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18

CALLIE

I go up to my room and slip my clothes, boots, and jacket on, determined to follow the guys to my grandmother’s house. No, I’m not going to be stupid about it, but I’m also not going to sit here with my tail between my legs, waiting for them to save me.

“What are you doing up?”

I whirl around at the familiar voice, my heart beating fast. “Oh, Theresa! You scared me!”

Her ageless face twists in an expression of regret. “I’m sorry. I got up to go to the bathroom and saw movement in your room.” Her gaze moves over my clothes. “Going somewhere?”

For some reason, I feel like speaking my plan aloud might destroy my will to go. “The guys are trying to find an object of power to help unlock my magic.”

Panic flashes in her dark eyes. “They pissed off the king, and now they’re going out of the protection of the ward?”

“Not far. They said they’d be okay.” Her reaction makes me uncertain, not just about going myself but about letting them go.

“Can I sit? Can we talk?” she asks, gesturing to the chair in front of my desk.

I nod.

She moves across the room with graceful movements, even though she wears a pair of my pajamas with coffee cups on them. She grasps the candle flickering on my desk and moves it closer to the edge to illuminate both our faces.

“I’ve debated about speaking with you for a while, but I wasn’t sure I should.” Her expression is still unsure.

I settle on the edge of my bed, curiosity awakening inside of me. “About what?”

She hesitates, then tucks her long, dark hair behind one ear. “About the insanity of this plan when there’s a much smarter one.”

“What do you mean?”

She frowns. “The thing is, I don’t regret getting myself or my mates mixed up with this. The king is an evil bastard, and your mother was my best friend. I owe her child my loyalty, but I’m going to tell you what the others won’t. We don’t have a flying shit’s chance of succeeding.”

My thoughts race together. “They said if I could just unlock my powers?—”

“You aren’t a goddess, Callie. Look at how few people support our side versus theirs. We’re going to lose. No matter what. And then we’re all going to die.”

I shake my head. There has to be a way.

She continues talking. “Even if they find an object of power and unlock your powers, we’ll all be dead before the solstice.” Her tone of voice leaves very little room for argument. She’s sure about her opinion.

But there’s always a way. I shake my head. “No, I don’t believe things are hopeless.”

Theresa leans closer and lowers her voice conspiratorially. “I didn’t say they were.”

“Then what?” I ask. If there are other options, she should’ve said sooner.

She takes a deep breath. “All the king cares about is the throne. Killing you and all of us? It’s nothing in comparison to the throne.”

“I don’t understand,” I say. “I’m his big threat to keeping the throne. My being alive threatens him because I’m the rightful heir. Aren’t I?” I’ve begun to come to terms with the fact that I’ll have to learn how to be a leader and fast. Eh. Sort of come to terms with it. I’ve at least begun to believe it was true. It’s a start.

She looks around, then leans closer. “Offer him the throne in exchange for your powers. Then, his interest in us will be gone, and should anything go wrong, you’ll have the power to defend us.”

I wrap my arms around myself, feeling cold. “But what will happen to the witches then?”

She shrugs. “Less than what will happen if you don’t offer him the throne. Everyone will die, including us.”

My teeth chatter. “I don’t know what to do.”

Theresa leans closer and presses a hand to my cheek, forcing me to meet her gaze. “I was your mother’s best friend, so I need you to believe me. She risked everything to save your life. But do you see how she didn’t remain to fight? She ran because she knew this was not a battle she would win.”

“What should I do?” I ask again. Her words make sense, but giving up the throne gives the king his position, which is what the people don’t want. I’m supposed to liberate them.

“Make the sacrifice. Do what’s right. Protect the people who risked their lives to save you and end this.”

My stomach flips. “So… I just go to the king and what? Won’t he just kill me before I make the deal?”

“No, because I happen to know where he is tonight. And he’s alone. If you go to him there, he’ll make the deal just to be rid of the headache of you. Just to secure himself the throne. He doesn’t care about having a niece or if you’re powerful, as long as he’s the king and his son will be after him.”

Her words make sense, but something about it still makes me uneasy. How does she even know where he is?

Leaning closer, she whispers. Her eyes fill with tears, and she takes my hand. “I know you don’t understand our world, but I do. Your men are unwilling to risk putting you in any danger, even to save their own lives. But do you love them enough to do the same for them?”

The answer comes easily. It’s been a short time, but I already care about them more than I care to admit, even to myself. “Tell me what to do.”

* * *

I turn off the engine of my car and the silence that surrounds me is deafening. Taking several deep breaths, I pull the key out of the ignition with shaking hands.

This is it. I’ve made this decision. To protect everyone.

It’s the right thing to do.

I open my car door and stiffen at the coldness of the wind swooping off the water. Curling my shoulders in my jacket, I close the door and start toward the beach, leaving the pavement of the parking lot behind. My boots sink into the sand with each step I take, the feeling on the wind ominous.

This is the right thing to do, so why does it seem so wrong?

I’m giving up a throne I don’t want. I’m ending a war my side can’t win. And I’m saving the lives of the people I care for. On paper, there is no other choice but this.

Still, I can’t shake the feeling.

I only walk for a few minutes when I see the glowing silver light Theresa described. My heart races as I move toward it, my instincts screaming a warning.

It’s the bravest thing I’ve ever done to keep walking, in the dark, in the night, toward a man feared by so many. There’s so little I understand about all of this, but I believe Theresa. The others didn’t want to put me at risk, but this was the least I could do for them.

As I come to the hidden place the golem had dragged the man when I first arrived in this town, I round the rocks and see the king. His eyes are closed. His arms are spread. And the mud where the man was sucked into and disappeared glows with a blinding silver light.

I feel sick. This is the place, Theresa had said, that the king and his mistress use to gain extra magic from the lives they do deals with. Is the man I saw die still in that mud? His body being drained of his magic?

Shuddering, I push the thought aside. It isn’t the time for that.

Taking a breath that shakes my whole chest, I force my shoulders back and step out from behind the wall. “King Robert, we need to talk.”

His eyes flash open, and for a moment, all I see is silver where his pupils should be, and then the light fades away in a rush, and we’re left in darkness.

It takes a long minute for my eyes to adjust to the light cast from the moon. But I try not to panic as I stand, not twenty feet from the man who is supposed to be the root of all evil.

“Regina,” he whispers my mother’s name. “You’re alive.”

I stiffen. “No. Not Regina. Callie, her daughter.”

His eyes, the same blue as my own, roam over me. “You look just like her,”

I say nothing. What is there to say? Wasn’t it his men who hunted and killed my parents? Wasn’t it his men who burned my grandmother alive? And isn’t he the reason my guys are scared right now?

“Did you come because of my note?”

Not exactly. “Yes.”

“So, you’ve decided to--”

“I want my powers unlocked.”

His eyes widen for a second, and then he laughs. “And why would I do that, dear niece?”

I choose my words with care. “Because… if you give me my powers, and promise not to hurt those under my protection, I’ll agree not to take the throne.”

He smirks and takes a small step closer to me. “Or I could kill you here, and no one would ever know.”

“Actually,” I draw the word out. “You can’t. The spell my grandmother, your mother, placed to protect me makes it impossible for you to use your magic on me.”

He lifts a hand and points it at me. After a second, his amusement fades away. His eyes narrow, and his hand shakes. I sense magic around me, and the scent of it is sour, ugly.

But it doesn’t hurt. Not even a little.

Slowly, his hand drops to his side. “I’m certain, given enough time, I could find a way through it.”

I try to sound confident. “But why bother when I’m offering you what you want?”

He studies me, and I get that feeling again, the same one I got the first time I saw him, that there’s something evil about this man. “Alright. I’ll unlock your powers, and you’ll give the throne to me.”

I shake my head. “No, you’ll unlock my powers, give me your word not to hurt any of the people I care about, and I’ll give you your throne.”

He lifts a dark brow. “Deal.”

The king closes his eyes and points at the ground. I inch backwards as the earth begins to shake and bite back a cry of alarm when the walls around us shake. Rocks fall from above us, and I leap even further back, my heart racing.

Is this supposed to happen? Or is this a trap?

After a long moment, a dark gem lifts from the mud. A gem no bigger than a dime. But even I can sense the power radiating off of it in waves that take my breath away.

“Do.. you… have a spell?” he asks, panting slightly.

I nod, unwilling to speak the words of my grandmother’s spell in front of him.

He wipes sweat from his brow and smirks again. “Take the gem, speak the words of the spell, and swallow it. And your powers will be unlocked.”

“That’s all?” I ask, eyeing the floating gem.

He spreads his hands wide. “We had a deal. And, my niece, contrary to what the others say about me, I’m a fair man. My word is my word.”

Taking a few careful steps forward, I snatch the gem out of the air, gasping at the heat that burns into my palm. It isn’t quite painful, but it is surprising. Still, I tighten my fist around it and try to keep my expression neutral as I move backwards away from him.

But when I turn to walk away, his voice stops me. “But don’t betray me, Callie. Your mother betrayed me once.”

I look back at him, a chill rolling down my spine. “And you don’t betray me .”

Hurrying away, I rush for my car, get inside, and gun it back to my house. But when I pull into the garage, I don’t go in. Instead, I sit in the darkness of the car, repeat the words to the spell, and swallow the gem.

If I’m going to fail, it won’t be in front of the others.

And if I’m going to succeed, it needs to be now.

Because my uncle may have thought I was a fool, but I know better. A man who stinks of evil is hardly one who will keep his word. If I can’t learn how to use my powers, and fast, then the people I love will be in danger.

The gem heats within me, hotter and hotter. I gasp, grasping my stomach, and then the gem explodes. And I scream.

And scream.