Marked (The Coldest Fae Book 3) by Katerina Martinez (novel24 .txt) 📗

the castle to warrant the sorcerers having to come out to fight it off—it came to the forest well outside of the city.”

“It came because the Prince was there,” Mel put in.

“It’s attracted to him?” I asked.

“I think so,” Gullie said.

“But the Prince has left Windhelm many times before. Why did it go for him that time?”

“Okay, so, this is the part where it gets tricky. I think the Prince alone isn’t enough to draw the storm. I think he’s a beacon, but most of the time that beacon is unlit. Except for that day in the forest.”

“Why is that?”

“Because we were surrounded by courtiers, and contestants, and all sorts of magic was in the air that day. If he soaked it up, it could’ve activated the beacon within him and brought the storm down on us like an avalanche. Again, this is only a theory, but it’s the best one we have.”

I nodded. “Supposing that’s true, what does that mean for us?”

“If it’s true,” Mel said, “Then all we have to do is pump the Prince full of magic and it will come to him. We don’t have to go to it.”

“But won’t that… I mean, if all of this holds water then the last time he came into contact with it, it only made Radulf stronger. Wouldn’t that happen again?”

“And there’s the good and bad news,” Gullie said. “I think we can draw it to him, but it may only make things worse.”

“He thinks the solution to his problem is in the Veridian, thought,” I said.

“Is it possible that’s Radulf talking? Influencing him? Trying to lure us all into a trap so he can gain more power?”

“I guess… I think I’ve gotten pretty good at figuring out when he’s the man I… when he’s Cillian, and when he’s Radulf. Radulf doesn’t get out much if I have anything to say about it.”

Mel nudged me with her elbow. “I bet you have a lot to say there.”

“Stop it,” I snapped. “You know what I mean.”

“Yeah, you screw his brains out,” Gullie said, “I get it. I’m also thankful to have someone else to bunk with when that happens. I have a spring in my step these days because I’m not constantly having to turn myself into a tattoo.”

“There’s a silver lining, at least,” I said, though if I could’ve hidden inside of my hair and hide from the embarrassment, I would’ve. “So, we can maybe bring the storm to him, but we don’t know what’ll that do. Is there a spell we can learn to… I don’t know, exorcise Radulf?”

Gullie tapped me on the nose. “There’s the right question. Yes, there are plenty of spells we could try—the moon children have a few varieties of exorcism ritual depending on the spirit. The only problem is, none of us have ever used one, and botching an exorcism ritual could do more harm than good.”

“What about the Veridian?” I asked, “It sounds like the storm might just make things more complicated.”

“I really don’t know. You may have to ask him about that one. Are you sure he has no idea when Radulf did his thing?”

“He doesn’t know what’s waiting for him in the Veridian.”

“Or, at least, that’s what he’s telling you,” Mel put in.

“Are you suggesting he’s lying to me?” I asked.

“Not lying, no. But maybe he’s leaving things out.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because he has an evil spirit inside of him that makes him say and do evil things. You don’t need to be able to do mental acrobatics to piece this one together. I still think he wants to get to it because he’ll gain more strength from it.”

“Then again,” Gullie said, “The Veridian may have exactly the right kind of conditions for us to remove the spirit without hurting the Prince. Because you know, with exorcisms, there’s always the risk of killing the host.”

I shook my head. “Fuck. This one’s tough. I don’t know what to do.”

“Join the club,” Mel said, “That’s why we started playing a game. I mean, what else can you do when faced with something like this?”

“I wouldn’t know. It’s my first Armageddon.”

“You need to talk to him, Dee,” Gullie said, “You need to really talk to him this time.”

I looked over at her. “What if that breaks… this?”

“This?” she frowned.

“I’m happy, Gull… here, in this place. I know these people don’t like me very much, but I have you guys, and I have him. For the first time since I left home, I’m happy.”

“And you think that by talking to him about his brother, you’ll lose this?”

“Not talking about Radulf seems to help keep him away. What if bringing him up… you know, brings him up?”

“Then we’ll deal with it. All of us.”

What if we can’t stop him?

I left that last thought unsaid. She was trying to be supportive. They both were. I appreciated that, but I didn’t know if they fully understood the situation I was in. I hadn’t told them what my mother had told me, that I could either save the Prince or the moon children, but not both. I also hadn’t told them how I felt about him.

The right moment had never come up; then again, when is it a good time to bring up portents of someone’s impending doom?

Or your feelings for that person.

We had already been here for a week. I had spent most of it training and hand-stitching a fresh blue dress in my spare time. The girls, meanwhile, had spent it trying to figure out how to help the Prince. In truth, the right way through this wasn’t going to present itself to us even if we had a whole year to work on the problem. We were going to have to roll the dice and hope a six came up.

I stood. “You know,” I trailed off. “Even if we did agree to call the storm somehow, we wouldn’t be able to do it here.”

Mel shook her head. “We should go to the forest