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Chapter 23

Gwen chilled.

She stepped away from the edge, backing onto the roof.

Everwynn. Everwynn was the killer. He killed the old Deveren.

It sounded impossible in her head. The doddering old gentleman? The man who laughed and made pancakes, who had rescued her from Sea Gate? That couldn’t be true.

You know it’s true.

Gwen turned towards the Tower. She was wondering when the Voice would call out to her.

“You’re lying,” Gwen said.

Lying is a worthless tool for mortals. Especially when the truth is so effective in illuminating your worst fears.

Gwen looked up at the blue walls. They pulsed bright, beckoning.

We have seen dozens of children pass through our House. Oblivious, dumbfounded by the magnanimity of our treacherous son. They are able to study, to bring themselves up out of filth to a modicum of worth. All without generating a shred of income.

Gwen stared. That wasn’t…wait. How did Duke Everwynn make his income? She hadn’t seen anything.

No exported goods, no rental fees. A singular title, and lands that lay defunct. And yet Everwynn remains a stable powerhouse in the land. Beyond the statue of his Name, what allows this house to remain solvent?

Gwen knew the answer. She just didn’t want to say it.

Yes. Perseus Everwynn has taken every trick, every inherited skill from a family that is meant to reign supreme. And he has used it to become a common butcher. A hired blade to cull those that step out of line.

“You’re lying!” Gwen shouted. “He’s not a killer!”

Your master is nothing more than a glorified thug. Were it not for his name, he would be skulking the back alleys of Callgar now.

“Shut up!” Gwen screamed. “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

“Gwen…”

She turned. Everwynn stood on the roof. His eyes were filled with sadness.

“I apologize. I didn’t notice you were…”

“Stay back!” Gwen held out her hands. They were wreathed in flames. She drew on Rosamund’s magic. She wasn’t going to be taken in.

Everwynn held up his hands. “Gwen, I need you to come inside. Let’s talk.”

“Talk?” Gwen asked. “Is that what you told Deveren?”

“My business with the count was complicated,” Everwynn said.

“Complicated?” Gwen asked. “Is that what killing is to you?”

“What does it matter to you?” Everwynn snapped. “You’ve seen killers before, now come here!”

“No!”

You know the truth. The Voice chided. He cannot allow you to live.

“No,” Everwynn said. “No, that’s not true.”

You saw what he did to Felton when he was angered. Is your life worth more to him than his butler?

“I need to just speak with you, Gwen. I promise, it is going to be all right.”

“You promise?” she asked. “I’ve heard enough of promises.”

Come here, Student. The Voice bid. Here is the only place he cannot go.

“No!” Everwynn shouted. “Don’t go there!”

That was all Gwen needed to hear. She turned and ran.

“Gwen! Don’t touch the wall!” Everwynn screamed.

It didn’t make sense. There was no rational thought behind it. There was a flash of recognition that something was wrong with the Voice’s logic. But Everwynn clearly feared the Tower. And that was enough for her.

“He’s going to kill you!”

She slapped her hand against the wall.

The Tower flared in white light. Her hand passed through the bone wall like it was air. And then the wall tightened around her fast.

Finally!

Gwen’s eyes widened. That wasn’t just victorious. It was possessive. She tried to draw her hand back. But it was stuck in the wall.

No, whelp. There is no escape for you. You belong to the Everwynns now.

The Tower began to draw her in.

Everwynn dove forward, and grabbed a hold of Gwen’s ankle. “No, you don’t,” He muttered.

Gwen felt a surge of power flow through her body. Everything stiffened, and held fast to the South Wing’s shingles. The Tower tried to pull her closer. Gwen cried out. Her wrist was trying to pull apart from her shoulder.

Perseus. The Voice muttered. Our wretched son. Let go.

“So that’s what you’ve wanted,” Everwynn said through gritted teeth. “You’ve been after the Student all along.”

All these pieces of refuse, and your pathetic attempts at generosity finally catch something worthy of attention. The Voice agreed. Her magic will serve us well.

Serve them well? What were they talking about?

There was a rattle against the wall, and a chorus of laughters.

You should hear her thoughts, son. The Voice said. It is rather trite how a practitioner of Study Magic knows so little.

Tears ran down Gwen’s face.

“No, no,” Everwynn said. “It’s not your fault.”

He sighed. “My family has been searching for a way to escape the Tower for centuries. This relic they created has granted them immortality, just as it has bound their power into impotence.

“But with your ability to learn new magic, they could discover new parts of their own magic,” he said. “To the point of leaving this place.”

And take our rightful place as RULERS! A thousand voices shouted through the walls. We will reign supreme! Over Callgar, over this whole world.

“Not while I live!” Everwynn shouted at the Tower. “I bound your evil in this place, and you will never leave this Tower!”

The Tower laughed. Then continue this pathetic morality play, Perseus. They chided. But you will need to tear your Student apart before we let her go.

Gwen’s eyes widened.

Choose, Duke Everwynn. This girl, or your honor.

“Please,” Everwynn said. “She’s just a child. She doesn’t deserve this. Let her go.”

The Tower remained silent.

Gwen strained to speak.

Everwynn looked up, and nodded. “My apologies, miss Gwen. You should have your opinion heard.”

“I’m sorry,” Gwen said.

Everwynn looked up at her, questioning.

“I just got scared, and everything else. I wasn’t thinking, and now you have to do this.”

She closed her eyes. “Please, just make it quick.”

Gwen wanted to live. She wanted to understand her magic, and find out what she could do with it. She wanted to experience a life.

But more than anything, she wanted that Tower to never do anything to hurt another person. If that was worth her life, it wouldn’t be that bad. She hoped.

Everwynn sighed, and stood up. “No, Gwen. I don’t believe I will do that.”

He adjusted his clothes, and tapped her on the shoulder. She slumped, the duke’s magic released from her.

“No!” she screamed. “Don’t let them get what they want!”

Foolish heir. The Voice said. But obedient for once. We approve.

The wall began pulling her again.

“I’ve been accused of many things,” Everwynn said. “Obedience has never been one of them.”

He laid his hands on the wall. There was a pulse through his hands, that rippled throughout the Tower. There was a loud crack, and a gash shook up the side of the building.

Perseus! What are you doing?

“My magic, Gwen,” Everwynn said. “Is rather crass, though similar to master Doramont’s fauna affiliation. While he is able to communicate and influence plants, I am able to do the same with human beings and other sentients. To the point of destruction.”

His face darkened. “Living, dead, or otherwise.”

Gwen understood. The bones. He was connected to the bones.

“Making an entire Tower of bone was brilliant. Using your slaves beyond death, and bound them into your servitude. But it has rather awkwardly placed your entire existence in my purview.”

The Tower tilted to one side, and then another. It lashed out, a whip of blue magic crashing towards Everwynn. Gwen threw her hand forward, screaming in rage. Lightning pulsed out of her, catching the whip and breaking it apart.

“Thank you, Gwen,” Everwynn said. He looked at the Tower. “You can feel that, can’t you? I am in tune with every bone that makes up your being. I hold them in my grasp.”

He smiled. “And if you don’t release my student right now, I am going to destroy each and every one of them.”

You bluff. The Voice said. If you had such power, you would have utilized it already.

“Could be you’re right,” Everwynn said. “It might be that trying this is going to kill me. And bring this house down around our ears. And there might be some last vestige of power left.”

He sneered. “But can you live with the knowledge that you’re nothing more than a shattered ghost?”

You would kill us all? The Voice asked, incredulous. Your students, your slaves…

“We are not your slaves.”

Gwen turned around. The staff flowed out of the air, settling behind her and the Duke. They glared up at the Tower, defiant.

“We are our own people. You stole our lives, and Percy has given them back. This girl, has given us more in a month than what your entire wretched line could do in centuries,” Millie muttered.

How dare you defy us! The Tower thundered. We own you! We own your souls!

She looked at Duke Everwynn. “Tear this down. Even if we cease to exist, it would be better than having to listen to this for one more second.”

Duke Everwynn nodded. He looked at the Tower. “What’s it going to be? Release the girl, or oblivion?”

We are your family, Perseus.

Gwen frowned. That was a single voice. Softer, pleading. Trying to hold onto her heart.

We are you. Don’t do this.

Duke Everwynn glinted. “I killed you once, mother,” he whispered. “Don’t think I won’t do it again.”

The wall opened up. Gwen snatched her hand back, pulling it close to herself. The light faded, and winked out.

Everwynn sighed, and drew his own hands off of the Tower. “That was rather exhilarating.”

“You should still do it,” Millie said. The staff nodded behind her. “Bring it down.”

Everwynn shook his head. “Not tonight, Millie. Not while I still haven’t figured out what I can do to free you.”

“It’s dangerous.”

“So are we.” He smiled. “Take the rest of the night off. In fact, take a three-day weekend.”

“It’s Tuesday.”

“All the more reason to do so. Wonderfully quiet.”

Millie was about to protest, but a whooping cry from the children stopped her. She sighed, and nodded.

“You’re too good, Percy,” she chided, fading away.

Everwynn looked at the staff as they faded away. “I wish I was.”

He sighed, and looked towards Gwen.

“Let’s talk, shall we?”

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Dead by the Book

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I didn't ask for a destiny.

Especially one that says that I'm supposed to destroy every god in existence.

It made the name William Creed a curse. Made me turn tail and run from the only home I knew. Left my friend, my favorite ghost, and hoped that the gods would just forget about me.

But now I'm back. Chasing the one good paycheck I've seen in years. Chasing some kid who's in way over his head, searching for a book that could break reality.

I'll have to take on dragons, the undead, a whole cosmos of deities, and my own mother.

Welcome to God Street. Where miracles become realities.

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