Page 29

“ A catch?” I asked, my breath caught in my throat.

I knew it was too good to be true. I wanted one thing to work out for once . It was always one step forward, three steps back, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could endure it.

We needed a win. We needed the tides to turn in our favor.

Tess nodded. “I’ll explain everything, but first, let’s get you bathed and fed.”

She slung her arm around my shoulder, guiding me towards the cabin.

“We need to convene the council,” I told her.

“I agree, but first you need to take care of yourself. Give yourself a minute, Diana. You just got back from escaping capture. Mother only knows what you endured while you were there, and while I can’t wait to hear all about it, you need to take a beat. You smell, babe.”

She laughed, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

The pit of dread in my stomach was growing, expanding within me as I rifled through all the reasons getting the antidote might not be such a good thing.

Whatever it was, we would deal with it. If there was a way we could save Nik and Isaac, and the other innocents that Donika had experimented on without their permission, we had to take it.

I followed Tess inside and she set a fresh set of clothes out for me in the bedroom I had stayed in when I had first come to the cabin. After Nik had first been turned Noctani and I was utterly broken inside.

I released a heavy exhale as I stripped out of the clothes I had stolen from him, both happy and sad to be rid of the reminder of that time we spent together.

I left them piled on the bathroom floor as I scrubbed my skin clean until it was pink and raw.

I didn’t want a single reminder of it left on my body.

Not an ounce of blood or dirt leftover. When I had finished and pulled the curtain aside, the clothes I had come back in were gone.

Those clothes were the only thing I had left of him at this point, but I detested them all the same. I didn’t need to see them again. I needed to move forward, not think about what had already transpired in the past. There was nothing I could do to change it now.

I dried off, shrugging on the clothes Tess had left for me.

Thankfully, they fit much better. I hadn’t seen Annelise or Zion yet, but Amiyah was in the small kitchen when I returned to the main living space.

Tess and Puck were perched at the dining table, their eyes turning towards me as I cracked the door open.

“Better?” Tess asked, a knowing smile on her lips.

“Yes, thank you. I’ll be even better once I eat something,” I replied, my hand resting on my stomach as it gave a knowing growl.

“Glad to hear it,” Amiyah called from the stove. “I hope you’re hungry.”

I fell into one of the seats at the table across from Tess. “ Famished .”

My mouth watered as she set a roasted chicken before us, along with a bowl of bright green vegetables. My nose filled with the aroma, and my stomach grumbled once more. I was thankful for the food, and thankful to be back here with family.

“Eat up you three. We’ll be outside when you’re ready.” Amiyah gave me a soft smile as she brushed her hands off on her apron, pulling it over her head and leaving it on the counter. She exited down the narrow driftwood steps, leaving us alone in the cabin.

I could see through the small window over the couch that Saanvi and Kenna were walking down the beach, hand in hand. The table by the coast where we had the last council meeting was visible from here, and Annelise and Zion sat there talking, their heads bent towards one another.

I helped myself to a generous portion of the meal Amiyah had prepared, knowing that I would need my strength in the coming days .

Tess spoke around a mouthful of food. “I figured we could discuss some of the… less savory topics. Just us. Before regrouping with the others.”

I smiled my appreciation. “You don’t want the others to know he bit me?” I asked, my brow raising in challenge.

Puck choked on the bite he had been chewing, not expecting me to come right out with it.

“I don’t care, but I figured you might.” She shrugged, as if we were talking about something completely normal.

Once he regained his composure, Puck’s gaze fell to his plate, his eyes dark. “Are you ok?”

I nodded. “I’m ok, Puck.”

“But he… he hurt you.”

I flinched. “He did.”

Puck’s head fell back, his gaze turning toward the ceiling as he bit back whatever emotion threatened to overtake him. Nik might have been my love, but he was Puck’s closest friend. It wasn’t only me who had to carry the burden that Nik was… different now. Corrupted. Irrevocably changed. A monster.

“He hurt you, too,” I reminded him.

Puck laughed humorlessly. “He did. Knocked me and Tess out. But… he didn’t kill us. And he should have. That’s what I would have done if I were in his shoes.”

I nodded. “There is a piece of him. I’m not sure how small that piece might be, but there is a piece of the old Nikolai left inside of him.”

“That gives me hope, at least,” Puck replied, picking up his fork .

“Kenna told me that you finished the spell after I was captured,” I replied between bites.

Tess nodded, swallowing. “My idea.”

“Good girl.” I grinned.

Tess could read me like a book. She had always known me so well.

“Then we returned to Alastir’s, running into Kenna and Saanvi, who were out searching for us on the way.

We faked the potion with Phineas and took the real antidote back with us,” Tess explained.

“Once we had the antidote, we came back here right away, sending out patrols to search for you as we gathered numbers to find you.”

“But it looks like you didn’t need us at all,” Puck’s lip turned up in a half smile.

“How did you escape him?” Tess asked. “Why didn’t he bring you to Donika? Why did he let you go?”

I chose my words carefully. “I… betrayed him. Deceived him. Seduced him. But I don’t know who I fooled in the end, him… or me.”

“Oh, Diana. You did what you had to do to survive,” Tess told me, her voice full of understanding. “But he… he bit you?”

I nodded. “But my magic remains.”

“Why did he bite you but not steal your magic? Isn’t that the whole point?”

A blush rose to my cheeks unbidden. “It was… part of the seduction.” I was embarrassed to speak the words in front of Puck .

Puck’s gaze held mine. “But he had ample opportunity to take your magic. To bring you to Donika, as he was instructed. And he didn’t.”

“No, he didn’t,” I agreed. “It’s as if there are two sides to him, and they are at war with each other. He can be malicious, but amiable. Cruel, but reverent. But never kind.”

Puck’s gaze fell once more.

“It sounds as if it's more complicated than we initially thought,” Tess mused.

“You can say that again,” I scoffed, pushing my plate away from me.

“Was Isaac there? Anyone else you recognized?” Puck asked.

I shook my head. “No, only Antonia Finch. I didn’t recognize any of the other Noctani.”

“I wonder where Isaac is,” Tess deliberated, biting her lip.

I told her about how I had seen him in my dream walking at the castle, but I wasn’t certain if that was where he remained.

Isaac was powerful, too. Nikolai might have been selected to lead the Noctani, but Isaac had to have an important position within the ranks as well.

He might be by Donika’s side, leading her Noctani forces at the castle.

“Will you finally tell me what the catch is with the antidote?” I asked.

“Once we regroup with the others.” Tess nodded towards the door. “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I grumbled, pushing away from the table and placing my dish in the sink .

I wasn’t sure what the council would have to say about what was to come, but I knew what my priority was. I couldn’t risk moving against Donika and killing Nikolai or Isaac in the process. We needed to cure them first, then put an end to this war once and for all.

I followed Tess and Puck out of the cabin and down the steps, towards the table resting on the shoreline. Amiyah had joined Annelise and Zion, and when Saanvi and Kenna saw us making our way over, they joined us at the table too.

I reluctantly pulled the chair out at the head of the table next to Zion, a smile in my eyes as I took him and Annelise in. I was happy they were safe and sound back here. I can’t imagine how worried they must have been.

“Diana.” My mother's voice drew my attention, her voice gentle. She moved around the table and captured me in her arms.

Despite everything that had transpired between us before I had left, I let her.

I took comfort in the feeling of her arms around me, her embrace tight.

I couldn’t bear the thought that I had almost never seen her again, and I had left things unfinished.

I had left our relationship strained and full of resentment, and I wanted to fix it so desperately.

I squeezed her back, and her eyes were filled with tears when she pulled away.

She took her seat beside Zion once more.

Zion grasped my hand in his, eyes soft. “Welcome back, Diana.”

“Thank you,” I replied, my voice quiet.

“There was never a doubt in my mind that you would escape. You’re strong, like your mother. Resourceful. ”

I cleared my throat. “It was a close call, that’s for sure.”

Zion nodded. “You don’t need to divulge the details to us. All that matters is that you are here, and you are safe. Now, we need to talk next steps.”

“Agreed,” I replied, nodding. “Where are we with numbers? Kenna told me you pulled on the resistance in hiding to search for me.”

Zion released my hand as he turned back towards the group. “The numbers are strong. I sent out letters and ravens, and it’s better than we thought after the attack on the safe house at Prins. We have large clusters of Shades spread across the realm, three thousand strong, ready to march for you.”

Three thousand. We had thought our numbers were diminished after the battle at Prins, but that attack had turned even more towards our side. More Shades wanted to fight for their own freedom.

Wonder sparked in Zion’s gaze as he continued.

“You are a beacon of hope for the people, Diana. Those that had given up are now turning to take up arms in your name. Those that have suffered under Donika, lost a family member or friend, they are ready to march in honor of the true queen. Many of the Shades in Istmere simply needed a strong leader to follow. They aren’t afraid anymore. ”

My magic swelled in my chest at his words, pressing against me and filling me with a fiery energy. The hairs on my arms stood up, a soft smile on my lips as I held Zion’s gaze.

“That’s better than I could have ever hoped for,” I told him. “There’s just one thing we need to do first. ”

He nodded in understanding. “I’ll let Tess and Puck take it from here.”

I turned towards them, my hands fidgeting in my lap.

It was Puck who spoke first. “We returned with the Dragon’s breath so Alastir could finish the spell.

We made three different antidotes. Two true antidotes that we have with us, and one that Phineas took.

He doesn’t suspect our deceit, and we didn’t want to stick around to wait for him to find out. ”

Puck pulled a glass tube of bright red liquid out of his jacket and placed it on the table.

“Is this it?” I asked, my gaze focused on the fluid within.

He nodded. “This is it. We have two of them, but we have the spell to make more. We would only need more of your blood. Alastir has sent us with everything else we need.”

“And?” I asked, raising my brow. “You said there’s a catch?”

Puck’s gaze flitted to Tess, and she glared daggers back at him before she spoke.

“I guess I have to break the news, then. Remember how Alastir had said that he couldn’t guarantee that it would work? That it might not return the Shade to their natural state, or that they may not even survive it?”

I nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

Tess cleared her throat before continuing, her eyes on the antidote at the center of the table. “That’s because you don’t… drink… the antidote.”

My brows knit together. “You don’t drink it? I don’t understand. Then how is it administered? ”

Tess’s voice was raspy as she spoke, her soft brown hair billowing gently in the sea breeze. “It is administered by submerging a blade in the liquid.”

Dread pooled deep in my gut.

“And?” I prompted.

“And driving the coated blade through the Noctani’s heart.”