Rose rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You lookhappy. And not that fake-happy, ‘oh, I’m so charming’ business.” She twirled a finger at me.
“I don’t know if I should be offended or not.”
Patting my shoulder, she said, “Deflect all you want. How did that even happen, anyway? The last thing I saw was you hauling her off to Drakorum, kicking and screaming.”
“I don’t know.” I tracked Devora’s red hair as she made her way back to us, my chest warming at the sight. “Some things you just can’t explain. I seem to remember you not having the fondest feelings for a certain half Shifter in the beginning,” I said with a grin.
“Yeah, well,” she shrugged, “the tail does it for me.”
“Do I even want to know what you’re talking about?” Devora asked as she approached and handed me a drink.
“Oh, nothing important,” Rose said, and the three of us clinked our glasses together. “So, I think I figured out something that can help you, Nox.”
I instantly jerked to attention. “For Vera?”
Rose nodded. Beckoning us to follow her, she led Devora and me to a small alcove by the exit. She slipped something onto her tongue and muttered a spell. I felt it stretch in the air like a bowstring pulling tight, then it settled into place. The cacophony of the rest of the ballroom faded into a hush.
“Silencing charm,” she said. “Anyway, I studied my father’s old Grimoire some more and found a weaker form of a compulsion spell. It’s for making people compliant in states of distress, not taking away their control completely like what Scarven’s doing,but it’s close enough to the principles.” She brushed a long strand of hair behind her ear as she hurried through her explanation.
“I used a simple breaking spell as a base, then added a couple charms to counteract the ingredients my father listed. Plus your blood. That acted as a binding agent to strengthen it.” Rose fished in the pocket of her burgundy dress. After a moment, she pulled out a tiny black pouch.
When she shoved it in my hand, I carefully undid the strings and opened the top. Inside was a small, pearl-shaped red bead, barely the size of my fingertip. It radiated a faint glow, pulsing warmth that reached the tip of my nose.
“What is it?” Devora asked, leaning over to peer inside.
“Get Vera to ingest this, and it should break the compulsion long enough for you to get her away from Scarven,” Rose said.
I clutched the black pouch to my chest, gazing at it as hope blossomed inside me. “Thank you, Rose,” I murmured. “I don’t know how to repay you for this.”
She smiled. “Just don’t die.” The humor faded from her face as she raised an eyebrow. “And stop keeping secrets from us. I could’ve helped you with this long ago, if you’d only asked.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I know. You’re right, and I’m sorry. I promise to never doubt the all-powerful mind of Rose Wolff again.”
“That’s more like it.” She reached out to pat both Devora and me on the arm. “Please, tell us if?—”
She cut herself off and looked behind us to the party still raging silently at my back. I whirled around, muscles tense and waiting.
Devora gasped.
Rose dropped the silencing charm, and sounds came back with awhoosh. A couple of surprised screams rang out as a new figure materialized in front of us.
Arowyn.
Panic flared through me when she locked eyes with me and crashed to her knees. Her face was so pale and gaunt, she looked like a ghost.
“Arowyn!” I dashed forward and caught her before she hit her head on the marble. “Did you just stride all the way from Drakorum?”
“Silas—” Her voice was ragged, her breaths labored as she tried to speak. “Silas…is dead.”
My heart dropped. My entire body went numb as a ringing formed low in my ears. But in my chest, my dragon half roared—a mournful howl of disbelief.
“He—he broke the wards,” Arowyn forced out. Her eyes fluttered shut. “He’s there. At the Keep. Scarven is here.”
58
Devora
Silas is dead.
