His friends were right. He needed sleep. The moment he collapsed onto his bed, he drifted into darkness.
She was waiting for him, on their beach, staring out at the horizon in front of him.
It wasn’t unusual. He’d had dreams of her since the Centennial. But when she turned around, she wasn’t smiling like she usually was. Her eyes were wide. There was a mark on her forehead, like something had been seared into it.
Her hair was ragged. Her clothes were filthy. She looked like she had been imprisoned.Tortured.
“Oro,” she gasped, and the word was filled with such relief, he knew,he knew, this was no ordinary dream. She was really here somehow.
Oro’s first thought was how relieved he was to finally see her—and that she wasalive. But then horror struck him—he had fought off sleep for days using the Threads of Time. He had been trying to help her, but now, he realized she might have been waiting for him, in a place they could communicate.
Before he could say a single word, her arms were around him. She was warm and solid and real. Slowly, afraid that he would wake up if he moved too quickly, he raised his arms to hug her back. He could feel her tears seeping into his shirt. She shook her head against his neck. “I didn’t—I didn’t think I’d see you...”
As much as he wanted to hold her forever, he gently pulled away to study her face and the dried blood he now noticed running downher temple. “Isla, what’s happening? Why did you break the connections between us?”
Her look was sharp. “Because I don’t want to give Cronan more than he already has.”
Oro’s heart stopped as his worst fears and suspicions were confirmed. Cronan had Isla.
“He’s trying to break my mind and turn me into a weapon,” she said, her grave expression shifting into one of fear. Oro put a hand on her cheek as her eyes welled with tears. “I’ve been trying to hold him off, but—” Her voice cracked, and Oro pulled her in again. Her eyes closed at his touch. “He’s so strong. He got in. And I’m...I couldn’t—”
Oro had never felt so helpless. This was his worst fear realized—she needed him and he wasn’t there. But maybe he could help be her light, just as she had been his during some of his darkest moments.
“You’re stronger,” he said, ducking his head to look straight in her green eyes.Those eyes. “You are the strongest person I know.”
She shook her head. “That’s not true.”
He raised a brow at her. “Do I lie?”
She swallowed, looking up at him. And it was almost like they were back at the Centennial, covered in dirt as they searched forest after forest for the heart of Lightlark.
He placed his hands on her shoulders, his fingers curling around them. “You’re the same woman who showed up to the Centennial without powers. You’re the same woman who ended the curses. You’re the same woman who became the ruler of two realms. You’re the same woman who opened a portal and took the biggest threat to her world out of it, without knowing where she was going, or what she would face there.”
Isla smirked. “What an idiot,” she said.
“No,” he said, fiercely, slowly lifting her chin so their eyes met again. “You’re a hero.”
That made her laugh sadly. “I’m the villain, Oro. I’m the reason so many people are dead—”
His hold tightened. “You are the reason so many more people arealive.”
She didn’t look convinced.
“You are the bravest and strongest person I have ever met,” he said. “Cronan might be in your mind, but he doesn’t know you. Not like I do. I’ve seen you rip barbs out of your back. I’ve seen you fight with two swords at once. I’ve seen you survive the unsurvivable and overcome the impossible. He has no idea what he’s going up against. But I do. And that’s how I know that I’ll see you again.”
Isla’s lip trembled as she looked up at him. He gently placed his hand against her cheek, wiping a tear with his thumb.
“And you are not alone, Isla. We’re doing everything we can to find you. We’re coming. I promise, love.”
“We?” Isla asked, brow furrowed.
“Yes, we,” Oro said. “Grim and I have been working together. We found a place that might be able to become a portal, and—”
For a moment, awe and disbelief bloomed across her face—but it quickly turned into terror. “No,” she said, and she was crying in earnest now.
Oro hurriedly brushed her tears away. He didn’t understand—he just knew he wanted to make whatever was hurting her stop. “What is it?”
She grabbed his wrists and looked up at him, her gaze steady. “Don’t.”
