So trusting.
“Are you ready?” she asked expectantly.
“It isn’t me you should be worried about. The question is, are you ready, Luna?”
Her eyes snapped to mine. “Yes.”
LUNA
Malex sat behind me on the broom. His hands were larger than Phillip’s, his fingers longer. His grip encompassed my waist entirely, but his touch wasn’t that of a frightened man. Malex’s every move spoke of his sense of ownership for those who owed him debts.
I was no more or less than one of his subjects. I wondered if the only reason he was coming along was to collect his debt in case I died before it could be repaid.
We flew to the woods just beyond the palace yard in silence, and sat quietly as the sky lightened and the sun came closer to rising. When it did, I fell asleep next to him, but Malex woke me when the eclipse started, nudging my shoulder and calling my name.
Through the fog of sleep, I came to. It was bright. The sun was still strong and I was weak, too weak to fight. I felt too weak to stand.
“The eclipse has begun,” Malex said ominously.
Nothing looked different, but how else could I be awake during daylight hours? “How long will it last?” I asked.
Slowly, I felt her. The moon, lending me strength.
“Six hours, at the most. You’ll be strongest during totality, when the moon completely blocks out the sun. The earth will become dark as night, and in those few moments, you will thrive.”
I nodded in understanding. “In order to sever the bond, I need to release the potion before the moment of totality.”
He nodded. “And kill her during it.”
I blew out a tense breath. I’d been working toward this for what felt like an eternity. What if I failed? I didn’t want to consider what it would mean for Phillip if Aura killed me instead.
“I’ll know if you’re in distress,” he said, brushing his thumb over the mark on my neck.
A shiver crawled up my spine. Stepping away from his touch, I shook my hands out. I’d been waiting for this since the moment she tore William apart. “In case something happens, will you take care of Ember?” I asked quietly.
“Consider it done,” he said solemnly.
“And no matter what, protect Phillip. Even if you sense my distress, protect him.”
“Of course. That’s what I’m here for. Well, that and moral support,” he added, clapping my shoulder.
The memory of William’s death surfaced, taunting me, telling me that Phillip might suffer the same fate. But if he was still alive, and I felt that he was, I’d be damned if I let him face the same fate as his brother.
If something happens to him...
I squeezed my eyes closed.
“How will you break through the barrier?” Malex asked.
It might have been daylight, but every moment I was awake, I could feel the powerful moon in the sky. She was lending me her energy so I drew on that, closed my eyes, and concentrated. I smiled and held my palm out, calling on the power of air. A tiny twister formed in my hand, growing stronger and hungrier by the second.
I crouched and placed it on the ground, where it grew taller and more violent. Taking in a breath, I blew it toward the wall, toward the rose garden and palace, watching as it tore through the stones, the earth, and the bushes. Petals were sucked from their stems and the twisting funnel turned red. It roared to the palace door before I willed it to dissipate.
The twister did its job. It tore a savage path, scalping grass, dirt, and everything in its way, all the way to Aura’s doorstep. It took away the bone dust from the land it ruined. Now, Aura was free; free to use her powers of water and earth against me. The only reason the dust worked in the first place was because it blocked my sister’s power over the earth wherever it was sprinkled. I gritted my teeth and walked toward my home. In letting Malex in, I’d left the door of her cage wide open.
“Luna,” my sister growled from her balcony. She stared at me as she gripped the railing so tight, I saw her white, strained knuckles even where I stood at the edge of the woods.
Malex stared at the path of destruction that led straight to her, his eyes glittering in the surreal lighting. He gave me a confident nod as if to say, You can do this. And I could. I took a deep breath, leaving him behind and walking determinedly toward my sister.
She called a storm that built in a fraction of a minute, and before I could cross the wall, torrents of icy, fat droplets rained down on me. I called my wind and turned it all to snow, just like in our dream. Flakes fell to the ground, melting as soon as they touched the still-warm earth.
“We need to talk!” she shouted. She sent the storm clouds away, revealing the partially eclipsed sun once more.
I was done talking with her. She only understood one language: violence. Funny enough, it was the only conversation I was interested in having with her today.
She gathered the earth and formed it into a great, protective wall, taller than the palace itself. I punched through it easily with wind, but when I stepped through, the earth beneath my feet turned to mud. Trudging through it slowed me down enough for her to call on her water power again, and I had to fight to keep my head afloat as a flash flood swept over my head. Silt and sand filled my mouth and nose. I coughed and fought to swim, clawing at the surface.
Don’t panic!
I called my wind and parted her water, the muddy walls soaking the palace’s exterior. In a flash, she drained it. Would she try something new, or was she just tired of stalling the inevitable?
The face of the moon was slowly becoming soaked with blood. Inch by inch, a tiny sliver at a time. Running toward her, I caught movement from my periphery to the right, a flash of black and gold. Malex slipped inside the palace’s front doors, quiet as a mouse.
I called the wind to carry me up to my sister. As I landed on the balcony, she looked me over.
“What the hell are you wearing?” she spat. “No wonder you almost drowned. You’re so dramatic, Luna.”
“And the dress you’re wearing isn’t?” I retorted.
She looked like a peacock in teal, complete with feathers from the fowl. “I know how much you love animals,” she teased.
“Nocturnal ones. Is Pieces offended you didn’t have a dress made from her feathers?”
Aura’s smile faded away when I pulled a dagger from its sheath. “We need to talk,” she rushed out.
With my free hand, I took the potion out of my tunic.
She backed into her chamber. “Malex is lying to you!” she whispered urgently.
My hand gripping the glass, I pulled back my hand, ready to throw it to the ground.
“Phillip didn’t turn into a faery after drinking the ‘blood’ Malex gave him,” she said hurriedly. “Actually, nothing happened. It was tinted sorghum. Nothing more.”
I paused with the potion raised above my head. Tinted sorghum? “Why would he lie?” I asked, suspicious.