I’m barely breathing. My heart is going to burst from my chest or spasm from skipping too many beats until it stops entirely.
She’s here. She’s alive.
Chapter 7
Her body is as still as a corpse. Her eyes are sunken, dull, and lifeless. They stare straight through me. There’s no sign that this empty shell of the woman who was once my sister—once my whole world—even recognizes me.
“Arina?” I whisper, my voice cracking as I grab her other shoulder. I make a conscious effort not to dig my fingers in too much or my nails might puncture her fragile skin. I force a brave smile.Happy. We should be happy to see each other.I offer the expression like a map for how to claw back some of the humanity she’s lost. “It’s…it’s me. Clara. Your sister.”
Silence is her response. Deafening, soul-crushing silence.
“Arina?” Her name is strained on my lips. “I’m going to help you.”
Not even a flicker in her eyes. Not even a twitch.Nothing.
The Queen of Cups—the one Kaelis inked—rises from my combined deck and it surges with power. The distant sound of running water fills my ears as the magic pours over her in a shimmering blue haze. Her wounds mend.
But the damage was more than one card can heal.
“May I?” Kaelis steps forward.
I nod. It’s better to conserve my magic; I’m already exhausted. He casts the same card, the Queen of Cups. More wounds mend. But it can’t fill her hollowed body or haunted eyes.
“Is that better?” I cup her face with both hands.
She still doesn’t move. The Queen of Cups can heal physical damage. But it leaves behind the memories of the pain; it cannot touch wounds of the mind.
“Clara…” Twino steps forward.
“Say something,please,” I beg.
“Clara, she’s going to need time. It…it will be all right.” Twino is comforting me.Me.When my baby sister is all skin and bones, he’s lending his strength to me as if I’m the one who needs it.
I hang my head, my arms trembling. Arina remains limp underneath my palms, barely strong enough to keep herself upright. Her spirit has left, wandered somewhere far, far away. I can recognize it because I’ve done it.
But I could always find my way back. Never was I so divorced from my body that every tether snapped, as it has with Arina.
“You’re right,” I admit. My voice has taken on a deadly calm. The sight of her so broken has ignited something absolutely feral within me. “We need to leave, quickly, before anyone finds Glavstone.”
Or before Ravin shows up.The bastard has a way with timing. Though a part of me would welcome it…I’d annihilate him if I saw him now. He might have more cards than me, he might be stronger than me in this moment…but I have fury.
Very slowly, I pry each finger away from Arina’s withered frame, making sure she’s steady enough on her own before I completely release. Gregor moves without need of instruction and collects her with ease into his large arms. Arina sags against his sturdy frame, limp.
“We have an extra boat prepared for you; we took two here.” Jura’s words are distant; it’s hard to hear them over the rush of blood in my ears. “The five of us will have to leave together, as we arrived, to avoidsuspicion. But we can distract them on the way out so you can sneak by with Arina. Once you have the boat, go to the northern edge of the city and—”
“No,” I say calmly, still staring at my sister. The world has been reduced to her, and her alone.
“No?” Jura looks among the other members of the group, confusion furrowing her brows.
“No?” Twino repeats. He’s the only one who dares to approach me. “Clara, it’s better this way. We’ll meet—”
“We’re not separating. We’re not sneaking out. I’m tearing it all down.”
The words are a vow—an oath sworn on my blood and hers. An oath like the one we swore to avenge Mother’s death.
None of them says anything, but I can feel their uncertainty.No…more than that…I tilt my head slightly and look at them. The mere sight of my Starcrossed family soothes my rage some, enough that they can be sure it’s not directed at them. But I can see the hint of fear in their eyes. “Halazar is finished. Neither I nor my sister will ever suffer this place again. But as long as it stands, we will always be at risk.”
It’s so perfectly clear. I don’t know why I never saw it before. Sneaking around, hiding in the shadows, trying not to overextend my hand, minding what I did or did not do…It was still playing within the rules of Oricalis’s game.
