Page 70 of Antiletum (The Nocturne #1)

“It’s not there anymore. In its den where the fox was born.

Where it should be. That’s where I went after you left me in the spirlinary.

” I push my hand through my hair. “The man who was supposed to be overseeing it was missing as well. His group of sacrifices were dead. The entrance to the den where the Heartstone should be was undisturbed. But when I went inside, there was only a crater in the floor. No stone. The Ellden clock was still there. And there were black spots around the edges. Like someone clamped off the veins and cut it out. ”

“That’s impossible. How much would that thing weigh?” she asks, as bewildered as me. “How would anyone get it out?”

My shoulders lift and fall heavily. “No idea. But one of the last times I was in the Strigi Forest, I noticed the Noctua Heartstone had similar black spots around its edge. I thought it was from the strain of working against the Ellden clocks. I think it may be tied to the missing Vulpes stone.”

Delaney gnaws on her lip. Terror falling over her face. Loath to make it worse, I have to admit to the other issues surrounding Vulpes .

“Heartstones aside, we have to leave Omnitas, Delaney. Soon. And not to the manor.”

I hear Delaney’s heartrate increase and I hate myself for being the one to hand deliver that fear. To rip away her sense of security, just as she’s getting settled, after the tumultuous upheaval that has been her life since her parents died.

“Parliament?”

I nod. “They want me to meet with Vulpes to inform them they will not be receiving their antiletum shipments. Or their pre-payment back.”

Understanding dawns on her. “The harvest from my parents’ fields.”

“Yes.”

“And how do they expect that to go?” she scoffs. Angry. Protective.

Glorious.

“I’d imagine they hope it will result in my death.”

“They told me to go with you?”

“No.”

“But you said we will have to leave soon,” Delaney points out.

I scowl at her. “Don’t insult me . You honestly think I would plan on leaving you behind for those fucking vultures?

Besides, I don’t think it’s expected that I will leave you behind.

Mallin, Selise, and Blair will have to leave with us as well.

And possibly Alaric, from the manor. It turns out, Roarke’s grandmother is a member of Parliament and was much wiser than the rest of the cabinet.

Not to mention, I have personal issues within their family.

” I grimace. “Even before I smashed Roarke’s head with your mallet you allowed me to borrow.

” I lean forward. Kiss her hard. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

She’s undisturbed by my admission to murdering the prick, too preoccupied with what we face.

My fingers find her chin, turning her to me seriously. Going against every instinct I hold to keep her close to me always, I tell her, “If you don’t want to do this, Delaney, you can stay. I’ll make sure you’re protected in my absence. I meant it. You have a choice now.”

“And I meant it when I told you I want to help. Besides, how would our vinculum bond react with that kind of distance?”

My lips press into a thin line before answering, “Not well. But I could fly back to you. When the distance begins to harm us.”

“I’m not staying here without you. But what will we do? Where will we go? If you now no longer know where the Vulpes Heartstone is?”

“Don’t fret, ocellus . There are plenty of safehouses both within Vulpes and Panthera for us all.” I bite my lip, anxiety creeping in like the unwanted parasite it is at the next piece of the plan that I must lay at her feet.

“What?” she bites.

“Promise you won’t be angry with what I’m about to suggest.”

“I will make no such promise,” Delaney announces sternly, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Fair enough.” I pause, commanding my heart to calm. Reminding it that my wife already knows of all my terrible transgressions and there’s nothing left to fear .

I’ve already suggested my plans to her before. It’s not news.

She promised not to run from me again.

My nervous little heart listens to none of it. Not the first reassurance. Absolutely useless.

“We need to raise Rainah before we go and bring her with us.” I’m proud of myself, for how steady and sure my voice sounds.

But the following silence is hard to stomach, and I think I might vomit.

Delaney stares at me with an unreadable expression.

It stretches on, far too long. Eating away at my only recently revived confidence.

Finally, she sighs. “Yes. That’s been on my mind a lot.” Delaney picks at a spot next to her on the mattress.

Her response shocks me to my core. “It has? I thought you were opposed?”

“I think we have to. And I want to know why she lied to me about knowing you and didn’t tell me that you were alive. Among other things. But, Val…”

Now Delaney’s nervousness shines, matching with mine. We really are incredibly in tune.

“What if our necromancy doesn’t keep her alive, untethered to us, like the Heartstone?”

“It will,” I say, confidently, standing to collect my clothing and hers.

The sun is beginning to peek above the horizon, daylight bringing about reality, no longer being able to hide in the quiet shadows of night. With the time I took to go to Vulpes , the opportunity to raise Rainah and our entire group flee The Citadel is running concerningly thin.

Delaney rises off the bed, following after me. “How are you so sure? And also,” she narrows her eyes at me, the most adorably vexed expression crossing her face. “How are you able to shift? How does Parliament not have that gift tied to the Ellden clocks too? ”

“I’m so sure,” I respond, shoving a leg through my pants, “because we’ve already done it.” I sweep a hand towards all the living flora around us, no longer clinging to our necromancy, thriving on their own. “And it has to work. It has to.”

With a sly grin, I finish donning my garments, glancing down at the white stains.

It may be wise to stop by our chambers to change first. Stalking towards my wife, I collect her in my arms. Press my mouth against hers.

“As for my shifting, I believe it is a combination of a couple things. One being too much unchecked breeding in the gutter. My mother is so magicless she wasn’t worth noting to Parliament.

But she’s descended from shifters just the same as everyone else. ”

“And the other thing?” Delaney’s hands lay flat against my chest.

My grin spreads further. “That would be because of my biological father.”

Delaney’s mouth drops wide. “You know who it is?”

“As a matter of fact,” I nudge my nose against hers, “I do.”

I’m a wreck, picking at the skin on my cuticles. Delaney fidgets next to me, in no better shape than I.

It takes a long time, walking down to the forgotten catacombs in The Citadel, not far off from the abandoned tunnels used for Suredeis prisoners. Rainah deserved something better than that cesspool .

Daylight is fully upon Omnitas now, after the time it took for Delaney and I to make ourselves more presentable and collect the rest of our group, explaining how the precariousness of our mission has increased. We’ll have to detour to Greystone to inform Alaric.

A missive at this point is too risky.

“Rainah’s been down here the whole time?” Selise whispers.

Unnecessary. No one can hear us. But it is unsettling, how horribly it echoes against the underground walls. I almost snap at her to stop, lest the roof collapses on us. An unwarranted fear. Probably due to my utter terror at what lies ahead. Maybe being buried under the rubble wouldn’t be so bad.

“And you knew?” she hisses at Mallin, turning to her husband to pinch his arm.

He yelps and it calls right back to us. My jaw grinds further in response. “What was that for? I’m not the one who killed her and lied about her grave!”

I heave a deep breath through my nose, grimacing. “You’re not helping, Mallin.”

Selise glosses over my discomfort altogether. “You knew I was going to visit my friend in the cemetery when she wasn’t in the ground at all.”

“Technically, Rainah is in the ground,” Blair chimes in.

My hands tremble, my heart racing, shoulders shaking out, and I can’t stop from cracking my neck.

Delaney is tense too. Quiet among the others bickering.

I hear her swallowing every few seconds.

She shoots me a glare, but takes my hand in hers all the same, putting pressure on my fingers to calm me down. It works. A bit.

“Valledyn, you have got to stop fidgeting,” Delaney finally scolds me when I pop my neck. Yet again.

“I can’t help it. I’m nervous. ”

“You weren’t so nervous when you strangled her to death,” Delaney hisses at me.

Why does everyone have to keep saying it out loud? We all know what happened.

“Why are you scared now?”

I glower down at her. “Have you met your sister?”

Mallin gives a pitying sigh. Delaney scowls right back at me.

That may have been the wrong thing to say. Defensively, I add, “She’s going to hold this grudge for the rest of her life.”

Delaney glares at me, outraged. “Assuming your plan works and we can even bring her back to life for any lasting amount of time.”

I wince again. Fuck. Really, I have no right to be annoyed. I brought this upon myself.

“I think we all agree that you deserve Rainah’s impending grudge, Val,” Blair says smugly.

At least she’s speaking to me. The moment she saw Delaney at my side when we came to collect her for our trip to the catacombs, her ire with me fell away. Like she decided if Delaney could (for lack of a better word) forgive me for killing her sister, then Blair could offer me her pardon as well.

Delaney huffs, grabbing my arm and dragging me along like she even knows where we’re going. “Come on.”

We make it to a cavernous chamber. The scent of magic is strong, Nelda having put a stasis ward around Rainah’s body with her gift to keep her from decaying. It’s fresh. Which means she’s probably been in here only recently, reinforcing the ward.

Nelda will have to flee with us as well.

Rainah lays atop a stone altar, grey dress flared around her legs. Pale. Lifeless. Purple ring wrapping around her neck .

Mallin puffs out a sigh. “This is so fucked.” Though he knew she was here, he hasn’t been to visit her body. Taking mine and Nelda’s word that Rainah has been well preserved.

Reluctant in my agreement, I keep my mouth shut.

Without preamble, Delaney steps right up to her sister’s body. Holding her hand out to me. “Let’s do it now. Before I change my mind.”

My lovely wife has a green tinge to her face that only adds to my own nausea.

The tension in the catacombs is thick. Blair is sucking on her wooden cigarette holder, exhaling a gaggle of smoke creatures that are not easing the strain at all.

Not even a little bit. I can hear Selise’s shallow breaths, standing in the shadows.

Mallin’s arms are tight across his chest as he stares down at Rainah’s corpse.

I take Delaney’s proffered hand before I back out as well, our necromancy joining together as soon as we touch. Buzzing. Strong. It senses what’s coming. A true challenge, beyond the plants of the conservatory. An important resurrection.

My heart pounds harder as magic melds with my wife’s into one.

To be certain of success, I brace myself and clamp a hand around Rainah’s waxy, cold wrist. Joined necromancy wafts towards Rainah’s still, cold heart, a seed of life dropping in its center.

Delaney and I release a cold stale breath at the same time, purging the death from her sister’s corpse.

Rainah’s heart pounds in her chest once again, like it never stopped at all, a spread of red appears on her cheeks. Instantaneous in our power. Lifeblood reinvigorating and coming back to fruition, flowing unencumbered .

Delaney and I fall back together, clinging to each other’s bodies, when Rainah’s eyes pop open, and she sucks in a loud, long breath. A grating, hideous croak.

Rainah lurches forward, vital once again. Wide eyed. Shock owning her features. Mallin leaps backwards. Even Blair startles, hand over her own heart. Selise lets out a strangled little screech.

My lip is worked into a pulp between my teeth, Delaney’s nails digging into my chest and arm hard enough to draw blood. Staring as her sister reaches for her neck—still bruised from where I strangled her.

It’s tense.

Watching my friend heave in lungfuls of air for the first time in months. Coming to terms with the fact that she died— how she died—and is now living once more. Waiting for her to see me here. Probably respond by murdering me in turn.

Finally, Rainah rotates her head our way, dazed but aware.

My own breathing is louder than Rainah’s. Louder than anyone’s. Delaney and I are practically warring for who can hold the other tighter. The three of us stare at each other in complete silence. Seeing who will break it.

I’m about to scream at her to say something, to put me out of this anticipatory misery, when Rainah laughs. Long and hard and loud, echoing across the catacombs.

Delaney and I glance at each other, confused, and then turn back to her sister.

“The Heartstones.” Rainah smiles, wide and manic. “I know where they are.”