Edge of Pathos (The Conjurors Series Book 4) (13 page)

The stone statue
melted into the living, breathing, gasping girl. Kanti was back.

Kanti threw her arms
around Henry.

“I told Reaper you’d
save me, and you did,” she said.

Henry stumbled back
a little from the force of her hug, and muttered into her hair. “Valerie saved
you. I bit my nails in a corner.”

Kanti laughed, and
then threw her arms around Valerie. “My hero.”

Valerie returned her
friend’s hug. When she pulled away, she quickly swiped the tears from her eyes,
but not before Kanti noticed them.

“What is it? Tell
me,” Kanti said, all of her laughter gone.

Henry trembled when
he met her gaze. “I’ll show you what happened.”

Henry opened his mind
to Kanti, Valerie, and Thai. Flashes of scenes appeared in Valerie’s mind of
Henry helping Reaper and of preparing for Kanti’s rescue. When Henry showed
Kanti the part where Jack held Dulcea’s broken body, her fingers tightened
around Valerie’s arm.

The scenes stopped,
and Kanti turned away from them, leaning against the tree for support. Her
chest heaved, and she took great gulps of air.

“Kanti—” Henry
began, but Kanti held out a hand to stop him.

“Don’t speak,” Kanti
said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Valerie thought her
friend was crying, but when Kanti turned, her cheeks were flushed and her eyes
flashed. She glared at Henry, and her beauty only made her more terrifying. She
seemed to grow taller, and a hum of magic filled the little garden. Valerie
doubted that Kanti was aware that she was touching her power.

“How could you think
that I would want you to value my life above all of the innocent humans and
Conjurors who will die now because of what you’ve done?” Kanti’s voice was low
at first, but grew louder as she spoke. “I’ll carry this stain on my conscience
for the rest of my life. You knew what I would have wanted you to do, and you
did the exact opposite. What you did was the most selfish act I’ve ever
witnessed, and you’ve met my parents.”

“Kanti, don’t do
this,” Valerie said.

“And you! How could
you let this happen?” Kanti said, turning her wrath on Valerie. “Gideon might
be dead because you thought you had to rescue me!”

Thai took a step forward,
his entire body tense, but Valerie held him back. She knew what Kanti was
doing. She’d done it herself, when her friend died of leukemia when she was
nine. As long as Kanti was angry, she wouldn’t have room for the pain. So
Valerie let her rage.

“Henry might be
guilty for all of the strangers who will die, but it’s your fault that Gideon
and…and…Dulcea…” Kanti’s voice weakened then, and her face crumpled.

Valerie held Kanti.
It was Kanti’s turn to sob, and Valerie let her own tears fall quietly into her
friend’s hair. At some point, Henry had left. Thai finally ushered them inside
and made a pot of Oberon’s tea.

Even with red, puffy
eyes, Kanti was still beautiful.

“Where’d Henry go?”
Kanti asked, her voice hoarse.

“He’s going to stay with
Cyrus tonight,” Thai said. “He thought you both wanted some space from him.”

Kanti slumped. “I
know I need to talk to him, but I’m glad he won’t be here tonight.”

“He couldn’t handle
losing you. Especially not after Zunya murdered Joe,” Valerie said. “He tried
to let you go, but he couldn’t do that and live.”

Kanti nodded, her
eyes shadowed. “I know. But right now, I’m furious with him. He should have
been stronger. I don’t know if I can ever look at him the same now.”

The front door
crashed open, and Valerie drew Pathos. Skye rushed into the kitchen, his mane
wild. He was gigantic in the small space.

“Tell me where to
go,” Valerie said.

“It’s
too late. The battle is over,” Skye said. “Come with me.”

Skye led Valerie,
Kanti, and Thai to The Horseshoe. Even though it was the middle of the day, it
was missing the regular bustle of Conjurors going about their work. Valerie’s
eyes were drawn to the Capitol building. An enormous crack split the steps to
the structure in half. The building itself looked as if it had been struck by
lightning, and an enormous, smoking hole had obliterated the front door.

“Calibro and I saw
an opportunity, and we seized it without consulting you. It was a mistake,”
Skye said.

“That hole in the
door looks like it was made from one of those staffs that throws lightning,”
Kanti observed.

Skye nodded. “I
didn’t think Reaper would be able to get the Fractus here so fast.”

“Back up,” Thai
said. “What started the battle?”

“The Grand Masters
were meeting today, and Oleander didn’t appear. Rumor was that she was dead.
Several of her fellow Guardians said they felt her power released into the
universe,” Skye began.

“You’re right. She
died yesterday,” Valerie confirmed.

“Calibro and I
decided to try to seize control of the group while we had the chance to force
an election. Many more Grand Masters are opposing the Fractus, but quietly. We
thought this would be our chance to cast off Reaper for good.”

“But he knew,
somehow,” Thai guessed.

“Reaper descended on
us, ranting about doing what was right. But the Grand Masters weren’t
listening. That’s when Calibro and I attacked him.”

“What were you
thinking? He could have dissolved you,” Kanti said.

“Worse. He has
scrambled Calibro’s mind. She is at the Healers’ Guild, but I don’t think there
is much that can be done,” Skye said, his head bowed. “As for the other Grand
Masters, some escaped when Reaper’s forces blasted through the doors, but
Reaper used portals to send many to a prison somewhere I couldn’t place. Not
the Black Castle. It was underground.”

“Will he kill them?”
Thai asked.

“Not before he sees
if he can use them first,” Valerie said.

“It was a strategic
error to strike without you to regain control of the Grand Masters,” Skye said.

“I told you to think
for yourselves and alter plans when it made sense. You did the right thing,”
Valerie said, but she couldn’t repress a shudder as she imagined Calibro
struggling for control of her mind like Rastelli and Kellen.

“I’ll oversee
Calibro’s care myself, along with Gideon’s,” Thai promised.

“Gideon has fallen,
as well?” Skye asked.

“Yesterday,” Valerie
said, her voice cracking.

“The tide of this
war is turning. We must take it back,” Skye said.

“We will,” Kanti
said, and everyone turned to face her.

Valerie didn’t
know what her friend’s plan was, but the steely determination in Kanti’s eyes
gave her hope.

Valerie and Kanti
were in a carriage, heading toward Elsinore. Thai had stayed behind in Arden to
watch over Henry.

“You were stone only
a couple of hours ago. Don’t you need time to recover?” Valerie asked, and in
truth, she wouldn’t mind some rest herself.

“I’ve been sleeping
for too long. I have to do something to make up for what happened in the name
of protecting me,” Kanti said.

“Okay, so tell me
your plan,” Valerie said.

The carriage came to
a halt in front of the dorm for The Society of Imaginary Friends.

“Why are we here?”
Valerie asked when she saw where they’d stopped.

“We need someone
with experience in diplomacy, someone charming,” Kanti said.

“Cyrus,” Valerie
realized.

Why did she always
underestimate him? It was a mistake she seemed doomed to repeat.

Cyrus was flying
down on a platform as Kanti stepped out of the carriage. Cyrus hugged her
fiercely.

“Everyone was a
wreck without you,” he said. “Even me.”

Kanti smiled for the
first time since she’d heard what had happened in her absence.

“I’m here now, and
we’re going to take back control of this war,” she said.

Kanti and Cyrus
stepped inside the carriage, and Cyrus squeezed Valerie’s hand once before
taking a seat as far away from her as possible.

“Go!” Kanti shouted,
and the horses took off so fast that Valerie nearly had whiplash.

The animals were
spelled to travel fast, and the landscape rushed by, making Valerie dizzy.

“So what’s the grand
plan, princess?” Cyrus asked, a flicker of his old humor in his eyes.

“Valerie told me
that soldiers from Elsinore are fighting for the Fractus. That means that my
Aunt Ani must be organizing them, because I don’t think my parents would
encourage that, no matter how shallow they may be.”

“Then let’s take her
out,” Cyrus said. “She won’t be a match for Valerie.”

“No question,
Valerie could have her beaten, bound, and carted away with no trouble,” Kanti
said. “But that might not help our cause. My people need their own leader to
believe in, and I think it will have to be me.”

Cyrus nodded slowly.
“You need to be the one to defeat Ani and rally your people. Then you can
publicly announce an alliance with Valerie and the Fist. That’s smart.”

“We need soldiers for
the Fist, or at the very least, no additional soldiers for the Fractus,” Kanti
said. “I have to challenge Ani to a Test of Power—it’s an old tradition in my
country. Ani’s ruling now because the people think she’s the most powerful
Conjuror in Elsinore. I have to prove them wrong.”

“I don’t like this
plan. Ani nearly took me out once. No offense, Kanti, but she could kill you,”
Valerie said.

“That’s the other
reason I wanted you here. If things go really south, you can step in,” Kanti
allowed. “But how do we get the word out? We need people to witness the Test.”

“Tell all those
birds that carry news. They’ll do the work for you,” Cyrus suggested.

“But how will you
beat her? This whole plan falls apart if you fail,” Valerie reminded her.

Kanti grinned.
“Aside from the training and fighting I’ve been doing for the past few years
with you, there is also this.”

The carriage hummed
as Kanti concentrated, drawing on her power. A rose grew in Kanti’s palm, first
the stem, then the petals, and last, sharp thorns. The rose had the faintest
glow, as if something inside was lighting the flower up.

“I’m
tougher than you think,” Kanti said. “And being touched by a vivicus has
enhanced my power.”

Kanti managed to
sneak them all into her ice castle undetected, so Valerie was able to get a
night’s sleep before they launched their plan. She awoke to the sound of Kanti
and Cyrus deep in conversation.

“You’ve got to
provoke Ani to strike first. It will spark everyone’s outrage, seeing their
princess attacked,” Cyrus said.

Kanti nodded slowly.
“Good. I know my people will want the person with the most magic to win, but it
will help my cause after the fight if I also have their hearts.”

“Let’s take some
time to practice your skills before we challenge her to this Test thing, okay?”
Valerie asked, rubbing her eyes.

Kanti and Cyrus both
glanced out the window. Valerie followed their gazes and saw a veritable storm
of birds outside the castle gates.

“You’ve already made
the challenge? You’re being reckless! We just got you back,” Valerie said.

“They spotted us
coming in,” Kanti said. “We’ve got to strike now before Ani figures out another
strategy.”

The door opened, and
Kanti’s mom floated in on a cloud of perfume.

“Darling, we’re
thrilled to see you, but there’s the strangest rumor that you’ve challenged
your aunt to a Test of Power, and that you’re turning it into a common street
fight,” Pauline said, nodding a greeting to Valerie and Cyrus.

Isabella was
cowering behind her mother.

“She’ll kill you,”
Isabella said. Kanti’s eldest sister was paler than the last time Valerie had
seen her.

“And fighting in the
streets? It’s for the power-deprived,” Pauline said with distaste.

Kanti ignored her
mother, glaring at Isabella.

“You’re the one who
helped fool everyone into thinking I was okay when I was locked up by Reaper.
Do you hate me so much that you want me dead?” Kanti asked.

“No, Kanti, I
swear,” Isabella almost whispered. “Ani said she’d kill us all. I didn’t
understand what she was really like until it was too late.”

“I guess that just
makes you a selfish coward, instead of a jealous psycho. Congratulations,”
Kanti snapped.

Valerie touched her
friend’s arm. “I can see how your sister would be scared of your aunt. War is
no time for grudges. You’re both alive, and you’re on the same side now.”

“I’m simply furious
with her, Kanti,” Pauline interjected. “But think how it would look if it were
discovered that two of Elsinore’s princesses were not on good terms. And you’re
all right now, aren’t you, darling?”

“You don’t know at
what cost,” Kanti said, and Valerie gripped her friend’s hand and fought tears
of her own.