“Please,” I whimper. “Please don’t hurt her.”
“Children are sacred. We do not harm them.” She lays a hand over the queen’s. “Pull the magic from the air.” Ice forms on the leaves around us, and I shiver. My tears freeze on my cheeks. Nora’s blood crystallizes along her jaw.
Magic.Every beat of my heart wants to rebel against it. I’ve spent my entire life fearing it.
But I can’t. Not when it’s Nora.
“There,” the creature says, satisfied. “You feel the magic more clearly now, Your Majesty.”
Those stars are still flaring in my vision, and I’m worried I’m going to pass out. As I watch, the wound on Nora’s chest begins to close, and I gasp.
From behind us, a man says, “You don’t need me at all.”
The queen lets out a sound that’s almost a sob. “Oh, Grey. I’ve never needed anyone more.”
Grey. The king.
I’d take a moment to examine that, but Nora coughs, and I blink away the stars to look down at my sister.
She’s peering up at me. “Cally-cal? I’m so cold. Can we go home yet?”
CHAPTER 60
TYCHO
There’s an arrow through my shoulder, but I’ve managed to get to my knees. I feel like I’m going to be sick in the leaves. The queen is alive, off to my left, helping little Nora, whose injuries are more pressing. I think I’ve heard the king’s voice, so I know he’s still alive.
We’re surrounded by bodies. I haven’t seen Jax.
I put my good hand against the leaves, then move to shove myself to my feet.
Before I can, one of the scravers stops in front of me. I barely have time to recognize Nakiis before he wrenches the arrow right out of my shoulder.
It’s so unexpected and so painful that I go to my knees again. This time Idovomit in the leaves.
Stars flare in my blood, but they’re slower than before, sluggish to heal the injury from the Iishellasan steel. I’m coughing and trying to stop when a cold wind sweeps through the clearing, Nakiis lending his magic to mine. The scraver says, “Come now. Even your king did not do that when I pulled his arrow.”
“Oh, that makes me feel better,” I say huskily. “Thank you.” The air is ice cold and full of the scravers’ magic, and I inhale deeply. I can barely think past everything that’s happened, but I need to find Jax.
A gauntleted hand appears in my line of vision. “That doesn’t mean I didn’t want to,” says Grey.
I hesitate, then take his hand to pull myself to my feet. “Grey. Grey, I need to find—”
But then I stop short, because Jax is right there beside him. There are blisters on his hands and blood on his cheeks and his silky hair is a tangled mess, but that’s all I notice before I ignore the pain in my shoulder to throw my arms around his neck.
“You’re alive,” I say, and I feel a bit breathless. “You’re alive.”
“I’m alive,” he says, and his voice wavers as if he’s surprised to hear it, too.
I only hold him for a moment before I pull back to examine him more closely. “Where are you hurt? Tell me.”
“I’m not.” He shakes his head fiercely as if he has to convince himself. “I’m not hurt.”
“No one got close,” says the king. He nods down at Ander’s body, which I now see has an arrow protruding from his neck. “He even took out that one, Tycho.”
My eyes widen, and I wrap my arms around Jax’s neck again. “Iknewyou were a good shot.”
He laughs breathlessly against my shoulder, but there’s no humor to it. “I’m sure it’ll do me a lot of good when I’m locked up for treason.”
