Today, I made fire by my own hand, not with a fire striker and steel. My fingers burned and tingled. On a whim, I pointed at the logs in the hearth and a humming burn began to thrum through my chest and arms. It filtered into my fingers and suddenly forked fire appeared in the fireplace, a fierce and hungry inferno that consumed the wood almost instantly.
Aura can control earth and water, and like the perfect opposites we are, I can control fire and, my next guess is, air. I just have to figure out how to wield it. Especially against her.
Was that how she flew? By manipulating the wind beneath her?
I flipped to the page she’d left off on.
Last day of spring...
Malex had promised to help me as soon as I woke. It was the only hope I could cling to throughout my slumber. If I could end her by killing myself, I would. Moon knows, I’ve tried. However, her life force brings me back from the shadows instead of dragging her into them with me.
The thought hit me full force in the chest. Luna would sacrifice herself to stop Aura? She’d already tried to kill herself to rid the world of her sister, and it didn’t work.
Luna was desperate.
But if our life forces were separated, I could kill my sister and remain living, and I would roast the bird she uses for eyes. Goddess, I hate Pieces. Always snooping. Always perched on my sills. Leaving the palace behind was the best move I’ve ever made, but most days it doesn’t feel like I left at all, with my sister invading my dreams and that damned bird always hovering and squawking about.
As soon as I wake, I’ll see Malex again. He warned that his price for helping me would be steep. I just hope I can afford his price.
Malex. That was who she’d flown off to see. What type of price would he demand? The infinite possibilities made my stomach clench and my fingers tightened on the journal. Feeling guilty, I marched across the room and put it back on the table, stopping to stare at it. I knew I could keep reading and learn what happened to my brother, but I wanted to hear about William from her lips, not her pen.
She might be making a deal with Malex tonight, but she also owed a debt to me.
Soon, I would call it in.
I needed to hear about his final moments from someone who loved him.
chapter eight
LUNA
After stopping at Malex’s opulent—and very neglected—palace and finding it empty, and then flying over the nearest village without so much as a whiff of him, I found Malex sitting exactly where I’d left him just three short months ago. In his cave, sitting in a plush chair, feet propped up on a table with a book in his lap.
“I’ve been expecting you,” he said with a smirk on his face. “I thought you’d show up last night.”
I thought about asking him why he’d deserted his palace, but thought better of it. It was none of my business if the fae Prince preferred to dwell in a cave. Maybe he liked the cool, damp air or the quietness it provided.
And as for his question, I didn’t need to explain anything to him. He would only be curious about Phillip, and I didn’t want anyone to know about him. I planned to see Phillip back to his palace with no one but me and Ember any the wiser about the Prince of Grithim’s unexpected visit.
Glancing around, I ignored his stare and pretended interest in his cave. The space was surprisingly cozy, full of all the amenities of home and lit with flickering candles. This cave was no damp hole in the rock. Instead, he’d turned it into a palace of sorts.
Malex was handsome. Golden skin. Long, black hair. Eyes that glittered a soft, silvery gold. He was dressed in white, as usual, in a suit that must have cost a fortune. The fabric barely whispered as he unfolded his long legs and tossed the book aside, striding across the room to greet me.
He took my hand and kissed it, his eyes lingering on my cleavage. Pulling my hand away, I cleared my throat. I didn’t have time for pleasantries.
“You said in the spring you would help me,” I said curtly.
He chuckled. “So eager. We haven’t even had time to catch up.”
“I slept for three months. The end. Now, can you please help me?”
He smiled. “Aren’t you curious about how I’ve been doing this summer?”
“No.”
“For all your impatience, you do know how to charm a man.”
“Now isn’t the time to use my charm,” I volleyed with a smile.
“Isn’t it? You want something from me. I’d say it’s the perfect time.” With those words, he was in front of me in a flash, his arm snaking around my waist. The dress was accentuating my assets in a way he obviously found pleasing. Malex dragged the tip of his nose down the column of my throat and breathed me in.
I was strong, but not stronger than he was, and he knew it.
Phillip’s auburn hair and the slight beauty mark on his cheek flashed into my mind. I eased away from Malex. “You said the price would be steep, but I didn’t agree to it yet,” I warned. Power crackled beneath my skin. Or maybe it was beneath his.
“You want to get straight down to business. Fine.” He snapped his fingers and a piece of parchment appeared in the air between us. “Gather these items and I will help you with the spell you need.”
I took the parchment and scanned over the list:
A Siren’s voice
The Umbilis of a newborn
A Dragon’s egg
A rose from Aura’s garden
The Eye of a blind man
A Spirit
A Wolf’s eye
The Tongue of Prince Terigon of Ringsted
I felt my eyes narrow. “Why Terigon, specifically?”
Malex smiled. “Because we need the tongue of a firstborn Prince or Princess, and because he lied to me. He deserves a much worse fate than merely having his tongue ripped out. In fact, you can tell him I said that. Anyway, two birds. One stone.”
I was thankful that Phillip was hidden, and that he was second born.
“It’ll take me a while to get all of these, but the rose... can it be plucked by moonlight?”
“The spell must be cast under the waning moon. The full moon phase was last night, so you’ll have to hurry because we only have fourteen nights. If you want this to work, each of the ingredients must be fresh. And I’m sorry, but as far as the rose, it must be harvested midday at the sun’s peak, while it’s in full bloom.”
“How am I supposed to pick one during the day?”
He winked. “Surely you have a day-walker friend who would help.” Again, Phillip’s handsome face surfaced in my mind. He was my only human “friend,” but I couldn’t ask him to retrieve it. Aura used to kill and hide the bodies beneath her roses, but now she used her roses to kill anyone who crossed her. They were toxic, releasing an airborne poison toward anyone who came close enough.
“The roses would kill anyone who helped me.”
Malex flashed a look of sympathy. He knew he’d asked for the one ingredient I couldn’t provide. If I asked, he would supply one, but the price might be more than I was willing to pay. I vowed I would find a way to get a rose without him, or be damned trying.
“I have faith in your methods of persuasion,” he said with a smile, rubbing his jaw.
“And the rest of these? Any other special instructions?”
“You must cut the umbilis, as well,” he warned.
“And the binding salt?” I asked, holding out my hand.