He plunged the needle into my neck, and the world went black.
45
Nox
“She still hasn’t responded.”
“She probably just fell asleep, Nox. It’s late,” Tessa assured me.
“But we were in the middle of a conversation.”
“Thenperhapsshe doesn’t hang off every word you say. You’re not as riveting as you think you are.”
I glared at my third. I knew Tessa was trying to ease my anxiety about Devora’s sudden silence, but it wasn’t working.
Plus, I didn’t know what she was talking about. I was incredibly riveting.
“Believe it or not, I tend to agree with Tessa on this,” Kieran said from the couch in the workshop.
Tessa raised an eyebrow. “Well, would you look at that.”
“You cannot simply go bursting into Scarven’s manor on a whim,” Kieran continued, propping an ankle on top of his other knee.
“Especially since your magic hasn’t come back,” Tessa added.
“You’ve both made your point, thank you,” I muttered. I ran my fingers through my hair, my eyes drifting down to the parchment every few seconds. Waiting. Pleading. Hoping for a response.
N
That was the last thing she sent. Then, nothing.
Tessa was right. And ithadtaken me a while to respond right before this. She could’ve just gotten tired of waiting and fallen asleep. It was late, and she’d had a long few days.
Kieran stood and walked to my desk, resting his hands on top of it before gently saying, “She isnotSage. She’s going to be fine.”
I let out a breath. She may not be Sage, but Scarven was still Scarven.
“Let’s just wait until tomorrow, okay?” Tessa said. “That was the plan. She checks in every evening, and she already checked in tonight. We don’t need to sound the alarms yet. Once we do, there’s no going back.”
“I know this is difficult,” Kieran said when I anxiously twisted the ring on my little finger. “You bear the weight of so much, Nox. You feel that every decision is on your shoulders, and yours alone. If you decided to rain fire down on Scarven’s mansion this very night, I would go with you to the end. But you must realize the precarious nature of this mission. If we react rashly, we could tip it over the edge.”
I met his gaze, my talon-less finger tapping against my desk. He was right. He was one of the only ones who could force rational words through my chaotic mind. I gave a quick nod, and both his and Tessa’s shoulders relaxed.
But as they turned to leave, I said, “There’s only so much more waiting I can do. On any of it.” I slowly got to my feet, fists resting on top of the desk. “A storm is coming, and we have to be ready to face it.”
Tessa’s lips thinned into a resolute line. “We will be, Nox. We will be.”
I tossedand turned in my bed, fighting sleep and the nightmares that awaited me. I eventually gave up and, like most nights, sought solace in my blocks of wood. But my fingers were clumsy. I nicked my skin countless times, watching the blood bead and drop to the floor as my slow magic started to come back.
It had been over twenty-four hours since Devora’s last message. The fatesprig was starting to wear off, and my powers trickled in little by little. Like hot oil dripping through my veins, filling the cracks its absence had left.
And it was impatient. Restless. Waiting.
My dragon half yawned somewhere deep within me, slowly rising from the dead. The ghost of talons scraped against my mind, its maw opening as a fire burned low in my gut.
It craved retribution. It craved bloodshed. And it cravedher.
Here in these dark, quiet hours, I could let that part of myself admit my own desires. Admit that she was no longer just another member of the Order. Admit that she had come to mean something more to me.
