Again. I struck again, moonsilver against obsidian, the sound ringing through the cavern like a bell.
A hairline crack appeared.
“Again,” Varyth gritted out. “Don’t stop.”
I didn’t.
Third strike. Fourth. Fifth. My arms burned with the effort, sweat dripping into my eyes, but I kept hitting the same spot over and over until?—
The collar shattered.
Obsidian shards exploded outward, those pulsing runes dying like extinguished stars. The pieces clattered to the ground, inert and powerless, and Varyth sucked in a breath that sounded like resurrection.
Power flooded back into him. I could feel it, the sudden surge of magic that had been dammed up behind that collar nowpouring free. Mist began to coil around his arms, his shoulders, alive and furious and absolutely devastating.
His eyes found mine, fully focused now, burning with something that made my breath catch.
His hand came up to cup my face, fingers surprisingly gentle despite the violence surrounding us. “Are you hurt?” His thumb brushed across my cheekbone, my jaw, checking for injuries.
“I’m fine, I’m not?—”
“Good.” His expression shifted, gentleness replaced by fury so fast it gave me whiplash. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Coming here. Putting yourself in danger.” His hand dropped from my face, but only so he could grip my shoulders. “You should have stayed at the castle where you were safe. Where you were supposed to be.”
Heat flared in my chest, pure, undiluted rage. “You’re joking. You’re actually?—”
“Do I look like I’m joking?” He gave me a small shake, just enough to emphasize his point. “You could have been killed. You havechildren, Isara. What the fuck would they do if something happened to you?”
“Don’t.” I shoved his hands off my shoulders, fury making my vision clear. “Don’t you dare use my children as a weapon against me. Not when you’ve been here for two days being tortured while I didn’t even know.”
“That’s not the?—”
“You don’t get to be pissed at me for coming to help you when you’re the one who was stupid enough to get captured in the first place.” I was on my feet now, standing over him, my hands clenched into fists at my sides. “And you especially don’t get to act like I’m some fragile thing that needs to be locked away for safekeeping.”
Varyth pushed himself up, wincing as the movement pulled at whatever injuries he’d sustained. “I’m not.”
“You are.” Black fire flickered along my fingers, responding to the fury in my chest. “You want to know what I was thinking? I was thinking that the man who’s been keeping my children safe was in danger. That maybe, just maybe, I could actually be useful instead of sitting around waiting to be protected.”
His jaw clenched, mist thickening around him. “That’s not?—”
“Save it.” I turned away, already reaching for the chains that bound his wrists. “We can argue about my apparently catastrophic decision-making later. Right now, we need to get these off before more of those pricks arrive.”
“I know.” He said, the words were quiet, still angry but edged with something else now. “I just—when I saw you charging in here?—”
“You what?” I demanded, yanking at the chains with more force than necessary. “Were worried? Terrified? Welcome to how I’ve felt every day since crossing the Veil.”
He was quiet for a long moment, and when he spoke again, his voice was rough. “I’m sorry.”
“For getting captured or for yelling at me?”
“Both.” A pause. “Mostly for yelling at you when you just saved my life.”
I finally got the chains loose, tossing them aside with more violence than strictly necessary. “You’re forgiven for one of those things.”
“Which one?”
