My magic pushed open the door to Thom’s room before we had even arrived. I could see him turn, his hair whipping around at the unexpected movement. The movement alerted him, not the yells. He pulled the tiny ear buds of his iPod from his ears as we entered, the heartbreaking fear slamming into him as he registered who I was carrying.
“Wynifred!” His yell broke through the air like a knife. The sound of her name was loud, and frightened. I ignored him and the panic in his voice as I laid her down on the bed, her eyes closed as she writhed and yelled. The marks continued to snake across her skin, their number decreasing as they finished the work they had been sent out to do so long ago.
Thom was at her side in an instant, Ryland and Sain taking a place on either side of him as they entered the room. All three of them placed their hands on her, all three withdrawing as the supercharged curse stung their magic.
“That is dark magic,” Sain said, his voice shaking in fear as he cradled his hand against his chest as if he had been burned.
Thom moved to try again when her body calmed momentarily, his hand moving to rest flat against her arm, right against the wiggling marks. I stopped him with one movement, my hand wrapping around his wrist. He pushed against me before looking up, a question in his eyes. Neither of us said anything, my face telling the whole story – there was nothing to be done.
Thom dropped his hand dejectedly, his shoulders sagging as he looked at her. Wynifred still yelled and writhed on the small bed I had laid her on.
“Her memories have returned,” I whispered to Thom as he clung to her hand.
“Cail?” he asked, his voice panicked.
“Joclyn must have killed him when she escaped the T?uha. I didn’t think so at first, but only Cail’s death could release Wynifred’s curse. It was either Joclyn or Edmund who killed him.”
“It barely matters now. Can you bind it again?” I only shook my head.
“Talon?” Thom’s voice was a whisper.
I could only shake my head, I didn’t know.
“He’s gone.” My head snapped over to Sain, his voice scratchy, like sandpaper, against the loud chaos of the room. “He passed five days ago.”
I was sure that my heart had stopped beating. Talon had been my best friend for as long as I could remember. We had been raised together, and he had been my guard until the day I dismissed him, on the day of his bonding with Wyn.
I wanted to destroy something. The pain that my loss was creating inside of me made me consumed me, wanting to turn the Abbey to ash, run rampant and rain death through the Trpaslík camps.
I sucked in a breath, willing my soul to move past the pain, to hold the loss deep inside with all the others. I commanded it away from me and forced my upbringing forward, my back straightening as my veins ran icy for a moment.
“Wynifred.” Thom’s voice was calm as he spoke to her, her eyes growing wide with recognition.
“Thom?”
“I’m here,” he whispered as she shifted her weight, her jaw clenching as she tried not to yell, but failed.
“Am I dead?” Wynifred’s voice was deep and strong again, the way I had known it for centuries. She spoke the words through clenched teeth as she cringed against the pain.
“Not yet, sweetie. But I’ll stay here until the end.”
I could feel the sting in my eyes as Thom spoke to her, as he prepared her for what was coming. He clung to her, his hands wrapped around hers as he soothed her the only way he could. His focus was only on her, as was everyone else’s. Ryland and Sain could only stare with tear-stained cheeks.
It was with a strained heart I realized what I was witnessing. Sain, Ryland, and Wyn had been imprisoned together. They had suffered together. Ryland and Sain’s tears suddenly made sense; they too were watching their friend die.
“Talon?” Wyn asked, her voice getting weaker.
“He will be there waiting for you. He’s going to be right there...and...and you know who is going to be with him?”
“Rosaline?”
“Yeah, sweetie, she is going to be right there. Right there with Talon. She’s been waiting for you, waiting... for her mommy.” Thom’s voice caught, and I had to look away, I couldn’t think about what he was saying to her, what he was promising.
Instinctively I pushed my magic toward Joclyn, needing to feel her, to feel her magic, to know that she was still okay. My eyes opened wider as I felt her presence right outside the door.
I looked back at Thom’s goodbye to his best friend for only a minute before I moved out the door, finding Joclyn curled up in a ball against the floor, her hands wrapping around her knees and pulling her into a tight fetal position. I dropped to the floor as my hands moved to touch the skin on her shoulders.
Joclyn’s head snapped up at me, her wide silver eyes blazing into me.
“Wyn.” Her voice didn’t shake as she said her friend’s name, the intensity of the word making it clear what she wanted.
“She’s dying, Joclyn.” I ran my finger over her cheek, not knowing how to comfort her or even if she needed it.
I can save her.