Chapter Eighteen-Musings Among The Council
Mark slammed his hand on the table, rattling the contents and causing a few people to jump. “This isn’t working!” he screamed.
I stood and pulled at his extended arm. “Mark, come here.”
He was red faced and you could practically see the steam coming off his head, but he stepped to the side to speak with me. “What, Sadie?”
“Why are you so frustrated?” I questioned. “We know about Clorva—not much, but enough—and we know Bram wants me to open it. Why are you still acting like this and screaming at everyone?”
He ran a hand through his hair and gave me the saddest look I’d ever seen on him. “Sadie, I can’t let anything happen to you. You’re Liv’s sister in law. My friend, my wife’s friend. This Clorva stuff is a lot more serious than you seem to think. If you accidently unlock it, Bram will have access to the whole realm again. Do you understand how bad that could be? And this team,” he said with anguish as he waved his hand at the table. “Isn’t preparing like they should.”
“Mark,” I said gently. “It’s ok. I know what unlocks it, and I’m being careful. You don’t need to worry about me; I can take care of myself. We need to figure out who else has been resurrected.”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “Let’s go back. I have some info on that.”
Dread filled my stomach like a bad virus. I didn’t like the way he said info.
“Ok, listen up,” he commanded. Mark was far from the sorcerer I’d met years ago. He was a leader, a take-charge-of-any-situation guy, and he demanded everyone give him the respect he deserved. “We’re getting nowhere on the Sorcerer Wars. No one that survived documented anything that’s useful for this situation, so we’re going to move on. Melanie, do you have the information on the Spain energy surges?”
She nodded. “Yes, sir. It seems there was another resurrection. We can’t be sure who it was, but it’s suspected it was Pryce or Wolfe.”
He groaned, closing his eyes and rubbing his temples. “They’re going in order.”
“Order?” I asked.
“The order they came into power. They’re resurrecting according to the same order,” he explained.
A redheaded guy spoke up. “I believe it’s to ensure maximum power, sir.”
“Explain,” Mark snapped.
“If they resurrect in the same order they were originally made, the power will work similarly and they’ll all have maximum usage. The power they possess isn’t what they had before. It died with them years ago. They’re pulling from the universe, from nature and sorcerers around them. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of their followers are sacrificing themselves to fuel it.”
I joined Mark in rubbing my own temples. None of this was good. In fact, it seemed to be getting worse the more they spoke. “What do we do?”
Mark shook his head. “I have no earthly idea.”
I patted his back awkwardly. “I’m going to go now. Let me know if you discover anything else.”
He nodded in agreement before spouting out instructions for the sorcerers seated at the table. I rushed from the room, overwhelmed with all that was happening. The Six were going to be resurrected. All of them. I no longer had to worry about Bram, but multiple dead sorcerers back for vengeance.
Could I truly do this? Destroy them? It’d taken all my strength to pull myself from Bram’s binds…but more than one? I didn’t know if I could possibly manage this.
I made my way back to my room and found it empty. I threw myself on the bed, covering my eyes with my arm. My head was beginning to pound right behind my eyes, and it was far from pleasant.
I sensed a presence seconds before I heard the voice. “Sadie Tabors,” she groaned in a scratchy, liquid filled gasp.
I jumped up, seeing the fae from Charleston standing near the window, blood pouring from her mouth and her stomach. “What?”
“Sadie Tabors,” she said again. She attempted to move toward me, but stumbled and fell, spilling blood everywhere. “Quick.”
I hurried to her, crouching and grabbing her shoulders. “Let me heal you.” What was I saying? She’d tried to kill me how many times?
She shook her head. “You can’t. Bram…punished…me.”
“For the warning about my friends?” I asked.
She nodded. Coughing deeply, blood poured from her mouth in large quantities. “They’re after you,” she strained to get out.
“I know,” I told her.
She shook her head no. “You don’t understand,” she said. Her voice was growing weaker and it was harder to understand her. “They’re coming.”
“Coming where?” I asked.
She peered up at me, her eyes growing dim. Watching her die was hard and sad. She may have been bad to me in the past, but she’d tried to help me, too. She didn’t deserve to die because of me. “Here. The Six.”
“No,” I said adamantly. “No. Bram and one other are all that have been resurrected.”
She sputtered more blood. How much more could her body have? “Tricks,” she choked out. “Coming. Tomorrow.”
Her head lolled to the side with that last word, her eyes losing the small amount of light they contained. Tears fell before I realized what was happening. What had he done to her to make her bleed out? The stab wound wasn’t enough; he’d had to have done something much worse internally to cause that much blood to spill from her body.
Aiden found me cradling her lifeless body, tears streaking down my face.
“Sade?” he asked worriedly. “What happened?”
“Bram did this to her,” I sniffled. “Because of me.”
He smoothed my hair back, tucking it behind my ear. “Oh, Sade. I’m so sorry.”
Heaving and trying to catch my breath, I continued to cry while he went for help. Grandma and Mark appeared not long after, both silently assessing the situation.
Mark bent near me, taking my hand off her face. “Sadie, you can’t do anything else for her. Let us bury her in the gardens.”
I nodded numbly. How could I have let this happen? I was supposed to protect innocents, and while she was far from innocent in the real world, she definitely was a pawn in Bram’s games. It wasn’t fair.
He took her body, disappearing from the room without another world. Grandma used her magic to clean the mess, but the carpet was still tinged with her blood. A reminder of what I’d caused.
“Sadie,” she said gently. “Tell me what happened. How did she get here?”
Rubbing my eyes dry, I stood. “I don’t know. I was lying on the bed, taking a break, when she showed up and started talking. She was pouring blood out of her mouth and side. She said the Six are all resurrected, Grandma. She said they’re coming here tomorrow.”
She shook her head furiously. “No, that’s impossible. We’d notice that much energy.”
I sniffled, starting to sit until I realized that I was covered in the fae’s blood. “She said it was a trick,” I said. “I didn’t even know her name and she died because of me.”
Grandma took my shoulders in her hands and shook me. “This isn’t your fault.”
Grimacing, I nodded. “Yes, it is.”
She shook her head. “No, Sadie. You can’t think like that. She wasn’t forced to work for Bram.”
“How do you know?” I asked. “Maybe he’d threatened or cursed them all to work for him. The look in her eyes as she was dying was regret. Regret isn’t what you feel if you’re doing something you want.”
Aiden wrapped his arms around me from behind. “Sade, listen to me. You didn’t know this would happen. She warned you about Tessi and Mel. They would have died if she hadn’t come to you. And you were there for her in her final moments. You couldn’t have saved her if you tried.”
“I did try,” I choked out, fighting more tears. “She said healing wouldn’t work because she was being punished for helping me.”
“That was her decision,” Grandma said. “You can’
t blame yourself. Don’t let this make you do something stupid, Sadie.”
I nodded. “I need a shower.”
They both released me, allowing me to trudge my way to the bathroom. I threw my clothes in the wastebasket, setting them on fire while the water heated up. The bloodstains may come out, but the memories would remain. I allowed the water to wash over me, the hotness scorching my skin and cleansing it of her life. The tears were swept from my face and down the drain. I stayed under the water until it grew cold, thinking of what was about to happen. Bram and the rest of The Six were coming for me. In less than twenty-four hours. I wasn’t prepared. I had no clue how to defeat any of them, much less all of them.
I may not survive.
Their power was greater than we expected. Bram had sent the dying fae to me as a sadistic game, I was sure of it. She was too weak to do any traveling of her own, if she even had that ability. Once my bones grew cold and I was shivering, I shut the water off and wrapped the towel around me. I didn’t even bother to dry my body.
I opened the door to see Aiden leaned against the frame, waiting for me. “Sade.” He took me in his arms, drenching his clothing, and held me close. “We’re going to a new room,” he whispered.
I nodded, but couldn’t move. I didn’t know what to do about The Six. How would I do this by myself? I needed to unlock Clorva before they showed up.
Aiden saw my internal debate, and swept me into his arms. He walked us down the hall, kicked the door open to the new room, and placed me on the couch. “Do you need help getting dressed?” he asked.
Looking down, I realized he was seeing me in just a towel. A very small towel. I shook my head. “I want to sleep.”
He helped me to the bed, covering me and smoothing my soaking wet hair back. “Rest, Sade. It’ll all be better when you wake.”
I didn’t believe him, but nodded anyway. I couldn’t do much else at this point. Falling into a restless sleep, I didn’t expect the fae to be waiting for me in my dreams.
“Sadie Tabors,” she said.
“You,” I said, surprised. “I’m so sorry.”
She grinned, chuckling mischievously. “For what?”
“Getting you killed,” I said.
She waved me off. “Oh, that,” she giggled. “Totally my fault, and it was my destiny.”
Stunned, I stepped back. “What?”
“My destiny is to help you with this. I just found out,” she smiled. “I’m Tarann, by the way.”
Tarann. “What did you just find out?”
“That I’m to help you become the dark sorceress,” she squealed, clapping happily.
Ghost Tarann was quite odd compared to real-life, fae Tarann. “What does that mean?”
“You have to accept who you are to gain the power to defeat The Six, Sadie Tabors.”
Why did these people keep calling me by my full name? “That I’m the dark sorceress,” I groaned.
“Yes, Sadie Tabors. Stop feeling guilty and get back to your ass kickery ways. Sleep well, Sadie Tabors. I’ll find you when I’m needed.”
The dream ended then, and I woke.
What in the hell was going on?