CoS24

## Chapter 24

**Chapter 24** of **City of Spells** follows **Zekia**.

## **Full Version**

*YOU HAVE TO TRUST ME, KID. You have to be brave.*

Zekia looked into the mirror and smiled, hoping Wesley could see.

She hadn’t thought he would ever speak to her again, let alone puncture her mind like this. But hearing his voice was a relief to her heart, and she was glad he hadn’t abandoned her after all.

That he hadn’t left her alone again.

*I’m sorry*, Wesley said, reading her mind like always. *I didn’t want to go without you.*

“But you did anyway.”

*Don’t be selfish with my company*, he said. *You know I’m a very popular guy.*

Zekia snorted and scrunched her nose up at the mirror. She didn’t think anyone could hate Wesley, but she’d bet a lot of people wanted to punch him.

*Hey*, he said. *I heard that.*

Zekia turned away from the mirror to hide her smile.

She had missed him so much—too much—and now that he’d been able to steal time to speak to her, she could finally share everything she had seen in that vision. In the beautiful future of what could happen if Wesley took power. And the wicked truth of the world if he didn’t.

She had been so confused, all this time. She had been so lost, all this time.

But, finally, there was light ahead. A hope for a future that meant she could stop being so scared. That meant she could finally rest.

“How’s Tavia?” Zekia asked him. “And my sister and my father and Amja?”

*They’re all fine*, he said. *They’re worried about you.*

“Did Amja make you that bone broth yet?” Zekia asked. “Isn’t it so bad?”

Wesley stayed quiet for a moment. *We need to talk about the forest, kid.*

Zekia stepped away from the mirror completely.

She didn’t want Wesley to see the look on her face now.

“I didn’t tell him,” she said. “I swear that I didn’t. He made me promise that when the time was right that I would, but the time never felt right. And he said that he wouldn’t go looking for them and that he’d give everyone the chance to join us by themselves. He *promised*.”

*I know*, Wesley said.

Zekia’s heart jumped.

“You believe me?”

*I believe you. I’m willing to bet it was all down to that bastard Nolan.*

“I had a vision,” Zekia said.

She had to tell Wesley the truth. He’d know what to do. They could think of a new plan together, or find a way to tell Dante Ashwood that his world wasn’t worth fighting for. If they chose peace instead, if Ashwood stopped fighting, then everything would be okay.

“I saw you kill him,” Zekia said. “And the world went bright again.”

*Ashwood?*Wesley asked. *Kid, I appreciate the faith, but there are a thousand futures out there and you can’t tell which ones are solid. Trust me, I know better than anyone that we shouldn’t be putting stock in visions.*

Zekia kept her eyes focused on her hands and tried not to fidget too much.

Wesley didn’t understand. He hadn’t seen it.

“This one was different,” she said. “The shadows went away and the magic was everywhere and it was so pretty. Everyone felt so happy.”

Zekia swiped the tears from her eyes.

“I don’t know who to trust,” she said. “And I can’t trust myself, because before I saw a future where Ashwood was leader and things were good. And now I see the opposite and I don’t know what to do. You know what to do, though, don’t you? You always know.”

*The only thing I know is that people deserve a choice*,Wesley said. *We can’t decide their futures for them, based on a vision or anything else. You have to know that, kid. You have to* understand *that.*

Only, she didn’t understand.

Zekia was supposed to be a Liege and Lieges had to make the hard choices and lead people. They had to decide what was best, even if nobody could see the wisdom of it. All Zekia wanted was for magic to be safe and not to destroy her brother’s legacy by letting the Crafters down.

But she’d done all of that anyway.

*I can only protect you if you let me*, Wesley said. *But I can’t save you from yourself.*

It wasn’t herself that she needed saving from, though. It was everyone else.

It was the visions that snuck into Zekia’s mind like a thief and stole everything that made sense and replaced it with fear and death.

She had been asleep ever since and she didn’t know how to wake up again.

She didn’t know if she even deserved to.