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“Jake,” I whispered, unable to feel anything at all. He’d…killedfor me. Chosen me.
I managed to crawl to him, to wrap my arms around his neck. He didn’t embrace me as I clutched him, my gloveless fingers digging into his back. My chest shook as I let loose sobs of my own, tears streaming down my face, overwhelmed by both grief and love.
Jake’s tears melded with my own, pattering to the ground like rain. He didn’t hold me back, but he leaned into my chest and rested his head atop my hair.
I felt Patrick’s presence looming above, but he didn’t touch us or provide comfort of his own. Maybe he stayed back, allowing us time for ourselves. When Jake pulled away first, his gaze was just as clouded as before, but he took my face between his hands.
“Family,” he said. One word. But a word that spoke thousands more.
Hesitantly, I lifted my scarred hands to his face. This time, he didn’t flinch at the sight of them. He leanedintomy touch.
“Family,” I echoed, wishing I could swallow his heartache for my own, that I could take away the torment that would surely follow him for the rest of his days.
Until then, I’d fight for him, just as he had for me.
When I looked around us, searching for Patrick, wanting to tell him how much he’d come to mean to me as well, I saw nothing but shadows and white trees.
Jake cursed, swiping at his eyes. He, too, scanned the woods.
Patrick was gone.
Chapter Forty-Seven
Jude
The mortal who deceived Raina disappeared the night he betrayed her. There are no records of him, his name wiped entirely from record. Some say he was handsome, others say he was grotesque and fearsome. The only commonality the rumors share is the color of his eyes.
Camille Ashton, Asidian historian,
year 40 of the curse
They weren’t at the camp, not where I’d left them when I’d stormed off into the woods. I dropped from Starlight’s back to inspect the chaos of footprints. There had been a scuffle of some sort. A fight.
I was too late.
Someone could’ve hurt her, and at the thought, heat swept through my blood, and my skin burned with fury.
Starlight grew agitated behind me, her hooves pounding the dirt, her head swaying back and forth as if to tell me to hurry. As if I already didn’t suspect that the worst was yet to come.
Mounting the anxious mare, I eyed the faint tracks, all leading north. The footprints were spaced far apart, which meant they’d been in a rush, possibly running from an enemy. It also meant I had no time to waste.
I nudged Starlight forward with the heels of my boots, taking off into the night. I could have sworn the trees shone as I passed, the blue and silver leaves shifting colors, turning into a muted green. Even the fog seemed to part for me. I was burning from the inside out and too lost in my own head to care.
I had to get to her. I had to get to Kiara before the man who’d fooled us all finished the job he’d started decades ago.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Kiara
Our old friend died today, and my heart is broken. Perhaps Juniper’s death has weakened my resolve for our sacred mission, but I implore you to seek another way. Her final words to me were, “Look to Fortuna.” I’m not sure what the city of gambling and sin has to do with this, but as one of the Elder Knights, you have access where I do not.
Letter from Aurora Adair to unknown recipient,
year 46 of the curse
Jake and I had taken off into the woods.
We screamed Patrick’s name while racing through the underbrush, sharp reeds and fallen branches tearing into our clothes. Bleeding and out of breath, we pressed on, cupping our hands to our lips and calling out to our friend.
