Birthright

Chapter 29 - a rescue plan

Raven paces the length of the fae twins’ bunker like a trapped animal, breathing hard, eyes red, fists clenched so tightly her knuckles have gone white.

Jake sits on the edge of a wooden table, head bowed, hands gripping the edge so hard the wood cracks beneath his fingers. He hasn’t spoken in several minutes.

Margie and Maggie hover near their cauldron, but even they are shaken really shaken. Their hands tremble. Their magic flickers like candlelight in a storm.

Finally Raven stops pacing.

Slams her palms on the table beside Jake.

“We are going to get her,” she says, voice raw. “I don’t care what stands in the way. Dalston, witches, vampires, guards, demons none of it matters. We. Get. Her. Back.”

Jake lifts his head slowly, and for the first time since Ephy ran upstairs, his eyes harden.

“We don’t even know where he took her,” Jake says. His voice is strained, but steady. “Last they were seen was at the great hall, they could be in the castle, but it has hundreds of rooms underground. Wards. Guards. Magic barriers. What if she isn’t even in the great hall but back at his?”

Raven cuts him off with a sharp gesture.

“Then we figure it out.”

Maggie steps closer, wringing her hands. “Child, you don’t understand. Dalston’s dungeons are cloaked. Our magic can’t see through it. We don’t even know if Ephy is”

“Don’t.” Raven snarls. “Don’t finish that sentence.”

Jake stands, shoulders squared, jaw set. “Raven’s right. She’s alive. I felt… something. When the house shook. When the witch cast that spell.” He swallows hard. “It felt like… a pulse.”

Maggie and Margie exchange a look.

Margie murmurs, “Her fae awakening.”

Jake nods once. “Whatever it was… it wasn’t death. He wants her alive doesn’t he? Presuming we are right and wanted the contract marriage just for her power?”

Raven grabs her satchel and starts shoving in supplies herbs, spare blades, binding ropes, shimmering runes the twins gave her long ago “for emergencies.” Her hands shake, but her movements are fast, determined.

“We leave within the hour.”

Jake grabs her wrist. “And walk into what? We have no plan.”

Raven snaps her head toward him, eyes blazing.

“She would walk into hell for me.”

Jake flinches, because it’s true.

“We need a way to get into the castle without being caught,” Raven continues. “Something to help us pass the guard’s and wards.”

Margie clears her throat gently.

“There is… one way.”

Maggie whips her head toward her sister. “Absolutely not!”

Raven stiffens. “What? Tell us.”

Margie sighs, then reaches under a loose floorboard and pulls out a velvet-wrapped bundle. She lays it on the table. The air thickens. Something inside hums with power, old and dangerous.

Jake’s eyes widen. “What is that?”

Margie unwraps the bundle.

Inside lies a faintly glowing stone blue at the center, swirling with silver threads. It pulses, like a heartbeat.

“A Wraithstone,” Margie says softly.

“Forged by fae leaders long before Talvarna’s became to be.”

Maggie hisses. “It will drain us. It will drain them. Do you want them dead before they even reach the castle gates?”

Raven steps forward, fearless. “What does it do?”

“It disrupts barriers,” Margie explains. “Breaks wards. Masks presence. Makes you invisable. But it comes at a cost.” Her gaze darkens. “Blood. And strength. You may not make it out alive if you use it too long.”

Raven doesn’t even blink.

“We’ll take it.”

Jake runs a hand through his hair, exhaling hard. “Raven”

“We are not letting her die in that place!” Raven snaps. Her voice cracks, softer now. “She’s my sister. In every way that counts. Can’t you witches do a location spell?”

Jake looks at her, then at the stone, then at the twins.

Finally, with a resigned breath, he says, “I’m in.”

Margie nods solemnly. “Yes we can but it we have nothing to trace from her, we no longer have her blood, once we have found her, Then we prepare the ritual.”

Jake looks lost in thought, he grabs a jar from his satchel “I poured the last potion you made with her blood in here”.

Margie smirks and grabs the jar “I’ll see what I can do with this, maybe we can perfect the spells within a few days”.

Maggie mutters under her breath, “This is madness.”

Jake picks up the Wraithstone, feeling its unnatural thrum.

“No,” he says quietly.

“It’s Ephy.”

Raven shoulders her bag.

Her voice is low, determined, trembling with fury and fear and love.

“Hold on, Eph. We’re coming.”