Page 61 of Spellbound
“You could have just asked one of us for the keys, you know,” I said, having realized the thought had probably never even entered his mind. “We’re not without compassion.”
His eyebrows knitted together, creasing above the bridge of his nose. “I’m not going to trust your people with something so important. Also, Edmund, Dora, nor Maddox would have just handed over such heavily guarded objects without permission from the elders.”
I clicked my tongue. “I get it. You don’t trust people, right? Freya betrayed you and killed your sister.”
“It was more than that.” His expression darkened. “Her death was my fault. I won’t place my trust in the wrong people again. I can’t.”
“How was it your fault?”
He hesitated. “As I said, I was too trusting.”
“Not everyone is bad, you know.”
“I don’t have time for this.” He stepped in front of me and walked the rest of the way to the garden in silence.
Stepping out into the brisk air, feeling the satisfying crunch of red and golden leaves beneath my boots, I hurried to where Edmund, Dora, Alma, and Maddox stood. Edmund held a parchment rolled up in one hand. Why was Alma there? My stomach dipped as I walked over cracked mud and the occasional white baby’s breath flower. Raiden must have won. Why else would she be here? A student going to apprentice, then keeper so fast was unheard of. She would be here to witness the greatness of Raiden.
I wanted to turn back, not wanting to embarrass myself further. I thought I might have messed up some of the translation. Perhaps I got the last part of the text wrong.
Maddox pinched the front of his bowler hat, tipping it down, when we reached them. Mud and stretches of grass turned to concrete as we moved onto the patio. Everyone was standing in front of a weathered fountain filled with murky waters and forgotten skal turned to wishes by those who’d lived there before.
“Eleanor Moore. Viktor Raiden.”
I scoffed loudly when I heard his supposed last name for the first time. He really was far too cocky for his own good. His eyes twinkled with mischief, and I curled my lips behind my teeth.
“Something amusing?” Alma asked, and I shook my head. Her thin gray hair was pulled into a tight knot at the back of her head. Her eyes, duller now, watched me carefully. “Good, then we shall proceed. I have been called here, as we find ourselves in an unusual situation.”
Raiden smirked. I wanted to throw another dagger at him.
Edmund cleared his throat. “It appears there was a tie.”
My lips parted, and I held my breath as Maddox gave me a wide smile.
Edmund continued. “As Elle has more experience, we have decided she will be the next keeper in the coven.”
Every hair on my arms and at the back of my neck stood erect. A lump formed in my throat as a single tear crept down my cheek. “I’m the keeper?” I asked, double-checking I’d heard right.
“Congratulations, Eleanor,” Alma said, then turned her attention to Raiden. “You are a clever, studious young man with unprecedented talent. Because of the close tie, the council and I have decided to offer you the option to immediately fill a keeper slot once another opens up.”
“If it does,” I mumbled under my breath, then realization shocked me still. Raiden would do anything to get his family back. Would he go as far as to use brute force to get the keys? Would he want to kill one of us to take the spot? He said he didn’t before because he’d wanted to avoid killing innocents, but he’d lost hope.
Suddenly, my win felt more like a loss. He eyed me as they gave me the keys to the vaults and read the oath of being a keeper. Shaking, I took the oath, and before I could process it, I was a keeper.
