The Deck of Omens (The Devouring Gray #2) - Christine Lynn Herman Page 0,106

rolled over, yawning, and stretched, wincing at the soreness in her joints as she sat up.

And gasped.

Dried blood was crusted at the tips of her fingers, rust-brown and flaky, and she could feel something on her cheeks?—like a skincare mask left on too long. She swung out of bed and rushed to the vanity in the corner. At the sight of the tear tracks on her face, blood that had long since dried, it all came back to her.

Richard. Her power. The cauldron. The Beast.

She walked toward the window, dread pounding in her chest, and yanked up the storm shutters. Outside her bedroom was a world gone gray. Fog blanketed the woods beyond the backyard, rendering it nearly invisible, and ash coated the ground, bits of iridescence and bark mixing with the dead leaves. The tree itself looked worse than ever, veins standing out starkly against the thinning trunk, fleshy and bloated. The sight made May feel ill.

Four Paths was dying, and it was all her fault.

A knock sounded on the door, and May jumped, whirling around, scanning the room for anything she could use as a weapon.

“May?” It was her mother’s voice. “Are you awake?”

May swallowed her panic and opened the door. “Mom?”

Half of her was expecting the Beast again. But she knew immediately that this was the real Augusta. It wasn’t just her light blue eyes?—it was the way she carried herself, the sharp expression on her face.

“So you’ve seen it,” she said, gesturing toward the window.

May nodded. “Are we… in the Gray?”

That didn’t quite feel right, but nothing outside looked right, either.

“No,” Augusta said grimly. “The Gray seems to be bleeding into Four Paths instead.”

“Good thing the evacuation happened,” May said dully.

“Yes,” Augusta said. “Good thing.” She sat down on the bed and fixed May with an expectant stare. “Now?—would you like to explain to me why I found you collapsed on the front porch several hours ago, covered in slime?”

May stared at her hands. “You won’t like it.”

Augusta’s laugh sounded more like a bark. “Try me.”

May’s head spun, contemplating all she had learned, all the Beast had told her, all she’d ever believed Augusta could tolerate before she told her to leave for good.

She had nothing left to lose anymore. So she explained everything, from the rituals she’d done as a child to those final moments in the Gray. It was like sucking out the poison Richard had pumped into her veins.

“I never wanted any of this to happen,” May finished, aware as she said so of how false the words sounded. She’d wanted to be important, after all. She had asked for this, pushed aside red flags, deceived everyone in her life just to feel special. “I messed up. I ruined everything. I’m sorry.”

She was staring down at her hands, trembling a little, when she heard her mother’s voice.

“You didn’t ruin everything.” Augusta didn’t sound furious, as May had feared. She sounded almost… gentle.

“I caused the corruption,” May whispered, looking up at her. “People are dying because of me.”

“This is not your fault,” Augusta said hollowly. “It’s mine.”

“What?” May had never in her life heard those words come out of her mother’s mouth.

“You heard me.” Augusta sighed, looking deeply uncomfortable. “I miscalculated how far your father could reach. How talented he is at twisting minds and hearts.”

“He didn’t manipulate me. I invited him here.” Shame burned through May as she thought of how easy it had been for him to talk her into pulling at the future more, spreading the corruption further. Her desperation for affection and validation had overridden her better judgment in favor of some foolish quest to save everyone. She’d been frustrated with Justin for constantly playing the hero, only to go and do the exact same thing?—with far more disastrous results. “I worked with him. I trusted him.”

“Yes, you invited him here,” Augusta said. “But you only did so because I didn’t know how to tell you the truth. There are some burdens I hoped you’d never have to bear. But I see now that keeping them from you has only hurt us both.” She hesitated. “Remember what I told you before, May? About your father’s interest in Four Paths? From the moment you were born, it was always centered on you and Justin. He explained to me that he had a theory about how to re-create the original ritual the founders did to imprison the Beast, but this time, the ritual would kill it. But there was a catch: It