Page 30 of Bonds of Blood
Gods above and below, we always swore, to speak of the deities, the celestials, the demons of earth. Gods above and below, we said, in murmurs of fear and respect, when the greatest powers of all had never been above nor below. They were right here. I was right here, in between.
I remembered the memories of water, the ocean of stories whispered by the waves. I remembered the song of storms, the poetry of raindrops.
The sudden rush of knowledge, of something as ancient as the earth itself. It should have fractured my mind. Living out the forgotten half of my existence alone should have broken me into pieces, understanding that I was half elemental, and yet more water than any human could be. Undine, undying, understanding.
I remembered almost killing the man I loved.
“Are you all right, little human?”
And yet his only concern was my well-being. I didn’t deserve Sylvain at all.
“Yeah, I think. I’m okay. What about everyone else? What about Satchel?”
I glanced to my side, and my heart almost leapt out of my throat. Ember was kneeling on a rock, Satchel’s body next to him. Instead of immediately panicking I should have noticed the rise and fall of Satchel’s chest — as well as his snoring. Funny how such a tiny person could make such a monstrous sound.
“Ember had to fight his own battle, too,” Sylvain said, nudging me with his elbow.
A parallel struggle, then, Sylvain and Ember calling out to us both, reaching deep to dislodge our minds from the entrancement of Baylor’s horrible spell. Satchel was only sleeping off the effects of the magic. Good. He was going to be okay.
“Thank you for bringing me back,” I whispered, squeezing Sylvain’s hand. Mocking laughter distracted me before Sylvain could answer, because Baylor Wilde was fully committed to being a pain in the ass.
“You’ve always been willful, Lochlann. And disobedient, too. I suppose this was only to be expected, you and your mother. Why did I marry an undine, of all things? Too volatile. Too emotional.”
This fucking rat really called me and my mom “things,” right to my face. And us, too emotional? Wasn’t he the one throwing an enormous fit because he didn’t get what he wanted?
“No matter. Now that I have control over the oriels, I’ll amass enough power to try again, exert my dominion over you and Marina. And all your eidolons, of course. This is amusing enough to me, seeing you left with only the weakest of your servants.”
“He’s got friends, too, you piece of shit.” Bruna stepped up to my side, clutching a frosty potion in one hand. “I’m sorry for cursing, I know you’re Locke’s dad, but — no, I’m not sorry. Watch your back. And your front.”
She shook the potion at him, threatening to lob it in his face. Namirah padded up to my other side, wearing the skin of a lioness. She bared her rows of enormous teeth, growling menacingly.
“Thank you,” I told them quietly. “Thank you both for being here. But I don’t want to put any more of my friends in danger. This is my fight now.”
Bruna opened her mouth to protest, but she understood. Cautiously, slowly, she backed away, her eyes burning into Baylor’s, as if to say that she was still watching his every move. Namirah butted her head against the back of my hand then slunk away, taking point on top of a nearby rock. Again, knowing that my sisters were with me meant so much already.
To think that they’d spent so much of their resources and energy tracking me down already. They must have been so exhausted, and in Sylvain’s case, injured. Gods, how much of myself had I lost to Baylor’s magic? The raw redness of Sylvain’s skin — I would never forgive myself if I’d ended up actually hurting him.
I gestured around myself. “This is madness, Baylor. Did you really think you could come here and claim the oriels without repercussion? Even now the headmasters are closing in on our location. Surely even you know that you can’t stand against their combined might.”
“Ah, again with these precious ‘friends’ of yours, these so-called allies. What are friendship and love compared to raw might? Pah. I spit on your friendship. I spit on your love.”
Gods, what an asshole. I stared him down, knowing there was plenty more to suffer through. He wasn’t done making his big, villainous speech.
“I control the very oriels themselves. I am the master of the elements. There is only one real path to power, boy. Only one path to true supremacy. Or haven’t I made things clear enough for you? Victory to the strong, to those who kill and crush underfoot. Everything you’ve worked for all this time, I’ve ripped cleanly away. There is nothing left.”
So maybe that was the key, to call on the one thing he hadn’t ripped away from me. I could summon an actual god to rip him a new one. I clawed at my throat, thanking my lucky stars that he’d passed Aphrodite’s gemstone over when he’d been so focused on stealing her original medallion. I pulled the chain up and off my head, hoisting the jewel aloft.
Baylor burst out laughing. “A trinket. A sentimental one at that. What is it this time, a gift from your beloved princeling? I’ve already stolen away the most precious of your baubles, Lochlann. Pray, don’t taunt me with a useless lump of glass.”
Ah. Then that was his mistake. My eyebrow cocked, a smirk snaking its way across my lips. Joke was on him, then. Maybe he didn’t think I was worthy of receiving two divine blessings as opposed to just the one. Technically, this was all supposed to be a combined gift from Aphrodite, anyway. It was only Baylor’s rude interference that had split the medallion in two.
“Sylvain has never given me any jewelry,” I shouted.
Baylor’s laughter reminded me that it was, perhaps, the wrong thing to say in the moment.
Sylvain stammered as he drummed up an excuse, only managing to sputter something out. “Well, yes. To be fair, I wove a crown of flowers straight into your hair once. Not quite the equivalent of jewelry, but — oh, yes! And also that one time I had a beautiful moonlight coat tailored just for you.”
He stood with his chest proudly puffed out. Job well done.
