Page 46 of A Court of Masks and Roses
Stepping forward, Dasha squatted in front of Eris, her voice soothing. “You’ll be safe from the Dark God soon,” she told him, promising that there was nothing to fear, that the Dark God’s mark could be erased and the gates of the Goddess’s realm opened.
Eris shook his head violently.
Zalia sighed. “We try talking to them first, but it never works. Better to get them started on their tithe and speak again once the Dark God’s taint lightens. Fighting the infection is seldom comfortable, but the patient can hardly be expected to recover with corruption eating his flesh.”
That too made sense. Violet had heard much the same from medics and surgeons. “Show me?” she asked her sister.
Picking up a small living crystal with swirling tufts of orange magic, Zalia brought it within the boy’s reach. “This is a light crystal, Eris,” she said firmly. “Tune it, and we will add it to the arch—the Goddess’s shrine.”
Brilliant. They would use the Dark God’s own corruption to light the way for the Children of the Goddess. Courage creeping slowly through her, Violet found her voice and stepped beside her sister. “Each grain of aid you give the Goddess erases a bit of sin from your soul,” she explained to Eris. “It will all count in the coming battle.”
Instead of succumbing to reason, Eris snarled at her through the gag.
Violet flinched back from the hate flashing in the boy’s eyes. He wanted tohurther, his gaze said. Hewouldhurt her if not for the chains. The shock ricocheted against Violet’s bones, but instead of cowering, she stood up taller.
If Eris was yet unready to see the truth, it fell upon Violet and her sisters to set him on the righteous path.
“Tell me what to do,” she asked Zalia.
The girl handed Violet a bucket of water.
Nodding with understanding, Violet gripped the bucket tightly. It was heavy and cold, but that was all right. Eris needed redemption. And since he was not yet ready for reason and kindness, a simpler motive would do for now. It would all still count in his soul’s favor at the end.
Saying a quick prayer, Violet looked Eris in the eye as she doused him with the ice-cold liquid. “Tune the crystal, and I shall get you a blanket,” she said. “Otherwise...” Violet lifted the bucket to show that there was more water still inside.
25
KALI
“Kal. Kal!” The voice calling my name beats against me, demanding to be heard. There is a faint smell of lavender and blood. “Open your eyes.”
I do no such thing. Something very bad waits there. A distant part of my mind, one wrapped in dreamlike cotton, informs me that I should feel something about the voice’s appearance. That the voice belongs somewhere else. Not here with me. Wherever it is I am.
The voice curses.
My eyes slide open, just barely, but enough to see fading wisps of daylight reflect off silver hair. I try to focus on it, but the world it’s attached to swims away in a dizzying sea. The ground beneath me sways and I fall back into its abyss.
The next time I wake,it is to fires of scorching agony. I scream until my breath ends and darkness returns.
Water.Drops swatting like flies at my face. I try to pull away from the assault and can’t. Can’t move at all. My breath quickens, heart beating in concert with the pattering rain. My eyes fly open and I stare at green lit rock. I fill my lungs and—
A hand clamps over my mouth, silver hair flashing before my eyes again. “Stay quiet and still.Understand?” Trace. Of course it would be Trace here. Because whatever happened, it wasn’t bad enough on its own.
He keeps his hand tight over my mouth until I nod.
Releasing me, Trace returns to his task of layering branches atop each other to cover the entrance to what must be a cave that we are in. “Several wild boars trampled by an hour ago,” he says over his shoulder.“I little wish to attract their attention just now.”
The air hangs thick with earthy dampness and a green crystal provides faint but serviceable light. The pouring rain outside drums a rolling beat, but finds its way inside less and less with each branch Trace adds to his barricade. I’m lying flat on my back, the ground beneath me soft dirt covered with a blanket that scratches my bare skin. I’m not wearing anything save for undershorts and my chest wrap—now loosened—though there is something heavy atop me that smells of maleness and leather. A coat, I think. Or a cloak. I can’t lift my head to see.
I pull at the straws of memory to get my bearings. I was tracking Viva. I found whisperers being held prisoner. And then... A wall of obsidian slams through my mind, ordering my thoughts to go elsewhere. To never, ever come back to what happened then.
Trace places the last of the branches against the cave entrance, blocking water and moonlight both, and strides tomy side. Even in the odd light, the dark circles of fatigue are stark beneath his eyes.
“How did you find me?” My mouth is dry, the words raspy.
He holds up a red living stone and the pouch I left in the fir tree. “Leaf gave me her half of the love stone and I followed it. I told Luca my suspicions that you were off doing something stupid—he thinks I’m tracking you down in more civilized parts, but he’ll cover for my absence well enough. You are fortunate your captors didn’t find the satchel you stashed.”
My captors. I swallow. No, they hadn’t wanted my things. They’d... My memory flashes, my heart quickening its beat. With an effort that feels like it could crush boulders, I lift my wrist to grab at something, anything. My fingers close around cloth—Trace’s pant leg. He squats down beside me and touches my shoulder, sending a wave of fire through my muscles.What is it?his eyes ask.
