Chapter 18

Terrible Timing

Cam’s brain had known exactly how big a mess his heart was getting into. They’d just agreed not to talk about it.

Right now, though, it was getting harder and harder not to face up to the facts of the situation. All Cam had to do was look at Elena to remember how her arms felt around him, or see the light in her eyes when she’d finally gotten it through her head that he wanted to stay. He wasn’t about to admit it to Laurel, but he could at least admit it to himself—he didn’t just want to be Elena’s bodyguard. He wanted to be hers, period.

Which just proved that love had a lousy sense of timing.

The only thing Elena needed to be worried about right now was getting the curse fixed. She had a morning consultation with the rest of the magic experts in less than an hour, and if everything went well they’d start setting up for the spell right after that. Cam’s only job in all this would be to stay out of the way, catch Elena when the blackout hit, and stab Ariadne if the situation called for it. Poorly-timed declarations of romantic intent would have to wait.

Complete silence, however, was too much to ask for.

“I decided a whole tray would be a lost cause, but you have to at least eat this,” he said, tossing her the apple he’d saved off his own tray. “It’s never good to worry on an empty stomach.”

Elena caught the fruit. She was at her desk, reading her notes about the curse for the fiftieth time. As it was just past dawn, it was time for a distraction. “I’m not—” She stopped herself before Cam even had time to give her the look, shaking her head. “It’s really annoying that you don’t like it when I lie to you,” she said, taking a dutiful bite. “If this comes back up later, I hope you know that it’s going to end up all over you, too.”

“As if you’d ever give anyone that much proof that you’re not completely cool and collected.” Cam watched Elena’s face, which was carefully made up despite the fact that she planned to spend most of the day in her mother’s workroom. “Besides, you’d mess up your makeup.”

Elena’s expression turned rueful. “I know it was probably ridiculous to bother with it, but—” She shook her head, swallowing a second bite before answering. “My mother always taught me to think of it as war paint. It seemed appropriate.”

“It’s not ridiculous. Laurel used to wear Dad’s gauntlets every time we had to go visit our great-aunt.” Cam sat down on the edge of the bed, close enough that his knee nearly touched Elena’s. “Though please don’t tell her I ever told you that. She’s still tall enough to get me into a headlock.”

Elena’s lips curved upward briefly. It wasn’t as much as Cam had hoped for, but he’d take what he could get. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“See, that’s just more proof that you’re a lot nicer than you pretend to be. You could have stretched that out and blackmailed me for all kinds of favors.” He leaned forward, one hand on the bed. “You know you’ll be fine, right? One more unpleasant day of dealing with your aunt, a session of complicated magic I only sort of understand, and then all of this will be over.”

Elena met his eyes as if searching for something. “You sound awfully sure about that.”

Cam had to be. Anything else was going to break his heart. “It’s easy to be sure when you know you’re always right.” He grinned when she rolled her eyes at him. “Hey, I may not be a sorcery genius like the rest of you, but I’ve been listening at enough doors during your planning sessions to know that you guys know what you’re doing.”

Elena looked guilty at that, even though that was the last thing he’d meant. “Sorry. I would have wanted you in the room, but I just—” She shook her head. “I don’t like my aunt being able to study you. She’s got enough ammunition on my mother—the last thing I want is to find someone else to target.”

Cam was oddly unsettled at the thought of Elena trying to protect him. With everything else on her plate, he was the last thing she should be worried about. “Your aunt can’t say anything that’s going to hurt me. The only thing I care about is being where you need me.”

She relaxed a little at that. “Sure, now you feel like being obedient.”

“A favor you should repay by eating more of that apple.”

Her smile was stronger this time as she took another bite. “Actually, I was thinking about taking you flying once all this over. You know, as a way to say thank you for all the time you’ve spent standing in corridors and listening to longwinded technical discussions.”

It took him a second to realize what she meant. Once he did, he couldn’t help but laugh at the picture that formed. “Not that I’m doubting your skills, but I don’t think that harness of yours could carry both of us.”

Elena gave him an amused look. “Of course not, though I’m sure your family would pay good money to see us try. But it wouldn’t be too hard to make you your own harness.” She looked back down at the apple. “Since the magic is in the leather, you should even be able to guide it yourself.”

Cam’s first response was the instinctive “no” of anyone who didn’t enjoy looking like a fool in public, but the smarter parts of his brain pushed that thought aside. He’d kind of invited himself on her nightly flying sessions, but now she was offering to invest a significant amount of time so she could share them with him. It was a pretty big offer.

Also, would it count as a date? Cam really wanted it to, and Elena covertly asking him out would be a comforting thumbs-up for his long-term plans. But he was pretty sure she hadn’t dated much, if at all, and to her this might be nothing more than two friends spending time together. Last time they’d gone out to do something—dinner at his parents’ house, usually a fairly significant step in the whole dating process—he was pretty sure he’d been adamant about not even wanting her as a fake girlfriend. Hopefully, she—

“If the answer’s no, you can just tell me.”

Elena’s voice jerked Cam out of his thoughts. Her hand gripped the apple a little too tightly as she watched him, like she was trying to figure out what he was thinking. Since sharing his thoughts would be a bad idea on several levels, Cam cleared his throat. Focus on the matter at hand, idiot. “Sorry, just picturing myself running into trees. But if you can keep me from doing that, then sure.”

She looked relieved, and Cam mentally kicked himself for worrying her. “There’s a clearing I used when I first practiced,” she said. “You might crash the first few times, but it won’t be into trees.”

He covered her free hand with his. “That’s okay. I’ll just tell anyone who asks that you beat me up.”

Elena shook her head, taking another bite. “You’re the only person who’d actually believe that.”

“That’s because no one else knows you like I do.”

~

Cam was prepared to wait in the corridor for the morning meeting, but Elena gestured him into the room. He stayed by the door while they talked, taking up the traditional guard stance, and distracted himself by trying to make sense of the technical chatter. When he caught Ariadne watching him, he gave her a little wave and then ignored her.

Bishop showed up just after the meeting ended, standing close enough to the queen that they could hold a quiet conversation. Cam’s parents arrived as the circle was being prepared, and his mom helped Cam move Dr. Flyte into position while his dad took position by the door. The mirror monopolized most of the private conversation, but Marie still found a moment to pull her son into the relative privacy of the corridor. “Where do you want us?” she asked, voice low enough not to carry through the door. “If we’re all within striking distance of Elena’s aunt, we’ll get in the way of each other’s swords.”

“I definitely want you both within striking distance, but you should also be able to see the queen. She’ll be your best indicator that something’s wrong.” Other than screaming, of course, but he wasn’t going to let himself think about that. “I’ll be sitting inside the circle with Elena, so either you or Dad will have a better shot at Ariadne if we need it.” He’d already taken off his swordbelt, knowing there’d be no room for him to draw it properly.

His mother hesitated. “Why,” Then she stopped. “Ah.”

Cam tensed. He’d known she’d figure it out quicker than his dad. “We don’t actually have to talk about it, right?”

She pulled him into a sideways hug. “I’ll spare you until all of this is over.”

By the time they made it back inside, everything appeared to be ready. Elena, standing in the middle of the circle, scanned her work one more time. “We should get started,” she said. “Cam, if you’ll please remove my aunt’s cuffs?”

His mom and dad moved into position behind Ariadne, but the sorceress ignored them as she held her wrists out towards Cam. “My niece’s protector,” she murmured, sounding amused.

He held her gaze as he sketched out the unlocking sigil on the underside of the cuffs. “Look at her wrong, and I’ll stab you before you can blink.” When they clicked open, he handed them to his father. “Hold onto these. We might need them in a minute.” Then, as Braeth’s shadows darkened the room, he unsheathed his dagger as sat down cross-legged in the middle of the circle.

As the illumination spell activated, Elena sat down as well. “I should have known you’d find some way to be armed,” she murmured, settling close enough that her hand rested on his leg. Around them, the circle briefly flared as the protection spell kicked in.

“A good bodyguard is always armed.” He followed Elena’s gaze upward as the tangled knot of the curse formed above their heads. It still looked as menacing as ever, but at least it was less of a surprise this time. He felt Elena’s hand tighten on his leg, her entire attention fixed on the writhing mass that was tangled up inside her.

Ariadne was staring at it as well, something in her eyes that looked like horror. She shook her head sharply. “Remember, the more we unwind the outer layers of the curse, the better we’ll be able to see the core. None of the strands will be completely freed, but get them as out of the way as you can.”

“And be careful.” That was the queen, shooting her sister a stern look. “Smashing our way towards the shield will cause more harm than good.”

The knot flared with red, teal, purple and silver light as the four magic users began to work. Elena’s hand half lifted, as if tempted to add her own magic, then she tightened her fingers into a fist. She’d decided not to officially participate in the spell, since the blackout would knock her out just before the really complicated part hit. It was the sensible decision, but not an easy one.

The work was painfully slow, but Cam wouldn’t have wanted anyone to hurry. Dr. Flyte focused on the already loose strands, glyphs appearing on the surface of his mirror as he used his magic to move them out of the way. That freed Braeth to work on the more tightly knotted sections, quick and methodical. The wraith’s magic moved through these tangles, making the individual strands shrink away from its red glow.

The queen had grabbed one of the strands with her magic, using it to unpick other parts of the knot. Ariadne sent out brief pulses of power to jostle the strands loose, then pushed them out of the way. Soon, she started discreetly loosening the strands near where the queen was working, careful to make it clear that she wasn’t intruding on her sister’s space. The queen hesitated, not touching the loosened strands for a moment, then began unpicking them without looking at Ariadne. Soon, the two were working together.

Whenever one of four pulled too hard on something, Elena would flinch. Cam couldn’t tell whether the cause was mental or physical, but he wrapped an arm around her and tried to brace her as much as he could.

Now they could see portions of the core’s shield. It seemed thicker than the remnants of the outer shield had been, shimmering deep beneath the surface. At the sight of it, Elena tightened her hand on Cam’s leg again.

Outside the circle, the queen took a deep breath. “Once everyone has charged their strand, hold until I say ready. We’ll all need to release the charge at the same time if we want to have the greatest chance of completely obliterating the shield.”

The chosen strands glowed more and more brightly as they were moved into position. Next to Cam, Elena laid her head on his shoulder. “Make sure they don’t stop halfway,” she whispered. “I want the curse gone, whatever it takes.”

“I’ll do what I can.” It wasn’t a promise. He didn’t have the authority to make these people do anything they didn’t want to do, and Cam suspected that he and Elena had very different definitions of “whatever it takes.” But he didn’t want her to go under without some kind of reassurance. “I want the curse gone, too.”

Above their heads, the queen started the countdown. At her signal, the strands touched the core and sent up a brief, blinding flash of light. Elena slumped bonelessly against him, the blackout taking her, and Cam pulled her just a little closer. He pressed his cheek against her hair, reminding himself that this was all still going according to plan.

Once the light cleared, the shimmer of the shield was gone as well. Now, he could see faint blue lines in the depths of the knot, the same color as Elena’s magic.

Ariadne blew out a breath. “It’s more tangled up in her powers than I thought it would be.” There was enough regret in the words that Cam resisted the urge to punch her.

“Which means that we need to be that much more careful when we unwind them,” Dr. Flyte said firmly. “This will take some time, so I suggest we begin immediately.”

This time, the work was even slower. Everyone started using the queen’s unpicking technique, slowly untangling the strands that tied Elena to the curse. Whenever they managed to free one completely, it faded out of existence. Cam started counting the strands that disappeared, clearing thirty before their absence made a noticeable difference. He knew the queen was suffering her own effects from the curse—she was paler than normal, mouth tight—but it didn’t seem to affect her focus at all.

He could feel the tension in the air, the strained focus of people doing vitally important work over far too long a time period. Cam felt even more useless than he had during the analysis, and he would have been happy to donate his energy to anyone who needed it. Actually voicing the offer, however, might distract someone at the worst possible time. On top of that, he wasn’t a magic user—they might not be able to even use anything he had to give.

“If a particular strand refuses to release, move onto another one,” Braeth reminded everyone. “Do not force it.”

Still, something must have been happening, because Elena flinched in Cam’s arms. At first, he thought he’d imagined it, a sign his worry was making his hallucinate. A few minutes later, though, he felt her flinch again.

The third time, Cam studied what everyone was doing with the same intensity he used to watch for bandits. Soon, he noticed one of the blue threads straining as Ariadne slid one of the curse strands free. As the thread stretched, Elena made a small, helpless sound.

Cam held her closer, raising his voice loud enough to be heard. “Every time you do something to one of the blue threads, it hurts Elena.”

He felt everyone in the circle go still. “We discussed this,” Ariadne said, voice quiet. “This is bound up tightly enough with her magic that discomfort can’t be avoided.”

“She shouldn’t be able to feel it,” Braeth said. “It appears to be a biological response, not a magical one.”

Silence fell. The queen cleared her throat. “Elena wouldn’t want us to stop,” she said, and Cam didn’t know if the strain in her voice was from the curse or the decision she was making. He wanted to reassure her that she was right—this was what Elena would want, no matter how much it was killing them both to see her in pain. “But please, be extra careful.”

They continued unwinding the curse, clearing away as much of it as they could. Finally, only about twenty strands remained, wrapped together in a tight central knot. It was thick with Elena’s magic, the lines crisscrossing each other so often that the entire thing seemed to glow with a faint blue light.

Ariadne eyed the knot in frustration. “All of the work we’ve done should have at least partially loosened it.” Purple magic skimmed lightly over the tangled surface, sending out little pulses. As far as Cam could tell, they had no effect. “Maybe I could—”

The queen shook her head. “It should be my responsibility.” Fashioning her magic into a needle of light, she carefully slid it underneath one of the blue threads and pulled upward.

Elena jerked against him, making a sound that left no doubt that she was in pain. Cam’s own chest felt like it had been hit, and the queen froze as if she’d had a similar response. An instant later, the needle disappeared. “We didn’t discuss this.” The threat in the queen’s voice was lessened by a faint unsteadiness. “If such a small movement hurts her that much, untangling the rest of the curse from her magic might kill her.”

Ariadne looked genuinely worried now. “There shouldn’t be such a direct physical effect.” She magnified the projection of the curse so she could examine it more closely, her expression turning frustrated as she shrank it again. “Magic is energy flow. Disrupting that energy may hamper its ability to be channeled, but it has no effect on nerve endings or pain receptors.”

Dr. Flyte looked grim. “Could it have something to do with the fact that you used shared blood to activate the curse?”

Ariadne lifted a hand. “I don’t see how. It’s not as if—” She stopped speaking suddenly, and even from inside the circle Cam could see that the woman had gone pale. “Elena hadn’t finished developing yet.”

The queen unconsciously placed a protective hand to her stomach, a horrified understanding on her own face. “It grew with her.” As Bishop moved close enough to touch her back, the queen’s voice cracked. “Ariadne, what did you do?”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen, I swear. I didn’t even know—” Ariadne cut herself off abruptly.

Cam just needed to know what was going on. “Someone needs to fill me in here.”

“When a witch or sorceress is cursed, the curse normally attaches itself to the victim’s magic,” said Dr. Flyte. “Like calls to like.”

“But since Elena was still developing, her magic hadn’t yet completely differentiated herself from the rest of her,” continued Braeth. “The threads you see are Elena’s magic, but the curse tangled them too early. They’re snagged in her physical body as well, and when one of those snags is pulled it causes her pain.”

Rage flared in Cam’s chest at the sheer unfairness of it. “So you can’t finish undoing the curse without killing her.”

“No,” Ariadne said quickly. “If Elena was awake, she could guide the untangling process more safely than we could.”

“So she’ll hurt herself instead of you guys hurting her?” Cam asked. “How is that any better?”

“Her awareness of her own magic will make her far more precise than we could ever be,” Ariadne explained. “There will be discomfort, but she should be able to spare herself pain or debilitation.”

“Only if she’s awake,” the queen said quietly.

“We may have no choice but to use the spell I discussed,” Braeth said, his bony fingers curling inward as he spoke. “If we reflected the result’s curse onto another, Elena would be conscious even when we attack the core. Since the spell merely alters the results of the curse, not the curse itself, she would remain conscious enough to do what was needed.”

“That spell is meant to punish not heal,” Dr. Flyte said, his spectral face pressing closer to the mirrored surface. “We have no idea whether it will even work like that.”

“Do we have a choice?” Braeth asked.

It was the queen who finally answered him. “No.” She sounded tired. “Start closing the spell, everyone. There are things we need to discuss.”