Sapphire Spells

Chapter 39

It's midnight, and I leave the property's back door. Tomorrow is the night I should be freed, but tonight I am going outside anyway so that when I do it tomorrow too, no one thinks anything of it.

I wish I could just run away. Turn back time. Be somewhere else, someone else.

I wish I could close my eyes and drift away, so no one else needs to risk anything for me. The witches and wolves plan on trying to free me, but what if they fail? What if my life ends in a bloody mess, and again I find myself surrounded by the bodies of those I care for?

Elijah probably thought he was leaving me with a spark of hope after his visit, but that is not what is happening. My mind is spiraling into darkness a shade deeper than even the blackest of nights.

Though I always find comfort in the dark, hell, I even like cemeteries for their eery peace, this place is not that. Cold unease greets me outside as I move through the garden, followed by the bit of woods before that row of trees.

I find a suitable spot and take a seat.

With a deep breath, I do what I can to shake the unease that coats me like a second skin. Despite the growing panic within, I can dull the roar of it and redirect my focus.

Ever since that first connection to the spirit realm, it has been easy to get back there. In fact, the simplicity of returning makes me feel so foolish for it taking so much effort to get me there in the first place. I clear my mind, do a few deep breaths, and simply fall into that meditation state that Phiona always said should be second nature to me.

Clutching that stupid little glass figurine, I follow the attached thread. The deeper I go, the colder I feel, as if my breath would crystalize if I released one past my lips.

My curiosity is the reason I am doing this. Who is the monster on the other side of the veil, the one who is the grandfather to the fairy prince?

I sense his presence in the darkness before he speaks. "A Sapphire Witch. I am surprised your kind still lives." His voice is calm and hollow. As though he embodies an emptiness so vast that warmth can not touch him.

Within my mind, I see him. Thick silver hair glistens even though there seems to be no light here. His face is mature and aged, yet he still appears handsome, and I can only imagine what he must have looked like in his youth. We stand before one another in a space of pure darkness. Cold eyes dip to my throat. "At least you are collared." Even in this realm, the taint of that spell around my neck follows me. There is no escape.

He wears an old-time but immaculate suit. His attire is like the rest of his kind, as someone of the higher class, dripping in money. But money has no value where he is now.

"Xavier has asked me to find you," I reply. Part of me wonders if I should wait to search for this monster until I know what it is Xavier is looking for, but another part of me wants to see if I can find him. The latter won out, assisted because I desperately need a distraction from my spiraling thoughts.

"I see." He frowns. "Are you not branded?" His eyes look over me as though he can see the skin beneath my clothes.

"What?"

"You are collared but not branded," he states, and my stomach twists. I don't know how to reply, not that he gives me the chance. "My son seeks the Quartz Spell book. It can be found in the nowhere lands, where the cliffs meet the ocean."

I do not know what he is talking about besides the Quartz Spellbook. The Quartz coven was the one first to be exterminated by the fairies.

"Your kind killed them." I eye him with obvious distaste.

He shakes his head. "We fought them for our freedom." Somehow he gets those words out with a straight face even though it is a joke.

I snort, "You do not want freedom. You want control."

A smile twists his thin lips. "We want the freedom to control the world we live."

"Your kind already manipulates humans, easily influencing them and using them to gain wealth and power. And yet even that is not enough."

"Not when we live under the thumb of the witches who seem to think they can gate-keep us. If we wish to live freely in the world without hiding what we are, why can we not?"

"You do not simply want to come out of hiding." I snap. There is no point in discussing this matter further with him. I should not even respond, but I can not seem to help myself.

"If humans wish to crown my son, why should a witch try to stand in the way?"

"You think your kind can glamour humans into submission? You can not control all of them into following your kind."

"We will see." His teeth flash with a smile. "Before you go..." He reaches out a lot faster than expected and grips my shoulder. Searing pain spreads across my skin where he touches. The sensation is so pungent and sudden that it brings me to my knees as a scream rips from my throat. It lasts only a couple of seconds, stopping when he releases me. "There, that's better."

The fairy vanishes, taking the darkness with him.

My eyes slide open to the world. I sit in the woods, but I am not the same. My shoulder throbs as if nerve endings are on fire, my skin angry.

Nausea coils within as I reach for my hoodie and pull it to the side, exposing some of the skin on my shoulder. Something between a gasp and a sob chokes from me. A handprint stretches over my shoulder—a brand.

Icy coldness shoots through my veins at the sight.

Somehow, I manage not to vomit and let go of the hoodie, shaking when the fabric slides over the painful area as it covers it.

Putting a collar around my throat is not enough? They have to do this too?

Pulling a shaky breath in, I try not to think of it, needing to keep my shit together. Desperate to keep my shit together.

Eventually, I find the strength to stand and return to the house. My legs feel like jelly beneath, as though I carry more weight now. Each step does not get easier with the next, yet I move forward without pause. I continue Through the woods, the garden, and the threshold of the house.

I am nearly shaking by the time I make it to the part of the house where the bedrooms are.

"You went out late." Amber's voice startles me into stopping in the middle of the hallway, just a few feet from the door to my prison of a room.

"I needed to clear my mind," I reply without turning to face her. Another wave of nausea moves through me.

"Are you okay?" There is an air of concern that seems to seep through her tone. Fairies and their tricks.

"Peachy." I grit out and start moving again.

"Emma." A weight presses into my shoulder, the shoulder, and I somehow swallow a scream as I abruptly move, ripping away from her touch, turning, and pressing up against a wall.

Amber stares at me. Her lips parted, her hand still in the air where she had just reached for me.

"Don't touch me." I get the words out without my voice quivering.

"What happened?" Amber's hand falls to her side.

"Fairies happened."

Her brows furrow, "Emma, I-"

I cut her off, desperate to get away as soon as possible. "Look, I went out to clear my mind, meditate, and do what your precious king has asked of me. I am now tired and sore and want to just go to sleep. Is that a problem?"

Her lips pull down into an almost frown. "Not at all." By some magic, the conversation seems like it is over.

I turn from Amber and leave her standing in the hall as I finally reach the room and close myself in. Leaning against the door, I slide to the ground and let the tears fall from my eyes as I let the darkness swallow me whole.