Page 128 of When Wishes Bleed

The contest was not over. It had only just begun, but it felt good that Arron and I had made the first strike.

Mira used her power to dehydrate everyone but her charges. Earth, Air, and Fire witches flopped on the ground uncomfortably, like a pond of fishes with too little water. Familiar with Mira’s talents, I’d blocked myself and Arron against the onslaught. With bubbles around us, he tried to distract Mira by catching her eye and luring her into a chase. She laughed as she chased after him, forgetting her dehydration spell, while I crept toward Air.

“Oh, no. I don’t think so, Sable,” Brecan warned. He recovered from Mira’s magic quickly and sent me flying into the air. Suddenly, the light of day disappeared and all became night as Arron’s clouds lassoed me and brought me to the ground.

“No one messes with my Guardian,” he teased Brecan.

Brecan hopped a ride on a jet stream and landed in front of Arron.

The Fire witches claimed the Water witches’ crystal, celebrating as they jogged safely back to their lawns. Mira was livid.

A fountain of water exploded overhead, raining down onto the lawn and everyone on it. The briny scent of the sea hit me and immediately jolted a memory of Tauren holding me in the sand, moments before the world fell apart at the seams. In the air, vapor hung in the shape of a single cresting wave, the sigil of the House of Water.

Arron held out his hands, unsure what else to do as Brecan advanced on him. Whispering a spell to blur reality, everything began to melt. People, our Houses, the trees, the fountain in front of the House of Water. The world oozed like ice cream on a scorching hot day.

Brecan held his hand out in front of him, watching it drip to the ground. “What is this?”

“I didn’t know you could do that,” I marveled.

“I have a few new tricks up my sleeve,” Arron said with a friendly wink.

Sensing Brecan’s discomfiture, Ivy took over. All the witches grew tall, stretching toward the sky like peeling, knobby birches. My nose sprouted into a long, skinny branch and my fingers became trees. The Earth witches turned into lumbering stone soldiers, marched to the House of Air, and snagged their crystal.

Brecan roared at their blatant thievery as his Air witches fought to free themselves, but they remained helplessly rooted to the soil.

A fierce wind tore through the Center, the fresh scent cleansing our sweat-soaked skin. Dried leaves were torn from branches, rushing into a pattern that formed three distinct waved lines over the Center, the sigil of the House of Air.

The wind blew Ivy’s timber curse away as well. The witches gasped to be free and immediately began to fight with torrents of air, torrential rain, walls of fire, and metal called from deep within the earth by the Earth witches. It bubbled up from fissures, cooling and solidifying once again.

Arron locked eyes with Mira and the two of them teamed up. She called forth a dense fog and Arron made the light of day fade into total darkness. The combination made it impossible to see. “Arron, guard our obsidian!”

“I’ve got it,” he promised.

I sprinted through the dark fog to the steps of the House of Earth and scooped up their emerald. Just then, the fog and darkness faded and daylight pierced everyone’s eyes. Pine needles formed the shape of the tree that bore them before falling to the ground, their astringent scent permeating the air. Arron let out a hoot and announced, “Fate takes the Earth crystal!”

He was still celebrating when he realized, too late, that our obsidian was in jeopardy. He tried to fight Brecan off, but my best friend managed to grab our crystal and held it aloft victoriously.

Brecan let out a victory roar and threw our stone into the sky where it exploded into millions of sharp, black wishbones. They covered the lawn in a thick layer before Ivy instructed the earth to absorb them so everyone could walk comfortably.

“All the crystals have been stolen,” Ethne announced, soot and a sheen of sweat covering her face.

Brecan laughed, clapping Arron on the back. “You are a warrior, friend.” He took Arron’s hand and held it up high. “The House of Fate is victorious!”

Witches from every House applauded. Arron bowed as I strode across the Center to join him on our lawn. My hair was a damp, snarled mess thanks to the Water and Wind witches. I was sooty and somewhat singed, thanks to the Fire witches, and pine needles littered my hair, thanks to the Earth witches. But I couldn’t stop smiling. I grinned until my cheeks ached.

“The Memoriam celebration will begin at sundown,” Ivy announced. “Ready yourselves, and we will feast and enjoy this reverent day. Then, as we wait on the winter season to approach, we will finally rest. Come spring, all will be set right.”

In my bedroom, a magnificent velvet gown hung from a hook on the washroom door. I twisted it around on the hanger to get a better look. The back was open to my waist, the front high enough to conceal my collarbones. I vowed to thank Mira for making it.

“Someone put a suit in my room!” Arron hollered from the room he’d claimed upstairs.

“I have a dress!” I yelled back.

“Goddess, she is wonderful,” he marveled. Mira truly was.

He drew a bath and when he was finished, I drew mine. We had been working on upgrading the aged plumbing, and now had running water in every washroom. The pressure wasn’t as forceful as the palace’s, but it was a million times better than washing with a tub and pitcher.

I scrubbed myself until the water dissolved the dirt and soot etched on my skin and in my hair. A strange feeling unfurled in my stomach. No matter what I did, nothing eased it.

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