The three of them could be prisoners now, and that will only further complicate our plans. The only reason I don’t call back the sundering dagger is that it can’t be stolen. Even if someone were to take it, they wouldn’t be able to use it. All I can do is sit with my worry or walk around the island hoping the beautiful scenery will quiet my mind.
It doesn’t.
Then I feel something like a stab, the pain so sharp and real. A vision comes to me of Marlak burning, afraid, surrounded by screams.
Something’s wrong. I know something’s wrong. I stop and take a deep breath. It could be my anxiety speaking. I reach out for our bond like I did when I tried to see if he was in danger in the castle. I reach out—and all I feel is pain, horrific pain.
I run to the house and find Azur and Lidiane sitting in the kitchen.
“Azur, please,” I mutter, breathless because of the tension in my chest. “I’ve saved your life.”
He frowns. “What?”
“Give me your blood.”
“What’s wrong?” Lidiane asks.
“Marlak’s in danger.” I hate to say those words, to feel them as true inside me. “I have to rescue him.”
Azur gets up. “Astra, if you go there, you’ll become the Witch King’s slave, especially if you use my blood. It’s poisoned.”
“I don’t care.” I pull a dagger. “If you won’t give it to me, I’ll take it.”
He narrows his eyes. “Don’t even try.”
“I’m begging you!” My voice is a coarse scream. “You owe me.”
“I’m not going to send you to your death.”
“I don’t care!” I run toward him, dagger in hand, but he pushes me away with a soft blast of air.
He yells, “I’ll make you faint, Astra, if you don’t stop.”
“I’ll kill you if you don’t help me! I’ll kill you.”
This is not working. He’s too stubborn. But I need to get to Marlak. Lidiane is staring at us both with wide eyes, perhaps unsure who to support. Lidiane, who knows none of Azur’s secrets.
I glare at him. “If you don’t give me your blood, I’ll…” I glance at Lidiane and back at him, hoping he takes the hint. “Oh. I will.”
He wrinkles his nose in disgust, but takes a spoon from a table, punctures his palm with a knife, then makes a drop fall on the spoon.
“There,” he says. “If you love death so much, go for it.”
Lidiane places a hand between me and the spoon. “Astra…”
“I have to go,” I say, then look at Azur. “You didn’t hesitate to go to the castle for her. Don’t judge me for doing the exact same thing you did.”
I take the spoon and drink the blood.
“There’s a difference,” he says. “And you might not even be able to transcend to the Shadow Lands.”
“It seems that the Witch King is very good at pulling you. Why wouldn’t he pull your magic?”
Azur crosses his arms. “And that’s the problem.”
Lidiane’s staring at me as if I was about to jump into my grave. “Astra, do you need anything? Talk to us. We can plan a way to make it work.”
My eyes are misty with tears as I shake my head. “I can’t delay. Not even a second.”
