Page 59 of The Last Wish of Bristol Keats
“It’s gone,” Bristol told him, relieved sobs still pouring out of her. “It’s finally gone.”
Tyghan looked to Jasmine for confirmation.
She nodded.
“Side effects?” he asked. There was a moment’s hesitation.
“None,” Jasmine answered. “Her powers are fully restored. She should be able to close portals with ease now. And open them. As to whether her power equals her mother’s, that remains to be discovered. Keep her quiet for the rest of the day. Food and sleep, that’s all she needs.”
Tyghan drew in a full breath. Power and no side effects. It couldn’t have gone better. He understood Bristol’s relieved sobs. At the same time, he noted the extreme fatigue in Jasmine’s face and the droop of her shoulders. Her lips were ghostly white. Whatever she had done to remove the tick, it had taken something out of her.
He thanked the Sisters, but held Jasmine’s gaze a little longer. There had been friction between them over these past months, suspicion and accusations, but growing up, he had always been welcomed within these walls. Endless times, Jasmine had hugged both him and Kierus in one fierce grip and warned them there would be consequences if there was any more breakage. But there never were consequences. Instead, following their childish mayhem, there was usually a treat in the kitchen for them. Only after Kierus stabbed Tyghan and fled did their relationship become strained. Tyghan never stopped to think that Jasmine had probably been as devastated by the turn of events as he was, her loyalties tested. Caught between her heart and her duty.
“Be on your way now,” Adela said briskly as she guided Tyghan and Bristol toward the door. “As you can see, the Lumessa needs to rest.”
When they were gone and the door was closed, Jasmine said, “Arrange for transport to Mount Nola first thing in the morning.”
But as Jasmine turned away, she collapsed to the floor, a shadow beneath her skin creeping up her neck.
The Sisters ran to her aid, Adela tucking a pillow beneath Jasmine’s head. “Now,” Izzy cried. “We have to take her to Mount Nola tonight.”
But Camille knew Jasmine would never make the trip to Mount Nola. She likely wouldn’t even make it to a new moon. Jasmine knew that when she laid her bare chest across the tick to save Bristol. Only the more powerful blood of a Lumessa was enough to persuade the tick to let go.
They lay in the dark, Tyghan tracing circles on Bristol’s arm, both of them feeling everything anew, every breath, every swipe of their legs across the sheets, every whispering word, like they had both received a second chance at life, a life together.
She remembers me.
I remember him.
Both of their thoughts swirled around what they had not lost. Each other.
His hand skimmed her shoulder, smooth, the scales gone. She told him about the shape-shifter buried deep inside her, the one she never had to be. Would never be. It would take great effort to change, and at this point the Sisters recommended she never try.
What kind of shape-shifter?
The Sisters didn’t know, and it didn’t matter. She would always be just Bristol.
“Don’t tell anyone,” she whispered. “No one needs to know. The tick is gone. I am fully bloodmarked now. That is all that matters.”
But the Sisters did know, Tyghan thought. He saw it in their eyes. They had lied. But maybe that didn’t matter either. He had what mattered in his arms.
CHAPTER 44
Spirits soared. For the last five days, drills and maneuvers had been in full swing at Badbe Garrison training grounds. Hope was renewed. Danu had a bloodmarked—a powerful one.
“It’s astonishing,” Esmee said. Tiny birds as elated as she was flitted in and out of her bird’s nest of hair.
“Beyond our hopes,” Olivia agreed, and clasped her hands in front of her.
They’d been watching Bristol practice for the last hour and commenting on her newfound powers.
Olivia shook her head. “The poor thing. How frustrating it must have been for her to memorize all the spells we threw at her and get no results. Look at her now.”
Esmee, Olivia, and Reuben sat beneath a canopy, observing maneuvers and taking notes, looking for holes in security and spells they might prescribe to remedy them. But it was Bristol who kept drawing their attention.
“Marvelous,” Reuben replied dryly. While he understood everyone’s elation, a larger part of him still wished Bristol was gone, that she had followed his advice and left Elphame for good. It was not likely now that she would ever leave.
“Look at that!” Esmee exclaimed. “She twisted that flame around the kindling like it was a ribbon on a package.”
