Chapter Thirty

Celia woke to darkness and silence, glorious silence. Remy was gone. All the screaming, the roaring, the burning was gone. So, too, was the churning need for blood. She hadn’t even realized it had been there. It was as if a weight had been taken from her soul. And yet a part of her felt empty. She had a sense that knowledge was at the tip of her tongue, but she knew she’d never be able to recall it again. She was herself, and yet she felt diminished, smaller, as if something important had been stripped from her and she’d never get it back.

Someone groaned, and sensation flooded her. It wasn’t completely silent. A heart pounded, strong and sure, against her ear. Ward’s heart. The warmth of his body seeped against her cheek, and his arms tightened around her, cradling her close. This was the man who’d ask for nothing and whom she’d give everything for—except it was going to be him giving up everything for all the people in the Union.

She shoved that thought aside, reached up, found his jaw in the darkness, and slid her fingers into his hair.

“Thank the Goddess.” His voice rumbled in his chest and vibrated through her, and he dipped down and took her lips with his.

The kiss was deep and certain. His arms tightened, drawing her closer, and for a moment she let herself forget where they were. But only for a moment. As if sensing her thoughts—and he probably had—he loosened his grip and brushed his lips against her forehead.

“I thought I’d lost you,” he said.

“You almost did. You might yet.” She peered into the darkness, trying to see Ward or Maura, but the darkness was complete. “We still have to figure out what we’re doing. Is Maura here with us?”

“She’s beside you, unconscious.”

“Is she all right? We need her.” Guilt that she’d hurt the woman flooded her. So, too, did panic. Maura had said she and Ward might be able to defeat Stasik, but the old woman hadn’t been fully clear about how.

“What do you mean, we need her?”

“She knows how to deal with Stasik and the sangsal.”

Ward tensed. “She didn’t say anything to me.” Then he blew out a long breath. “Of course, I’m a monster. She probably wouldn’t tell me.”

She squeezed Ward’s hand. “I’m sure she’d have told you, too. She only realized the truth while in my head, when she took on my blood magic lure. Although I’m still not sure what that exactly means.”

“You used pure blood magic to bring me back. That kind of power is seductive. It creates a compulsion to cast again and again, and eventually drives the user crazy.” Ward blew out a heavy, frustrated sigh. “You should be crazy.”

“So I got lucky.”

“You got more than lucky. I should have thought of that. Should have at least warned you.”

“You were a little preoccupied with being dead.”

“That’s no excuse.”

She straightened and cupped Ward’s face in her hands, forcing him to look at her even though she couldn’t see him. “It’s been dealt with and I’m fine. Now, is Maura all right?”

“She’s not convulsing like you were, and I can’t see anything wrong with her other than she’s not conscious.”

“Can you wake her?” Celia asked.

“I’m not sure.” He shifted away from her and murmured Maura’s name. No answer. “You’re sure she knows how to defeat Stasik?”

“Yes. I’m not going to be able to convince you to run away, even if all you need to do is buy time for your grandfather to get to the island, so we need to know whatever it is she knows.”

“Nazarius will ensure Grandfather gets to the island.”

“I can’t believe I’m counting on a Quayestri.” Celia reached for him, brushed his elbow and slid her hand down to his. He wrapped his fingers around hers and squeezed. “Things really have changed.”

Maura moaned.

“Tell me if you’re hurt, Maura,” Ward said.

“I’m fine. It’s just been a while since I’ve done that.” Fabric rustled, and Celia could only assume Maura was sitting up or changing position. “I’m so sorry the Dark Son has given you this path. Both of you.”

Celia shifted. What else was new? “You said you know how to deal with Stasik.”

“Yes. The monster—Ward. You need to use what’s left of your vivimancer ability.”

“My what? Are you sure you’re all right?” Ward’s voice cracked. It reminded Celia so much of the first time they’d met. “I’m not a vivimancer. No one is. One hasn’t been seen in—”

“Generations,” Maura said. “So one for the Union is actually due.”

“I’m a necromancer. I was a bad one at that.” Ward barked a harsh laugh.

Celia squeezed his fingers. “With all the magic you’ve done lately, I don’t think you can think that anymore.”

“Sorry.” Ward sighed. “Habit.”

“And absolutely wrong. You’ve already done a true resurrection, you just didn’t know it,” Maura said, her tone softening.

“Remy knew it when he saw me,” Celia said. “He called me a revivesca. I didn’t have the chance to ask you about it before you…you know.”

“Died?”

“Yes. And then—”

“And then we were too busy trying to stay alive, more or less. Except…great Goddess, if that’s true, then you’re alive.”

“That was the thing I was going to tell you after we’d…you know,” Celia said.

“You’ve been alive all this time and now—” His hand trembled in hers. His voice trembled. “Now I’m the one who’s dead.”

“The Dark Son is cruel,” Maura said. “But if you were alive, it would be harder for you to do what needs to be done.”

“And what’s that?” Ward asked.

Make a sacrifice. A chill swept over Celia.

“Because you’re a vesperitti, the sangsal has a way into your soul. You don’t need a spell to draw it into you like you would if you were a live necromancer or even a vivimancer. That means it’s easier for you to take the sangsal from the pirates, but it will be almost impossible to force it out of you. What I pray, and given how you healed, truly healed Declan, is that you have enough vivimancer ability and strength of will untouched by the vesperitti spell to put the sangsal back into the Abyss.”

“But you said a necromancer could do that, too,” Ward said.

“With a lot of concentration, and if the necromancer was powerful enough.” Maura sighed. “Unlike a necromancer, you can use the life magic around you to give you strength.”

“Life magic?” Celia asked, empty and aching for Remy’s knowledge.

“Life magic isn’t very strong,” Ward said.

“That’s not true. You only think that because you were taught the necromancer’s way. Necromancers can’t see the full strength of life magic—if they can see it at all. Most can only see what they can use, which is soul magic. Life magic is basically a thing’s essence. Everything has an essence, every tree, flower, rock, even sunlight and moonlight. But only things with blood have soul magic. Vivimancers use life magic. They work with the Goddess on this side of the veil, healing and helping.”

“So why couldn’t I see this life magic before? Why didn’t I see it until I died?” Ward ran his thumb over the back of Celia’s hand, gently, over and over again as if he was thinking.

“Your soul needed the jolt. You thought you were a necromancer, so you were blocked. It happens to some Brothers of Light, too.”

“Allette didn’t lie? I really was blocked.” His thumb stopped midstroke. Then he squeezed her hand again. “So we need to get the sangsal from the infected pirates. How do we do that?”

“Make them bleed and take it from their blood.”

“Drink their blood,” he said, his voice soft.

“Only until you have enough sangsal within you to pull it from them, but making them bleed will make it easier.”

“Well, that wasn’t something Stasik had warned Thanos about.”

“If Stasik even knows about it,” Maura said. “And the risk is great. Stasik might not think you’d attempt this.”

“There is that. Going after one of those men, let alone three of them, isn’t going to be easy.” The last time Celia had faced Thanos, she and Nazarius had barely hurt him.

“And you, my dear,” Maura said, “will need to help keep Ward focused. The more sangsal he absorbs, the harder it will be for him to resist its evil.”

“Swell.” Fight sangsal-infected pirates and concentrate on helping Ward keep it together. “We’re going to need to be fast about this.”

“I agree,” Ward said.

“Take the sangsal and put it back into the fissure, but don’t cross the octagon. It’ll be even harder to stay focused if you cross the threshold.” Maura sighed. “And I’m sorry, but it will be easier if you’re at full strength.”

“You mean eat.” Ward sounded resigned. His thumb started rubbing the back of her hand again, this time faster. Now it was a nervous, unconscious habit. “I’m not going to survive this, am I?”

Celia’s throat tightened. That was the horrible truth of the situation.

“You need to force every bit of sangsal back into the Abyss,” Maura said. “Even the part that’s seeped into the spell keeping your soul in your body.”

His thumb stilled, and he squeezed her hand. “I understand.”

“The first thing you need to figure out, however, is how to unlock that door,” Maura said.

Celia barked a bittersweet laugh. “That’s the easy part. Can I borrow a hairpin?”