She heads for the door, but I step in front of it. “Wait.”
“Get out of my way, Ryder.” Her fingertips are glowing orange now and I know she’s trying to resist the urge to light me on fire.
“He’s going to die.” I don’t mean to blurt it out like that, but I was losing her, and she deserves to know.
She takes a step back and Amaya instantly grabs ahold of her shoulders. “What do you mean he’s going to die?” Amaya demands in a harsh tone.
Reign’s eyes have glazed over like she’s somewhere far away now. I had hoped to tell Reign this part in private, but it looks like I’m not going to get that chance.
“It’s the only way.” I pause debating whether or not I should continue.
“I’m gonna need you to elaborate,” Emeric insists, taking a step forward.
“Before Damien’s Third Year at the Sector, my father had marked him as his next victim to collect. Just like Kane, Damien had shown he was far more advanced than everyone else. Instead of calling him in to serve by his side, he came up with another plan. He wanted to keep Damien at the Sector as a spy. He would have him keep an eye out for any potential traitors as well as vet any other students who showed signs of unique skills.”
“Like Reign?” Akari interjects.
“Yes, like Reign. Of course, Damien wouldn’t just agree to this. Once he met with my father, it was obvious Damien wasn’t the kind of person to just blindly serve him. Especially not after what my father did to his. He neededmotivation,as my father likes to put it. When Damien went to shake my father’s hand at the end of their second meeting, my father had already had his witch, Athea, cast a soul binding curse. You see, Damien has a twin sister who has been living in the Infinite Sea Territories. The curse activated once their hands touched. It bound his sister’s soul to my father’s. If Damien did anything to go against my father, his sister would die. It didn’t matter if my father was there to witness it or not.”
Each one of their faces is strained, trying to make sense of it all. Everyone’s except for Reign’s. She still has that glassy stare as she stands there unmoving.
“That’s why he did everything. Why he set her up to be tortured. Why he told the king about her power. Everything. He did it to protect his sister.” Amaya’s voice is low, but the words she speaks are true.
“Atlas? That was because of him, too?” Akari asks after she stands up from the table.
“Atlas overheard one of their conversations. It wasn’t Damien’s fault. My father was never going to let him live.”
“So, he just had us believe it was because the king thought of him as a traitor?” Akari’s eyes meet mine and I can see the pain behind them. She was close to Damien, and he betrayed her, too.
“Telling you the truth would’ve been going against my father. His sister would’ve died as a result.”
“I can’t believe this.” Emeric turns around, running his hands through his grown-out hair.
“I know it’s a lot to take in. The only reason we’re able to rewire his memories now is because he’s chained up and doesn’t have any control of it. Everything we do is carefully planned out. We can’t afford to slip up.”
“What do you mean he’s going to die?” Reign’s voice is a whisper, but she finally looks at me.
“The book I stole from the palace when you set the Throne Room on fire—it had information about binding curses. I found a passage where it spoke of an elixir that could act as a loophole. The last ingredient I needed was located in the Dread Woods. I would’ve taken you anyway, but I was able to kill two birds with one stone. Now, we have everything we need to undo the curse.”
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
“The only way to unbind the curse is for one of them to die. As much as we all wish it were my father, that has been proven more difficult. That’s where the elixir comes in. If Damien drinks the elixir before he dies and is revived in time, the elixir will ensure that the curse’s magic doesn’t return with him.”
“This is insane!” Akari scoffs. “You can’t seriously think this is going to work. What if you can’t revive him?”
“That’s a risk he’s willing to take.”
“How do you know that?” she argues. “If you ask him to go through with it, wouldn’t that count as going against the king?”
“Yes, which is why he doesn’t know about it. I met with him earlier and asked how badly he wanted to break the curse. He gave me the answer I needed to move forward with it.”
“So, why did you tell me all of this?” Reign throws her hands in the air. “Why couldn’t you just keep this to yourself?”
“Because, if I do this and it doesn’t work, he’ll be gone forever. I didn’t want to take away your choice to say goodbye.”
“Uh, maybe you guys should have a moment,” Emeric suggests.
Reign doesn’t say anything, but I nod and the three of them escort themselves out of the room.
