Page 101 of Tell No Tales
Vadim
Vadim was grateful he no longer needed his gloves. They would have been a hindrance. He'd always worn them around Coryn, to keep her from stealing his power without his consent. Now, he would have been struggling to get them off instead of acting.
"You can't raise your hands against me, Vadim." Coryn laughed. "You signed a contract. So did Klaus. You know the rules."
Vadim may have signed paperwork, but Klaus had only signed himself over to Vadim, not to the empire.
"Maybe he can't, but I've signed no such contract." Hugo had been quiet until now, but he twisted in Fanidra's arms, sticking himself with her dagger, deep into his throat.
"Fuck!" Fanidra held both of her hands up to Coryn, letting Hugo fall to his knees at her feet. Both of his hands went to the dagger, but instead of pulling it out, he shoved it into his neck to the hilt. "He did this! Not me, I swear!"
"Heal him!" Coryn glanced at Martiz in her panic, but he had nothing but a sneer for her. "Vadim! Heal him!"
"He'd rather die," Vadim said. "He wanted to kill himself. You all saw it. He won't consent to healing."
"Fuck's sake, Vadim, are you serious?" Fanidra's eyes rounded with fear and more respect than she'd shown him in the past.
"He wants to die."
"Do you consent to die?"he asked the emperor. His blood was pouring over Fanidra's dagger.
"Only if you bring me back."Hugo's voice in his head was thready, but still there."You fucking promised."
"I did. There is more to life than this. I promise to give you another chance."
Vadim lifted his hand and let his power do its work. "Permission granted."
"No!" Coryn raced to Hugo's side, releasing her hold on her earth weave to shove healing into Hugo's body. She healed the wound at his throat, saving Vadim the trouble, but nothing she could do would bring him back.
Klaus heaved up the remnants of clay from his throat. He sat up and slid back against the wall as he tried to catch his breath. Vadim wanted to rush to Klaus's side, but he couldn't miss his opportunity to save Hugo, and the empire itself.
Hugo hadn't fled from his physical body. His spirit hovered just above it. Vadim set a weave to tether him until Vadim could reunite them.
"No!" Coryn kneeled beside Hugo's lifeless body, checking for his pulse. Hugo's spirit kicked at her and almost broke Vadim's tether. "The spell to bring him back isn't ready!"
"There is no spell to bring him back," Fanidra said. "The healers lied to you."
"That's impossible! They said they needed a few more days!"
"Oh, Coryn, look what you've done," Martiz said between bouts of laughter. "I stopped you! Never forget it. I created the grand seeker we needed to defeat your necromantic abominations! I did this to you, Coryn. You can kill me now, but I will still win." He continued to laugh and talk to himself, making less sense as he went.
Coryn met Vadim's gaze and gritted her teeth. "I won't be your fucking weapon," she said. "Fanidra, kill him."
"With pleasure."
Vadim assumed Fanidra would focus her power on him. Instead, Martiz said, "I consent," before his heart slowed and stopped.
Vadim stared at him in shock, watching the life bleed from his features. Dead men could tell no tales, but he'd expected to feel something besides numbness. His mentor was dead, and he felt nothing.
"We should go," Nola whispered. She removed her cuff and draped it over her other wrist like a bangle. She surrounded Vadim, Yvette, and herself with a transparent water barrier as the guards marched down the steps toward them.
"You're not going anywhere!" Coryn shouted. "Look what you've done! You've killed the emperor! I'll have you tried for treason!"
"You're the one who should be tried for treason," Yvette said. "Look at those creatures in the courtyard. What you've done is a crime against all humanity!"
"My crimes are nothing compared to what you do in the name of healing every day," Coryn sneered. "One day, the world will see weavers as the blight on the world, a blight I'll eradicate."
"Not today," Vadim said. He slipped the cuffs into his back pocket and held his hand out toward Coryn and the surrounding guards.
