The Blood Spell (Ravenspire, #4)(111)

“Kill,” the king muttered.

“No. Father, please. It’s Kellan. It’s your son.” Kellan wrestled with his father as the king struggled to reach the sword. “You taught me how to swim, remember? You showed me how to eat a shirella in three bites, how to scale a wall, how to make Mother laugh. We used to picnic every weekend with the de la Cours. Please, remember. Remember.”

He brought his face close to his father’s as Dinah grabbed Blue and hauled her toward the dais. “You love us. You love me. You loved me so much you gave your life for mine.”

Kellan’s throat closed over the words, and he dug his fingers into the king’s tunic to keep him from reaching the sword while Blue turned to look at him one last time, her expression peaceful, though there was pain in her eyes.

She was saying good-bye, and there was still so much he had to tell her. So much he wanted to know.

“Swimming,” his father whispered. The hand that had been reaching for his sword stopped.

Kellan looked into the king’s eyes and found a glimmer of his father staring back.

“Kellan?”

“Yes.” Kellan pressed his forehead to his father’s for a moment. “Please let me go help Blue. I need to know that you won’t go after Nessa or Mother.”

“Can’t.”

Kellan pulled back to look at his father, his heart breaking at the torment on the king’s face.

“Controlled.” The king’s jaw clenched. “Can’t fight it. Kill me, son. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I can’t kill you again.” The words ripped their way out of him, carrying the unbearable weight of years of grief and guilt.

“This is going to be fun, Adelene.” Dinah jerked Blue to her feet and wrapped her too-long fingers around Blue’s shoulders as they stood in front of the queen. “The king will kill you and your children. I’ll take the throne. And Blue here will be at my beck and call. Her blood will bond anything I want. There’s no spell, no potion off-limits to me now. As much as I’d love to stay and see your deaths with my own eyes, my sister is still an accomplished witch, and she’ll have ways of knowing about this if I stay too long.”

“Dinah—”

“I think you should start calling me by my real name.” Dinah’s smile stretched wide and triumphant. “Marielle, blood wraith of Balavata. Come along, Blue. You’re going to help me kill my sister.”

“No!” Kellan shouted as Marielle wrapped one hand around Blue’s arm and flung the other one out, sending a gust of power to knock any resistance out of her way.

Marielle dragged Blue toward the exit, pausing once to look at the king. “Kill them all,” she said, slamming a wave of magic into the king with a casual flick of her hand.

“Blue!” Kellan yelled, but it was too late. Marielle had already dragged Blue out of the ballroom.

“I chose,” the king whispered, his sword hand clenching into a fist. “Chose to save you.”

Kellan met his eyes and found love.

“Forgiven.” The king’s sword hand opened and strained toward the weapon. The love in his eyes dimmed to something dark and empty once more.

Kellan slid his hand over his father’s cheek as tears filled his eyes. “I love you,” he said quietly as his fingers found the thread right where Blue had said it would be. His chest tightened, grief pouring through him, and he gently pulled on it. The king shuddered, eyes rolling wildly in his head, and then as the thread came free, his body fell apart. Skin separated, muscle collapsed, and the black ooze that was his blood dried into brittle flakes until everything that bound him together disintegrated into dust.

Shaking, Kellan climbed to his feet and faced his mother, who was staring aghast at the dust that had been the body of the king. “Where is she going?”

His mother shook her head. “I don’t—”

“The witch! The other one. Where does she live? We have to get to Blue.” Kellan sheathed his sword and stalked toward the dais.

“It’s been sixteen years, Kellan. I don’t know. I thought Riva had left the kingdom. If she lives nearby, then she’s kept that well hidden.”

A maid rushed into the ballroom, her face pale with fright. “Your Majesty! I couldn’t stop her. I tried, I swear, but—”

“No one could stop the wraith,” the queen said, her eyes still on Kellan.

“Not the wraith, Your Majesty. The princess.”

The room tilted, and there was a ringing in Kellan’s ears as he rounded on the maid. “What about the princess?”

“She followed the wraith, Your Majesty. She was signing so fast, I’m not sure I understood her, but I think she wanted to save her friend.”

“Kellan.” The queen collapsed into her seat, her body shaking.

“I’ll find her. I’ll protect her.” Somehow. If he had to turn over every rock in the kingdom, he was going to find Nessa and Blue before it was too late for either of them. A flash of gold caught his eye from beneath the dais, and he crouched to pull out one of Blue’s dancing slippers. A small, diamond-shaped leaf was adhered to the underside of the arch.

Kellan smiled grimly. The volshkyn leaf Blue had bonded to Dinah’s blood. She’d said it would lead to Dinah. He’d use the shoe to find the wraith, and in doing so, he’d find his sister and the girl he loved.