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Cassian only inclined his head before releasing Florence and vanishing entirely.
Florence sprang forward without hesitation, a wild roar ripping from her. “Give me back my power!”
Sienna had taken a single step backward before Florence’s words reached her brain, startling her into freezing again. “Huh?”
Fenn wrapped manacles of energy around Florence, dropping her to the concrete floor before the blonde could make contact. “You’re the one who wanted to change powers with her in the first place,” he said. “Congratulations. You accomplished your goal.”
Sienna sucked in a breath and reached out, latching a hand onto his nearest arm for stability. “H-hold up,” she said. “You’re saying I … I’m not … clairvoyant anymore?” That was impossible, right? She couldn’tlosethe power she’d been born with. Even in this wide and crazy world, that just didn’t happen.
Fenn met her gaze again. “Not only that,” he said. “The power of life now flows through you.”
Her mouth fell open and her stomach bottomed out, leaving her head spinning. She’d have hit the floor, possibly fallen half on top of Florence’s seething form, if Fenn hadn’t caught her. So many questions blazed through her mind she couldn’t hold on to a single one.
“The altar’s been dismantled,” Cassian declared, his words slipping through Sienna’s spiraling fog. She had no idea she’d simply been clinging to Fenn and barely holding back the need to vomit. No idea how long Florence had been sobbing practically at their feet.
She suspected it had been a few minutes.
Fenn adjusted to look toward his colleague without releasing her. “Was it responsible?”
“Most likely,” Cassian replied. He held up a piece of carved stone that looked like it belonged in a museum and definitely would not fit in his coat pocket. “This had been embedded into the structure. It was probably pre-programmed to trigger with Florence’s power, so when she poured it into Sienna, it activated. The altar itself was just a frame in the middle of the room, on top of the same floor that’s out here.”
Fenn frowned again. “A direct conduit.”
“Sh-she took it,” Florence said, her voice barely a whisper. “I was supposed to get everything, but the bitch latched on to me like some nasty leech and took it all!”
Sienna swallowed hard. She did vaguely remember grabbing hold of something and clinging to it in desperation. But she most definitely hadn’t known anything like this situation was possible.
Cassian tucked the stone under his arm. “So it would only have been fine if you ended up with all the power?”
Fenn’s grip tightened. “If it was designed the way Cassian thinks,” he said, “then it would always have gone this way.”
Florence’s head snapped up. Her eyes were wide, red-rimmed, and tears dripped from her chin. “We had a plan! I would have taken her immunity and you—“
“She would always have fought.” Fenn spoke with such certainty that his words quelled some of the unease twisting Sienna’s stomach. “Without even knowing the stakes, she overpowered you. You never would have defeated her if she’d understood the cost.”
Florence’s jaw trembled and fresh tears spilled over.
But Sienna felt better. His faith in her somehow offered her a sense of peace. She had often lamented having the least useful gift out of all her sisters, hadn’t she? She’d certainly always detested the way her visions overwhelmed her. If she’d suddenly come into even half the power Florence had possessed before, she could maybe do some good.
She drew in a stabilizing breath and looked across at Cassian. “Thanks for figuring all that out.”
His sharp gaze snapped to hers and he nodded, but said nothing.
She turned her focus to Fenn. “Can you take me home? There’s something I need to do.” Not that she had a single clue how, but that was a temporary problem. She’d figure it out.
“Y-you’re just going to leave me here?” Florence asked, her voice trembling.
Sienna saw Fenn’s expression darken, but she had ideas of her own. It was arguably meaner, but it felt … karmic. “You’re mortal now, and those visions are pretty damn debilitating. Plus I imagine you haven’t built up any kind of immunity to, well,anything. So I think making you live as you are now is way worse than letting Fenn kill you.”
Florence stared up at her in horror.
Sienna made a point of wrapping her arms around Fenn’s torso, because she was still a petty bitch herself, and smiled at the woman on the floor as Fenn’s shackles released her. “Bye now.” She thought for sure she heard Cassian’s chuckle carrying across the distance between them moments before Fenn’s familiar energy spiraled up to take them away.
He didn’t need to ask to know what it was Sienna wanted to do. He was conflicted as to whether or not he felt like it was the best idea as far as first uses went, but he refrained from voicing his hesitation. Her loyalty to her sisters was admirable. So he settled her beside Maya’s restlessly sleeping form, quietly promised not to be far, and let himself out of the room. It wasn’t as if he knew how the healing power that had once been exclusively Florence’s worked. He couldn’t give her tips on how to access it, let alone use it.
But Sienna was strong, and nothing if not determined.
In the meantime, Fenn took himself down to the first level, where his colleagues had gathered. Apparently alongside Sienna’s eldest sister.
