Page 78 of This Dark Descent
“A Heretic was the last one to be bound to this,” she said. “What if… What if part of them stillis?”
In the back of her mind, something unfurled, its satisfaction spreading through her. Her hand went to her Saba’s necklace, and the feeling subsided. A story rose to life in her mind, a piece of forgotten mythology from one of the Kinnish texts about a possessing spirit seeking revenge. A Dybbuk, it’d been called.
Damien’s expression grew tight. “Do you always remove your Saba’s necklace when you work magic?”
“When I create golems…” She trailed off. Both of the incidents when she’d lost time, she’d taken her necklace off. The first time to create Atara, the second just last evening when she went to sleep. But she always took it off when she slept. Did that mean last night wasn’t the first she’d spent wandering, or had something changed? What if she hurt someone else?
“Keep it on at all times from now on,” Damien instructed. “Aslir’s fang is said to guard against evil spirits.”
Her hand tightened on the necklace. “Is that what you think this is? An evil spirit in the Racari speaking to me?”
“In truth, I don’t know,” he replied, and she could see how much it cost him to admit that, a man who prided himself on knowledge. “But for now, we play it safe.”
Whatever this was, whatever was happening, Ari didn’t think safe was an option any longer, and yet she could not bring herself to give it up.
She would never let this power go.
CHAPTER 27
ARIELLE
APLATFORM HAD BEENerected on a hill at the edge of the Highbridge District on the east side of the city, where the third race would follow the Traveler’s Road around Veradell, across the Greystel River, and into the Silverwood at the base of the Anfell Mountains.
As the ancestral hunting grounds of the royal family, the Silverwood was usually off-limits to anyone outside their circle. The Adair coach had taken them past the forest on their way in to give Mikira a glimpse of the course, and Ari could see why they kept it to themselves. The trees had smooth ivory trunks with graceful sloping branches laden with thick clusters of silver-green leaves, as if the whole wood had a dusting of metallic snow. It had the stillness of a land undisturbed, a tranquility that called to her and was minutes away from being violently disturbed.
The air of the race was different than she’d expected, far livelier and festive in a way that obscured the gravity of what was to come. Some of the riders might not survive, their horses could be maimed, and yet the only thing louder than the music were the chants of the crowd gathered in the makeshift stands or reclining at the tables that dotted the hillside. She saw more than one fan with homemade signs for Mikira, others wearing professional racing jerseys with her family’s name sewn across the back.
They make a sport of bloodshed, said the voice.
This coming from someone responsible for the deaths of thousands, Ari thought back.
A beat of silence. Then:That was never my intention.
Ari didn’t respond. She shouldn’t have to begin with. They had yet to discover a way to sever her bond to the Racari, but in the meantime, she’d kept her Saba’s necklace on and promised Damien not to entertain the spirit. But after spending so much time with it, it was difficult to ignore.
She joined the others by the trailer, where Damien was giving Mikira some last-minute stats on the riders left in the competition. The girl was only half listening. She’d been distant all morning, barely acknowledging Ari’s explanation about the bloodstone discovery. The stones set in the hilts of her knives were the same as the one on the Racari, but while she couldn’t be free of the book, Mikira’s knives seemed to have no link of their own.
When the bell rang and she swung up into the saddle, Ari grabbed hold of her hand. “Be careful,” she said. “And good luck.”
Mikira gave her a small smile. “I’m glad you’re here,” she said, and then she was gone.
Damien watched with a look of dismay as she rode off to the starting line. “She’s distracted.”
“She’s got a lot to think about,” Ari countered. It was a feeling she understood, and she only wished she knew what was on Mikira’s mind.
Reid picked up the mug of tea he’d set down in the trailer. “She’d better get focused or—shit.”
“Is that all you ever have to say to me, Reid?”
The voice raked cold claws of dread down Ari’s spine. Her hand went reflexively to the emerald in her skirt pocket, and she drew to life the burn of verillion in her gut as Loic Adair rounded off their circle.
His eyes were only for Damien. “I hear you’ve been looking for me, little brother.”
A line of tension descended through Damien. “And I hear you’ve found a new partner.”
Loic tilted his head, regarding his brother with amusement. “Are you jealous that your little friend prefers me now? You do have a bad habit of glaring at people until they run away. Ah, there it is.”
Annoyance overtook Damien’s face, though it quickly vanished. It seemed at least his siblings were capable of getting under his skin. “Whatever you’re planning with him, he’ll turn on you, L,” he warned. “It’s only a matter of when.”
