Page 76 of When Wishes Bleed

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Many hours later, as the sun began to creep over the horizon, Brecan returned, sporting dark circles and a bruised cheek that no doubt matched his injured pride. A muscle flickered in his jaw. “Mira is worried sick. She needs to get you ready for the day.”

I wasn’t ready to face the day, or to return to my room.

“Ready for what?” There was no way Tauren wanted to see me.

“You’re traveling to Sector Three, to a children’s medical ward.”

Witches rarely fell ill. Until their time on earth drew to an end, they barely even aged. But I’d never considered the people in the Lowers. I’d never given any thought to children falling ill or dying.

Silently, I stood, watching the garden for any other signs that Ela was gone. The leaves drooped on their stems, the edges curling slightly in on themselves, but they hadn’t fallen. “Is every garden like this?” I rasped.

Brecan nodded. “The trees and grass, too. Most are saying it’s just an early fall, but you know who they’ll look to once everything dies.”

“If it does. A new Priestess can replenish the earth and stop the death spreading across it.”

Brecan didn’t respond, he just waited as I walked toward him, and then he did what he came to do. He escorted me to my room and lurked in the hallway while Mira flitted around me like a crazed moth.

Finally she went still, her lips pinched tightly together. She stuck her dainty, ebony finger in my face and squinted at me. “You… you love him,” she whispered accusingly. “You can pretend not to, but now I know the truth.”

“I barely know him.”

“You bound your soul to his, Sable. Even the best of friends would never do that.”

She was right. I wasn’t sure how it happened, or how he slipped so easily through the walls I’d erected around my heart, but I loved Tauren. Did it happen the moment he stumbled up to my table, or even before that, when I thought he might have been the boy I was meant to hang? Or did it blossom when I received his invitation, or the subsequent profession that he was sincere about his reason for sending it? All I knew was that something in him was mine, and something in me belonged to him. I couldn’t let anyone snuff that out. That was all I could think of. All that mattered.

I showered quickly, the steam clouding the mirror. Mira was frozen, staring into it when I stepped out, wrapping myself in a towel. “What do you see?”

Her braided hair trembled. “Sable?”

“Yes?” I replied, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around my body.

“We are being recalled to The Gallows. The Circle demands that we return immediately.”

Fate roared in response. My skin turned molten and flushed bright red. My hair grew several inches at once. I expected ashy scales to erupt on my flesh and for fire to pour out of my mouth and nose.

Mira moved away, putting her hands out in defense. “I’m sorry.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you. This is Fate,” I gritted. “I can’t leave.”

She gulped. “Brecan!”

The door to my room burst open and Brecan ran into the washroom. He looked from Mira to me and sucked in a deep breath. “It’s getting worse.”

The dark stain had spread from my fingers, up my arms, and over to my collarbone. Inching up from my toes, it had spread to mid-thigh.

And I was hot. So hot.

“Stop hurting her!” Brecan shouted.

Mira started chattering about the message she received and what she’d seen from me afterward.

He cursed. “Mira, tell them that Sable is unable to leave. Fate forbids it. She cannot physically leave the Prince.”

Fate began to ease his grip on me.

But Brecan wasn’t finished. “And tell them that I refuse to leave Sable. You should go back so you don’t get in trouble.”

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