Page 61 of When Wishes Bleed
Two quick knocks at the door announced Brecan’s arrival. “I need gloves,” I whispered to Mira.
She nodded and pulled her glass spiders out, shoving the washroom door closed and sealing us in. The spiders knit black silky gloves over my hands, spinning them to my elbows. When they were finished, she whispered them to sleep again and tucked them away. “There,” she said, making sure they were situated correctly.
Fate’s voice filled my mind. From death, springs life.
My heart thundered as I pulled the washroom door open and ran across the room. Brecan caught me. “What is it?”
“I don’t know, but I want to check on him. Now.”
He flung the door open and took hold of my hand. “We go together,” he asserted.
I whispered a spell that spirited us to him in seconds, and Tauren was surprised to see us on the other side of his bedroom door. We’d arrived just as he opened it. I was just glad to see him alive. I pushed past him and checked every square inch of his room.
“What’s wrong?” Tauren asked.
Brecan told him to give me a minute.
I didn’t smell poison. No one lurked in the shadows. There were no weapons. No threat. “Where on earth are your guards?” I asked.
“They’re just outside…”
“No, Tauren. They aren’t.”
He was surprised to find his door unguarded. His muscles rippled beneath his starched, black jacket. The collar of his white shirt was a stark contrast to his dark hair. Pieces of it hung over his forehead. “I didn’t give them an order to leave.”
“Someone spelled them,” Brecan said, crouching down outside his door. “Black salt.” Particles of it clung to the pad of his finger. Traces littered the carpet.
Someone had used the dark crystals to form a barrier at the door. The guards wouldn’t have been able to cross it. Mentally, the spell and salt would’ve made them feel wrong for stepping across the salt line. And after a few moments, it would have repelled them altogether, which explained why the guards were nowhere to be found. They’d made their way as far from the salt crystals as possible. We might find them in another Sector if the witch who spelled them is strong enough.
Brecan’s pale hair hung over his jacket. He stood and brushed it off his shoulders, staring at me with a look I couldn’t decipher.
“This is getting dangerous,” he finally said. “I am afraid for you, Sable.”
“Me? I’m not the one being targeted.”
He pinched his lips together. “Are you sure of that?”
“What do you mean?” Tauren interjected.
“What better way to turn the Kingdom against Thirteen than to accuse a witch of murdering the Prince?”
My stomach turned at the thought, and then Fate confirmed Brecan’s suspicion.
“Even if that’s true, what else can I do? Fate wants me here. He wants me to protect Tauren.”
“Protect him? He usually sends you to redirect people or take their lives, not to save them,” Brecan argued. “Are you sure this isn’t what you want?”
“Why can’t it be both?” Tauren asked, glancing toward me.
Brecan growled. “This is becoming too dangerous for her,” he told Tauren. “Can’t you see that?”
Tauren threw up his hands. “What can I do?”
“Send her home.”
Fate sent fire up my throat. As I opened my mouth to argue, plumes of smoke erupted. “I can’t go,” I said around the ashy taste.
Brecan’s eyes widened in shock. “I’m so sorry. Sable, I’m sorry. I understand now that it’s Fate urging you to stay.” Brecan’s hand found my upper arm. “It’s okay. Calm down.”