Page 23 of White Little Lies (Four Ways to Fate #3)

23

“Sister? You said you didn’t know who she was!”

Sebastian tilted his head. “I said no such thing.”

“Okay, but you acted like you didn’t know her. You said you were going to do some digging.”

His eyes flicked to Lucas, still fuming at everyone. “And I did just that. Unfortunately my digging led all the way to the hells.”

My knees nearly buckled at his words. “Wait. Did you say the hells?”

“Well, one of them.” The tone of Penelope’s correction was far too similar to how Sebastian usually spoke to me. “And I must admit, you have saved me a lot of trouble. Here I thought I’d have to snatch you away myself.”

I looked from her to Sebastian. “What exactly is going on?” Was he here willingly? Did he help her steal the nymph’s magic ?

“She is the one who claimed to know your mother,” Lucas growled. “She had my feather. She must have stolen it.”

Penelope’s eyes flashed with fire. “My, such accusations.”

“How did you get my feather?”

I looked at Sebastian as they spoke, but his expression gave me nothing. If anything, he looked bored. Was this it then? The ultimate betrayal?

But no… if he knew about his sister from the start, he wouldn’t have bargained with Fiorus for the name.

“Why did you steal the nymphs’ magic?” I asked before Penelope could taunt Lucas further.

She tilted her head. The similarities between brother and sister were almost eerie. “I stole it for you, dear Eva.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I looked at Sebastian. “Please feel free to step in and explain things at any time.”

But it was Penelope who answered, “My little brother sees the superiority of my plan. Why spend so much time trying to nurture your magic, when I can just give you all you need?” She lifted the lantern, gesturing to it with her free hand.

“You want the bounty,” I realized.

Her eyes sparkled at the very mention of it. “Everyone wants the bounty, Eva. But only I will succeed.”

I took a step back, but there was nowhere to go. If Sebastian wasn’t on my side anymore— “I won’t help you find my mother.”

“Aw, that’s cute, but I don’t need your mother. I know who set the bounty. All I need to do is kill him for the blade.” A smile slithered across her face. “And all I need is you to wield it.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to do that either.”

Her smile disappeared like it had never existed to begin with. “You will, or else my brother will break his contract with the goblin prince. The wild magic of the Bogs will run rampant. It will be rather fun to watch.”

My gut clenched at her words. “You’re lying. That contract can’t just be broken.”

She smiled again. “Oh my brother will lose his magic, of course. But I will make him do it. I would advise you not to test me on this.”

There was finally a flicker of something in Sebastian’s eyes, but I couldn’t understand it. He lowered his chin like he was trying to tell me something.

“I don’t think you can make him do anything,” I said.

She laughed, an abrupt bark of sound that seemed to echo in the stone room. “I can and I will. I tricked him into a contract when he was just a child. He answers to me .”

I looked at him again, but he didn’t confirm or deny it.

“I tire of this.” I had almost forgotten Lucas was standing right behind me, which was bad. He was exactly the type to stick a knife in your back. He stepped around me, pointing a finger at Penelope. “You ordered me to kill on your behalf.”

She chuckled. “Yes, and I dare say you enjoyed it.”

“But then you ordered me to protect her .”

Penelope glided toward him. He didn’t back up. If it were me, I would’ve backed up. But he stood his ground as she came to stand directly in front of him, having to crane her neck to meet his eyes. “Of course I did. Because with her, I have no need of her mother. I can use Eva to wield the blade.”

“Why do you need me at all?” It probably wasn’t wise to ask, since I had a feeling I was only alive because she found me useful, but I just had to know.

“The Realm Breaker was created by the sacrifice of your ancestors. Only one of your bloodline can wield it. The one who holds the blade now has no intention of giving it up. He just wants someone to find your mother so he can use it.” She turned away from Lucas to approach me, making me regret speaking. “He thinks you’re dead. We all thought you were dead. But here you are.”

I shook my head. “None of this makes any sense.”

Penelope glanced back at Sebastian. “Do you have to explain everything to her? How can you stand it?”

One corner of Sebastian’s lips ticked up. “It has indeed been an interesting experience.”

While her head was turned, I observed the glowing blue lantern in her hand. I needed to find some way to get it back to the nymphs to restore their well. Penelope thought she was going to use it to power me up, but I didn’t need it. Lucas had proven that my four guys weren’t the only ones that could give me a charge.

I glanced over at him. His rage had settled, and now his expression was calculating. I would have given a lot to know what he was thinking, because though we greatly disliked each other, we were currently in this thing together.

Only, he wouldn’t care about the well. He only cared about revenge. He couldn’t stand that Penelope had tricked him. And if my mom really had possessed one of his feathers, how had Penelope gotten it?

I realized she was watching me. “You should learn to school your expression, little celestial. Perhaps I’ll even teach you, if there’s time. But for now, you must make your choice. Do as I say, and your goblin prince can continue his little love affair with the Bogs. It will kill him eventually, but if you resist,” she lowered her chin, catching a hint of the blue light from the lantern on her skin, “it will kill him far sooner.”

I looked past her at Sebastian, who gave me a graceful shrug. Did that mean she could really do it? She could force Sebastian to break his contract, therefore losing his magic? I would have thought he would be a lot more upset at the prospect, but then again, he was great at hiding his emotions.

“I’ll think about helping you.” I pointed down at the lantern. “But only if you return that to the nymphs. ”

Penelope’s nostrils flared like she was scenting my fear. “You are in no position to bargain, and I went to a great deal of trouble to obtain this.”

“What trick did you put in Fiorus’ contract? What did he miss?” It had to be something for her to so easily steal the magic.

“Oh, it wasn’t him.” She wiggled her shoulders a little and lifted her chin, seeming extremely pleased with herself. “It was those who opposed him. We made a deal that I would lend them the power to move the well. In exchange, I could call in a favor of my choice at any time.”

“And your favor was them giving you their magic?”

“Well in my head, the favor specifically stated that I could touch the well. That’s all I actually needed. Normally, only the nymphs can touch it.”

In my opinion she was splitting hairs. The contract had been vague at best, but… it had obviously worked for her.

Now to somehow un-work it.

“Enough of this.” Lucas stepped around me. “How did you get my feather from Helena?”

I froze at the name, something tickling the edge of my memory. I blinked at a flash of an image, my mother holding my hand when I was little. My father speaking to her, and he had called her… Helena.

But that wasn’t the name either of us had remembered. And now she was being called Celeste. Just how many names did my mother possess ?

Penelope smirked, and I realized something else. I recognized her. I had met her before. As soon as the realization hit, everything flooded back. I had been here before. When I was just a little girl, my mother had taken me to the hells.

That would have been after she severed the paths to the other realms with the Realm Breaker, but the hells were a near realm. A full-blooded celestial would have no problem reaching them. Hell, even I had been able to reach them.

But that meant…

Penelope’s eyes shifted as my thoughts played out across my face. There was only one reason to visit a devil in the hells.

“You had a contract with my mother.”

Her parted lips showed a brief moment of genuine surprise, but she recovered quickly. “And here I thought she had stolen all your memories.”

I looked at Sebastian as I said, “Memories can’t be stolen. Only hidden.” He’d been the one to tell me as much. He had also admitted to knowing my mother far in the past, but he hadn’t mentioned any contract with his sister, and that would’ve been far more recent.

“Did you know?” I asked.

He just stared at me blankly.

“You son of a—”

Penelope’s finger whipped up, pointing at my face. “Now don’t go insulting our mother.”

I gritted my teeth. I still didn’t fully understand what was going on, but Penelope had a contract with my mother, and Sebastian never told me about it. “What did my mother want from you?”

Her eyes danced. Lucas was looming over her like he might pummel her, but she didn’t seem worried. She gave him a small smile as she answered, “She wanted information on the ones hunting her, and she gave me a favor from an angelic in return.”

Lucas seethed at her words. “It does not work like that. I only owe my oath where it was willingly given.”

She tilted her head, draping that long dark hair across the shoulder of her frock coat. “Oh, dear, but it did work like that. I knew as long as I had the feather and I knew where it came from, I could get you to do whatever I wanted. And you did .”

“And now you’ll pay.”

Sebastian was suddenly there pulling me aside as Lucas’ wings flared out. He whipped them in a blinding arc toward Penelope, but his entire body froze mid motion. Only one toe still touched the ground. The only thing that moved was his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

“Unwise to attack a devil in the hells,” Penelope tsked. Whatever she had done, she hadn’t even broken a sweat. The lantern still dangled from one hand, undisturbed.

Sebastian gave me a meaningful look at her words, but I simply glared back at him. He had lied to me. I didn’t care what he wanted me to know now. It was probably just more lies.

He gave me an impatient look, rolling his eyes toward his sister as she sliced her hand through the air, and Lucas fell to the ground in a heap. She stood over the fallen angelic, smiling. “Now, what am I to do with you? I am grateful that you brought Eva here, but she would have come for my brother eventually, so it’s not as if you’ve done me any grand favor.”

My eyes darted toward Sebastian again. So he was the bait to lure me here? And why wasn’t he saying anything?

Lucas scooted away from her, then hobbled to his feet. Whatever magic she’d used on him had done more than hold him in place. He looked like he could barely stand. He clenched his hands into fists, but didn’t attack again. It was shocking seeing him so easily bested. Even Sebastian had struggled against him.

But that had been on earth, where even Crispin’s magic was weakened.

I looked at Sebastian again, my eyes wide as I realized what he had been trying to tell me. Devils were more powerful in the hells, where their magic flowed freely. For some reason Sebastian was being useless, but Penelope… she might not be quite so scary if we weren’t in her domain. Only, I would need a boost to get us back.

I just hoped what I was about to do wouldn’t get Mistral killed.