Flickering Creatures | ONC 2024 | ✔︎

(18) Lead You To The Final Fight

Bella couldn't move. She wasn't sure she could pry her claws from the branch beneath her if she tried. She couldn't tear her eyes from Titus's terror-stricken face.

"Come here, or I'll be left with no choice but to assume you've sided against me," said Bryony, her tone like ice. "I'll give you ten seconds."

"Stop blackmailing her," snapped Daphne.

"Stay out of this. You've done enough damage already. Keep my familiar out of this."

"You can't say that while threatening to kill one of them."

"Him?" Bryony shook Titus lightly. His fluffed tail curled further about his paws. "He's just a stray. I only have one familiar who deserves that title."

The words jarred. Titus had said the reverse only minutes before, damning Bryony's right to call herself his keeper. No keeper would hold their familiar hostage over a poison fire.

Four Witches. Titus had been discarded by four Witches now. No wonder he stayed so aloof around Bryony.

"Put him down," said Daphne. "I'll give you the book."

Four Witches, but not five.

Bella watched in dismay, still frozen, as Daphne put her hands in the air, showing their absence of potion-bottles. Bryony was asking for her coded notebook back. That book contained all the evidence Daphne would need to take Bryony to the Covens for trial—or to put a search warrant on her head. Without it, it would be Daphne's word against Bryony's. The Covens already disliked Bryony, but Daphne was still young. A student, easily dismissed compared to Bryony's known and proven skill.

Without the notebook, Daphne couldn't hold Bryony accountable for anything she'd done. With it, Bryony could even turn the blame on Daphne instead. She had always complained about the presence of a second Witch in Hyacinth, even going so far as to say Daphne was after her job. Bella had assumed she was joking, but Bryony's other accusations—that Daphne was trying to continue her parents' failed investigation into Bryony's magical dealings—had been anything but humorous.

That investigation had failed because Bryony's hybrid magic—however dangerous—wasn't illegal the way Wight-Witch magic would have been. Instead, she'd be punished on the grounds what she'd used it for.

"Where is it?" said Bryony. "The book."

"In my coat." Daphne nodded into the forest. "I left it to lure the Wights with."

"Bella? Go find the coat and confirm she's telling the truth. I won't release him until then."

Bella's wings almost spread of their own accord, ready to obey the order. Then Titus's eyes flicked to her again, lit clearly as Wights began to gather around them, drawn by the lure that still clung to his fur. His look struck Bella into paralysis all over again. He wasn't begging. He was still scared, but there was more reproach than pleading in that gaze.

"I'm giving you another chance," said Bryony. "I still don't want to lose you, either." Her voice almost wobbled, but she caught and stiffened it again. "Them or me. You can only pick one."

Bryony and Bella. Bella and Bryony. It had always been the two of them, Bella realized now. Even Titus had never been part of their circle, and he'd lived with them for years. Would Bryony ever have let him in, given enough time? Or had his suspicion of her from the start always been enough to seal this showdown?

Bella dropped her head and nodded.

"Thank you," said Bryony, and the relief in her voice stabbed Bella through the chest all over again. It was replaced by that icy tone as she turned to Daphne again. "Point her to your coat."