The others followed, trying to keep up, but I was beyond caring about them. Beyond caring about anything except the growing emptiness where Elle should be.
“Kaelren, stop,” Peeble’s voice came, frantic. “You’re going the wrong way. They took her east, but you can’t just—”
“Then tell me where she is!” I snarled at the tiny creature now perched on my shoulder, having grown to the size of a cat during the chaos.
“I’m trying, but you’re not listening! You’re just destroying everything!”
I stopped, finally noticing the devastation behind me. A trail of dead vegetation, trees withered to husks, the ground itself cracked and wrong. The corruption wasn’t just in my marks anymore—it was leaking out, poisoning everything I touched.
“Where?” The word came out as a growl.
“East. Toward the Heartspire. But Kaelren, you can’t just charge in—”
I started moving, but Sarnyx stepped into my path.
“We need a plan,” she said, thorns extended but trembling slightly. She’d seen what I’d done to the forest. “Charging in will just get her killed.”
“Move.”
“No.”
The rage that had been building since Elle’s capture finally found a target. I had Sarnyx by the throat before she could react, lifting her off the ground. Her thorns pierced my arm, but I didn’t feel them. All I felt was rage—pure, corrupted, absolute.
“You should have stopped me from sending her off with just Peeble,” I snarled, my grip tightening. Black veins spread from where I touched her, and she gasped in pain. “You knew the lake was dangerous. You shouldhave gone with her. You should have—”
“Kaelren!” Vashael’s voice cut through the red haze. “Put her down. This isn’t helping.”
“She lost her!” I squeezed tighter, watching Sarnyx’s face turn purple. The black veins from my touch were spreading up her neck now.
Vashael’s blade pressed against my ribs. “Put. Her. Down. Or I’ll put you down.”
“Try it,” I said, and my marks pulsed with such violent light that she staggered back.
Nimor tried to grab me from behind, manifesting from shadow, but the moment he touched me, he screamed. The corruption burned him, sent him reeling back with black marks spreading across his hands.
“Someone stop him!” Bryx shouted. “He’s going to kill her!”
Then Peeble landed on my hand—the one crushing Sarnyx’s throat.
“She wouldn’t want this,” the creature said, and suddenly I wasn’t hearing Peeble’s voice but something of Elle channeled through our dying bond.“Kaelren, please. Don’t become the monster they think you are. Not for me.”
My grip loosened. Not much, but enough.
“She’s scared,” Peeble continued. “She’s in pain. The Hunt has her, and they’re taking her to Auradelle. She needs you functional, not feral. She needs you to be smart, not just strong.”
I dropped Sarnyx, who collapsed gasping. The black veins I’d left on her throat were already fading, but the memory of them wouldn’t.
“I’m sorry,” I said, but the words felt hollow. I wasn’t sorry. I wanted to destroy everything between me and Elle. I wanted to paint the realm in blood until she was back where she belonged—with me.
“That’s the corruption talking,” Peeble said. “Look at yourself.”
I looked down. The golden vines that had been beautiful just days ago—when Elle had smiled up at me from that nest of moss and flowers, when she’d told me she wanted me despite knowing our time was limited—were now black as midnight, spreading past my elbows, up my biceps. Where they met my carved marks, they twisted together into patterns that hurt tolook at. My skin between the marks was pale, almost gray, like something dead.
“We need to get to Silverpine Hollow,” Vashael said, helping Sarnyx to her feet. “There are rebels there. People who can help. Resources.”
“How long?” My voice was rough, barely controlled.
“Three days if we push hard.”
