Tale of the Heart Queen (Artefacts of Ouranos #4)

Chapter 59

C HAPTER 59

I t takes a few moments to realize that I’m here and still whole. I blink, clearing my vision, to find Nadir standing in front of me, healthy and whole. I choke out a sob.

The cavern is fine, and everyone is okay. Nadir is okay.

“Did it work?” I ask, but at the same moment, I realize that question is pointless because I feel it. I feel him . My pulse beats in its natural rhythm, but it echoes as though I have two hearts living inside me now.

“It worked,” Anemone says. Sweat runs down her temples, and she wipes her forehead with the back of her hand.

“For a moment there, I thought—” I say.

“I know,” she replies. “I admit I had my doubts, but we did it. Do you feel each other’s magic?”

Nadir and I look at one another, and I hold out my hand as I filter out a tendril of green light. I let out a squeak of delight as it twists around the cavern. Perhaps the best part is that I have complete control over it.

“What about you?” I ask Nadir. Red lightning dances between his fingertips as he also holds up his hand, and I shake my head at the sheer joy of this moment. I thread my fingers against his, and then we press our foreheads together.

“Now we are truly one,” Nadir whispers, and my eyes close as a tear slips down my cheek. Some part of me thought we’d never get here.

“How do you feel?” I ask.

“Honestly? Lighter.”

He looks at his sister and walks over, handing her the Torch. She accepts it warily as he drops to a knee and presses his forehead to the back of her hand. Then he peers up and says, “Hail to the future queen of The Aurora.”

Amya laughs nervously. “Really?”

Nadir stands up and pulls her in for a hug. “You’ll make such a wonderful queen.”

A chorus of cheers circles around the room as everyone else offers their congratulations, including an extra-long hug from Willow. I hug my brother and sister and Amya and Mael, who are now officially my family, even though they’ve been that way for a while now.

Cyan and Cedar congratulate us with handshakes and hugs. “When you have the time, I’d love to host you both in my forest retreat,” Cedar says. “It’s beautiful, lost deep in the woods, and the perfect spot for some alone time.”

“That would be lovely,” I say. If we ever get that chance .

“Congratulations,” Bronte says warmly, and even Linden gives us both a firm nod.

“Come on,” Amya says. “Let’s have a drink.”

At the back of the cavern, they’ve set up another table with some bottles of wine and a bit of food. I’m overcome by the effort they all went to for the two of us.

We all gather, toasting the day and not thinking too hard about what comes next. The map that I found in Rion’s room waits for us. We’ll have tonight to celebrate, and then tomorrow, it will be time to confront what I suspect will be the final test. The moment that saves us or breaks us forever.

“Oh no, where’s the Armata?” Willow frowns, peering at the table. “Elswyth sent it. She said it’s an incredibly rare bottle and perfect for such an occasion. I must have left it with the boxes when we brought everything in.”

She backs up. “I’ll go grab it. Be right back.”

She bounds away and disappears out of the cavern. I smile at her retreating form, feeling so lucky to have her.

Tristan comes over and wraps an arm around my shoulders. He looks at Nadir, and the two study one another. Finally, Tristan holds out a hand for Nadir, who pauses before he accepts it.

“I know you and I have had our differences, but I’m trying to move past them,” Tristan says. “My sister has always been a good judge of character.”

“Tris—” I say, and he waves me off. “I might have been too hard on you, Aurora Prince. Thank you for everything you’ve done to help Lor. I understand those were your father’s actions, not yours. It wasn’t fair to judge you so harshly against them.”

Nadir’s face briefly remains expressionless before he dips his head.

“Lor is fortunate to have you,” he says. “Anyone would be honored to call you a brother.”

They both smile, and I also try not to think about how perfect this all feels because an axe swings over us, ready to chop it all away. I shake my head, attempting to push away these maudlin thoughts. This is a happy occasion and there will be plenty of time for worrying soon enough.

We continue chatting, and a few minutes later, I realize Willow hasn’t returned with the Armata. I cross the cavern to look for her. Rounding the corner, I enter the tunnel where the flickering candles struggle to illuminate the oppressive darkness.

A stack of boxes sits against the wall, barely visible beyond the perimeter of the lanterns. I pick one up and proceed down the tunnel.

“Willow?” I call. “Willow! Where did you go?”

Something crunches underfoot, and I realize it’s glass from a shattered bottle lying on the floor, where liquor pools in the rock’s many crevices. My chest seizes, and my heart stutters, the beats tripping over each other.

“Willow!” I scream into the echoing dark. “Willow is gone!” I shout in the other direction, and then I’m running, the light from the lantern bouncing against the walls, offering the barest glimpses into the surrounding blanket of night.

“Willow!” I scream as I twist through the tunnels. “Where are you!”

My voice cracks as I scream her name over and over, moving deeper and deeper. I hear the others following behind me, but I keep running, crashing into corners, my shoes skidding on the rocks. “Willow! Where are you?”

A path angles into the darkness, and I don’t hesitate to pick my way down. My toe catches on a rock, and I stumble, falling onto my hands and knees. The lantern tumbles from my grip, smashing into pieces and plunging me into night.

“Nadir!” I scream in the other direction as I lurch to my feet. My skirt is torn, and my knees ache. I wipe my bloodied palms on the fabric. “Tristan!”

The darkness is like a living thing, filling my ears and eyes and nose. I nearly choke on it, feeling blindly into nothing. Then I remember the new magic in my veins, and I draw on it, marveling at how smooth and easy it feels. I send out a tendril of bright violet light just as everyone comes running up.

“Lor, are you okay?” Nadir asks as he barrels down the path, wrapping an arm around my waist.

“We have to find her!” I choke out. I’m breathing so hard, I can barely speak.

“What happened?” Tristan asks.

I gulp down air as my vision spins. “I don’t know. She’s gone. Something took her.”

I think again of the creatures Rion created using the virulence, dreading what foul nightmare might have my sister in its clutches. Suddenly, my legs feel like mist, and I cling to Nadir before I collapse.

“We have to find her,” I repeat, gasping for breath.

“We will,” he answers. “We will find her.”

I nod and push up, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand before Nadir grabs it. Amya is beside me now, and I take her hand on my other side, squeezing it firmly. Neither one of us says anything, but I understand how much Willow has come to mean to her.

“We’ll get her back,” I whisper. “I won’t let there be any other outcome.”

“I know you won’t,” she answers.

“Let’s go,” Nadir says as we continue through the tunnel with Morana and Khione on our heels. The others follow behind us until we reach a cavern with five branching pathways.

“Which one is it?” I ask, spinning around. “Willow! Willow!”

“Everyone be quiet for a moment,” Mael orders, holding out his hands. I attempt to control the loud breaths sawing out of my chest as we all strain to hear anything over the thick silence. A high-pitched scream ricochets in the distance, turning the blood in my veins to ice.

“Willow!” Tristan shouts as he, too, spins around and around. “Which direction did it come from?”

“I can’t tell,” Amya says, half sobbing.

“We’ll split up,” Nadir says. “Mael and Tristan, you take that one. Amya, you and Linden go that way. Anemone and Cyan, you take that one. And Cedar and Bronte, that one. Lor and I will take this path.”

“We meet back here in half an hour,” Nadir says. “If you find her, bring her here immediately and wait for the rest of us.”

We share a look around the circle before everyone nods and then turns towards their respective tunnels. My brother and I look at one another .

“Tris,” I say before he grabs my shoulders.

“We will find her, Lor. I swear it. We didn’t come this far to lose her now.”

I nod as more tears fill my eyes.

Then everyone breaks off as Nadir takes my hand, and we plunge into the darkness of our tunnel with the ice hounds trailing behind us. The walls feel like they’re closing in on me, and I inhale panicked breaths. If anything happens to her, I will destroy this entire mountain and everyone who’s responsible for laying a single hand on her.

Using Aurora magic, we light our path through the twisting tunnel until we emerge at another cavern that splits into two directions.

“Which one?” I ask. We both pause. The silence is crushing, weighing us down like a blanket made of iron. My ears pop from the absence of sound, and I work my jaw at the uncomfortable sensation.

“I don’t want to split up,” I say, squeezing his hand tighter.

“We aren’t,” he says.

“Let’s try the left one first before we double back.”

Angling towards the opening, we enter yet another dark tunnel as it winds us further into the mountain. My breath starts to tighten as it grows narrower. I wish Bronte were here with her magic, but I can’t lose control of myself. Willow needs me.

But as we continue walking, I’m starting to get worried we might become lost down here forever.

“Maybe we should try the other one,” Nadir finally says. The sound of his voice is so loud that it makes me jump.

“Maybe,” I say, peering into the darkness. I wish there was something to indicate if we’re on the right track. And then I hear it—a scream, echoing so softly far, far in the distance.

“Did you hear that?” I ask, but I’m already running.

“Willow,” I gasp. “Willow!”

I pick up my pace, my skirt twisting around my ankles. The shoes I’m wearing are useless, so I kick them off, ignoring the stabbing in my feet and their stinging slaps against the stone. Morana and Khione let out soft yips as they follow ahead, guiding my path.

“Willow!” I come to another branch and stop, checking over my shoulder for Nadir.

“Nadir?” I call up, but the tunnel remains empty.

Cold dread trickles through my chest, turning my toes and fingers numb. He must have just fallen behind.

“Nadir?” I call again. “Where are you?” My voice sounds even more hollow. The silence more dense. The hairs on my neck rise in apprehension.

When he still doesn’t appear, I head back up the tunnel. Maybe he hurt himself, and I ran away from him like a jerk. Please let that be it.

“Nadir!” I call, winding up the pathway with the ice hounds trotting on my heels. The tightness in my chest eases when I finally see him standing in the middle of the tunnel, violet light filtering around his frame, obscuring his face in shadows. “Nadir, what are you doing?”

Morana and Khione start barking furiously as I trip up the path before a beam of emerald light falls over his face.

But it isn’t Nadir.

The Aurora King stares down at me, his glittering eyes as dark as midnight pools.

A breath wheezes out of my chest as I grind to a stop.

“Rion,” I whisper. “Where is he?”

He tips his head and arches a brow. A silent, weighted exchange passes between us. We are two opposing sides, pushing and pulling over the years. He tried to break me, but I survived, and now, only one of us will come out of this alive.

He advances a step as I shuffle back. Morana and Khione howl and bark, their panicked sounds vibrating through the enclosed space.

Rion sneers as he approaches. “This time, there is nowhere for you to run, girl. Finally, you are mine .”

And then he blasts out a wave of pure, dark magic that fills my nose, mouth, and lungs before everything goes black.