My sister is the only family I have left, and I just sent her away.
I’m the only familyshehas left, and I just sent her away.
I gave Jax that pendant. I should’ve given it to my sister.
The queen reaches out and grips my hand. Her eyes are glittering, too. I draw a shuddering breath and look at her.
Before I can say anything, she says, “They’ll be safe. Nora will make sure of it. I know she will.”
That almost makes me burst into tears— but there’s no time for emotion now. We have to act before the Truthbringers get too far.
The queen is already turning to Tycho. “I’m worried we’ve waited too long.”
He nods, then looks to the others. “Find your places to hide. We don’t know how long it’ll be.”
Igaa’s voice carries through the trees.—For the humans, it may be slow.She pauses.—For Xovaar and the scravers, it will be quick.
I don’t know if that’s good news or bad news. But either way, we’ve been given our orders, so I move.
CHAPTER 30
TYCHO
After hearing Jax’s hammer for more than an hour, the sudden silence in the lane between the bakery and the forge is shocking. I don’t think it’s ever been this quiet anytime I’ve been here— and that counts the spring afternoon I spent with Jax and Grey, stripping weapons and armor off the dead bodies of Truthbringers.
If there’s any spot of relief, the rain has mostly stopped, leaving only the occasional droplet of water to fall from a branch. The remaining humidity hangs in the air like a cloak to weigh on me as I head for the barn. The sun seems to be trying to break through the clouds overhead, but it’s a losing battle for now.
I hope that’s not an omen.
Then again, we have a handful of fighters and barely more than a handful of arrows. It probably is.
When I ease into the barn, Mercy nickers to me from where we’ve tethered the horses, and I wish I had a caramel to give her. Malin tacked the remaining horses earlier so they’d be saddled and ready in the event we needed them, but ever since Alek mentioned fire, I’ve beenworried the Truthbringers would set the barn ablaze as soon as they got here.Sweet Mercy.My fingers are itching to strip her gear and set her loose.
But I have more important things to do. Instead of heading for Mercy, I head for the shadowed corner where Igaa stands over Nakiis.
He doesn’t even look at me.
Fine.
“Are you ready?” I say to her.
“Yes,” she says.
“No,” says Nakiis.
I ignore him completely. “Tell me what to do.”
“I saidno,” Nakiis growls. A cool breeze stirs up the straw littering the floor of the barn, and ice begins to form on the exposed steel.
“Sit,” Igaa says to me, ignoring him. “Allow your magic to find the air.”
I sit and close my eyes. At first, it’s hard to find my magic, because I’ve spent days trying to tamp it down to prevent discovery. But every inch of my body aches, and my shoulder flares with pain every time I inhale, so as soon as I relax, the sparks and stars surge in my blood.
“More,” says Igaa, and I hear her shift in the straw. “You need to allow the magic to leave yourself. Send it into the air, where it can find mine.”
“No,” Nakiis says. “Stop this.”
“No,” I say.
