Page 39 of A Spell of Bones and Madness (Nostos #2)

Ember half hoped that the seer would have, well, seen something.

Not that she wanted Thalia to have to experience that anymore—especially after what her father had told them.

The burden of the dying is hers to bear alone.

She will feel their souls as they cross.

See what they saw in their life, until she herself returns to these halls.

What kind of fate was that? Was it better than the death blow Thalia had received?

Ander sat at the other corner of the table next to her sister, whispering back and forth.

He looked—well, he looked worse than the seer, and that was being kind.

How he could even sit upright was beyond Ember.

And her sister—how was she surviving? If that had been Ajax, Ember would be a mess, strung out, something—but her sister had such a sense of calm and purpose about her.

Farah sat on the other side by Nikolaos and Giselle, and Ember was grateful that the traitorous princess was as far away from her as possible. She half wished they had left Farah in Alentus with her vile father where she belonged.

For about an hour, Katrin had explained how they had infiltrated the Alentian castle using both the outlandish idea of sending Chloe right in through the gates as an acolyte and Katrin using the secret Drakos passageways their father had built.

Her sister was bold, Ember would give her that, but it was unsettling to think that they could have been caught.

What was more unsettling was that Farah had apparently attacked her own brother when he found them escaping through the woods.

Had it been a ruse then? Or perhaps the princess was truly on their side.

If Ember trusted Ajax, and Ajax—and now her own sister—seemed to trust Farah, should she not as well?

Yet, they had all trusted Kohl and he had tried to kill them.

Then it was Ember’s turn to recount what happened in Aidesian.

She went into details about being lost in the caves and waking up in the castle.

Speaking with Aidon and how he told her to protect his relic and not let it fall into the hands of Hades.

Ajax and Dimitris went through the attack after Ember disappeared, but Thalia spoke little of what the healers had done to her, only what the consequences would be.

Finally, Ember brought up Charon, the ferryman, and his strange warnings—conveniently skipping over the part where her father drank from the Lethe.

That would need to wait until she was alone with Katrin.

“Tell me again what that thing said, Ember,” Katrin called from across the table.

“I don’t remember exactly—something about me and the wolf—he meant Ajax.

That we shouldn’t be there. That we shouldn’t come back.

That he would find us if we did, especially after the blood thing.

” Her nails were raw, Iason would have been so disappointed in her.

There are better ways to feel less anxious, little one.

Breathing, for example—or running. That suggestion would always cause her to chuckle .

It took everyone a moment to process before Ander, in a low, almost unnoticeable rasp asked, “What do you mean a blood thing?”

The entire hall went silent.

Yet, Ember did not have a chance to respond before Giselle’s eyes widened and she grabbed for a book that her husband had tossed aside. “Blood you say? Charon specifically mentioned your blood?”

“Well—no. He did not, Hades did.”

”Gods dammit, Ember!” Her sister shot up out of her seat. “You did not tell us that Hades was there. How is that even possible?”

This was exactly the reaction Ember was hoping to avoid by not telling her sister exactly everything that happened—this and their father drinking from the Lethe. “He said that he found me from my blood. That it called to him.”

Giselle smiled even wider pointing at a hand bound journal with characters of the Elliniká Glóssa on it. A feral sort of grin splashed across her face as her icy eyes turned to slits. “That’s it!” She clutched Nikolaos’s hand and he nodded, almost as if he knew exactly what she was thinking.

In a flash Nikolaos was beside Katrin, clutching her arm with a dagger pressed firmly to it.

Ajax jumped out of his seat and looked from Ember to Dimitris as if he was questioning whose direction he should adhere to.

Ember wanted to scream, Mine! Help my sister you ass!

But no one else seemed to move in their seat. Especially not that traitor, Farah.

“What the fuck are you doing!” Katrin said through clenched teeth, but then Ander looked at her and again it was like something unsaid passed between them and her sister grabbed the dagger from Nikolaos’s hand. “You could have just told me that. I’ll do it myself.”

Crimson poured from Katrin’s palm as the silver blade pierced through flesh and she clenched her hand into a fist above Ander’s wrists. A loud click reverberated against the alabaster walls and the golden shackles he wore fell to the ground.

Farah scoffed, shaking her head back and forth. “My father and Edmund would craft up something so heinous. Blood magic is volatile when it is not used in balance with nature. They believe the balance is sacrifice.”

“I should have thought of that before, after seeing how you opened the locks in the dungeon. Ander could have spent the last few weeks on the ship truly healing rather than in constant pain.” Katrin’s shoulders slumped down as she tore a piece of cloth from the bottom of her shirt and wrapped it around her new wound.

She would heal quickly, but it was better not to lose so much blood.

She placed her other hand on Ander’s shoulder, leaning down toward him. “I am so sorry.”

He looked up at her and his eyes sparkled much like the sun against the waves. “There is nothing to be sorry for, Starling. We are home now. I am free now.”

Giselle cleared her throat. “You are home now, yes, but you need to take time to rest before we decide what actions we need to take against Edmund and Khalid.”

“Mother—” Ander started.

“That was not a question, Alexander. You will take a few days before you step back aboard The Nostos and that is final,” his mother replied. “Now, back to more pressing matters. Ember, your blood,” Giselle started, “did it do anything else? Did Hades say anything else to you?”

Ember swallowed down a lump in her throat.

Here it was, one of two things she knew she would have to explain eventually, although she was not sure why the sight of all those flowers had caused so much dread.

“Flowers—a drop of my blood fell before we crossed the Stygian River. When we returned, white flowers had bloomed all along the river bed.”

Giselle went ashen. “White flowers?”

Ember nodded. “White flowers with red veining out from their center.”

“Then we are all doomed,” the queen said, her voice as cold as a glacier in the north.