In the Wake of the Ruined (The Siren Mage, #2)(65)

Agatha jutted her chin toward Theodore, the tenacious gesture familiar, but there was a new fragility about her that robbed it of its usual effect. “He just healed me.”

I bit my tongue. Theodore might have healed the gashes and cuts, but it took only a glance to know that her injuries ran far deeper than the skin.

“Agatha…” I spoke in as careful a tone I could, but she went rigid regardless.

Lachlan stood behind her, trying to remain placid, but I sensed his panic as if it were a swarm of buzzing insects. “I’d appreciate it if you could refrain from doing something as… uh, brave… as performing your first spell right now, Agatha.”

“Please,” she said. “I need to do this. I need… some way to keep you and me and everyone else safe.” She looked to Theodore. “And unlike you, if I fall in, I won’t drown.”

I knew the terror of powerlessness better than most. I knew what it was to crave the ability to exact some force over your own existence. “All right,” I said to her, fear blanketing the words. “Lach will be beside you, and Theodore will do what he can to care for you.”

Lachlan’s nostrils flared, an angry breath pushing from his chest. “Hold on. No. You can’t let her—”

“Let me?” Agatha glared.

I didn’t want Agatha performing the spell any more than he did. “I never intended this, Lach.”

Theodore raked a hand through his hair. “No, Imogen intended to sacrifice herself.” His agitation was palpable, tingeing the air. “I offered to do it—”

Lachlan rounded on him. “Right, but she’s in love with you, so I’m sure she refused—which is what I’m pissed about.”

My anger lit, but it was half doused by seeing that terrible look of heartache upon Lachlan’s face. I knew the depth of his love for Agatha. It rivaled my own. “Lachlan, I don’t—”

Agatha cut me off. “I chose to do this.” Her big eyes narrowed. “I want my Godsdamned revenge.”

Before Lachlan could argue, Halla’s soft voice filled the chamber.

“She’s not in there.” Halla looked despondent now, head tipped back against the stone wall, eyes focused softly on nothing.

“Shut up.” I lunged for her, but Theodore caught me around the waist and hauled me back. “You said you’d help me. I swear to you, I will take my time ripping you apart for this—”

“I tried to get your friend out.” All the light had drained from her eyes. “You saw me.”

I fought to break free of Theodore’s hold. “I saw you bleeding over the pool of your beloved fucking saint.”

Halla gave a dejected shrug. “Perhaps it’s the wrong pool. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many—”

Agatha gave her head a vehement shake. “Don’t listen to her. There is a body in there. I’ve done nothing but stare at it since she forced me in.”

“How long?” Halla asked. “How long have you been in the pool?”

Agatha’s face blanked. Then panic filled her eyes. Lachlan moved closer, offering her some steadying support. “I’m… I’m not sure how long…” Agatha looked to me.

I spun back toward Halla. “It’s the right pool,” I said through my teeth. “A Mage Seer—like your saint, like me—can perform spells, but they also have visions, Halla. Mine have just begun and I know this is the right pool because I have been here before. And so have you.”

Halla’s face twitched with confusion.

Theodore watched me, on high alert, as I took a step nearer to her. “You were born on a ship,” I said, voice viciously low. “I saw your young, supplicating mother kneeling at the edge of this pool, with you—but a few days old—at her breast. I’d thought she’d come to give thanks for her miracle, but your mother offered you up to Eusia for sustenance instead. To eat. Just as she had your father.” I pulled in a breath to keep myself from shaking. “But Eusia did not want you. She said you were ordinary. She spat at your mother’s gift.” Halla’s eyes took on a glassy, lifeless quality, tears shining on their lower rim. “That is who you have chosen to be loyal to, Halla. A mother who thinks you are expendable and a monster who thinks you are worthless.”

She said nothing, but a lone tear streaked down her cheek.

The dank silence needled at me. I turned from her, avoiding Theodore’s overwhelming stare, and made my way back toward the pool. Toward Agatha and Lachlan.

I met Agatha’s gaze and pulled in a harsh breath. “Ready?”





20


Imogen


Cupped in Agatha’s hand sat a small piece of flesh—trimmed from her own thigh—in a small puddle of blood.

She perched at the edge of the pool, face set with determined focus, repeating the words to the spell I’d just taught her.

“Remember, perform the spell, then keep away from the water,” I said to Agatha. “I’ll be under the surface to see that it’s worked.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Theodore asked, glaring at the dagger I’d secured in my waistband. “Eusia wants to form a bond with you the way she did with your mother. Why would you get in and let her?”