“She couldn’t remember me.” The memory tore through me afresh. “She stared at me like I was a stranger. It was Charon’s trade, Loxias. It ruined us.”
Loxias’s ears flattened against his skull. “How could a single memory change everything that existed between the two of you?”
“I don’t know.” Hellfire sparked between my claws, suffocated, but not erased by the runes. “The price was one happy memory for market access. But Phonos mentioned protecting her from Charon, as if he anticipated this outcome.”
“Unlikely,” Loxias mused. “Only the Moirae can ever know the weave. He must have just guessed. Or perhaps the Keres kept an eye on Callista while she was in Iaso’s care.”
Every word Loxias spoke seemed to drive a dagger into my gut. “None of that matters now. Phonos still won, and Callista is at the Keres Spire while I rot in this cell.”
“I’m afraid it gets worse.” Loxias grimaced, his muzzle wrinkling like it did when he tasted something particularly foul. “The Keres have finally set a date for the claiming ceremony. It happens tomorrow, at dawn.”
The news shouldn’t have come as a surprise. If anything, it was more shocking that they’d even waited this long. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
“There must be another way.” I struck the wall so hard it cracked. “Some path to reach her before then.”
Loxias said nothing, and that was when I knew. I knew this was the real reason he’d come here. “You have an idea. You’ve seen something.”
“Not exactly. The future… The threads are never as clear to me as they are to the Moirae. But I do know this. Charon can reveal what went wrong.”
“He never reverses trades,” I snapped at him. I knew he was only trying to help, but at this point, I feared empty hope would drive me mad. “And I’m still locked in here.”
“Once made, a trade is complete, yes. But that doesn’t mean Charon will refuse a new deal.” White fire sparked between Loxias’s claws, almost as beautiful as an asphodel. “And these doors can’t hold you against true need.”
With that, Loxias approached the cell door and brushed his hand over the lock. The unbreakable mechanisms aged and came apart, useless against my brother’s will. I hadn’t witnessed this skill so directly applied since we’d been pups and mostly harmless.
But we were no longer young, and I knew too well what this meant. “The Moirae will discover your involvement. They won’t be happy with you for helping me escape.”
Loxias pushed the door open without answering. He bent over my chains, and the links tarnished at his touch. Corrosion spread across the runes, and the metal crumbled.
I rose slowly and shook off the dust from my fur. “Loxias. What aren’t you telling me?”
“There’s nothing I need to say, Theron.” My littermate shot me a sharp, chastising look. “You should already know I’d never betray the Moirae.”
I was more confused than ever. Loxias was many things, but he wasn’t a liar. He was even less inclined to play mind games than I was. But he was also right. He’d never go against the vow of a Weaveguard. What was this all about, then?
The answer came in a way I didn’t expect. Loxias sat down, right where I’d been before. “I’m not helping you escape. I’m taking your place.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. “What? Loxias, what do you mean?”
“Someone must serve the penance for the Moirae’s judgment.” Loxias shrugged, as if we were talking about the weather. “Better me than you.”
If things had been different, I would have refused him. I’d have thrown him out of the cell and served my sentence, no matter how harsh it was. I didn’t have that luxury, but I still needed to understand. “Why would you do this?”
“We share creation.” His eyes held mine with unshakable resolve. “Woven from identical death energy at the same moment. That bond transcends our different roles.”
“Even the Moirae’s decisions?”
“I have no doubt that the Moirae know best,” he replied. “But what happened to Callista violated something in the weave. I can’t explain it. I don’t understand it. But I can’t just stand by and watch that happen.”
The door was open, and freedom stretched down the corridor that had seemed my final path. My brother’s sacrifice weighed on me, but it couldn’t stop me.
Loxias leaned against the wall with quiet dignity, accepting imprisonment meant for me. And I walked out of the cell and left him behind.
It was cruel and unfair, but my littermate had bought me a chance I couldn’t waste. Charon was waiting for me on the surface, his secrets the only solution to the trade that had ruined my life.
Time was running out. There were only hours until dawn. Hours until she became another’s forever.
I would find answers or die trying.
