Page 58 of Song of the Dawn
“Yes.” Ginger poked the fire, then sat across from me and picked up her own mug of tea. “He knew the sorceress wouldn’t simply let him go. She never has. It’s always another task, another change. She’s made threats against us, so he saw this as the moment to sacrifice himself and allow us to go on. Without him.”
Eyes wide in shock and dismay, I stared at her, then shook my head adamantly. “No. No! I refuse to believe you. Ezra wouldn’t leave us, leavemelike this. The sorceress has to keep her end of the bargain and send him back!”
Ginger’s snort was bitter. “It doesn’t work like that. Here, perhaps people keep their word and their promises, but the sorceress is all-powerful. She can do what she wants. She can bend the rules, summon demons, make our lives hell on earth. Ezra has atoned for his wickedness, but does he deserve to be forgiven? Not in her eyes. Not now. Not ever.”
Pressing a hand against my mouth, I rocked back and forth. A knot of pain built in my belly, and my lips trembled. “So what will she do?”
“Do you have to ask? If he’s outlived his usefulness, she will…” Ginger trailed off, but her not saying the words was even worse.
Anger and fury and sorrow rose within me. I leaped up, shedding the blankets. Why should I be so comfortable when Ezra might be fighting for his very life? I paced back and forth in front of the fire, stopping just short of gnawing on my knuckles. It was deeply unfair that I should be stuck, trapped on this side of the border when he’d gone through the portal to sacrifice himself.
“He didn’t tell you because he loves you and he wanted you to live. You have an opportunity. Forget what happened here, go back to the city, start your life over. You have the gift of music, and you have a magical violin. Nothing can stop you.”
My head pounded as I spun to face her, eyes blazing with fury and I didn’t know what else. “I know he loves me!” I snapped. “But he doesn’t get to make a choice for me. I get to choose, and I choose him. You said it yourself. Nothing can stop me. I have a magical violin, and we are going to get him back!”
I hadn’t known what I was going to say until the words rushed out of my mouth, violent and angry, and I wheezed, sucking in air to help quench my panic. Why hadn’t I considered it before? Of course I had the magic. I would simply open the portal, walk through it, and make a deal with the sorceress. I’d found love and happiness beyond my wildest dreams, and I wasn’t about to let it go, not without a fight. Things had happened here at the Dawn, things I could not explain, the legends, the myths, the supernatural, all real. And a demon slayer sat in front of me, frowning as she sipped her tea.
Sitting down again, I took a drink, the burn of heat sliding through me. I was eager, desperate, now that I knew what I was going to do.
Ginger glared at me. “You can’t simply waltz into the sorceress’s domain and demand she give him back. She holds both dark and light magic. The deal you make with her will end your life.”
Pressing my hands against my face, I burst out, “Well, I can’t just sit here and do nothing. Can you?”
“Ezra told me to protect you.”
Now it was my turn to laugh. How ironic. “But you don’t even like me.”
Ginger cocked her head. “What does that have to do with anything? My leader gave me a command, and I fulfill it, no matter how I feel about it.”
Leaning back in the chair, I studied her. “But don’t you want him back too?”
Ginger considered my words, and I wondered if behind all the tension and the hardness was softness. I’d only seen part of it, when she’d spoken about her former lover, but now I’d struck a nerve. “Yes, I admit it is easier with him here, and the inn was his idea. I’m a fighter, a warrior, and this life…well, it’s been unusual.”
I tightened my fingers into a fist. “Will you fight with me, then? Fight not simply for Ezra but for what is right and true? You know that land, you know their customs, and you’ve encountered the sorceress. I can’t do this without you.”
Ginger lifted her chin. “Fine, but you must listen to everything I say.”
“Deal,” I agreed. My heart was tight, but I struggled to calm the rising panic. We were going to get Ezra back, and everything would be okay. I hoped.
Mila
The glade was different in daylight, and yet I lifted my bow and played. Once again, the air was imbued with magic and ice, a sheer coldness that enveloped everything when the portal blasted open, humming and glowing. It remained open, even when I stopped playing and followed Ginger through it, my heart skipping as I walked. Was I ascending to another realm? Was Ezra beyond these starlit walls? My heart told me yes, but my mind screamed for sanity and reason when we walked out the other end of the portal. I thought we’d made a mistake.
We stood in a cave, dull light cascading around it, a dirty white glow offsetting the gloom. A massive throne took up one end of the room, a chair set into a white tree, with a pile of skulls beneath it. The woman who sat on it uncrossed her legs and stood, a crown like starlight gleaming on her head, points shooting up like wicked daggers to curse the day. I gulped, pushing away the words that rushed to my mind. Run. Hide. Don’t look back.
If I’d thought the demon was haunting, frightening, evil, with the ability to suck out my soul, the sorceress was even more so. A mouth that looked like mischief, eyes blacker than night and nothing but round orbs of malice. She was both terrifying and beautiful, with a power that made me want to fall at her feet and worship yet run screaming to the ends of the earth. She had power over my beloved, and suddenly I understood oh so well she was not a person one should trick or disobey. Nor would she make a deal with a mere mortal.
The air in her court was stale as she rose, sheer garments moving as her gaze met mine. I dropped to my knees, holding on to the violin as if it was the only thing that could keep me upright. Revulsion stirred in my belly, and the desire to crawl away, back through the portal, was stronger than my desire to stay. This was who Ezra fought, obeyed. The vow he’d broken was to her, and I could see how she enjoyed making him pay.
“This must be that sweet violin I heard from the other side of the portal, the reason Ezra was so willing to sacrifice himself. I wondered why he closed the portal so quickly—to keep me from seeing you and your magic.”
Boots rang out against stone as Ginger strode toward the sorceress, tall and proud, with her weapons by her side, head held high. It was what I should have done, but I wasn’t ready, kneeling on the floor with my violin in hand.
“I’ve come to make a deal,” Ginger announced, her voice ringing out. “Ezra in exchange for my soul, my services.”
The sorceress picked up a skull and tossed it back and forth between her hands. “You’re one of his loyalists. Ginger, is it? The she-knight. The slayer. And what would I do with your services? I have many knights who haven’t broken their vows, and you, you’ve served one of the fallen.”
“I’ve come to make a new vow, to serve you,” Ginger said.
