Page 98 of When Wishes Bleed

It was a warning from Fate. My mother was coming.

I closed my eyes again, and a vision of flames licking the sky and a full moon floating helplessly above filled my mind. The scent of smoke lingered in my hair, making it feel too real. But it’s from the bones, the reading, I told myself. It’s not real. Not yet.

There was still time to stop it from happening.

“Sable?” Tauren said after a long moment.

“That fate wasn’t yours,” I croaked. His brows kissed. A dark strand of hair fell into his eyes and I brushed it away. “Tauren, the fate was ours.”

“Ours?”

I nodded. “We share the same fate now.”

“Because of the binding spell?”

The two of you have always shared the same fate.

“No. The spell has nothing to do with it.”

“Does this mean we’ll die in a fire?” he asked, worry painting his face.

“I’m not sure. The fire could be metaphorical,” I hedged. But I knew it wasn’t. My face still stung from the heat of the flames in my vision. The fire was very real.

“The bone actually caught fire, Sable. I don’t think that’s a metaphor.”

“I need to think.” I leapt from the bed and began to pace, biting the inside of my cheek as I concentrated on deciphering the vision.

“Is the Kingdom in peril?” he asked abruptly, standing up.

“I believe so. My mother has taken over Thirteen. She hasn’t killed the Priest and Priestesses yet, but I think she’ll try. She’ll kill them or bind them the way they bound her, and then… I think she’ll come for the Kingdom and crown.” And then for me.

“My father won’t survive an attack, Sable.”

“He won’t have to,” I vowed, my voice a growl.

“I need to talk to him. We need to discuss whether to continue the telecasts, or if it’s safer to send the girls home. Then we need to figure out how to defend our sectors against your mother, if it comes down to it.”

It would. I was sure of that much.

“I’ll talk with Mira and Brecan.”

“Can I come back later? I know it’s late.”

“I won’t be able to sleep anyway, Tauren. Come back any time.”

Watching him stride out the door, I wanted several things at once. To kiss him before he took another step; to tell him I would defend him and his family, his people, against my mother; and to somehow summon her and extract every particle of magic that lay inside her.

Brecan and Mira were ready when I knocked. “What happened?” Brecan snapped. “I felt your magic again.”

I looked to Mira. She confirmed the same with a nod, adding, “So did I.”

I took them to my room and showed them the bowl with the charred remains of dust and bone. Most of the pieces were so brittle, they fell apart when I lifted the silver bowl from the bed.

“It looks like there are no more fates for you to read, Sable. What does this mean?” Mira asked quietly.

Brecan’s mouth gaped. “Has this ever happened before?”

“No.”

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