Page 61 of Magic Betrayed

“So, yes. What you’re probably thinking is true. In a sense, nothing Elayara did would have been possible… without Kes.”

The room went dead silent in the wake of that revelation. Probably struggling with a lot of different emotions. When I first met Kes, I hadn’t known how to feel either, so I couldn’t exactly blame them.

I was still waiting for my audience to absorb this information when an unexpected defender took up the story.

“I have known Kestryl since we were both very young,” Rath said into that silence. “If you bear any trust for me at all, I hope you will believe my testimony that she is the kindest, gentlest person I have ever known. What has been done with her power is an abomination, and not even a shred of the blame rests on her.”

“It sounds,” Talia cut in icily, “as if you are saying she had no choice. But there is always a choice.Always.”

“Yes,” Rath ground out. “For you and for me, there is a choice. But she was only a child when this began. Achild. And my mother used me—used her family and friends—to threaten her and force her cooperation. Kes was young, but old enough and compassionate enough to understand that those she loved would be tortured if she did not cooperate. So if anyone wishes to seek revenge…” His attention sliced across the room like a blade. “You will have to go through me.”

I could sense a shift in the atmosphere as everyone sorted through this information. Forming new narratives, maybe adjusting their perspectives. And then there was Callum.

“That’s why you’ve been protecting her ever since you escaped,” he said, eyes still glued on me. “Why she stays at home with Logan and Ari. You’re keeping her out of sight. Making sure she’ll never have to use her magic.”

I didn’t think I could form words, so I nodded. Swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to hold back the tears.

“But now she’s been found… by people who know about her past.”

I could see him working through the facts the same way I had. Coming to the same damning conclusions.

“They blame her,” he realized aloud. “They think she can fix it.”

I nodded again.

“And Blake wants her so he can keep stealing power.”

“But none of that will ever happen,” I told them shakily. “It can’t.”

Rath looked at me sharply. “None of it?”

I hated to reveal anything so deeply personal, but they needed to understand the dangers. “There are only a few people left that Kes cares about. Unless Blake also has one of us, she will never do what he wants. She still suffers unimaginable guilt over everything Elayara did, and she will choose death before she helps him perpetuate those evils.”

“But whoever has her now also has Logan.” Shane sounded as if he were on the verge of ripping something—or someone—apart with his bare hands.

“This is different though,” I argued, not even sure why I was defending the kidnappers. They had terrorized my family and were likely keeping Logan sedated. But I couldn’t be entirely angry with them for their goals. “I don’t think they want her to steal power for them. I think they want their own magic back, and they believe she can reverse the process.”

Callum took a step closer. I could tell he was barely holding himself back, but I had no idea from what.

“She can’t, can she?”

I shook my head. “Like Ari said. It’s not possible. It was tried, and the process is…” Agony. It was agony for both Kes and the person she was trying to take magic from. “Once the stolen magic takes hold in another living thing, it cannot be taken a second time. She can siphon it—draw it away temporarily, possibly even use it to create artifacts—but it will gradually come back.”

She’d done it to me when I was unable to shift back from my fox form—taken my shifting magic into herself until I was human again. Endured the pain to save me from my own inexperience.

“But her text said she wants to stay. Wants to try to help,” Kira pointed out.

“There are actually three possible reasons for that,” I admitted. “They may be threatening Logan, and if that’s the case, she will doanythingto protect him. Or she may believe that if they find out the truth, there will be no reason to keep Logan alive. Or—and I think this is the most likely—she’s decided to keep trying because she feels so much guilt over the past. If she believes there’s a chance she can help, or some reason sheshouldhelp…”

She wouldn’t quit. She might be quiet and shy, but Kes could be unyieldingly stubborn when she believed she was right.

“So we have to find them before they figure out this is a dead end,” Kira said briskly, rising to her feet in a decisive motion.

I nodded slowly, releasing my grip on Ari by a fraction. I was a little afraid to believe that the crisis was over—that everyone had accepted the truth so easily.

“I understand if any of you don’t want to help now that you know.” My words were probably aimed more at Talia than anyone else, because how could she not be angry?

But when I looked over at the elemental queen, she didn’t look angry. She didn’t look anxious. She looked… broken. And when she caught me staring, she neither glared nor snapped nor threatened.

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