Page 4 of A Story of Sinners

Lyra harrumphed and sifted away.

My hand gripped the blade at my hip, and I steeled myself for what would come next. To use my powers would spell my brother’s death, and I didn’t want that for him. No, I wanted him to suffer, in the same way he’d made me suffer. Locked away. Starved. Desperate.

He deserved nothing less.

“You are aware of the plan?” I asked Kieran and Evander. Evander’s light blue hair shined in the light as he nodded. The male held the elemental power of water and would be using it to flood the sublevel of the palace, whisking away the guards who patrolled there.

“I’ll be on my way,” Evander replied, sifting out of sight towards the small lake located at the center of the palace. He would need extra time to become acquainted with the water.

I turned my attention to Lord Kieran. His long, jet-black hair dripped over his alabaster skin, hanging in his face just enough to shield the red of his eyes. Kieran had the ability to inspire fear and render his enemies frozen with terror, an expertise I shared but not to the same extent. My ability didn’t come from magic though—instead, it was a learned skill that created a low vibration released from the vocal cords, a sound barely perceptible to the human ear. I’d used it often in Cambriel to warn mortals away, had even used it once or twice to scare Dahlia when she’d gotten too close.

Kieran’s source of fear wasn’t a simple skill or measly noise. No, it was a dark and dangerous sort of magic, one that often led to full grown fae males soiling their pants with terror. It seethed from his every pore, filling a room, a battlefield with fright.

The male resorted to a reclusive lifestyle because of this. The damaging influence of his presence on others kept him tight-lipped. The nod he gave, with the slight shifting of his energy, was response enough to acknowledge his awareness of the plan.

The change of his energy filled me with absolute terror, but I shoved down my response and offered a strained smile. Though he wasn’t trying to exert his dreadful powers, restless waves of fear crested off his skin, holding the room in a vice grip. It was clear in the way Eulalia gripped Fin’s arm, in the way the seer and Isadora swallowed.

“You will stick close to me.”

It wasn’t enough that I would take back the crown. No, my brother’s terror needed to be magnified until he felt nothing but sheer horror.

“Everyone grab a witch and prepare to sift.”

Kieran grabbed ahold of the witch closest to him, Isadora—Eulalia’s second—and she cringed at the contact. Fin grabbed his mate and nuzzled his nose into her hair, inhaling her scent. They weren’t officially mated yet, since Eulalia seemed to feel apprehensive about soul bonding and intertwining their life forces, but it was only a matter of time.

A brief flash of jealousy filled me at the sight. That could have been Dahlia and me, but she was too occupied making a mess of everything. I was too busy to correct her at the moment, but I would be coming for her soon.

I grabbed ahold of Matilda’s wrinkled hand and prepared to sift, but Eulalia’s scowl pinned me to the spot.

“Once this is done, we rescue Dahlia.”

The witch urged me incessantly, but I didn’t need a seer to know Dahlia was in trouble, or that she was suffering. I already knew. I could feel the constant flow of desolation, fear, and abandonment flooding through the bond every single minute of every single day. At first, I’d told myself she was strong, that she could handle the challenges she would face in my absence, but the despair flooding my chest was nearly crippling.

I levelled the witch with a glare, not fully meaning what I said next. “We have larger priorities than her. She made her own bed, and she can lie in it.”

With that, I clutched the little seer and vanished.

The palace was pure and utter chaos when we landed in the crypt. Thanks to Evander, water seeped from the stone ground, meeting my waist and the little seer’s neck. The shouts of guards directing courtiers to safety flooded through the thick walls. My lips pulled up, and I breathed in the air of the palace that would soon be mine.

Everything was going according to plan.

Kieran, Isadora, Fin, and an exasperated Eulalia zipped into the vault behind us. I released the seer and liberated a small slither of dark silver magic towards the door, allowing it to seep along the cracks, twisting and writhing before it wrenched the door wide open.

Eulalia’s eyes glazed over as she sent her familiar, Silas, through the grounds, searching for what lay outside the door. Once Silas gave the go ahead, Eulalia turned to me and nodded. The coast was clear.

Eulalia, Matilda, and Isadora gripped hands, muttering a spell beneath their breath as they ventured outside and down the hall. Their aim would be to focus a spell along the outside of the throne room, one that would only allow my group access, leaving my brother and his guards no chance of escape.

Fin’s eyes glazed over, heavy with longing and worry as he watched his mate’s form disappear. The confusion surrounding their mating bond was a burdensome weight on his shoulders. “I’m hoping that once this mission is complete, the dust will settle, and Eulalia will bond with me.”

I gripped Fin’s shoulder and met his eyes. “She will,” I assured him, but the words did nothing to comfort. The reason his mate had delayed their bonding was unknown, but I had a feeling her lack of faith was brought on by previous betrayals and a life spent running. She and Dahlia seemed to share that same curse, both skittish and mistrustful, and instead of simply letting go and trusting in what had been gifted to them, they chose to fight, tooth and nail.

One fought harder than the other, but not for long. Once I reclaimed my crown, I would be making a beeline for my little crow, regardless of the treaty keeping fae from Cambriel. I would do whatever it took to retrieve her, even if it meant starting a war.

“One step at a time, Fin. Right now, you need to focus on being a dragon.”

He nodded and sifted away in a bright flash of light. When he landed outside of the palace walls, he would be a full-fledged, gold and green dragon, primed and ready to attack.

“Kieran, are you ready?”

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