“Don’t— Don’t leave me here.” I reach through the bars of the gate, but she’s already gone. I run my fingers over the empty keyhole and let out a cry.
The bubbling and churning continue behind me, calling me back. I grab the bars, trying to pull myself up, but the effort almost overwhelms me. It’s as though the Ether has had a taste of me, and now it demands more. Tendrils of magic wrap around my body like vines, pulling me back to the source.
I grip the bars tighter.
With a deep breath, I groan and pull myself to my feet.
And just as I do, the Font explodes.
44
I’m slammed against the gate by the force of the explosion. Etherlight pummels into me. For a moment, the world is awash in gold. I can’t see or feel anything else.
In the distance, there are screams again. Did the Font’s explosion impact the others? No. It’s all in my head. I put my hands over my ears, and the screams transform into dragons’ roars. They cry out by the hundreds. The very foundation of Vinguard trembles as my bones rattle.
My heart stops entirely.
I try to suck in a sharp breath, but my lungs don’t fill with air. It’s just endless magic. I’m drowning in the raw essence of life itself.
The air has been replaced entirely with Etherlight, and my body can’t handle it. My knees give out, and I slump, sliding down against the bars at my back.
Gold turns to flames. I am ablaze, inside and out. The orange-and-white fire dances across my flesh. I feel the blaze tangling my hair as though fingers are raking through it, teasing through the dark curls. Endless agony rushing through me in wave after wave of pure magic.
And then, as if sensing I couldn’t take one second more, the fire extinguishes.
I roll to the side and upturn the meager contents of my stomach. Red splatters across the hot stone, steaming instantly.Blood?Panicked, I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. The crimson streak vanishes off my skin, singed away by the Etherlight.
Is this it? Did I survive this long to die like this?
It’s getting so hard to keep myself upright. At any second, mybody will give up. I fought and survived this long for what?
Footsteps rush down the walkway. I fight to turn my head and peer through the closed iron gate.
“Lucan?” I blink, certain my mind is playing tricks on me.
Worried eyes meet mine. Lucan rushes over and slams into the gate, shaking it. The Etherlight doesn’t seem to impact him, confirming my theory that safety lies just on the other side.
“What are you doing?” I gasp. “How…”
“Hold on.” With a flash of an artificer sigil sketched messily on his hand with dirt, the lock shatters. Never has anything sounded more beautiful than that fracturing metal.
“Lucan, don’t—” I see what he’s about to do before he moves, but he does it anyway. He opens the gate and is nearly knocked back by the force of the Ether.
With gritted teeth and every muscle straining, with pain so apparent in his eyes it nearly finishes the job the Font started and tears me in two, he reaches for me, pulling me up. Arm around my shoulders, he heaves me through and slams the gate shut behind us as we tumble against the wall.
It’s instant relief.
Air—not Etherlight—fills my lungs. Skin and muscle settle back onto my bones. My head slowly stops spinning, but now it’s filled by the most splitting headache I’ve ever experienced. I still see motes of gold drifting through my vision, even as I press my eyes closed.
My bones rattle. Though I’m not cold. I finally, slowly, crack my eyes open only to be met with Lucan’s.
The hazel of his eyes seems to glow brighter, the flecks of gold in them shining in the light of the Font. Or perhaps it’s just the sparks in my vision.
His back is against the wall, which must be uncomfortable, given that he’s still in nothing but his smallclothes—which is now the only thing I can focus on.
There is so much skin.
Face-to-face, my body is flush against his. His legs are on either side of me. Lucan’s fingers dig into my back and hip, holding me up. Our eyes are locked, and nothing else exists. The pain evaporates, as though I’m melding into him.
