Page 113 of The Bones of the Cursed

“It means that if Iclas manages to claim her soul,” Ames says, “he can place it in another body. He doesn’t need this body to fulfill his side of the prophecy. He just needs her essence. Her soul. And a bit of her blood.”

My stomach turns, a sour taste coating my mouth. “You’re saying he could take her soul, place it in another body…and then…complete the sadistic ritual that would unleash the evils of the world? But he doesn’t have her blood…”

Leena hiccups, unable to speak through her tears, and drops her face into her hands. “I’m so…so sorry. He took some of her blood when he had her hostage.”

The matriarch is a pale shade of green, as if she is also feeling quite ill. “The only dark Witch I know who has powers that strong is a Nightblood. She belongs to no coven, not anymore. There are Witches who roam free, never settling with a coven, but the Nightbloods disbanded when their matriarch was killed with no heir. They live in some abandoned building deep in the Sinwood Mountains now.”

My father looks weak as he asks, “What does this mean?”

Ames sighs. “This means that we need to locate Alanis’s soul before Iclas does. If not, the end of the world is imminent.”

The king nods once before barking orders. Ames stops at the threshold of the healing hall, turning back towards me. His eyes flick pointedly to Leena, and I understand.

“Father,” I say through a throat gone dry, and he pauses in his orders to look at me, “I’m sure you already figured it out, but this is your niece. Leena Ambrose.”

Leena’s tear-filled eyes meet the king’s, and for the first time in my life I watch as my father crumples. Tears flow down his face as he grasps Leena’s face.

“How could I not? You look so much like your mother. Strong like her, too.”

I smile as they embrace.

Leave it to Ames to break the tender family reunion just as easily as he started it.

“Sorry to interrupt, but time is of the essence. Preserve her body. If we can retrieve her soul, the Goddesses of Life and Death may return it to its rightful place.”

Hope surges through me. “You can bring her back?”

Ames nods. “I told Alanis before she left this world that even us in Hell honor the bonds of mates. For her sacrifice to this realm, the Gods and Goddesses feel it is only fair to restore her life so that she can follow the other path the Fates laid for her.”

I stare at her face. Stunningly beautiful. Her long brown hair framing her face. Her full lips and sharp cheekbones. Her dainty freckles that I love to stare at as the morning sun shines through our window.

Determination courses through me.

I will bring her back.

No more goodbyes or tears.

I glance at Kailu, the determined glint in his eyes fueling me.

We’re bringing our woman back where she belongs.

42

- MALAKAI -

A GROUP EFFORT

After an hour in my father’s study, listening to everyone shoot ideas back and forth, we finally have a plan. Kailu takes off with Siveral and Hendrix to the Isle in the hopes of finding Levi and deterring Iclas’s plan a bit longer if we can.

We need time.

The matriarch said the Witch resides in the deepest parts of the Sinwood Mountains. The trek there will take some time, and I don’t want to waste another second.

I have the men help me bring Alanis’s body only after her father uses his magic to preserve her until we can reconnect her with her soul. Once they have her safely settled on the wagon, myself, the king, the Gods and Goddesses, and a handful of soldiers take off.

We travel at a brisk pace, only stopping long enough to swap out the horses pulling the wagon. The tired ones are tied to the back of the wagon to give them a reprieve. By nightfall we have made good progress, making it through the Obsidian Hills by the tunnel that runs below them. We are now only about a day from reaching Selianthe. From there, we have another day or so tonavigate the rough terrain in the mountain range.

I don’t sleep much at night, my thoughts drifting to Alanis’s soul, trapped by some horrifying bitch. The anger has yet to leave my body, but the hope Ames gave me has tamed it a bit, just barely keeping the dragon at bay.

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