And so would I.
In a way.
Then somethingshifted.
Zander’s magic pressed into mine, not just brushing it,invadingit. His essence was all thunder and stone, cold fury and anchored weight. It wrapped around my core, not to suppress… but toreach.
Suddenly, I felt them.
Kaelith.
AndHein.
Their roars filled my head like battle drums, ancient and angry.
And they wereyelling.
Not at me.
At him.
At Zander.
I didn’t know how it was happening. I didn’t know what he’d done. But for the first time since Kaelith abandoned our link, I felt her again.
I felt herfear.
Her rage.
Zander’s grip tightened, and I saw his mouth move, though I couldn’t hear the words over the crackling magic.
But his power didn’t waver.
And somehow, through it all, he was holding metogether.
The air split with one final thunderclap, so loud it rattled the ramparts of the western wall. But the lightning no longer struck. The storm above us held, trembling, churning, but it had stopped its descent.
Because Zander had me.
His arms wrapped tight around my back and under my knees, and I felt his magic still threaded with mine, pulsing like twin heartbeats colliding beneath my skin. I couldn’t stand on my own anymore. My limbs had gone limp, my breath ragged.
Hein,I heard faintly—Hein is anchoring her mind.Kaelith’s voice echoed, clipped and strained.I will help. But do not let go.
Zander didn’t answer aloud. He just gritted his teeth and lifted me like I weighed nothing, muscles taut and jaw clenched with focus.
My storm didn’t vanish.
It bled.
The clouds twisted slower now, less like claws and more like winded beasts. The roar softened, winds still brushing against the stone, but no longer flaying it.
They were siphoning it. Zander… Hein… and Kaelith.
Pulling the fury from my veins, thread by thread.
I let out a quiet breath against his shoulder as my head lolled against him.
“I… can’t…”
