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Dianna’s lips curved in a small smile, and she waved her hand at me. “Look at that. See, you’re already helpful.”
I lowered my gaze, eyeing my nails as I ran one thumb over the other. What choice did I have? Fight? Even if I did, I knew I couldn’t stop her. I knew what Kaden truly was, and I had no chance. I’d hoped she would kill me quickly when she arrived, so I wouldn’t have to speak the next part aloud. It would have been better for her to find it after she’d reduced me to ash, but if I kept it to myself now, it would be so much worse when she discovered what I’d done.
I took a deep breath and blurted, “I have her body.”
The room stilled.
“I took it after it happened. They left as soon as they heard your cry. I think every Otherworld creature heard it. Even from miles away, we felt it. Power rippled through the world when you screamed, even if you didn’t realize it.”
I looked up. The small smirk she’d worn mere seconds ago had slipped from her face. Her jaw tightened, her expression reminding me so much of the World Ender. Did she not realize how deeply they were connected? Did she not feel it? And now she wanted my help to avoid him while she tore Onuna apart.
“I know in your culture there are rites that must be performed, and I didn’t want Kaden to have... to have her body. I didn’t want Tobias to raise her and attempt to hurt you even more. Besides, it was a simple spell to preserve her.”
Darkness, thick and heavy, gathered in every corner, sucking the very air from the room. Dianna’s eyes bore into mine, and I knew she had been looking for her sister and had come up short.
I met her stare as she whispered one word. “Where?”
I stood from the table, her eyes never leaving mine as I raised my hand. A wall shifted behind us, a door appearing in the far corner. I headed toward it, and she stood to follow. We walked down the narrow hall, the silence between us oppressive. Emerald flames lit in the sconces on the walls as we passed. The hairs at the nape of my neck stayed up with her at my back. My body screamed danger, yet I kept going, one foot in front of the other.
The hall opened up into a large room. I twisted my wrist, and more magic hopped from one torch embedded in the wall to the next. Jars of bones and feathers rested on the shelves. A discarded, half-torn painting of my home covered the far back wall. Ancient art and relics I had collected littered the room.
I stopped at the entrance and moved to the side as she walked by. The flames on the walls bent away from her as she passed. There, in the center of the table made of stone, covered by a thin sheet, lay Gabby’s body.
Dianna ripped the cloth back, and the world stopped.
I expected a yell, a wall of flame, violence and rapture. My breathing quickened. I expected my head to hit the floor, separated from my shoulders by one of her blades. I expected her rage and vengeance, but what I got seemed so much worse.
Dianna stood over her sister’s body, her eyes never leaving her face. She raised a single hand and lovingly brushed Gabby’s hair from her colorless face. I saw Dianna’s nostrils flare and knew reality had slapped her hard. The spell I’d cast helped, but I could not stop death, even with all my magic.
“In my culture, they say only a shell remains when you die. The soul leaves, taking every part that makes you who you are with it. You are welcomed to a great paradise of light and love. There’s no more pain or worry, just paradise.” She ran a hand over the other side of Gabby’s hair as if trying to put it back in place. “She’s so cold.”
Dianna’s eyes never left her sister, not a breath or flicker of emotion marring her features. I clasped my hands together and pressed my knuckles against my lips, swallowing back tears at her pain. The room went deathly still, tendrils of darkness reaching from the shadows, drawn to her and her agony.
Dianna reached out again, brushing the hair away from Gabriella’s face. “I thought at first that maybe I was wrong. Maybe it was a terrible dream, and I could still find her, you know? How stupid is that? Even after I felt that mark sear my palm, I had hope, but seeing her like this?” She placed a kiss on her forehead before straightening. “I really have no one left now.”
“I—”
Roaring flames engulfed Gabriella’s body, and I gasped, forgetting my words of comfort. Dianna stood silhouetted against the angry glow, both hands extended, fire pouring from her palms. I stumbled back, shock washing over me as the sister she loved so much burned between us.
She stared into the crackling flames, their tips reaching, seeking more fuel. I feared my home would burn with us in it, yet as I watched, they never once licked the ceiling. She controlled them, the heat and the intensity.
“I buried my father. I buried my mother. Now, I will bury her.”
Dianna didn’t move. She just stood in front of the burning pyre. Phantom pains shivered over my sides, chest, and throat as I remembered the clawed beast that had attacked and nearly shredded me only a month ago. I tried to keep my spine straight, but every cell in my body screamed for me to strike out, defend myself, or run. She felt so much like Kaden now, every dark and sinister power she’d inherited from him etched into her skin.
“Fear isn’t a good smell on you, Camilla.”
I swallowed and tried to regain my composure. “You’re different. Everyone can feel it.”
Her eyes met mine through the flames, the stench from the burning body turning my stomach. “Good.”
“I’ll make what you want.” The words came out a tad quicker than I meant them to.
“I know you will.”
The crackling of the fire and the smell were too much, even for me, and I turned to leave.
Dianna called after me, “I’ll need an urn and one other thing from you before we begin.”
