Page 10 of Bound By Roses

“There is no rush.”

“They must be lain to rest before the second moon, otherwise—”

“The wraiths have already fed upon the fallen.”

My face pales. I hadn’t thought about that. I knew the veil wraiths fed upon souls, but I hadn’t considered what that would mean for those who gave their lives to defend against Imelda and the Guardians, or even what it means for the soul. That person would no longer exist in any form. When we die, we must pass through the veil and into the afterlife, where we will exist in some form we cannot begin to understand. But if a soul is devoured before it can make the journey, it’s as if that person never existed. Their body remains, as does their memory,but they will never live again in the next life. I imagine to be consumed by a wraith is to die twice, and it’s not a fate I would wish for anyone.

Except perhaps Imelda. She does not deserve a second chance.

Erwyn spits at Aurelia’s feet and lets out a string of curses. “I should have never left. I would not have stood for any of this. I would have—”

“You would have what? You know you cannot refuse her. The wraiths came during the battle. The fallen could not have been spared their fate.”

“Is the witch dead?”

“She lives. And so does her son. Lunalissa’s Chosen.”

He scoffs, seemingly more angered by that than the total loss of twenty-nine members of their colony. The waves churn again, seemingly with his rage, and if Quinn had not been gripping my hand, I might have stumbled forward into the argument.

Erwyn’s gaze settles on Quinn and his eyes narrow into slits. “Chosen.” The word comes out as a growl. When his eyes flick to me, understanding and anger flares across his features. “Lunalissa and Terranous have chosen. Inferna is dead. And Tideus?” His eyes slide to back Quinn. “Where is your mother?” There’s enough venom in those words to kill.

“Dead.” Quinn says the word as if it is a simple fact, but I feel the flip his stomach makes as if it were my own.

The man lets out a roar and flips the closest table to him. “Dead?!” Then to Aurelia, he says, “Do you know what this means? Everything we have bled for was for nothing!”

‘He’s losing control. Get back.’Quinn’s voice fills my mind, and I feel the urgency there as if it were something physical.

‘Quinn—’

‘I’ll be fine. Trust me.’

I release his hand and take a step back, but I’m not moving any farther than that unless I absolutely have to. I don’t know who this man is, but he’s a threat and I am not willing to lose anything else.

I expect Quinn to tense offensively, but his body remains relaxed, arms loose at his sides and hands weaponless. “You’re angry,” he says, his words calm, “and you have every right to be. My mother left you, betrayed your people, and I am the product of that. That said, I didn’t ask to be born, so I’m not going to accept whatever blame you’re trying to put on me. I’m not your enemy.” He looks to Aurelia. “It seems I’m your family.”

“We had a chance!” Erwyn bellows, rushing forward.

Aurelia and I back away from the charging man, and I will Quinn to do the same, but he remains as still and relaxed as ever. A faint,‘Trust me,’flits through my mind again, as if he knew I would need to hear it.

When Erwyn is almost upon Quinn, spear raised and glistening with the blood of his fish, Quinn side-steps at the last moment. He grabs the back of a chair and swings wide. The end of the spear hooks onto it and is sent sideways, causing Erwyn to nearly lose his grip.

He tries to recover as Quinn lurches sideways again. The move should have been easy for Quinn, but he’s not as spry as he would be without the injury to his thigh. Even with the absence of pain, the wound slows him and leaves him fractionally more unbalanced on his feet.

Erwyn brings his spear down again in a wide arch, the chair still hooked onto it. Unable to dodge this time, Quinn flips the table onto its side and ducks behind it. The spear connects with it, the barbed end getting stuck in the wood with an explosion of splinters.

Perhaps that was Quinn’s plan all along because when Erwyn tugs at his weapon, it won’t come free.‘That was unnecessarily risky,’I hiss through the bond.

‘It worked, didn’t it?’

What no one could have predicted is the long knife that may as well be a short sword he pulls from his belt. His lips curl back into a sneer and I know he’s envisioning how it would look painted in a fresh coat of Quinn’s blood.

‘What’s your plan for this?’

‘Haven’t thought that far.’Quinn jumps back, the blade missing him by only an inch.

I scan the room, desperately searching for anything he can use as a weapon. The sirens gather around us in a wide circle, and not a single one of them looks willing to intervene. Even if Aurelia wanted to, I don’t see any weapons on her, and if she had something tucked away, I’m almost certain she would have already provided it.

I spot Merrick standing behind the crowd of onlookers, a disapproving expression smeared across his face. I try to remember if I’d seen a weapon sheathed at his side, but I’m distracted from that thought as Quinn dodges another blow and nearly stumbles as the blade arcs for him again.

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