.
“What if”—she absently picked at her arm—“I cut myself earlier. You can’t tell now because I’ve glamoured it, but I’d like you to mend it.”
“Tasia,” Amalyss hissed. Her eyes darted to the window where Ywena had fled.
Warning bells crashed in my head. The insistent pull from the girls’ earlier demands had begun to fade, as if I were nearing the end of the bargain’s power. If I could justplaya little longer without actually healing, maybe I could persuade Tasia to change her mind. I’d only just begun training with Rorik to strengthen my body, and I hadn’t even started with Orin. I was no better off than my days in Willowfell, and I didn’t want to needlessly sacrifice threads before the real work began. While I knew curing a simple cut would likely shave only a few hours, perhaps a day, off my life, it wasn’t a risk worth taking. Not when I might need all the days, hours, and minutes I had just to cure my brothers.
“Don’t Evers heal on their own?” I asked.
“We do. Much faster than humans, too.” Amalyss pointedly stared at her sister, though Tasia refused to look her way. “And we have medicine for things as small as cuts. Tasia, it isn’t worth it.”
