Bone Crier's Moon (Bone Grace, #1)(119)

“Ailesse isn’t my prisoner. I invited her to stay with me, and she agreed.”

Lies. Ailesse would never consent to that. “Then tell her I’d like to pay a visit.”

“You know I can’t do that.” His tone exudes a maddening level of calm. “You tried to kill me, Sabine. You are not welcome in this castle.”

The golden jackal in me snaps. I whip out the bone knife beneath my apron. Casimir quickly withdraws a jeweled dagger. Our blades meet each other’s throats at the same time. His sharp edge presses against the tendon of my neck.

My nostrils flare. “What would Ailesse think of you if you killed her sister?”

“No less than she’d think of you if you . . .”

An animalistic screech rings in my ears and drowns out the rest of his words. A small reflection appears in his pupils. A bird.

Somehow, as I’m staring at Casimir, the bird grows larger. I gasp. This is a vision. It has to be.

I’m seeing the silver owl.

The owl grows full size and hovers in front of him with her wings unfurled. He can’t see her; he’s looking right through her at me. It’s like she’s protecting him.

Impossible. The silver owl wanted Casimir dead. She led me to kill the golden jackal, carve a flute from its bone, and use it to lure the prince during my proxy rite of passage for Ailesse.

The owl beats her wings once, and my surroundings change. I feel the castle floor beneath me, but see the cliffs overlooking the Nivous Sea above. It’s the night of the last new moon. Ailesse is playing the siren song on the bone flute, trying to open the Gates of the Beyond. She only failed because the land bridge was already sinking.

She keeps playing. The harrowing melody floats to my ears and burns through my mind. I’ve remembered snatches of it before, but not everything. Now it pulses so vividly inside me that it distills into pure and unforgettable knowledge.

What is happening? I came here to rescue Ailesse, not see a memory, not learn a song. I came here to help her kill Casimir.

The owl beats her wings again. Now Ailesse is in the underground cavern on the fragile soul bridge. She moves toward the Gates of the Underworld with headstrong determination. I hear myself shouting for her to stay back, but she won’t listen.

I blink and see Casimir again through the body of the owl. My bone knife shakes at his neck.

Maybe the owl isn’t protecting him from me. Maybe she’s protecting Ailesse from me.

I could threaten Casimir, fight off his soldiers, find Ailesse, free her . . . but what if my sister shouldn’t lead the ferrying tonight? She barely resisted stepping through the Gates of the Underworld last time. The only thing that distracted her was Odiva stabbing Bastien.

Perhaps . . . perhaps my sister is safer in Beau Palais. For now.

My eyes blur with infuriating tears. Casimir’s brows hitch together. He doesn’t know what to make of my reaction. For the longest time, all I’ve been trying to do is save Ailesse. Why am I prevented at every turn?

I pull the bone knife away. The silver owl disappears. I curse the goddess’s messenger, but I’ve learned to trust her. She warned me about Odiva before I knew my mother’s crimes. She led me to Casimir, who helped me finally find Ailesse. She’ll help again when the time is right, when Ailesse’s freedom won’t lead to her death. She knows more than I do.

Casimir’s dagger holds steady at my neck. He opens his mouth like he wants to say something, but his expression is torn between anger and pity. I harden my glare on him, even while my tears fall. I still hate him. My actions don’t change that.

One of his soldiers clears his throat. “Shall we take her to the dungeons, Your Highness?”

The tip of Casimir’s blade slides to lift my chin as he deliberates. He swallows. “Yes.”

The soldiers advance. Casimir lowers his dagger down my neck. He’s going to cut the leather cord of my necklace. With nighthawk speed and jackal strength, I grab his wrist and slam the hilt of my knife into his upper arm. His dagger fumbles from his grip. Before it clatters to the stones, I drive my knee into his gut. He buckles forward. I shove him to the ground and jab my elbow in his back. I grab his fallen dagger. The first soldier swings low for me. I jump over his blade and spring off Casimir’s body. I bolt away before the second soldier can attack.

Casimir shouts my name. He’s back on his feet and chasing after me. His soldiers follow. I run toward the long hallway past Bastien’s hiding place.

He shoots me a livid glance. “What the hell are you doing?” he hisses.

“Tell Ailesse I know the siren song. I can open the Gates.”

I spin around and fling Casimir’s dagger, but purposely throw off my aim. It sails above his head and clangs against a stone column. While he’s distracted, I toss the bone knife into a potted tree opposite Bastien’s. “Tell Ailesse to finish him,” I say. His eyes narrow, and he gives me a determined nod.

I run past the arched passageway that leads to the courtyard. I can’t leave the castle through the dry well. I’d endanger Jules and Marcel and expose Bastien’s safe exit.

Casimir shouts for more soldiers. Boots pound closer down an adjacent stairwell and branching corridor.

A large man emerges and grabs for me. I narrowly dodge him and keep sprinting. I focus on a stained glass window thirty yards ahead. The late afternoon sunlight beats in through the colored panes and lights up a majestic image of Belin, the sun god, riding his white stallion through the sky.