“I am doing good in this world.”
“Matilde was snappy and irritable and easily annoyed. But she was also kind and generous and quick to offer a hand. She knew the value of love. She could finish Vera’s sentences. They were two peas in a pod. And you could have had that.”
“I did have that,” Malysa snapped. “Then, it all changed.”
“Or perhaps you changed. You became jealous of Benny’s happiness and new life. You didn’t see how you could fit in anymore. And, when she had her baby, you lost it. You saw it as a problem instead of the solution. You should have seen that all that Benny wanted was your love and affection. She wanted you to help raise Selma and the other children. To live a happy life and prosper. But that wasn’t enough. If you couldn’t have it all, then it wasn’t good enough for you. And you had to take it out on the one person who loved you unconditionally.”
“There was no place for me with her family. Benny made sure of that.”
Cyrene shook her head. “No. She wanted you. I know because I saw the love she had for Matilde. I saw the love she had for her family. A part of you is still Matilde. You could be that part again.”
“That is the part that loves my sister. The rest is nothing,” Malysa growled.
Cyrene wished that she could reach Malysa.
She really wished that she could.
But, where there was a tether of goodness and rightness in Kael, that was gone from Malysa. Whatever Benetta had done to separate her goodness and evilness, it had reverted when they merged. Matilde was no more. The woman Cyrene had loved and been tutored by had been overtaken by the sinister side of her character. And there was nothing Cyrene could do to take it back. To make Matilde transform out of Malysa.
Cyrene wanted to save people.
That was who she was.
Who she had always been.
She had never met someone that she didn’t want to save or fix or change. To bring them back to the good side. Even Kael. Even herself.
But Malysa…
There was no goodness left.
And reaching for it would only drag out the inevitable.
Cyrene held her sword aloft. Avoca flipped her ice-white blades as she stared down the Voldere before her. They hovered off the ground, each at least a foot taller than the one she had fought in the pit. And then there was Malysa. The real threat.
They could do it.
They could do it together.
Cyrene reached out down the bond and felt the two threads there. Just two now. No longer three.
Avoca and Sarielle.
Her soul sisters.
More sister to Cyrene than Malysa could possibly understand.
Because her idea of family was warped.
Family didn’t mean giving up when times got hard. Family meant fighting together through the worst. Only then could you appreciate the best of someone.
Cyrene touched both bonds, felt the hearts of her sisters, and then they linked. Doma met Dragon met Leif. Three becoming one.
And so it began.
67
The Gift
Dean
“You will not get past me,” Merrick said. He whirled the long black blade in his hand and menacingly narrowed his eyes.
“We’ll see about that,” Dean said.
He had never faced a Nokkin. And hearing Cyrene’s stories about what one had done to Avoca, he wasn’t particularly looking forward to it. But he was standing between him and Cyrene. Between him and Malysa. There was only one way forward, and that was through.
Kael snorted. “I should have gutted you when you were living in my castle the last two years. Creator knows, you were annoying enough.”
Merrick’s eyes slipped to Kael. “There is something different about you.”
“Nice of you to notice,” Kael said. “It’s the hair.”
Dean chuckled despite himself. “It’s definitely the hair.”
“Where has your magic gone?” Merrick demanded.
“I’ll tell you if you ask nicely,” Kael taunted. “Or if you let us through. Your choice.”
Merrick leveled the sword at Kael. “You have rid yourself of the blood magic. You are more of a fool than I imagined.”
“I have been hearing that a lot lately,” Kael said with a shrug.
“For the last two years, I have fed off of your magic,” Merrick bit out. “Weakened you until you had to kill to survive the withdrawal of the blood magic feasting on you. To survive the addiction. It has been a pleasure to eat away at you bit by bit. To watch you suffer.”
“Pleasant guy,” Dean muttered.
“And now, you have nothing to offer me,” Merrick said. “Which means that, when I next touch you, it will not be to drain your reserves but to kill.”
“And oh, how I look forward to that,” Kael said. “But can we end the small talk and get to business? I never did like listening to you drone on.”
“We’ve only just met, and already, I tire of you,” Dean confirmed.
“Imagine two years of this drivel.”
“I’d rather not.”
Merrick whirled his sword one more time and then settled into a fighting stance. That was all the invitation that they needed before Dean pushed into motion. He parried Merrick’s enormous sword, feeling the vibrations of the massive thing all the way down through his arms and up into his shoulders. If he hadn’t had a Hohl blade, then it surely would have snapped under the strain of the metal.
Kael was there next, darting into the fray and slicing at Merrick. He was deft and agile despite his injury. But careful to stay well out of reach of Merrick’s touch. One touch from the Nokkin could drain the magic from a person. But it could kill a human. And Kael was just a human now. He had to know the risks.
Surprisingly, they worked well together. They were matched in swordsmanship, which Dean found to be impressive. He’d assumed that Kael’s swordplay came from his magic, but it appeared he was just as well versed in it as Dean was. They were both princes after all. He’d just never thought of Kael as similar to him in any way. He wasn’t sure he liked it now.
He used his own magic to push against the Nokkin before him. But it did little good. He absorbed more magic than anything.
Cyrene had said that she was only able to destroy the Nokkin that had appeared before them in the Drop Pass with her spirit magic. It had unleashed from within her, and she had eviscerated the Nokkin.
But Dean didn’t have spirit magic.
He didn’t know anyone else who did.
That meant…he had no real way of killing it with magic.
He’d have to be more imaginative than that.
Merrick went for Kael again, but he skittered backward out of reach, slicing his blade down toward Merrick’s outstretched arm. Dean came in strong from the other direction, shooting electricity toward him. Merrick ducked the attack, and the energy hit the opposite wall, blasting a hole through the rock to the outside beyond. Wind whistled in through the opening, and they could see the enormous hundred-foot drop below.
Kael ducked in close again and attempted to get in a low blow against Merrick. But Merrick was quicker. There was a split second where time slowed down. Where Merrick was reaching, reaching, reaching, his fingers a hairbreadth from Kael’s collar. Merrick could pull Kael in and kill him within a heartbeat.