At first the tear is sweet. I taste our reunion on the Seven Seas. My confession in the catacombs. Our kiss on the Fourth’s shore.
The tear turns sour.
I’m transported to the night Ky kidnapped me. Knocked off my feet by his cruelty. By the way he so easily stabbed Makai.
The taste melts to bitterness.
Anger rises. Ky working for Haman. Ky taking me from the castle and leaving Mom behind.
“Em.” He reaches for me.
It makes no sense, no sense at all, but I withdraw from his touch. Emotions war. Love, anger, hatred. Which one is right?
Ky’s face pales, the life and light vanishing from his complexion. Black veins climb up his bare torso, up his neck and slack jaw. I’ve never seen him look this afraid. This helpless.
Josh alters too. The Void drains from him, gradually receding into nothing. Because the Void inhabits the one who cares most for the Verity’s vessel. Whatever drinking the tear has accomplished, Ky’s love now far surpasses Joshua’s.
I inspect my right arm, plain as the left now. The Void has vanished from me as well. Ky bears the full weight of it. And something inside me snaps. Even so I can’t bring myself to touch him, to hold him, to tell him everything will be okay. I’m glued in place.
I fight against my invisible restraints. “What have you done?” The question is for Josh. I expect to find him gone and the real Joshua returned, but even without the blackened veins, his stare remains stone cold. Heartless.
“A few more seconds should do it.” He folds his arms. Leans away. His gaze never leaves mine.
A few more . . . what? “What are you—?”
The flavor on my tongue vanishes at last. Bitterness turns to nothing. I’d never know I drank . . . What did I drink? I can’t . . . I can’t remember. My eyes close. Head hangs.
A tap on my shoulder.
I whip up my head. A man stands before me, darkness covering every inch of his skin. The only light he carries is in his eyes, one green and one brown. Who is he? He almost seems familiar, but why? I step away, take the most comfortable place in the room. The place that feels safe.
The place beside Joshua.
FORTY-SIX
Josh
I wouldn’t believe it unless I was seeing it with my own eyes. The Elixir worked. That old coot Rafaj wasn’t so insane after all.
“Mirrorglass reverses, my boy.” Bony finger pointed, he explained further, “The stuff is plentiful, particularly in the Fourth, but to find an object crafted from it? That is a rare find indeed.” He hacked several times, and I was certain he might pass out before finishing. Fortunately, he didn’t. “There are few who possess a touch gentle enough to shape the small stones into something else, and even fewer who can tame a Dragon long enough to use its breath for melting. For it is not the glass itself that is rare, but the one who knows how to use it.”
I listened intently, soaking in his every word. I knew my brother’s blade caused a reverse effect when withdrawn from a wound, but what would the bottle do?
“Two ingredients are needed for the Elixir,” the old man croaked. “The bottle, as I have mentioned, and a single tear.”
Seemed easy enough, but I waited, all too aware more was required than met the ear. No doubt retrieving the specific tear needed would be a feat in itself. I moved deeper into Rafaj’s cell. “Whose tear?”
Knees wobbling, he rose, using the stone wall for support. “To unbind two souls, here is what you must do.” His finger lifted in the air, and then he stroked his pointed chin. “Using the mirror-glass bottle, collect a tear shed by the one you wish to be forgotten.”
All right, that would be Kyaphus. Shouldn’t be too challenging.
“It must be a first tear, and it must be one produced from a broken heart. That, I am afraid, is nonnegotiable.”
The difficulty rose a level. Still, it was achievable.
“Serve the tear to the one you wish to do the forgetting. Once it touches her lips, the process shall begin. It should be mere moments before they are unbound, failing to remember the other altogether.”
Eliyana is stubborn, and I knew persuasion would be key. And I was right, of course, because here we stand. Not only did the Elixir swipe her memory, unbind her from my brother, but it erased the Void from my soul as well.
“You idiot,” my good side says in my head. “The Void entered Kyaphus because he loves her most now. You’ve ruined everything.”
I laugh at my own joke before I think it. I believe that was you. I put his voice on low, keeping it just loud enough, but not so much I can’t hear myself think.
“I’ll fight you. You won’t win this.”
On second thought I mute him completely. I’ll catch up with him later, fill him in on what we’ve accomplished with the Void at our fingertips. Kyaphus carries the full agony that comes with housing the darkness, leaving me free to control him and it. I get the power without the pain.
El’s expressions shift between confusion, anger, fear, and longing. Lower lip trembling, she sobs his name. “Joshua?” Her hands quake. “Joshua, what’s . . . ?” Her head shakes and her eyes squeeze shut. “What’s happening to me?”
I draw her in and caress her cheek with my thumb, acting as the man she believes me to be. “Everything’s going to be fine now.” The lie is too easy.
She sighs and leans into my touch. But just as quickly, she recoils.
I curl my fingers into my palm, and my fingernails pierce my skin. This is nothing less than what I expected. Rafaj warned me of the side effects, of her probable confusion, but I can handle it. With my brother out of the way, there’s so much I can accomplish.
“Ember.”
The sound of his voice curdles my blood, but I don’t act. There is no need.
El faces him, her own expression a mask of confusion.
“Ember.”
If he calls her by my mother’s name one more time, I may be forced to pummel him. He’s no longer connected to her, which means a good beating won’t hurt me in the least.
I grin at the notion.
He reaches out.
She does not move. Until she does.
When she breaks eye contact, I know for certain I’ve succeeded.
When she breaks eye contact, I know the bond is broken.
When she breaks eye contact and places her hand in mine, I know she has forgotten him for good.
ASIDE
KY
This can’t be real.
Why is she standing beside him?
Why is she holding his hand?
I know the Void consumes me, but I’m still me. Nothing’s changed. I fight against the darkness, shutting out the heinous thoughts threatening to win me over. I’ve practiced this for years, since Tiernan gave me my first taste of evil.
“Let me out!” Kyaphus, otherwise known as my evil twin, bellows.
Shut up, I tell him, pushing him deeper. I’ll handle this.
I take a step forward, and Ember moves closer to his side. It’s not that she looks happy to be there. Quite the opposite. Her face is like a ghost’s. She’s terrified. But the difference is she knows him. He’s familiar. It’s me she doesn’t recognize.
“David, what have you done?” The words release on a growl. I’d raise my knife, but if she doesn’t know me, she doesn’t know my blade won’t kill him either. Starting a fight would make things worse.