“It will be hard, but I think I can manage.” I force a smile.
“Exceptional, then it’s settled. In the morning you two will split off and, next we meet, you will bring me an army of spirits.”
An army… The words stick with me, enough that my cheeks burn from the effort of holding my smile. No matter what he says or does, the implication of conquest is always around him.
As long as I breathe, I will never let spirits be used for his ambitions, Aurora included.
Evander takesme to Aurora’s tent first thing in the morning. I didn’t have to ask. He rightly assumed that I would want to see her before we left.
I suspected she might be cross with me, but the air in the tent feels colder than the outside. As icy as her stare and as unflinching as the back she puts to me.
“Aurora—”
“I trusted you.”
“Aurora, please?—”
I take a step closer. She spins in place and spears me through with a look. I don’t dare proceed. She is the forest on a dark, cold winter solstice. When the last light has died and there is nothing that keeps the spirits of a more wicked nature at bay. She is a barrier set up by another witch that fizzles against my skin, that cautions against progressing. She is primordial strength, fate itself turning against me.
Not welcomeare the two words the whole sensation of being in her presence can be boiled into.
“I told you of my powers, of my past. I taught you how to harness your gifts and mine together. I…I introduced you to one of my oldest and dearest friends and you used up so much of her power that now she must lie dormant to recover.” Her voicecracks and she looks away, as if frustrated by the betrayal of her mortal body showing how deep her wounds are cut. “You’re just like the rest of them, in the end. All you care for is yourself. All you want is your own benefit.”
“Aurora…” All I can manage is a weak whisper of her name. Silenced when she looks away, as if offended I would dare even speak it.
“And you know, Faelyn, I might have been able to tolerate it if you wanted the power for you, but to share it withhim…”
“No.” I burst forward and push past the invisible barrier she’s tried to place between us. I take both her hands in mine, which brings her attention, and her ire, back to me. I speak before she can this time. “Not with him. Never for him. I will die a thousand painful deaths before I let him use my powers or any spirits. I vowed as much last night.”
My conviction stills her. The air shifts. She’s inquisitive. But still skeptical.
“I don’t blame you for what you thought of me, not after all you’ve been through,” I start. “And I know how it looks—how I wanted it to look.”
“Wanted it?” she repeats softly.
“Yes. I…I was going to be caught in a compromising position. Which was my fault, and I’m sorry.” I can’t bring myself to tell her that the “position” involved Evander. “I had to think quickly, and I thought that if I showed Conri Brundil, he would realize my merit and give me a longer leash. Which would, in turn, give us a better chance of escaping.”
Aurora withdraws her hands, folds her arms, and continues to look skeptical. But I take her silence as a good sign and continue.
“I privately asked Brundil before calling upon her, and she agreed. I let her choose her initial display of power and what I asked her for was a gift that I wanted to give to the lykin. Evenif we hate Conri, we can still help the lykin, especially if it also benefits us.”
“That bastard,” she mutters under her breath.
“What?”
“Conri said it was all his idea.” Aurora sighs heavily and rests her forehead in her palm a moment. “I should know better.”
“It’s easy to get sucked into his aura.” I touch her arm lightly in reassurance. She attempts a smile, but it vanishes quickly. “In any case, it all worked. Conri is going to allow me to go off so that I can ‘find other spirits.’”
“You’re…leaving?” Her tone is wounded in a completely different way and it nearly cleaves my heart in two.
“I’m going ahead.” My voice drops to a whisper. “I’m going to figure out the best path for us. I’ll use what you taught me and what I know to find whatever spirits I can that might help us. Not for him, but for our escape. I’m going to take extra supplies than what Evander and I need—Conri already agreed since the pack will be restocking soon in Gualla. I’ll set up supply caches for us along the way, hidden. I’ll make some shelters so we don’t have to slow down to make them later. Then, when I meet back with you in Den, and decide when the moment is right, we’ll be ready to leave.” My words speed up with excitement toward the end.
Her eyes widen slightly. “You really think we can escape him?”
“Evander already showed me the way. Or, some of it… We’re going west, to the elves. Once we’re behind their wall, we’ll be safe from Conri and I’ll beg the Human Queen to help us. We just have to get there. And if I can give us a head start on supplies and a path for our journey then we’ll have all the better chance of outrunning Conri. I know he’s going to chase us, but we’ll be one step ahead.”
“And once I’m out of the lykin borders… I’ll be that much closer to freedom,” she whispers. Without warning, Aurora yanks me close, throwing her arms around my shoulders. I readily return the embrace, clutching behind her back. Aurora draws a shaky breath. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
