Alaric is even closer, the pulse of his magick bolsters my spine. Galen’s boots crunch over fallen branches as he takes a step closer. My hands go up again, but all he does is smile.
“Go ahead,” he says. “Use it just like I taught you.”
My hands tremble as I call my magick, it burns through my veins seeking justice of its own.
I drop my hands to my sides. “No.”
I rush him, my movements quick against the pillowy soot that now coats the forest floor. I close my hand around his neck, pushing his back against a tree. He has the audacity to smile so I clench my fist tighter until he gasps. “I’d rather feel it with my hands when you take your last breath.”
He wriggles beneath my grip, his blue eyes turning red. My nails dig deeper, my face pressed close to his.
“What a waste,” he whispers, strained and broken.
I push harder, and use my other hand to use my magick. It spools up my arms, ready to finish the job when Galen’s head collides with my nose.
I recoil away, instinctively clutching my nose where blood begins to pour. My eyes snap to his again, my wrists up. Before I have the chance to do anything, he slips his fingers around the purple stone and vanishes.
“Galen!” I shout, my throat hoarse and dry. Blood runs down my chin. “Gale?—”
“There you are.” Jarek and Alaric rush my sides. “What happened?” He tilts my head back to inspect my nose.
“Galen was here.” I wipe the blood from my face using the back of my arm.
Jarek curses, placing his ax back in its holster. “Let’s go.”
I follow him through the burnt forest. My stomach reeling, thoughts spiraling. Galen was right there, and I let him slip away.
A sharp pain spreads throughout my chest as Jarek and I begin to crest the hill. Clutching my heart, I wait for the familiar darkness to seep in.
Just a panic attack.
But as I rub circles over my chest, the pain doesn’t ease. Instead, it travels to my side. Then my head and before I know it, I’m on my back.
“Elora!” Jarek joins my side and cups my head, angling me onto his lap.
Words swim on my tongue, but the pain is too blinding to form any of them. My knuckles whiten around Jarek’s forearms. The sting on the back of my neck, pulsing, growing sharper by the second.
It’s almost time.
Thirty-Eight
Sorin
The last ofthe supplies as well as my mother, the twins, Evren and Tallulah are loaded into the caravans ready to be on their way to the Onyx Guild.
I tighten the reins on Amis and give her a quick kiss on her velvety nose. I’ve made sure to pack Elora and Jarek everything they’ll need for travels, though they will have to share the horse. The thought makes me smile, remembering how appalled Elora had been to share a horse with me the first time we met. Amis whinnies as Ruse joins my side, her large frame towering next to me.
“Hi, girl.” I reach out my hand to pet her, but Hati and Rook come bounding out of the keep, bumping into me as they do. The pups are now nearly as tall as my waist, but their energy reminds me they’re still so young. I smile at their rowdiness then turn to head inside the keep, just to ensure we haven’t forgotten anything.
Just to stall a little longer.
I hate that Elora and Jarek left, and I hate it more that I didn’t go with her.
But damn if she wasn’t right. The meeting with the Lords and Ladies of the Guilds can’t be postponed. I drag a hand through my hair, my boots on the threshold of the keep when I’m tugged backward by my cloak. Glancing over my shoulder, I expect one of the pups but it’s Ruse who has a mouthful of fabric in her mouth. “What is it?”
She nods toward the woods, to where Elora and Jarek have headed off to. Something stirs in my chest, like panic fighting its way through my skin.
My stomach skins. We should have left this morning. Should have risked being seen traveling across the Trinity Forest in the daylight. A wave of dread settles over me like an ink pot spilled to paper. It seeps through each of my pores, staining down to my marrow.
