Shadows Entwined (Shadows Descent #3)

12. Thorne

12

THORNE

I watch Violet as she stands frozen, staring at Amara’s lifeless body. The air is thick with the scent of ozone and burnt flesh. My heart is hard to what happened. We did what was necessary.

Violet’s shoulders are rigid, her fists clenched at her sides. I can feel the anger and betrayal coming from her. She takes a shaky step forward, then another, until she’s kneeling beside Amara’s body.

“Violet,” I say softly, reaching out to her.

She flinches away from my touch. “Don’t,” she hisses, her voice raw with emotion. “Just... don’t.”

I exchange worried glances with Caine and Flint. We knew this would be difficult for her to accept, but seeing her pain is worse than I imagined.

“We had to protect you,” Flint says. “Amara, and who knows how many others, were going to sacrifice you for their own gain.”

Violet’s head snaps up, her eyes blazing with fury. “And that gives you the right to decide her fate? To stand by and watch her die?”

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Caine interjects, his voice steady. “But Blackthorn was right. This conspiracy goes deeper than we realised. Amara was just the tip of the iceberg.”

Violet laughs bitterly, the sound harsh and cold. “And that makes it okay? To just execute someone makes us as bad as them.”

“Violet, we will do anything to protect you. This was Blackthorn’s right as MistHallow’s caretaker. He can and will eliminate any threat on the grounds?—“

“Enough justification.” She stands up slowly, her eyes never leaving Amara’s body. “I understand why he did it. But you... you had no right to stop me.”

I take a step towards her, my heart aching at the pain in her voice. “Violet, we?—”

“No,” she cuts me off, finally turning to face us. Her eyes are filled with unshed tears and a hardness that is difficult to look at when it’s aimed at us. “I need some time. Alone.”

Without waiting for a response, she strides past us and out of the library. The doors slam behind her with a finality that makes me wince.

“Well, that could have gone better,” Flint states.

Caine sighs heavily. “Thanks, Captain Obvious, for that valuable input.”

“She’ll come around. She has to understand that we did this for her,” I say, but I’m not so sure. The look in Violet’s eyes wasn’t just anger or betrayal. It was disappointment, and somehow, that feels worse.

“We should go to her,” Flint says desperately.

“No,” I say, shaking my head. “She will kick our arses if we go to her now. She needs to come to the conclusion that this was Blackthorn’s call, and we were respecting his right to handle this.”

“Is that what we’re doing?” Caine asks. “Blaming Blackthorn?”

“I’m right, and you know it,” I argue. “This wasn’t about us. It was about Blackthorn protecting his students. End of story.”

Caine taps his cane thoughtfully on the stone floor. “You’re right, but it doesn’t change the fact that we stood by and let it happen. Violet’s not going to forget that easily.”

“She shouldn’t,” Flint says quietly. “We made a choice, and now we have to live with the consequences.”

I nod, a heavy weight settling in my chest. “We need to focus on what comes next. The Convergence is still coming, and now we’re down one source of information.”

“There is someone else involved,” Violet says, standing in the open doorway, letting in a flurry of snow and wind. “When I went to see Amara to tell her about killing Nathaniel, she was talking to a man. It wasn’t anyone’s voice I recognised. When she realised I was there and let me in the classroom, he was gone.”

I move across the library to her, but she holds her hand up. “I’m not ready to move past this yet. But we have work to do. We need to find out who that man was.”

I nod briskly. “Can you take us to the classroom? We can maybe try to pick up a signature if they used their magick to leave.”

She nods and turns on her heel. I catch Flint’s gaze. He looks like a Dragon hatchling who got kicked and abandoned for good measure.

“Violet, wait,” he calls out, but she ignores him and keeps walking.

Caine and I sigh but hurry to catch up. We follow Violet through the snowy courtyard, the chill in the air matching the frosty silence between us. Her back is rigid, her steps purposeful as she leads us to where she last saw Amara with the mysterious man.

We make our way through the winding corridors of MistHallow, and then she stops outside a lecture hall. “Here.”

Caine steps in behind her, his cane tapping lightly on the stone floor as he glances around. He closes his eyes, his brow furrowing in concentration as he reaches out with his magick. After a moment, his eyes snap open, and he frowns. “I can’t sense anything.”

I move further into the room, and it hits me like a brick in the face. I’d recognise that magickal signature anywhere. “Jerrod,” I whisper.

“Who?” Violet asks, coming closer, her anger seemingly put on ice for a moment.

Meeting her gaze with a grim stare, I spit out, “My father.”

Caine doesn’t even bother to hide his snort of amusement. “Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Still want to have a go about our dads being involved in this?”

“I never had a go?—”

“No, but you were smug,” Flint says. “We both saw it.”

“Who cares?” Violet snaps in exasperation. “Thorne. Are you sure?”

I take a deep breath, trying to calm the storm of emotions raging inside me. “I’m sure. I’d know his magickal signature anywhere. Can you remember what they were talking about?”

Violet nods and closes her eyes before she speaks. “Amara said, ‘...Violet has no idea of her true potential. With Morgan’s sacrifice, she’s more powerful than ever. We need to guide her carefully.’ And then he said, ‘And what of the prophecy? The Convergence is nearly upon us. If she’s not ready...’ His voice was icy and dark. Amara replied with, ‘She’ll be ready. I’ve seen to that. Nathaniel’s death was unfortunate, but necessary. It’s freed her from his influence.’” She opens her eyes. “The next bit was about you three. He said, ‘And what about her companions? They could prove to be a distraction.’ Amara sighed and replied, ‘They’re devoted to her. For now, that devotion is useful. But you’re right, they could become a liability if she grows too attached.’ And that was it.”

Caine leans against a nearby desk, his expression thoughtful. “This complicates things. If Jerrod is involved, we can’t be sure how deep this conspiracy goes within the Fae community, or any community, for that matter.”

“We need to forget about all of that now,” I state. “Amara is gone, and we have bigger things to focus on than some ancient plot against Violet. The Convergence is our main focus. Once we get through that, we can figure out what else is going on.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Flint asks. “We don’t want to leave Violet blindsided to this conspiracy if we don’t follow up on it.”

“It is splitting our attention. We don’t have time for it,” I argue. “Violet?—?”

“She’s gone,” Caine states.

“And you didn’t think to stop her?”

“No, I’ve done enough of that already today. I wasn’t taking my chances. She might’ve blasted my balls off.”

I curse under my breath, spinning around to confirm that Violet has indeed vanished. The open window mocks me, snow drifting in on an icy breeze.

“We need to find her,” Flint says urgently. “She shouldn’t be alone right now.”

“And say what?” Caine retorts, straightening up. “Sorry we let Blackthorn smoke Amara in front of you, but hey, at least we’re not as bad as your mum?”

I shoot him a glare. “Not helpful, Caine.”

He shrugs, unapologetic. “Just being realistic. We royally fucked up, and Violet has every right to be pissed at us.”

“Maybe,” I concede, “but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s in danger. The Convergence is coming, and now we know my father is involved somehow, which probably means you two aren’t off the hook with that, despite your efforts to debunk it. We need to protect Violet, and that is the only thing right now.”

“Protect her from what, though?” Flint asks the question we are all thinking. “Herself? The Old Ones? Our dads? Us?”

His words hang heavy in the air. The truth is, we don’t know what we’re protecting her from anymore. Everything has become so tangled, so complicated.

“From all of it,” I say finally. “Come on, let’s split up and search for her. We need to make this right.”

As we leave the lecture hall, I know we’re running out of time. The Convergence looms closer, and with each passing moment that we aren’t focusing on that, it is not going to work out in our favour.