~ Jaxon ~

Hours earlier, Aurelio, Marcus, Lyssa, Nic, Yumi, and I had fled the library like fugitives. Thankfully, no one seemed interested in our flight, nor had anyone noticed the disturbance in the rotunda, despite all the shifting stone. There were probably dampening spells all over the place. It was a library, after all.

Outside, we'd made what hasty plans we could.

Nic and Yumi would remain behind with all the evidence we'd gathered, just in case things went badly for the rest of us. At the very least, they could present it to the Synod and get Edwards convicted of something, even if it wasn't all he deserved.

Meanwhile, Aurelio, Marcus, Lyssa and I would head for Edwards's Island, Devil's Song in hand.

I wasn't thrilled to have my younger brother and his bride-to-be along for the ride, but there was one advantage: Marcus had a boat.

It wasn't nearly as large as Edwards's, nor was it a sailing yacht. It was, however, large enough for the four of us, and fully motorized: a modest pleasure craft for an immodest man.

Aurelio drove us to the harbor, and he, Marcus, and I had the vessel under way in less than five minutes.

No one said much until we were clear of the harbor, a stiff breeze meeting us head on as the bow cut a swath through white-topped waves.

Then, Marcus locked the helm on course, and sat beside Lyssa on the seat opposite Aurelio and me. The cabin was enclosed, at least, which was fortunate; it allowed us to speak without shouting and kept Lyssa from freezing her ass off in the open air. The slinky red dress she wore was not 'adventure attire.'

"So, you wanna help, huh?" I asked, addressing Marcus. "Now that your ass is in the fire?"

He glared, but otherwise gave no reply. Lyssa laid her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and giving him a reassuring squeeze. Marcus relaxed, and Lyssa spoke for him, her tone defensive but quiet.

"It's getting worse. At first, it was only certain things he couldn't say. Then, it was like his throat closed off more with every word. Now, he can't even nod or shake his head without choking."

I looked at Marcus. With time to observe him more closely, I noticed that he'd lost weight, and that there was a definite frayed edge to his usual photoshoot-ready appearance. Being tongue-tied clearly did not agree with him.

Lyssa ran her delicate, long-nailed fingers through his hair, and a somewhat uncharitable thought occurred to me.

"You're not just doing this for Sylas, are you?" I asked.

She frowned at me and lifted her small, pointed chin in my direction. "I'm allowed to care for more than one person, aren't I?"

"Sure. But would you even be here if it was only Sylas's life at stake?"

Her eyes flashed a bright red, the way Sylas's did when he was angry. "I had no idea, okay?" she snapped. "Marcus tried to tell me what he could. I put the pieces together wrong. I thought you were the bad guy; I didn't know this Edwards dude existed until that Yumi person called me a few hours ago. I finally get it, now."

"Get what?"

She huffed and scooted a little closer to Marcus, leaning against him protectively.

"Marcus literally couldn't explain himself after your mom's death, and he knew that going with you would be dangerous for him, so he did the only thing he could. Like I said: I put the pieces together wrong. He just never corrected me. He couldn't."

I glanced at Marcus. "You know he's a silvertongue, right?"

"That shit doesn't work on me."

I lifted a skeptical brow, wondering how Marcus felt about his precious ability being called 'shit,' but he only shook his head and gave a slight shrug. Then he winced, and swallowed carefully.

I'd never heard of a tongue-tie curse that progressed like this, and I wondered if it had something to do with the fact Marcus's speech was his Sign.

"Anyway," Lyssa went on, "he's running out of time. So, yeah. I'm not just here for my brother. He's one of two people I love, and both are in danger."

"Fair enough," Aurelio agreed, and we let the matter lie. I noted, however, that she hadn't really answered my question directly.

"You know Edwards best," I said, turning to Aurelio. "So, what's the plan?"

"We tell the truth. Carefully."

"What about them?" I nodded at Lyssa and Marcus.

"Just let me do the talking," Aurelio replied. "Remember, he thinks I'm on his side — for now."

Unhappily, I agreed.

Silence fell, and no one broke it again until we neared our destination. Aurelio sat unmoving, his thoughts inscrutable, while Marcus and Lyssa huddled close, taking comfort in each other's nearness. As I observed them, I had to admit that their attraction to one another was more than superficial, though I doubted Sylas would agree.

As my thoughts turned to him, my mood darkened. I'd failed him badly, in more ways than one. I hoped he'd give me the chance to try again, but I wouldn't blame him if he didn't.

I rubbed the center of my chest, where the connection I felt with him had gone dark. The loss of it was almost like losing a sense: something I kept reaching for and missed anew every time I found it absent.

"We're nearing the coordinates," Aurelio said, checking the GPS.

Marcus rose and retook the helm, and the rest of us went out on the deck for a better view. Ahead, a speck of land came into sight, resolving itself into a barren outcrop of stone as we drew near.

Its sides were sheer cliffs, and there was nowhere for a boat to land. The water at the base of the cliffs was rife with jagged rocks, and anyone attempting to swim ashore would be battered to bits by the rough waves. Above, I saw the spire of a lighthouse and the sloping roof of a building below it, built on the island's table-like top.

Aurelio got out his phone and checked the signal, raising his brows as he found he had one, and made a call.

"Linden, we're here," he said, and waited while the other man spoke. "Yes, Jaxon and I, and yes, we've got it."

He paused, listening, then answered slowly.

"No, we're not alone. Marcus and Lyssa Lovecraft are with us. They surprised us at the library; we brought them along as... insurance, you might say."

I hear Edwards laugh, and Aurelio holds the phone away from his ear with a grimace. He listens again.

"Yes, Lin. Our arrangement is airtight. You needn't be concerned on that front. Now, are you going to let us land or not?"

Edwards said something else, and then Aurelio ended the call, apparently satisfied.

"That went surprisingly well," he remarked. "He's thrown caution to the wind, it seems, now he's so close to having what he's after."

"What did you mean, 'our arrangement is airtight?'" I asked, my natural suspicion of my brother returning full force.

"Edwards was kind enough to remind me of all the legal trouble I'm still in, ostensibly," Aurelio replied. "As things stand, I didn't lie: there's a noose around my neck, and Edwards holds the rope. If we fail — and if he doesn't kill us all — I'll be going to prison for a very, very long time. I'm not the only one with 'friends' in high places."

Trust is not among my strengths. I'd been raised to believe that if someone I trusted betrayed me, it was my own fault for trusting in the first place. My head knows it's not true, but my heart has taken a lot longer to learn the lesson. I'm not sure if I believe Aurelio— part of me still wouldn't be surprised if he betrayed me in the eleventh hour — but I want to.

"Look!"

Lyssa pointed towards the dark cliffs and rock-infested water before us, and at first, I didn't see anything unusual. Then, in one area, the rocks melted into the shadows of the waves, leaving a clear path in the wake of their fading illusion. I followed it with my eyes and saw that, like a pattern revealed by a shift in perspective, a passage had appeared in the cliffs.

It was just wide enough for a small vessel to slip through with ease, and Marcus steered us in.

The arms of the cliffs encircled us, and we found ourselves in a sheltered cove. A small wooden pier jutted out from the stony shore, and a sailing yacht was anchored at the far end, resting at ease in the calm water. A path and a long flight of narrow steps, partly hewn from the rock itself, led up the side of the broken cliffs, but there was no sign of Edwards or Sylas.

I prepared to leap ashore before we'd drawn alongside the dock, unable to wait a moment longer, but Aurelio's hand closed on my arm.

"Don't underestimate Edwards," he warned. "He's cunning. Whatever you expect to find here, expect something else."

I hesitated. It's my style to rush in halfcocked, with half the facts, throw my knife and ask questions later. It used to serve me well, when split-second decisions meant the difference between life and death. Recently, it's caused more problems than it's solved, and I realize — belatedly — that I need to change my approach.

"Together, then" I agreed, and waited until Marcus brought the boat beside the landing, helping to tie it to the pier.

Then, the four of us disembarked and made our way to shore.

The instant my feet touched dry land, I felt it like a surge of electricity, my connection with Sylas flaring back to life with a sudden intensity that left me breathless and reeling. I'd have fallen if not for Aurelio, who steadied me with a firm hand.

"Sylas?" he asked.

I could only nod, gazing up towards the lighthouse above. The feelings rushing through me were varied and jumbled, and it was hard to distinguish one from another, or to give them precise names, but desperation, anger, and fear were close enough.

As soon as I had my balance, I started forward again, with Aurelio, Lyssa, and Marcus close on my tail.

At the top, I saw a long, low building — big enough to park a few buses in, end to end — with the lighthouse tower rising from the seaward end. A small door was set in the side nearer to us, and we made for it at a run. It was locked, and I hurled myself against it in frustration. Once more, Aurelio held me back.

"Together," he reminded me.

Then he, Marcus, and I threw our shoulders to the planks, and — somewhat to our surprise — the door burst inward on the first try, having been secured only with a latch.

We rushed through, and spotting Edwards and Sylas at the far end, kneeling in some contraption shaped like a hollow sphere, we sprinted towards them.

And now, as our eyes make sense of what we're seeing, we draw up short in shock and surprise.

Aurelio was half right: what we've found is not at all what we expected to find. On the other hand, it's Edwards who's done the underestimating — of Sylas, and with apparently fatal results.

At least, he certainly looks dead as Sylas drops him to the floor and turns his blood-red gaze on us.

The sphere-like structure in which he stands pulsates with power, and I see a large, dark stone at its heart, cut into a many-sided shape. The inside of the bands forming the sphere are studded with smaller stones of the same kind, like the suckers on the arms of some gigantic octopoid. This, I realize, must be Edwards's 'mechanical sign,' which he'd intended to power with the arcane corruption of the Devil's Song.

He must have meant for Sylas to drain himself, then somehow convince me that using the Song was a good idea — the only way to set him free, maybe — except Sylas had turned the tables on him. And now it seems the tables are turned on us as well.

Sylas wears a cold expression I haven't seen before, and as he looks at each of us in turn, a shiver runs down my spine.

I know how it must look to him, especially if Edwards told him Aurelio had betrayed our trust; though he doesn't look pleased to see Marcus or Lyssa either.

Or me.

I start forward, hands raised, and call to him, doing my best to explain in as few words as possible.

"Sylas! It's all right — Aurelio's on our side. It's all right now. You can—"

He ignores me, or maybe he can't hear me at all. He turns his attention on Aurelio, and speaks his name.

Aurelio's eyes go wide, his olive skin grays with shock, and he stumbles and falls to one knee.

"Aurelio..." Sylas calls again in a voice like music, as he'd called to me once before, at my cabin by the river, months ago. I thought I'd been cursed with a Siren Call before I understood that it was him; part of our connection as Ink and Quill.

Now, I understand better still. It was a Siren Call, of a sort, as is this: a weapon, if he chooses to wield it as such, and apparently supercharged by whatever Edwards forced him to do with the stone.

Aurelio struggles to his feet and stumbles forward, unable to resist desire's pull.

I feel it too, though it isn't even aimed at me. The sound penetrates and grasps, like a thousand tiny needles weaving barbed threads through my heart and guts.

Marcus and Lyssa see the danger, and grasp Aurelio's arms on either side, halting his advance. Sylas tilts his head a little to the side, and shifts his gaze to Marcus.

He doesn't even speak, this time.

I feel the pull of his will, and both Aurelio and Marcus gasp. The sphere hums with power, and Sylas looks terrible and lovely standing at its core; beautiful and deadly at once. We're fishes on a line, and all he has to do is reel us in.

Lyssa alone seems unaffected, as she shakes Marcus and Aurelio in turn, shouting in their faces and doing her best to counteract her brother's strange magic. Her efforts are in vain, and Marcus brushes her aside roughly, knocking her to the ground as the two advance like zombies towards certain doom.

I can't save both of them, and myself, and Sylas at the same time.

Then I remember the spell of protection in my pocket. Sylas had Crafted it for me, to protect me from just about everything — except him. Still, it could be useful, in the right hands.

"Lyssa!" I hold it out to her. "You're a spellbreaker, too, right?"

She stares at me, wide-eyed and frightened, as she picks herself up from the floor. Her hair is disarranged, and her dress is torn, and somehow her resemblance to Sylas is stronger than ever.

"What?"

"Take it!" I shout, striding forward and forcing it into her hand. "Sylas Crafted it. You know his style."

"I don't understand!"

Frustrated and desperate, I grasp her shoulders and give her a none-too-gentle shake.

"Sylas taught you, didn't he? Everything your parents taught him? So use it! Remake it! Keep my brothers and yourself safe!"

"What about you!?" she gasps, catching at my arm. "There's something wrong with him, Jaxon! I don't know what the fuck that creep did to him, but I'm not even sure that's Sylas anymore!"

"Just do your best!"

I shove her away from me and turn towards the sphere. So far, I haven't felt the full force of Sylas's call because his focus has been on Marcus and Aurelio.

Now, as I advance and interrupt his line of sight, his blood-hued gaze slides towards me.

I feel it like a physical thing: like something spreading through my veins, hot and cold, thick and dark, a tangle of emotions twisted in a strangling cord.

And at its center, one fine, golden thread — one genuine strand of pure love, unblemished by selfish desire.

That's what I cling to, anyway, as my feet carry me towards him.

For his sake, and for mine, and for everyone we care about and love, I've got to stop him before it's too late.

~~~~~

Author's note: Just one chapter (and maybe an epilogue) to go!