Knight's End: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Tangled Crowns Book 3), page 26
Quinn went to yank back the blade, but Ryan stopped him. “It’ll make the bleeding worse.”
"No!" I scooped up my sister, my hands sliding on her wet wings as I pulled her up and cradled her on top of the water. She looked so small, so young. Helpless. I caressed her face as I held her close. “What did you do?” I scolded.
“You said … she put her heart … in me,” Avia closed her eyes and whimpered.
“Yes, but why’d you go and stab yourself?” I demanded, my voice gruff with panic and fury.
“It hurts,” she sounded surprised.
“No shite!”
I looked up at Quinn. “Get Blue and Connor down here now!”
Avia looked up at me confused. “But Ryan’s here. He can heal me. Right?”
Agony and irony shot through me. I’d told my sister her story. But I hadn’t mentioned ours. She had no idea my knights’ powers were swapped. She had no idea. My knees nearly buckled.
Ryan splashed toward us and his big arms enveloped Avia and me.
“Sweetie,” he looked down at Avia with pity. “Connor has my powers now.”
“What?” her face grew pale. Her lavender eyes grew panicked as they met mine. “What?”
I shot a tiny thread of peace through her. I didn’t want her heart pumping faster. I didn’t want her losing blood any faster. It already coated her stomach. It already had turned the water around us a sickly-sweet pink.
“A wish swapped their powers,” I explained as briefly as I could. “Sweetheart, Ryan can’t heal you.”
Avia’s eyes swept down toward the knife. “I — I didn’t think …” her hand latched onto mine. Tears marred her beautiful inhuman eyes. “You mean … I’m gonna die?”
Quinn, where the sard is Connor?! I roared
He’s coming!!! Declan and Blue are carrying him. He’s not healed yet, Quinn said back, tersely. I’m trying to help Blue navigate the caverns.
Shite. Shite.
Sarding gods in hell.
I stared down at Avia and shook my head. I clenched my teeth to release some of the tension in my body. Then I said, as softly as I could manage, “You’re not gonna die. Connor’s almost here.”
A tiny smile crossed her lips. “You know I can tell when you lie, Bloss. You’re my … sister. Or—”
“Yes, I’m your sister dammit.” I wanted to crush her in a hug and tell her I didn’t care about blood. I cared about her. But that stupid jagged knife still stuck out of her chest.
I glanced over at Posey, who was watching this whole scene stoically.
“Maybe she stabbed Mayi’s heart?” I asked, hopefully, wishfully thinking that somehow, magically, maybe all this blood belonged to the sea witch.
Posey shook her head.
Time slowed as I stared down at Avia. My soul dissolved into a fine mist; it existed, but barely. It hung in the air, a collection of tiny tears just waiting for the sunlight to pierce it, destroy it. How could a world exist where Avia’s pure soul was tied to someone so evil? How could the gods allow her to fall? My heart throbbed painfully as she gasped in pain.
She weakly gripped my hand. Her own felt clammy. “It’s okay, Bloss.”
“No, it’s not.”
“You said her heart needs my blood, right? When I’m gone, so is she.”
No. No. No, no, no.
Even on the brink of death, she shone like a lighthouse. She saw the sarding good in everything.
I clenched my jaw.
“It’s a good ending for me,” she whispered. “I’m the peacekeeper in our family, remember?”
Avia had always been the water that doused the flames between mother and myself.
“I feel dizzy. Is that a new necklace? It’s horrible,” Avia tried to keep the tone light. Conversational. Even as her eyelids fluttered closed.
Shite. I felt like collapsing, but I didn’t want to let her go.
“Let me hold her a bit,” Ryan said softly. “You can hug her while I keep her in the water.”
His arms surrounded me and gently lifted Avia. As he pulled her up, her limp hand swiped at my neck, and the leather strap pulled tight against my windpipe.
I yanked the necklace off and stared down at it.
Why the sard had Donaloo given me a love potion? Why not a healing potion? I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to think.
The old bastard was all about love. Thought it was the strongest magic.
Cerena’s wrinkled face popped into my head. She fingered the vial in my memory. “He said it strengthens hearts.”
I uncapped the vial and shoved it toward Avia’s face. “Drink this, now!”
I didn’t give a shite if it strengthened Mayi’s heart too. I just needed it to strengthen Avia’s heart long enough for Connor—
Avia gulped down the purple vial.
My eyes scanned her face, her body. My heart pounded as I searched for some sign that the potion had worked.
I wasn’t certain if it was wishful thinking, but her color looked a bit better.
Are they almost here? I asked Quinn.
Quinn didn’t get to respond before Avia shuddered in my arms and Ryan fell down beside me. I blinked, confused.
But then I looked up to see Mayi rising out of the water, another ice spear in her hands.
She launched the spear at my chest.
Quinn and Posey were in front of me in the blink of an eye.
Posey stepped in front and took the spear to her chest. She blinked at Mayi, “That all you got?”
The sea witch let out a howl of fury.
I could hardly focus on her. My eyes were on Ryan and Avia, who were sinking in the rapidly rising water. The ice spear that pierced Ryan was in his upper back. It hadn’t gone all the way through. But Avia had a little bit of ice protruding from her stomach. With all the blood, it almost looked like a glittering ruby set in the middle of her dress.
Shock spread over me like a thick quilt, insulating me from reality.
Quinn grabbed my hand and yanked me around to face him.
Bloss. Wish! Now!
I blinked. It took a moment for his words to filter into my brain. Even then, it took seconds for me to think of something.
Words tumbled from my lips. “I wish I had the sea witch’s heart in my hand.”
And then it was there.
It looked almost like a human heart, but for the fact that it was a robin’s egg blue. It pulsed once in my hand, and blood gushed out of the arteries that had been connected to Avia. Blood gushed over my hand, coating it a deep red.
I held the source of her power up, ensuring Mayi could see as I dug my nails into her heart and crushed it in my hands. I watched as she collapsed, writhing. When Posey reached back and handed me a small knife, I stuck it through the witch’s heart and carved out a section.
Mayi splashed face first into the water. I cut again and again. Manic, single-minded fury drove me. I had tunnel vision. Bile rose in my throat as I sliced apart the witch’s heart until it was in pieces no bigger than my fingers.
It was over. Mayi was gone.
She’d never hunt down ships again.
She’d never attack anyone else again.
Avia was free.
As if I were coming out of a daze, I looked over at my sister and husband. Ryan was hunched over Avia, his breathing ragged. Avia’s face was as pale as death.
Sarding shite, I realized. I wished the wrong thing.
I rocked where I stood, already grieving as I watched two people I loved about to die.
I realized that if Ryan went, my other knights would die, too. The bonding spell would take them.
Posey put a hand on my shoulder and said, “I’ll get them. I’ll be right back.”
Then she ran from the cave, splashing through the thigh-high water.
I stared at the knife in my hand. I studied it.
I held it to my wrist experimentally. If Ryan and my knights died, did I even want to live?
A hand latched onto mine and yanked the knife away.
I looked up and scrambled backward.
Had Mayi brought reinforcements?
Shite!
I had no other weapon. I extended my hands and blasted the stranger with peace until he stumbled backward, out of the water, to sit on a small section of rock near the entrance.
My wrists ached and the smell of my blood mixed with Avia’s and Ryan’s.
I waded toward the stranger, arms extended, in case I needed to strike again.
A man with black hair, pointed ears, and bright grey eyes stared at me. He raised his hands in surrender, but said nothing when I screeched, "Who the sard are you?"
Chapter Twenty-Five
Before I could blast him again, the stranger stood and ran. He ran so fast that he became a blur and disappeared out of the passage that led to the cave.
Shite!
Was he going to warn others? Was he going to get reinforcements? Would the sea people still fight us if they knew the witch was dead? I couldn’t follow him, I’d never catch him anyway, and I’d leave Avia and Ryan even more vulnerable. My heart pounded as I thought of possibilities and waded through the murky water searching for the knife he’d thrown. I needed a weapon.
A sound echoed off the rocks behind me and I whirled, spraying dusky red water everywhere. I had to tell my heart to calm down, because it wasn’t an enemy. Posey arrived back, her purple petals drooping as she supported Connor under his good shoulder. His curls were plastered to his forehead and sweat beaded on his brow. His eyes even had that droop of illness to them. She pulled him down the narrow walkway toward the water as she said, “I sent Blue to get Lizza.”
“Did you see someone in the tunnel?” I asked, eyes darting behind her.
“No.”
Declan leaned around her; blue eyes concerned. “There’s someone else here?”
“Declan, I need you to guard us,” I spat out, as soon as I saw my scholar. “A man followed the sea witch in here. He was spying on us.”
Declan’s brow furrowed. “A human?”
“He looked human. Wait. No. He had pointed ears. Part-elf maybe? But he had speed like Blue.”
“No one has speed like Blue.” My blond knight shook his head, his hair falling over his forehead. He took a stronger stance as he turned to guard the entryway of the cavern.
I hurried forward to help Posey bring Connor over. He looked too weak himself to be able to do much. Every step we took, he gritted his teeth in pain.
I helped set him gently on his feet in the water next to Ryan, who crouched protectively over Avia. The ice shards that had stabbed them were starting to melt, letting even more blood flow from their wounds. They were both also wracked with shivers from the cold.
Connor studied the two of them. “Shite. This is bad. This is worse than I’ve ever healed.” That was before he saw the knife in Avia’s chest. When he did, he took a step backward, and might have stumbled if we hadn’t caught him.
“Can you blast us?” Ryan’s voice was breathier—weaker—than I’d ever heard it. His gaze was dull as he stared at Connor.
Panic surged through me and my eyes flew to my best friend. For the millionth time, I cursed my sarding magic. Why couldn’t I have gotten healing? Or something useful? Shite! The seconds seemed to crawl on as Connor’s eyes studied the wounds.
Connor swallowed hard and nodded at Ryan. “Guess a blast won’t hurt.” Then he extended his hands, blowing out a shaky breath. Pink magic streamed from his fingertips and covered Ryan and Avia. But Connor’s healing magic didn’t have its normal luminescence. It was pale and weak. He was clearly exhausted. I saw him squeeze his eyes shut and push harder.
He wouldn’t be able to heal them like this. No one would make it if they kept going like this. We had to do something. I had to do something. I pressed my hand into Connor’s back and blasted him with peace. I yelled out, “Dec, take their exhaustion!”
“I won’t be able to defend us.”
“If you don’t, there won’t be an us left to defend,” I yelled back.
I sent another blast of peace through Connor, trying to light up his spine. My thighs ripped apart and I nearly collapsed from the pain. But I kept the magic pulsing through him. And the pink light seemed to grow brighter.
When I heard Declan howl behind me, I knew he hadn’t just taken their exhaustion. He’d tried to take their pain, too. I looked over to see him latch onto the rough rock wall in front of him as he screamed. His back arched and his lips twisted in pain.
The pink light grew brighter around me.
I looked back at my sister. Avia looked peaceful; Ryan’s gaze on Connor was steady and Connor was pouring light into both of them, one hand extended toward each person.
“It’s working,” I yelled. “Keep going!”
Ryan started instructing Connor in what to do, how to weave his magic to heal them best as Declan sobbed in the background. Those sobs tore at my heart. And once I felt like Connor was stronger, I turned one hand and sent another blast of peace toward Declan. His screams softened to whimpers of pain.
“Come on, come on,” I chanted under my breath. Every bone in my body ached but I shoved it aside as Connor worked.
The minutes passed in tense silence, the only sounds the small ripples of water when we moved or Declan’s breathless pants.
When Ryan stood and clapped Connor on the back, I expected to feel relief. Joy. But my eyes simply turned to Avia. We weren’t done yet.
My sister’s golden tresses were stained with blood. Her wings were still limp in the water. Even her scales had lost their luster. I moved closer to her, now that Ryan wasn’t clutching her so protectively. My hand stroked her cheek.
“It’s okay to let me go, Bloss,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”
My heart plummeted, like it had been shot from the sky, pierced by an arrow. I fought against that feeling, fought against reality and gravity and the certainty of death. It couldn’t be true. It couldn’t happen. Not to my little sister. Not before me. “Connor—”
“I’m trying, Bloss!” he snarled, the anger that was his price made his hands clench into fists, even though his own body was too hurt and weak right now to lash out.
But I saw Avia’s breath grow more shallow, even as my best friend shoved all his pink magic into her skin. Her eyes fluttered. I grabbed her hand, needing to hold her, needing to touch her, to be with her—
A raspy voice echoed through the cavern. “What the sard is going on? You’re trying to heal someone in a pit of blood?” Lizza tsked as she turned to Posey. “I swear, sometimes the living have no sense at all.”
Then the undead hedgewitch whispered some words, took a bite of moldy-looking bread from her pouch, and waved her arms. Avia floated up out of the water, droplets falling from her hair and dress as she levitated in midair. Lizza waved her hand and my sister floated over to her.
She looked at the knife in Avia’s chest, and the ice spear poking out of her back. Then over at us. “It’d be easiest if I could make her undead.”
I shook my head.
Lizza sighed, scratching at her exposed bit of skull. “Thought you might say that. Come on then, we’ve taken the castle. Let’s get her in there.”
Lizza put another spell on Avia, freezing my sister, preventing any further injury or blood loss until we had her settled into a bedroom. Instead of taking us up through the mountain, she marched down, toward the opposite side of the cavern and led us into the castle via a passageway there. I had to assume that it was the same passage that Mayi had used to find us.
We tromped right through the great hall, mermaids stopping dead at the sight of us. Their rainbow-colored tails glimmered in the light of floating orbs of glass that served as sea lanterns. Each woman had hair that matched their tails. Their breasts were unbound and uncovered, and their plush mouths were open in shock as they watched us. Their eyes all flew to Avia and they watched as Lizza levitated my sister’s body up the blue glass staircase and we followed. General Enderson tromped through the room and scattered them, saying, “Don’t you all have work to do? Or should I toss you in the dungeons too?”
Lizza brought my sister right to the queen’s chambers. I tried not to focus on the fact that this had once been Mayi’s room. I tried to think only about Avia. Lizza set her on a canopied bed hung with seaweed that dominated the room. Glowing lights in round glass lanterns floated throughout the space, gently bumping into the walls with a clink and then floating back toward the middle of the room. While the walls were made of glass, they were opaque green inside the palace rooms instead of translucent as the outer walls appeared. Avia had privacy.
Lizza got Avia settled onto the round mattress, turning my sister on her side so the undead woman could see both wounds. The hedgewitch examined them for a moment and then she turned to my knights. “Get out.”
Ryan, Connor, and Declan protested furiously. Blue was still off chasing the stranger.
“We can help.”
Lizza gave them a sharp look. “No. I’m going to heal the princess. And then I need to discuss some matters that might be sensitive for Avia … female matters.”
Declan’s eyes went wide, and he looked at me. Ryan and Connor were already avoiding eye contact. “You’ll be okay?”
I nodded. So long as Avia would be okay. Lizza seemed confident as she pulled a decapitated lizard out of one of her pouches.
I closed my eyes and hoped fiercely that she didn’t try to make Avia eat it. But, in all honesty, I’d do whatever it took. If I needed to hold Avia’s jaw open and force that lizard down so that she’d survive, that’s what I’d do.
My knights left, muttering about speaking to the general, the captured Mer soldiers, and the castle servants.
I went to sit next to Avia as Lizza prepared her tools. “Anything I can do?” I asked as I stroked my sister’s hair. Still frozen, Avia didn’t respond.
“Take the knife out,” Lizza ordered.
I nearly wished she’d asked me to force feed my sister the lizard instead. My heart leapt into my mouth as I wrapped my fingers around the dagger’s handle. No sight in my life had seemed more wrong. But I shut down my thoughts and yanked.
