Page 103 of Of Blood and Banes
“Then how did you survive coming off of it?”
“It was no easy feat. The withdrawals alone can drive you insane. But I slowly reduced my intake over months, until I was only taking a drop a day. Mixed with a softer dragon’s breath, eventually, I was able to completely stop. There were times I slipped, but what mattered is I kept pressing on. But Darian…that boy has been taking it almost his entire life. I’m uncertain if he’d be able to do the same.”
“How could you not tell me all of this before?” My voice pitches in irritation. All these revelations rocked me, throwing me off balance as I scramble to grab hold of the truth. What if this information could have changed the course of things if I had known earlier? “I thought you trusted me?”
“Sometimes there is a time and place for everything. You weren’t quite ready to know of that yet?—”
“And so you use the excuse of time as to why you never told me?”
“Katerina,” she warns. “There are many things you need to learn, but at the top of the list is controlling your anger. Being angry doesn’t constitute the right to be rude.”
“What else do you think I’m just ‘not ready’ to hear, Marge? As you’ve alluded to several times, the days are ticking by. Every wasted moment is time taken from what we can be doing to stop this war. To stop King Aaric!”
“And yet, things must be done in order. You cannot rush this, Katerina?—”
“It issoeasy for you to say these things, Marge, whenyouaren’t the one responsible if people die!” I flick my hands up to the sky, my chest heaving with each angered breath.
“I know. I understand. You seem to forget I was the one who was in your shoes not long ago. Except, there was absolutely nothing I could do. I was misled and misguided. And yet, I still paid the price for hundreds of innocent lives.”
“Then if you understand me so well, cut the bullshit and tell me the Gods-honest truth. If you keep thinking I can’t handle it, then how do you expect me to grow enough to be able to? I have proven myself again and again to you that I can!”
“Let’s not get carried away here. You haven’t been entirely forthcoming with me either, so let’s not pretend you’re theshining example of honesty. Don’t think I didn’t notice the dragon’s breath I specifically commanded you toonlyuse on yourself is now gone. And, miraculously, Darian seems to have made a full recovery after he should have beendead,” she bites out.
My mouth parts, my breath coming out in an audible pant.
“Exactly. So don’t pretend you’re any better than I am. I know you have your secrets, just as I have mine. When I feel it is imperative for you to know, then I’ll share. But until then, you just respect my advice.” She looks me up and down in irritation. “Now. Are we going to stand here and argue all night? Or are you going to put your coin where your mouth is and pull?”
I narrow my eyes, holding her stare until I relent and drop back into a crouch. I brush my fingertips across the ground, stirring the magic lying beneath the surface. It tugs at me with a familiar magnetic pull, calling to me with a desperate urgency.
As I press my fingers down into the dirt, welcoming the call, a zap of energy explodes into my skin. I tip away from reality. The environment around me is drowned out in bursts of light, fading in and out as they grow larger and form into one.
The last thing I see is Marge; her eyes trained on me and expression fading into the light. “When you get to The White, don’t touch anything or anyone. Just listen.”
A wave of pain ripples through me, my eyes roll back into my head as it nearly takes me over. The next wave hits, and my control slips, the energy shooting up my fingers and through my arms like liquid fire, unlocking a guttural scream from my lips. The pain is so blinding I can’t even silence myself. I swim in an endless abyss of agony, until all at once, the instant stretches into eternity. Like the snap of a finger, everything falls silent.
I’m stuck in an endless expanse of white, waiting. But nothing calls or whispers to me, and nothing shifts in the blank,colorless sheet surrounding me. My heart calls out to see my brother, mother, and father.
But no one comes.
CHAPTER 34
BAIT
After spending most of the next day resting, I stalk into my room after dinner and find Darian already sitting with his head leaned back against the wall. Stopping a few steps away from him, I toss out the wrapped canvas square I’ve brought toward him. It lands on the ground with a soft thud a few inches from his right foot, ripping his attention away from me to it.
Watching me suspiciously the entire time, he drags the fabric package toward him and flicks open the top flap before looking up at me. “What’s this?”
I nod toward it. “Just open it.”
Earlier this morning, I made the request with Corvin, hoping he could find the materials without alerting Sethan since he seems to be his right-hand man. I can’t take any questions from Sethan. Or even Marge. While Corvin was quite confused as to why I was requesting paints, brushes, and several rolls of parchment, he didn’t press me on it. Figures he probably thought due to the state of peril this realm is in, and how much pressure it puts on me as being the chosen one, I deserved the fulfillment of a small, easy ask.
Darian tilts his head to the side, his brown hair sweeping down into his eyes as he reveals the small set of brushes, simple coin-sized paint containers, and rolled sheets. “Why are you giving me this?”
“The morning I woke up in your room back in Windmere, I saw all the brushes and paints by your windows. I saw the night sky painting and the one of you, your mother, and your sister?—”
“That wasprivate,” he growls, finally looking up at me. “And you think I’m the one who painted those?”
I shrug, taking a small step back. “It was a guess.”
