“Why? What did you see?” Legend said they showed you the person you wanted more than anything. Did he see Aura’s face staring back at him?
He growled. “She looked like you, and for a second there, I thought someone had hurt you. I thought... I thought you were dying. God, above, I thought Aura had gotten to you somehow.”
Oh. I swallowed. “It wasn’t Aura’s blade that killed the siren, Phillip. It was mine.”
His brows furrowed. “Stop comparing yourself to your sister,” he remarked shrewdly. “You aren’t like her.”
“I’m exactly like her. The fact that I’m capable of collecting these ingredients proves that much.”
Without another word, he pulled me into his chest and stroked my hair. I sank into him, not giving a damn if it was real or not. Because I needed to believe it was.
It had to be real.
My heart cracked a little further, but he held me until I pulled away, and then he placed a soft kiss on my temple.
We stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other, too many unspoken words stretching between us. But there was nothing we could do about it until this spell was made, and it wouldn’t be made if we didn’t gather what it needed.
I tucked the siren’s voice into my bag. “We should go. I have one more ingredient to collect tonight.”
“Only one?” he rasped.
“I’ll save Terigon for tomorrow, and I have no idea how I’m going to get the last one yet. I’m still working on that.”
He grabbed his shirt and buttoned it quickly, tugging on his tunic. He kept an eye on the siren as she floated in the water, staring up sightlessly at the star-smattered sky.
When would he realize that real monsters were alive and well, living among us?
LUNA
In my bag, my fingers searched for the golden chain and found it, dragging my moonstone out with it. “What’s that?” Phillip asked, eyeing the sparkling stone.
“I need to find something. This will help me.”
“What, does Ember have the night off?”
I smiled. “Ember is good at tracking animals, but she’s shit with tracking humans.”
“The umbilis?” he guessed.
Pinching my lips together, I inhaled. “The umbilis—which I have to cut.”
“How do you know a child will be born tonight?”
“I don’t,” I answered. “I’m just hoping for a little luck.” I held my palm out and angled it horizontally, fingers together. Our land was shaped similarly with a small peninsula at the top, cliffs near the eastern shore, and rocky fingers along the western shores that jutted into the sea. The southern shore was sandy and warm. Most of the humans lived there, but it was too far. I needed something closer...
Holding the chain above my palm and letting the moonstone dangle down, I said the magic words: By the power of the wind and moon, help me a newborn find, somewhere I can fly tonight, before the sun shall rise.
As the stone began to spin in a circle, tugging on the cord, Phillip made an awestruck sound.
The stone darted northeast. Brookhaven. We could make it to the tiny village tonight, as it wasn’t far from Virosa. If the midwife or new mother didn’t wish to accommodate my needs, I’d simply have to persuade them to cooperate.
chapter fifteen
LUNA
Brookhaven was asleep. No candles were lit in the windows of the houses, save one. “There,” I said, easing the broom to the ground. Phillip had been quiet on the trip, which was more than fine with me. A woman’s scream of pain came from behind the wooden door, an orange-yellow glow outlining it.
“I know,” he said quietly. “I’ll stay here and guard the broom.”
“Thank you. I won’t be long. The babe is crowning.”
“How do you—?”
I smiled and eased the midwife’s door open, startling both women and a burly, hairy man pacing in the corner. “What the ‘ell?” he yelled.
Staring at them, I let a glamour fall over the room. Not much, just enough to calm them. I didn’t want them to fear me. “Hello,” I answered calmly. “I need something that only you can give me.”
“You can’t have my baby,” the woman panted.
“I just want part of the cord tethering him to you.”
She looked at her husband, who pulled his pants up higher. “What’ll you give us in return?” he asked shrewdly. The midwife pushed on the woman’s abdomen, staring beneath the sheet tented by her knees. The mother gritted her teeth and cried out when a new wave of pain struck her.
“That’s right. One more push,” the midwife said.
The man looked at his son as his wife pushed him into the world. The midwife gave him a slap and the child began to wail. The mother cried, tears of joy and exhaustion streaming down her face.
“My God,” he said, moving to her and kissing her head. “You’re beautiful and strong.”
I swallowed, watching the scene. This was as close as I’d ever get to childbirth, but I’d just witnessed a true miracle. The midwife used a clean cloth to wipe blood and mucous from the child, stretching his arms and legs out.
She reached for a pair of scissors. “NO!” I shouted, raising my hand toward her. “Please. I need to cut it.” The father stiffened. “I need that cord, sir. Please. If you refuse, I’ll be forced to use magic and take the cord anyway, but I’d rather you give it to me of your own free will. Name your price.”
“Make him strong and smart,” the father said without skipping a beat.
I nodded. “I can do that.”
Moving across the room toward the child, I watched him cry. “Strength he will have till the end of his days, intelligence this witch bestow; guide these parents, show them the way, let the boy child flourish and grow.” As the magic left me and entered the boy, he quieted, staring at me.
The parents stared at each other and then looked back to me, wariness in their eyes.
“I won’t harm him. I swear. I did as you asked.”
The man looked at the midwife. She confirmed, “It needs to be cut, anyway. It won’t hurt your boy.”
The man stroked his fuzzy beard. “Very well.”
I took her shears, cut a small piece of umbilis, and tucked it into my bag.
“Witch?” the woman called out as I turned to leave.
I turned to her.
“Can you make sure he never goes near the roses?”
“You know about them?” I asked, surprised.
“Everyone does, and we’re all terrified. Can you protect us?”
“That’s why I needed the umbilis.”
She nodded, wisdom shining in her eyes.
“Look at me,” I said. “All of you.” When the three adults and child stared at me, I glamoured them to ensure I had their full attention. “Never step foot near the roses of Virosa. They’re deadly. Toxic. If you see a rose, you will run away. You won’t go near or pluck any bloom.”
I walked through the door and Phillip handed the broom handle to me. “Did you get it?” he asked.
“I did, and I didn’t even have to be mean about it. I did have to work a spell for them, though.”
He smiled. “Small price to pay.”
“Indeed it was.”
“See? There are other ways to go about things,” he said smugly. “Take Prince Terigon, for instance. I can help you with him.”
“How so?”