Page 111 of A Vow of Wrath and Ruin

All three rose, hands outstretched. Threads of luminescent magic twisted together from their fingertips, weaving my fate—their eyes rolled a placid white. Baylis grabbed my hand, and I swallowed a rising dread.

Energy danced through the air, filled with magic. Copper fizzled on my tongue. This sight had not been seen for hundreds of years. Heads tilted to the heavens; the sisters hummed a foreign melody.

“What’s happening?” I asked Baylis.

“How should I know? I have no control over my powers.”

“Just thought Mother might have told you.”

The humming reached an unbearable pitch. Letting go of Baylis’s hand, we covered our ears.

A wind blew in from an unseeable source, rattling leaves on their branches, and darkness blanketed the once-sunny room.

I sunk to my knees, clutching Baylis tightly and shutting my eyes. Adrenaline coursed through my veins.

The sisters quieted, the room stilled, and light filled the atrium.

They took their seats on their thrones.

“We are ready, Aelia Springborn,” Decuma said, in a voice deep and ancient.

I stood and prepared to hear my fate.

“Go ahead.”

Clotho began, “In the desert, a man in black wanders. Searching for something. A power hidden in a tomb.” Her eyes glazed over. “Hands laid upon a bare back. Tears falling fromjoyous eyes. He has returned to lead us. HE HAS RETURNED TO LEAD US.” She jolted backward, hitting her head on her throne. “Oh no. It can’t be.”

My blood boiled in my veins.

“Is it Crom? There’s no way it’s him, right?” my mother asked.

“You saw what I saw,” Clotho breathed out.

I tapped my pack of cigarettes on my palm before taking one out and lighting it on a nearby candle.

“It’s not him,” I said, letting smoke billow out of my mouth.

“How do you know? We are the all-seeing eyes of the world. You think you know better than us?” Decuma’s nostrils flared in annoyance.

I took another drag off my cigarette.

“I know visions can be wrong. If Crom was back from the dead, I would have known.”

“And how is that? Are you psychic, too?” Clotho sneered at me.

A crack in their armor. I wanted to play with them a little more.

“Would it surprise you if I was? I am a daughter of a Fate.”

More nervous glances between the sisters. I had them rattled. I savored the taste of their unease.

“You know one of us has the gift, don’t you?”

Neither of the sisters said a word.

I looked at my mother, and her eyes fell to the floor.

Baylis stepped forward. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out? Or did you do something to stop me from knowing?”

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