Aflora still lay in my arms, her earth magic swarmed by a sea of darkness as she absorbed the brunt of the plague-like energy swirling in the air. Her royal line provided her with the direct source to our element, denoting her as the perpetual gatekeeper of our magic. And she was playing her part, acting as a shield to the rest of our kind.
A shield I couldn’t help her reinforce because the plague refused to touch me.
And my bloodline wouldn’t allow me to step into her shoes, not without claiming her as my mate.
Which I couldn’t do.
But Claire…
“It’s hurting her, too,” I realized out loud. The darkness swathed her essence, a spiritual element I shouldn’t be able to see. However, through my bond with Claire, it was right there. Tangible. Stealing the life from my mate right before my eyes.
I stirred a bed of grass with my element and placed Aflora in it, wrapping her in my power before turning to help Cyrus and Exos.
Except, I didn’t know what to do.
“She’s not breathing again,” Cyrus said, his tone underlined with fury. “It’s the fucking spirit source!”
“Then fucking fix it,” Titus ordered, his flames inching higher.
“No, it’s different this time.” Exos placed his forehead against hers, closing his eyes and focusing. “Her spirit is here, at the Academy, just not inhabiting her body.”
I snapped my gaze up to him. “What the fuck does that even mean?” I demanded, finally finding my voice.
Because this was ridiculous.
All of it.
Why is this happening?
“I don’t know what it means. It’s never happened before,” Exos said slowly, lifting his head. “But she’s alive. I’m certain of it.”
“Claire!” Vox shouted, his voice carrying a desperate plea on the wind as he ran to us. His element swirled around him, lifting him off the ground so that his feet barely touched it as he sprinted. His wild eyes burned with a silver ring as he fell to his knees beside Cyrus. “Bring her back,” he said urgently. “Bring her the fuck back!”
Exos grasped Vox’s shoulder. “She’s not dead,” he promised him.
“She’s just not breathing,” Cyrus said through clenched teeth. “But Exos can feel her spirit.”
“Where?” I demanded. We were running out of time. I could feel the earth magic seeping away from the realm, threatening to take the last of my family line with it.
Aflora might not be my blood sister, but she was every bit my sibling. We grew up together. Learned earth together. Grieved the loss of my mother and sister together.
And now something was trying to take her and Claire from me.
It was unacceptable.
Wrong.
Cruel.
This is not happening on my watch.
Exos frowned, his gaze flicking from our Claire to some invisible point in the distance. “She’s not far. But I think she’s underground.”
Which meant she would be weak.
Elemental Fae couldn’t access the source from beneath the earth. If left there for too long, fae died.
“We need to split up,” Exos continued, standing and taking charge like the king he was. Normally, I’d tell him to fuck off. Today? Yeah, today I craved his leadership. Because my head was not in a good place. It was clouded with memories of death.
