Page 103 of When the Wicked Sing
“Okay,” Mariana whispered.
“At least we have the am—” Aurora’s eyes went wide as she glanced down at Mariana’s chest.
“What?” She glanced down too. It was gone. The amulet was gone.
Her heart tripped, frantically skipping as she looked around the sand.
“Where is it?” she shouted frantically.
“I have a feeling I know where it is …” Aurora muttered, looking out at the darkened sea.
Mariana’s eyes turned in that direction, and she cursed. Lights flickered on the midnight horizon.
“Halia has it,” Aurora said grimly. “If she didn’t, I doubt she’d be sailing away on her grand ship.”
Mariana held back a scream. She vaguely recalled the faint sensation of the amulet lifting right before …
“Godsdammit!” she shouted. “Astra begged us not to let her have it. She was the one person!”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Aurora said, making Mariana turn her questioning gaze toward her sister.
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know,” Aurora said, gazing off into the distance. “But something in the way Astra said it … You have to keep it away fromher,remember? It just—” Aurora shook her head. “I don’t know, it just didn’t seem like she was talking about Halia.”
“But Haliaisthe one who has it.”
Her sister stayed silent beside her, and Mariana began to realize they had to come up with a plan. And quickly.
“Without that amulet, will Cybele die?” Mariana asked quietly, lifting grim eyes to her sister’s.
“I’m not sure. The witch seemed adamant that the only way to save Cybele was with the amulet.”
Mariana tilted her head. “Something Seraphina told me was that the amulet’s purpose was to bring light where there was only darkness. Would fallout be considered darkness?”
“I don’t know that it’s just the fallout killing Cybele,” Aurora said carefully. “Did you see the way Astra’s veins looked? It was like squid ink was flowing through her body. It’s the same way Cybele’s veins looked before I left.”
Confusion swept over Mariana in a tidal wave of dread. “So … whoever attacked Astra might also be poisoning Cybele?”
Aurora bit her lip and nodded. “I think so. Someone in Salus is killing her.”
Mariana released a deep sigh. “We don’t know for sure, but whatever is plaguing Cybele, maybe the witch knows it can still be reversed with the amulet.”
“If anyone truly knew and understood what the amulet is capable of, it would be the witch,” Aurora pointed out. “She was the only scholar allowed inside Seraphina’s temple to record data before the Banishment. Usually, only the priestesses were allowed inside, but they made an exception for her once we started using orbs to record all our history.”
“So, the witch is probably right, then. Which means we have to get that amulet back from Halia.”
“We can swim to her ship, take it back from her,” Aurora suggested, but Mariana shook her head.
“It’s too risky. Too many guards on board could stop us before we reached it. Besides, we have no idea where it is. And if Halia really wanted to, she could consider it an act of war.” Mariana bit her lip, trying to think of a solution, but there was only one that she kept circling around, not wanting to accept it.
“Well, we have to come up with something.”
The two fell silent, ideas swirling between them in the midnight air, until finally, Mariana sighed, sagging.
“I know what to do,” she admitted heavily. She let her eyes close, wishing there was another way. But there wasn’t. She was the queen now, and queens made difficult choices when it meant saving their people. “She’ll want power in exchange for power.”
Opening her eyes, she studied Aurora, who reached out to hold her hand. It gave her the courage she needed to share her idea with her sister. Her voice was so thick with grief, she could hardly speak, but when she finally got it all out, Aurora’s mouth was pinched tight, her eyes on the sand.
