The House of Cards

Library of Souls

Library of Souls

As Solomon whispers at the Thin Place, Saroya turns to me, holding out her open collar.

"I want you to have this," she whispers. "For him." She jerks her head towards Jack, who we still have bound. "He will need the use of his limbs where you're going. This is a much better alternative for suppressing that bond you have."

I am taken aback, and my face shows it. "How did you know?"

She gives a soft smile, curling my hands around the metal. The effect is immediate, feeling my muscles weaken and the knot in my stomach pulling tight to fight it.

"I am Avshandra," she replies, pressing the key ring into my hands as well. "We know more than you think. I cannot wait to see you again, Maeve Segret, because believe me, we will meet again. And when we do, we shall fight side by side to take down evil."

A bubble of hope swells in my stomach. I pull the circle of metal gently from her hand, and clasp my free hand on her smooth forearm. "We will come back as soon as we can," I promise. "The Arcana owe the Soul-Song witches an enormous debt."

She nods, green eyes blazing. "And we will hold you to that. In the meantime, we will begin the work that needs to be done in the World. The Blood-Born shall torment us no more." She gives me a soft smile, eyes flicking to Solomon. "Your king has finished his work. Give the Death Masters my regards."

Indeed, the air before Solomon shimmers and warps as he tucks his journal into his reclaimed backpack. His cat sits on his shoulder, asleep, tail brushing down his back. Gwin stands close, ready to jump through the portal. I bite my lip, turning back to Saroya.

"Thank you," I say, releasing her arm. "For everything. Especially this." I brandish the vorpal loop. "There is only one place for this now."

We both glance at Jack, who has given up trying to struggle. Magic, even that of the Arcana, is useless against vorpal, and he will never forget it.

Saroya squeezes my upper arm one last time before turning away, striding towards Marius and Daniel, last words of wisdom on her tongue. Once her back it to me, the smile drops from my face. My next task is going to be unpleasant.

Jack glares at me as I walk towards him, the vorpal collar looped around my arm.

"Come to chain the dog?" he spits when I stand before him, holding the collar open.

I narrow my eyes, exterior icy, but my insides in knots. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Gwin disappear into the portal, soon followed by Marius.

"You brought this upon yourself," I hiss, trying to hide how hard my heart is beating. "You should have stayed out of my head."

He shuffles his chains, leaning his head down closer to mine. Brilliantly red hair falls across his forehead. "Did it ever occur to you that I was meant to be in your head?" he murmurs, dipping closer. I can smell him, all magic and man. "We have this bond for a reason, Maeve. It's part of who we are. Why are you fighting it so?"

He is so, so warm. So solid. And he smells so good, so familiar.

I blink, setting my jaw. This is not what I want. Not him, not this bond, especially not him in my head because of the bond.

I take a step back and click the collar around his neck. His features warp into an expression of shock, not believing that I actually went through with it. I grab his limp wrists roughly and jab the key into the locks, twisting the cuffs open. The fall to the ground and I kick them away, repeating the process with the ones around his ankles.