Page 189 of Anathema

I closed my eyes and held out my hand like before, except that time, I imagined a much wider curtain across the room, opening the exit further, allowing the other mages to escape through. Instead of following them, the three of us jogged through one of the arched pillars to a corridor within.

“The further I distance myself from that ward, the faster it will fall. We have to cleave back to Eidolon immediately.” Dolion ground to a halt and pressed his fingertip to the adjacent stone wall. Before he could draw a line, his chin tipped up, and he stumbled backward.

A woman stood on the other side of him, garbed in the telling black and purple mage robe of the Magestroli, holding a blade at his throat.

“Hello, Dolion Gevarys. So nice to finally make your acquaintance,” she said, her voice laced with amusement.

“And you must be Melantha.”

“I’m flattered you know my name.”

“You.” The confusion in Rykaia’s voice had me turning to see a troubled expression slinking across her face. “I remember you.” Rykaia’s brows lowered to a frown. “I remember everything.”

“Yes, well, this isn’t the time for that.” Melantha raised her hand, but not before I lifted mine and closed my eyes to the image of Aeryz. When I pushed it toward her, she flew backward just far enough that the three of us could run in the opposite direction. Halfway down the corridor, we froze in place, our bodies lifted off the ground with ease, to a height that I could kick my feet.

Somehow, Rykaia managed to get loose and dropped to the floor, but before she could scramble away, she collapsed to the side.

“Rykaia!” I screamed. “Rykaia!”

“She’s all right. It’s just a sleeping spell.” Melantha padded toward her, wearing a smile of satisfaction.

“Leave her alone!”

She swung her attention back toward me. “I’ve no interest in her.”

“You’re making a grave mistake, Melantha. Turning her blood to stone will not prevent the inevitable,” Dolion warned, his voice strained as if pained by the spell that held us paralyzed.

“Yet, it was you who raved about it for years. It was you who led the charge to turn her blood to stone, was it not? You sent Zevander to kill her.”

Frowning, I turned to Dolion as much as my movement would allow. “Is this true?”

Melantha chuckled. “You didn’t tell her? Oh, you are a despicable man.”

A remorseful expression twisted his face, stirring the ache in my chest. The betrayal left me biting back tears. “I was wrong. Very wrong. Maevyth has more to offer alive than dead.”

“Of course she does. I’ve no intentions of turning her blood to stone. Not like the piggish men who dream of power they can’t control.” Her comment dragged my attention away from Dolion.

“Then, what do you want with me?”

“I want to return you to Mortasia. To your sister.”

“What?” The unexpected response slapped me upside the head.

“She waits for you at the archway.”

“Do not believe her,” Dolion beseeched. “Believe me, Maevyth.”

Do not believe him. The echoed words of the ghost I’d seen back at Eidolon chimed in my head.

“If I go with you, you’ll promise to let them cleave back.” It wasn’t a request, but a demand.

Melantha gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “I have no business with these two. No interest in the stones.”

“She’s lying!”

Her viperous eyes snapped to Dolion. “You are the one who lied to her, Dolion. I speak the truth. Come with me Maevyth. Aleysia is very anxious to see you again.”

I wanted to believe it, but I’d grown weary of being tricked. I had no idea who to believe. Who to trust. “What do you want from me? Why would you help me? I don’t even know you.”

---