The Price She Paid: Shadow & Bone (Book 2)

Chapter 30: The Place Where it all Began.

We packed up and left at dawn, none of us had much to say. I sensed we were all to lost in our thoughts. We rode for another hour before Baghra steered us off the path and into the bush. Soon, an old structure came into view, it was hidden inside a hill, at first glance it would be impossible to spot but on closer examination, I saw the outline of a door hidden by overgrown vines and leaves.

"This was all just abandoned after Morozova's death?" Alina questioned.

Baghra snorted.

"Do you really think steel chains could've held him in that river?"

I turned to her, surprised.

"Wait, you think he survived?"

Baghra shrugged, bending down to pick a few wildflowers as if she didn't have a care in the world.

"I moved on from this place, but other journals have surfaced since, Merzost teachings Aleksander used to create the Fold. A legacy of wrongdoing never made right."

Mal handed Alina the lantern and stepped up to the door, pulling free a blade that he used to cut away the dead vines and branches. The door was made of stone, covered in strange symbols.

"Do I push it or-"

"Help me up," Baghra ordered.

Despite her immense power, she was still trapped in the body of a frail, old woman, a fact I seemed to have a habit of forgetting. I offered her my arm, doing my best to guide her up the decaying stone steps.

"Give me your blade, only a Morozova can open it."

Mal did as she asked, handing her his blade, handle first. She took the blade in her hand, taking caution as she pressed the pad of her thumb against the sharp tip. A dot of blood welled up towards the surface of her skin. She handed Mal back the blade and turned, pressing her thumb against the stone. The door opened with a loud groan.

Baghra stepped into the darkness, and I hurried to follow her. I summoned a ball of light, watching as it chased the darkness away, illuminating the room. The first room was empty except for two stone coffins placed side by side.

"Your sister?" I asked.

Baghra nodded, gesturing to the one of the left.

"And my mother, died of the pox before I was banished." Baghra grabbed the wildflowers she had picked from outside, placing them over her mother's stone coffin. "Oh, how she feared me. She always told me I was the worst of my father's abominations."

"Hey." I placed my hand on Baghra's arm. A part of me wished her mother was still alive, just so I could tell her how incredibly wrong she had been. "She was wrong."

Baghra gave me a small smile, the ones she seemed to reverse just for me.

"Oh, child." She reached up and let her cold fingers brush over one of the curls that had fallen in my face. Her smile was warm, but her eyes were sad. "She was right, haven't you been paying attention?"

We continued on, moving down a dark hall to an even larger room. Mal took care to light the lanterns along the way, giving the room a warm glow. Once he was done, I let my light vanish, relying on the fire to help us see instead.

The room was in disarray. There was writing on the walls, writing on the shelves and tables. Hundreds of scrolls and books laid scattered about, all of them filled from top to bottom.

"Morozova was corrupted with Merzost, it seeped into everything he created."

I flipped open one of his books and was greeted with a charcoal sketch of the Stag. I ran my fingers over the drawing, trying to picture him here, frantically writing and drawing on every surface imaginable.

"Are you sure the Firebird was made here?" Mal questioned, sounding doubtful. "With the Stag and the Sea Whip there was a frequency I could hear, Evelynn could hear it too. I don't hear anything in this place." Mal turned to glance at me, the torches casting shadows across his face. "Do you?"

I shook my head.

"Maybe the Firebird is different," I offered. "I dreamt of the Stag in the woods, I even dreamt of the Sea Whip in the cave before we found it, but I've never actually had a dream about the Firebird. Maybe its power is hidden somehow to stop people from finding it."

"Tracker, you're with me," Baghra decided. "You two, stay here, look through his journals, try to find any mention of the Firebird."

Baghra turned without a word, hurrying back the way we came.

Mal turned to follow her.

"Mal, wait!" I caught up with him in the hall. He had stopped at the sound of my voice, but hadn't turned to face me. "I should have told you about the visions the second they happened, but I was scared, okay? I didn't know what they meant. I thought he was dead, I swear. I never meant to lie to you and I'm sorry."

Mal took a deep breath and turned so he was facing me.

"I'm the one who should be sorry, Eve. You saved my ass in the Fold, not once, but twice. You even summoned Merzost to do it. If it wasn't for you, I'd be dead. You have given up everything to protect the people that you care about, and you have lost so much trying to make things right. It just feels like you and Alina are over there, and I'm over here struggling to keep up to the sister saints."

"Mal, no." I closed the space between us, pulling him into a hug. "You're the reason we're here, you're the reason we found the Stag and the Sea Whip. We wouldn't have gotten anywhere without you. It's the three of us, it always has been, and it always will be."

He hesitated a moment longer before reaching up to wrap his arms around me. I closed my eyes, feeling like a weight had been lifted off my chest. I hated feeling like I was at odds with Mal. He was more then just my friend, he was family, just like Alina.

"Ravka better know how lucky it is to have someone like you fighting for it." He pulled back, offering me a crocked grin. "Because I know I am." I rolled my eyes but felt a smile of my own stretch across my face. "Come find me, if you find anything, okay?"

I nodded and made my way back to Alina.

I stepped back into the room and found it was empty.

I frowned.

"Alina?"

I searched for her through the bond and felt a strange emptiness.

I walked farther into the room, my unease growing. I walked around one of the long wooden desks and stopped as I saw one of the books had fallen to the ground. I moved towards it, bending down to pick it up.

I turned, catching sight of something in the corner of my eye. Alina was laying on the ground on the other side of the desk, her head resting in a puddle of blood.