Page 128 of The Unbound Witch
“I wished that she would forgive me. That’s it.”
“How did the deja respond?”
“She just giggled and nodded and then said to open the jar and set her free. So I did.”
I combed my fingers through my hair, braiding it out of sheer habit as I considered Nym’s wish. “I’m guessing she came back for my wish and can’t leave until yours is fulfilled.”
Her eyes were full of tears, but her face showed only panic. Nym rose, grabbing my hands. “If she forgives me, she’s going to be gone? Forever?”
“Better to live an eternity in peace than be trapped here.”
She fell back down, nodding slowly, twirling the golden bands on her arms, lost in her own mind once more as we waited. I remembered how close she was to her family and the sacrifice she’d made staying with us, when she could have gone home instead of risking everything to be here.
“I’ve always admired you, you know. It’s different being spirit blessed because everyone watches you in wonder. But we aren’t unheard of. You’ve spent your whole life unmarked and gawked at. That’s never changed your character. If anything, it’s probably made you better for it. And I know how much Kirsi loves you, Moonstone. I just wanted to say thanks. For letting me in.”
I smiled. “Remember that witch that came back for me in the final Trial? Commanded the skies and called the creatures from the forest to fight off Willow and Onyx? You might be losing your edge, but I’m never going to forget the moment you saved my life. You want me to help with Kir, I will. You want me to shut up and stay out of it, I will. Family is what we make of it, and you’re here now. Maybe we aren’t your real family, but we’ve got each other’s backs and that’s the best thing anyone can ask for.”
She chucked a piece of broken wood into the fire. “It’s never going to be that easy with Kir and I.”
“See that brooding man over there throwing punches because he needs to feel in charge of something? You once told me I’d have to be a fool to fall for the Dark King. I don’t think love is ever supposed to be easy. The work you put into it is what makes it so special. If you really want to make things work with Kir, you tell her the truth, all of it, and let her decide. If that means she forgives you and leaves this world, then find comfort knowing you gave her the peace she needed.”
“So, no matter what, I lose her.” Her voice cracked, and she rubbed her chest as if it would ease the pain in heart.
“We lost her the day she died in that castle. Every single moment with her since has been a blessing from the goddess, but we cannot cage her in this world.”
She nodded, saying no more, and I left her to her thoughts. I didn’t know if I should be the one to tell Kirsi, or if I should trust Nym to do it, but either way, if this was really the reason she was here, I wondered if Kir would truly ever be able to forgive her knowing Nym had kept so much from her. But would I have done the same? Nym had no way of knowing fulfilling that wish might have set Kir free until now. I couldn't imagine the guilt eating at her.
Bastian swung hard at Tor, not giving an inch as they fought with closed fists. The shifter dodged the blow, spinning away just in time for a giant white wolf to come in for the kill, pinning Bastian to the hard ground and licking his face.
The Dark King roared, shooting Atlas into the air with his feet as he spat into the dirt. “You’re so disgusting, Atty.”
“It’s hisnature,” Kirsi teased, holding a transparent hand out to help Bastian up.
She’d come so far from her first day in this world in her new form. She’d broken rule after rule, still living life on her own terms. The king took her hand and moved to his feet as if grabbing a ghost, awish, had been the most natural thing on the planet.
I didn’t miss Kirsi’s gaze at Nym as she turned away. The longing and the hurt in her eyes. She loved her. They loved each other. But this was not my battle. If Nym didn’t tell Kirsi about the wish, I’d have to. It was the right thing to do for my best friend. But I would give Nym a little time to try to figure it out. Because time was precious, and we didn’t have much of it.
The pluck of that magical string in my mind binding me to the Grimoires rattled. I’d known the second the book was moving out of the Whisper Coven, had felt the jerk the moment it was dropped with shifters guarding the others after Bastian’s barrier vanished. Having Kir and Atty join us didn’t settle the warning bells firing in my mind, didn’t ease the urgency rippling over me as I thought about the book Endora had, or the ease with which she’d obliterated half our world.
“Bastian,” I called, holding back the worry from my voice as I reached for the Forest Coven Grimoire in my mind, expecting to feel it nestled within the dense trees and high mountains of Xena’s coven only to find it was not. “The Forest Grimoire is in the Moss Coven now. I think they crossed the bay to bypass Fire.”
“Time to get moving.”
A small canal passed between the Moss and Fire Covens. We hustled over the bridge without delay, entering the luscious green land of our enemy. We’d made a plan to trek through the Moss Coven from its southernmost tip, moving all the way to the north toward Endora’s home. We would cut off the Forest Coven witches headed the same way and steal the Grimoire by whatever means necessary and then keep going north toward where I felt the pluck of that book. The small mountain passes we’d have to travel through to reach her had proven one thing. Her home’s placement was strategic.
“Tor, take the skies. Keep an eye out for Xena. Endora can’t get that book. She’s likely to blow the Moss Coven off the map if she gets her hands on it.”
“No.” I froze. “She’s not trying to destroy the land. She’s trying to take out all the witches but her own. She did something in the Moon Coven. She channeled that magic somehow. How else would she have destroyed the Fire Coven’s Grimoire when there’s been no other record of that being possible? Give me the stone.”
“What?” Bastian asked, his eyebrows drawn in confusion.
“The gem that was on the cover of the Grimoire, I need it.”
He slipped his hand into his pocket and dropped the red, marbled stone into my palm. I closed my eyes and willed magic into it, pushing that amplification spell I’d had. The king’s back went rigid as a hiss sounded between his teeth.
“What did you just do?”
I shook my head, the wheels of my mind spinning as the fiery stone whispered words of betrayal and poison into my mind, hardly coherent but alive, nonetheless. I thought I was destined to die with these books. Bound by them, to keep my markings hidden. But that was not the whole truth. The whispers had told me I knew what I needed to do, but I hadn’t at the time. It wasn’t to just accept my fate. It was a task far greater.