She noticed her hand had moved, and she returned the blade to Carrig’s skin.
The ice globe on my palm bit at my skin. I could stop her. Throw my globe when she was distracted again. So I waited, not feeling scared, not panicking, just watching her and waiting for my moment to strike.
“I will trade his life for Katy Kearns,” she said.
“We cannot make that trade,” a voice came from a hologram image on the counter opposite Carrig’s bed. It was Queen Titania, and beside her was Nana. In the background, Sinead slept in her hospital bed. My heart crushed in my chest.
“Hell, no, they can’t,” I affirmed. “What do you need her for—?” I stopped, knowing exactly what Ruth Ann was after. “You want to possess her body because she’s skilled in the magic of Incantora.”
Bastien slid a confused look at me. I couldn’t explain it to him, so I shook my head.
Nana had never used the Incantora, saying with that power came responsibility. She had been a young girl when it was discovered that she had the power. Her mother had forced Nana to make a witch’s pledge to only use it when preventing a major disaster that could cost many lives, not just one or a few. Since there was magic behind her promise, she’d face grave consequences if she ever broke it.
“This is not a deal we are willing to make,” Queen Titania said.
Nana turned her head toward me. “I’m sorry, Gia.”
“Not your fault.” I focused back on Lorelle before my eyes could fill with tears.
Ruth Ann glared at the hologram. “I’ll give you one minute. That is all. Make the deal, or I will kill him.” She held the long dagger above Carrig’s chest and watched the antique clock on the table beside the bed.
And that was her mistake.
One minute. So much could change in just a moment. I could lose a father I’d only recently discovered. The Mystik world could lose one of the greatest Sentinels in their history. Deidre could lose the only father she’d ever known. And her mother, since Sinead would die with him. Such a small amount of time to lose so much.
One minute.
Chapter Twenty
Ruth Ann’s decision to move Lorelle’s hand away from Carrig’s neck to above his chest gave me a better opportunity to hit her.
I eased my hand back, the glittery white globe spinning on my palm.
“No, you’ll hit Carrig,” Bastien hissed, grabbing my arm and causing my globe to slip from my hand.
It busted against the floor, and ice shot across the wooden planks.
Anger twisted Ruth Ann’s face. A guttural growl escaped her lips and she slammed the dagger into Carrig’s chest.
NO!
Electricity ignited between Bastien’s hands, and he released the charge. The powerful stream hit Lorelle’s body, and it crumpled to the ground. Ruth Ann’s dark, smoky spirit shot out of Lorelle and frantically flew around the room, hitting things off the table and slamming into the two guards. She knocked Bastien to the floor.
My eyes followed her spirit, waiting for the perfect time when she crossed in front of me, then I shot my ice globe at her. The hazy form froze in the air and dropped, shattering against the ground in thousands of little pieces.
I darted to Carrig’s side. His blood seeped into the sheet covering him. “No, no, no. Carrig! Someone help him.” My pleading screams were almost incoherent.
Two curers, an older woman and a young man, came to his side.
“Get her back,” the man said, pushing me aside and starting to work on Carrig.
Bastien wrapped his arms around me, and I yanked away from him.
The image of the curers working on Carrig was blurry with the tears pouring from my eyes. “Please. You have to save him. Please. Please.”
The woman’s eyes went to the hologram. “He’s too weak. His wife’s connection is draining his strength. They both will die.”
“No,” came out of me as a painful wail. Bastien reached for me again, and I shrugged him off.
“We must remove the bond,” the man said, “or we’ll lose them both. If we break it, he’ll have a chance to survive.”
I hung my head. The nightmare wouldn’t end. I would lose him. Lose Sinead. The pain was too great.
“Gia, you’re his daughter.” Queen Titania’s voice was staticky over the hologram. “We must save one of them. Do you agree? It’s your choice.”
I knew what my answer would mean. That in choosing one, I would lose the other. But I couldn’t let them both die. One life. But what would that life be without the other?
You’d lose both. Reason broke through my irrational thoughts. You can save one.
“Remove the bond,” I said firmly and assuredly.
Queen Titania nodded to a faery woman in a white jacket with a severe stare. The woman injected Sinead with a long syringe that had a silver liquid inside. I watched as the fluid emptied into Sinead’s arm. I wanted to hold her. To tell her I loved her, and that I was sorry this had happened.
“She’s gone,” the woman said and walked out of view.
I slumped, wailing. Bastien captured me in his arms before I hit the floor. With each sob, pain ripped through my chest.
Deidre. Oh, Deidre. This would be a blow to her. Sinead was her mother. They loved each other deeply. I never had a mother relationship, and I’d been envious watching theirs.
I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. The tears kept coming, and the pain I felt in my chest sharpened.
The Djallican girl bowed her head slightly on her way to the exit. “I am truly sorry for your loss. I wish—” She cleared her throat. “I wish we could’ve stopped her.” I knew her. She had been behind the counter in Asile’s basement common room when Arik and I had gone to practice my globe.
Since I was just staring at her and couldn’t speak with the emotions gutting my stomach, Bastien answered for me. “Thank you. No one is to blame here. We all tried our best.”
No one is to blame? It was as if a black fog hung over me. The voices around me were muffled, and the bodies were distorted by the pooling tears blurring my vision.
She nodded and followed the other guard outside.
“He’s improving,” the older woman said, checking Carrig’s vitals with some sort of clear tablet. “The dagger missed his heart. I believe he’ll pull through.”
The man beside her turned to us. “We must operate. I’ll send for you once we’ve finished. Please leave us.”
We turned to go, and the room felt like it was spinning. Bastien held me, helping me out the door.
No one is to blame? The words stung. But there was someone to blame. I shoved Bastien away from me.
“It’s your fault!” The words came out guttural, scraping my throat. “You stopped me. I could have hit her with my globe and you stopped me.”
Bastien looked like my words had slapped him. “I’m sorry. I thought—”
“You didn’t think! You don’t trust my abilities. Because of you, Sinead is dead.” I ran from him.
“Gia! Wait!”
I ignored his call, sprinting down the hill. My foot hit a rock, and I crashed to the ground.