Protecting Jane is literally my life’s purpose if what Ritter says is true, that drive layered with many different obligations. Learning that Misery is deeply entrenched in her shadow quite honestly fucking unnerves me, and the way every aspect of her aurableedsdestruction makes sense now if that god is hunting her, and logic tells me that getting too close is dangerous as fuck.
I could very easily die in this.
Can I risk that?
What would happen to Serena if I died? Has she given up on being found? Has my sister suffered and endured abandonment for the latter half of our lives, or has she found her own peace?If I found her now, would she even be able to function? Surely,Ican offer her something with my powers. A way to numb her trauma, even.
We’re all evolving without understanding in these coasts, so what if I learned how to ease Serena’s terrors? If these gods can fuck with our energies, surely I can learn how to push my powers onto another.
My death, on the other hand, will make that impossible.
That sinking feeling of considering I’ll truly never see Serena again rears its head, thrashing in my chest. It’s a sense of defeat that hollows me out. Cypress doesn’t give a shit if I see my family again, and I know that. I could die in the exact breath that saves Jane from Misery, still fulfilling her promises.
What am I to do, though? Just leave Jane and hunt for my sister on my own as if none of this ever existed? Jane’s tangible, real, and grazes against something in my chest that has me seeing and feeling shit I’m frankly unprepared for. I know, without much pushback, that there’s something in the fates with her.
Some part of her ismeantfor me.
Deserting her isn’t just a failure my ego dislikes, but I simply can’t even consider it. Iwon’tleave her.
So, what does that fuckingmean? I can’t risk my life for Jane while also ensuring I find Serena.
I mindlessly rub the rings on my fingers, running a fingertip over the snake design the Council crafted for me. I joined thoseassholes for their resources, so I could man a pursuit over the Black Sea to find my kin.
Literally everything I’ve done has been rooted in trying to find my sister.
As I try to focus on feeling out what’s best, it’s damn near impossible in this room, the energies swirling together whilethere’s a foreboding danger, thick like miasma, somewhere to my right, and I know it’s circling Jane.
Jane.
The idea of Misery, Blackwell, or the Order of Ash getting the tip of theirpinkyon her enrages me, because theywilldestroy her if they capture her.
The thought that I’d lie my head down in an empty bed, her soft hair gone from this world—the fire blown out that is so desperate to rumble—makes me grip my fingers so tight the circulation diminishes.
I care for her.
Imustensure she doesn’t drown in Misery’s murk?—
Anya’s presence spreads through the chatter of the room, and I open my eyes, her aura being one that blends easily into the background; there is no chaos inside of her, onlypurpose. Drive.
Yet I know that subtle, calm energy anywhere.
As her aura approaches me, I observe the face she wears—a woman closer to Jane’s age with a messy, black braid down the middle of her head, bringing a stool over and placing a basket next to me.
Mossy green eyes meet mine—so different from the usual dark brown—but I know who they really belong to. “I haven’t had time to study her full mannerisms, so make it short.”
A skin shifter.
Ritter and Anya are the only two that I know of with these powers in the Balar Coasts, although their type tends to avoid the shit out of me—I can spot them a league away if I know the energy they’resupposedto have.
I sit up from lying down. My vision momentarily fades when limited blood pulses through my veins. I still don’t know the purpose of suffering that attack, especially since it’s not a simple one to recover from.
It better be for a good reason.
Looking at a stranger’s face, I ask, “Where is everyone?”
“More are making their way down here,” she answers, pulling out tonics from the basket. “Elise has left to secure passage. Ourtrusted liaisonis aware, and may do what he can to ensure an exit route. The rest are assuming their positions. I came to confirm that you are allied with the Scorpion? That’s what we were just told before I entered.”
“Unfortunately, that fucker is our ally for now. I’ll be on a tight leash while we’re inhisdomain.”
