Mine to Tarnish (9 page)

“Mother?”

Nigel shoves mother to the dirt street in front of him. Mother, who is now tarnished. Her beautiful locks of hair gone, her face inked, her marriage tattoo blotched out. Yet I’d know her no matter how she looks. The pain in her eyes is full of regret. When I never thought we would see each other again, remorse and longing plagued me. Now I wish that had been a correct assumption.

“You didn’t think I would let you escape, now did you?” Nigel says.

My teeth clench together. I should have never rounded the corner. Except then I’d never know what fate has befallen mother.

“You may have slipped away quietly from your Father’s house and had your mother convince us you were sick for several days before we realized she was lying.”

“
Mother, you—” I start, but Nigel interrupts.

“
Yes, she tried to save you. Little good it did. Your Father tarnished her and cast her off, and we soon hunted you down. We may have been thwarted by that tarnished and the river, but it wasn’t enough. You’ll soon learn it will never be enough. You can’t get away from me.”

I almost did. Almost.

Nigel nudges my mother with the toe of his shoe. “Now I own you both.”

“
You can’t own her.” Yet my words sound uncertain and confused. Mother is trembling on the ground, dirt streaking her inked face. I didn’t want this. Tears are threatening to overwhelm me. I step forward, but Charles stops me.

“
Don’t go to him,” Charles says.

A burgundy and gold spell shoots out of Nigel, racing for Charles. It strikes him, his grip immediately going slack. He collapses to the ground and doesn’t move.

“No!”

I start to bend toward him, but Nigel says, “Don’t you dare. He is nothing. Not even a shadow. You will never think of him again.”

Impossible. Yet as Nigel keeps his hand outstretched, I don’t dare defy him. That he has no qualms hurting any of us is clear. I slowly straighten. “How did you find us?”

“
Your new tarnished friends are eager to be rid of you.”

Helen. She told us to come here. She never liked me or wanted me around. Yet she was still supposed to be Charles’s friend. The betrayal tries to sink in, yet now isn’t the time to succumb to it. I shove it aside and focus on my mother, who is still on the ground where he hexed her. Mother and Charles. Two people who have done so much for me, both prone because of me.

“Enough of this. It’s time to decide,” Nigel says.

The words sink into me. This isn’t because of me. This is because of him.

Nigel waves his hand at me, threatening to cast a hex. “You can come with me and take your punishments, whatever I determine they need be, or you and the tarnished can die long, horrible, painful deaths.”

My hands are shaking. The fear and determination are twisting within me. I can’t look at Charles, though I hear movement behind me. Hopefully it means he’s conscious and will find a way to safely escape this fate. I hope that he’ll find a way to return to his mother and tell her they have a traitor in their midst.

“What about mother?” I say.

“
Oh, I don't think her fate can be changed.”

“
What is her fate?” Please, please say it’s to let her go. To let her lead a life as a tarnished. The silent plea will be in vain. He’ll probably punish her as much as he does me, if not more. He’s not been one for mercy.

Nigel grins at me. Grins. It’s grotesque the way it glows out of him, sending a shiver barreling through me. He lifts his hands and the darkest, blackest spell I’ve ever seen shoots from him, straight at mother.

I rush toward her, but it’s too late. Her expression holds nothing but love for me as the hex slams into her from behind. By the time my arms are around her, she’s gone. Gone.

Someone is keening, the pitch further breaking the already shattered pieces of my heart. It slices and cuts into me. Then I realize the sound is coming from me.

I clamp my lips together, but the mourn-soaked moan continues. My chest feels as if it’s collapsing in on itself. I attempt to grab control, to clamp down on the pain that’s vocalizing. It takes several slippery attempts, but finally, I get the noise to stop. Not the pain, though. It radiates inside, pricking and jabbing every part of me. Yet it won’t help now. If I live, there will be nights dark enough to cry it out.

For the last time, I pull mother close, press a kiss to her forehead, and gently lay her on the ground. Never had I thought we would be parted like this. Once she’s resting there, a peaceful expression on her face, I slowly rise until I’m standing with a perfectly straight posture. Only this time, there’s no lowering of my face. I will never lower myself to this man again.

“See what you’ve brought upon yourself?” Nigel says. “This could have been prevented had you behaved in a manner more suited to my possession.”

I squeeze my mouth tighter, afraid of what the result will be if I speak.

“Come here.”

My breaths come out in ragged huffs as I take a step forward.

“Kat, no!” Charles yells.

I can’t let his emotions get in the way of what needs to be done. I can’t let anything get in the way of taking my place in society. The place I belong.

“There’s a wench. No more running. Take your punishment like a woman ought.”

Oh, there will be punishment all right. Enough that he will lose any desire to own me, and I will be far enough away that he will never find me, no matter what I have to do to get there.

“Get next to me for a proper hexing,” he says.

I don’t hesitate to draw near his noxious presence. I even take several deep breaths, the stench of him powerful, yet it can’t be allowed to hinder me.

He grabs hold of my chin with his left hand. “It’s a sham—”

Pulling my good fist back, I shove it with all the force I can muster, letting it smash against him. It pounds against his throat. Not what I was aiming for, but it works. He staggers and slowly makes to lift his hand. I whack it aside. Twice more I whack his throat since it seemed effective before. He stumbles back before I can land another punch.

A strange coughing gurgle comes from him. He hunches over, his hands going to his throat as a strange gasping noise continues. Footsteps hurry toward us. Using both hands, I shove Nigel on the shoulders. He falls back into a seated position on the ground then slumps to his side.

I look up as the footsteps reach me. Charles. His hand is pulled back into a fist. I reach out and wrap my hand around his before he can let it fly. “Wait. He’s hurt enough that he can’t follow.”

Nigel is growing quieter, though his hands still clutch his neck. Charles glances at him and quickly twirls me around so that I can no longer see him. Slowly, he guides me farther from Nigel. When we’re several paces away, he rests his forehead against mine and rubs my back. The timing doesn’t feel right, yet I can’t help but lean into him. It’s been too much, too fast. I ache for the support.

“
I couldn’t see. Where did you hit him?” Charles’s voice is calm, but insistent, pulling me back into reality.

“
I was aiming for his face. His nose, perhaps. That's always a tender spot.” I rub my own nose at the memories. “Or jaw, it's a big target. But I hit his throat instead.”

“
Oh, Kat.” Charles’s voice is filled with something I don’t understand, and he pulls me tighter.

“
I don’t understand. Shouldn't we be escaping? We need to go before he rouses enough to call for help.”

Charles glances over his shoulder. “He won’t be rousing.”

“He won’t… be…” The words settle into me. I twist away until I can see Nigel. Or at least his motionless body. I gasp. “He’s dead? I didn’t mean to kill him.” I stare at his motionless body.

“
Shhhh. It’s all right.” Charles pulls me away from the still form. “You don’t know what he would have done to you. He was more than willing to kill you and already proved he will kill. He was lifting his hand in what was going to be another hex. It’s better this way. You’re just fine.”

Perhaps, yet I feel anything but fine.

“Things are going to be all right. He can’t hurt you or anyone else.”

I rest my head against his shoulder. It’s true. I may have just killed my owner, but we’re safe now. There’s no one else he can hurt. Though the damage he’s done to me feels like it will always plague me.

Chapter Twelve

“After how we parted, I didn’t think we’d be seeing either of you again,” Mary says.

Me neither.

She rests a hand on my arm. “I’m here, dear, if there’s anything I can do for you.”

I think of mother, the peaceful look on her face before I helped Charles bury her. We carried her body away from town and found a quiet spot in the forest. She would have liked it. Though she’s not suffering under Father or any other male, I wish she was here. With me. The pain of her death is still a sharp, frayed edge. But I will do everything I can to live up to what I've learned and discovered because of the things she taught.

“Thank you,” I tell Mary. “I will. I hope things will eventually be well.”

She rests a hand on my shoulder. “I hope in time they will be.”

Tears threaten, but I’ve cried enough the past week since mother died. There’s sure to be more later, but they will wait.

“
There’s something we need to take care of first,” Charles says. “Or rather someone else. Have you kept a close watch on Helen like I sent word for you to do and kept quiet on what’s happened with us?”

“
I have, though I’m uncertain why,” she says.

Sourness knots in me. “Nigel didn’t discover us through a spell. He knew where we were going to be.”

The muscles in her face tighten. “It can’t be.”

Part of me doesn’t want to confirm it, but I know it needs said. It can’t happen again. “He said my new tarnished friends were eager to be rid of me.”

“No,” she says, yet not as if she doesn’t believe my words, only that she wishes they weren’t true. “No, it can’t be.”

“
Helen told us where to go,” Charles says, his voice low.

“
Not Helen.” For a moment she pauses, face going pale, but then she says, “We’ll get this taken care of.”

We follow her to the kitchen, where a number of people are eating—including Helen. I expect Mary to pull Helen aside. Instead she calls out in front of everyone. “Do you have something you need to explain to the group?”

Helen forehead wrinkles as if she’s genuinely perplexed. “I think not.”

“
Where did you tell Katherine and Charles to go while they waited to make sure things were safe?”

“
Into town just like your message told me that Mavis deliver—”

“
I did it,” someone says, so quiet I almost think I’m hearing things, except everyone else is looking around as well. And most of them are looking right at Mavis.

“
What was that?” Mary directs at her.

“
I did it.” She sniffs. “Everything’s all my fault.”

“
What are you going on about, girl?” Helen shouts.

Mavis’s eyes tighten at the question, and she jumps up. “I hate it here. You all hide in these dark holes all the time. I hate it.”

“You didn’t,” I say. “Not after everything. I talked with you. I laughed with you. Why would you do this?”

She finally has the decency to look ashamed. “When everyone had to escape, I tried to run away. Only there were warlocks in the woods. A law officer and a stinky old one. They were fighting. Arguing.”

They must have just lost us to the river.

“
The old one screamed that the law officer lost something and hexed him.” Her voice cracked. “Once the law officer was down, the old one saw me. He wanted to know who I was and what I was doing out in the woods. I refused to tell him anything until he said he only wanted you. Insisted on it. Said if I would help him get his property back, he’d see I was taken care of. I thought I wouldn’t have to live underground any more. You could have escaped again, and I would be free of this place.”

A sob racks her body. She must truly despise living underground if she was willing to trust his word.

“And you agreed?” I prompt.

“
I did.” Her voice grows smaller. “I told him how everything works, how very few know where we go, that we have set meeting places. He said he wanted to do something special for you. That he had a plan. All I needed to do was make sure you went into town and waited by a specific house. To tell you it was safe. Only Mary sent Helen to tell you where to go, and I wasn’t going to be rewarded if you didn’t show.”

“
So you gave me a note right before I left,” Helen interrupts, face red. “Told me Mary sent it to me with new, safer instructions.”

Mavis’s response can barely be heard in the silence. “Yes.”

“And not only do we have to live knowing your treachery,” Mary says, voice managing to stay calm despite the harsh words, “but Katherine had to kill a warlock and her mother is dead because of your choice.”

I want to feel anger at the betrayal, at losing mother, but all I can feel is a deep, engulfing sadness for her. Things were horrid, but Nigel is gone now, unable to hurt anyone, or search for me. Yet she will carry the guilt of betraying her own. Whether I’m angry at her or not won’t change that.

Helen’s body is rigid, tight with suppressed anger. “You can’t stay here. We’ll ship you off. Send you to another country. Envado maybe.”

“
No, please, not there.” Small sobs pour out of Mavis.

Helen marches toward her.

“Wait,” I call out. The entire room stares at me, but my only focus is on Mavis. “There are other places you could go. Ones not underground. Places we could work and feel the sunshine.”

Her tears slow. “Not after what I’ve done. They are right. You should send me to Envado. I deserve their barbaric ways.”

I wait, hoping the time will be enough for the change that needs to happen inside her. The room remains quiet. This isn’t something to be taken lightly.

Finally, with tears silently trailing down her face, she says, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry your mother died because of me. That you had to kill someone. So, so sorry. To all of you. You took me in when I needed a place to be, and I turned my back on you. But mostly, I’m sorry to you, Katherine. Even if I’m sent to Envado, I promise to never betray you again. To never, ever put another person through something like that, even if it means going through something harder myself.”

More than what I hoped was in her, though only time will tell how true her words are. “I believe you.”

Mary nods like she agrees with me. Some people mutter and send dark looks Mavis’s way, but none speak up against her. The anger seems to have left even Helen, but she’s eying Mavis as if she will be watching her for a long time. At least I won’t be watching alone. And hopefully, she will keep her word. If it happens, it will be a good thing, for all of us.