We all swiftly backed away from the table.
“Whoa, Milo. You can’t just whip out your explosives like that,” Arowyn said.
Milo gave her a bland look. “It’s not activated. I haven’t said the spellorlit it on fire. This is just a rock right now.”
“Is it instantaneous?” I asked, examining the crystal.
“When we tried it, there was about a fifteen second delay as it soaked up the force of the fire and then exploded.” Milo shrugged. “It was enough time for us to get to safety, although Silas did land flat on his back,” he said with a chuckle, adistant look in his eyes. It quickly faded as his shoulders slumped. “That was a much smaller scale, though. It covered maybe twenty feet. It could’ve taken down a small house, but not something like a weapon’s forge.”
“But itcould,” I pressed.
Milo rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, I could get it there. But that kind of power…you’d need much longer than fifteen seconds to get away in time.”
“If only you knew a Strider. Oh, wait,” Arowyn said, quirking an eyebrow. “Say your spell, give me the stone, and I’ll light it on fire and stride out of there. Problem solved. Next?”
“We need to see what kind of defenses he has over the place before barging in,” I pointed out. “And before you start volunteering yourself for every task, Arowyn, you literallyjustdepleted all your energy to warn us about the attack. I’m not about to let you stride across the province and back without your full strength.”
The Strider twisted her lips but didn’t argue. For all of her sarcastic jokes, she still looked exhausted. Her skin was paler than usual, and deep circles hung beneath her eyes.
“If we leave first thing tomorrow morning, we can beat the shipment,” Everett said. “It only takes a little over a day to get to the Guardian Range. That gives us half a day to scout. I can illusion a couple of us to sneak into the forge and check it out undetected.”
“So that’s Arowyn and Everett in for Operation Guardian Forge.” Tessa looked at everyone expectantly. “Some of us should stay behind. The Keep isn’t safe anymore.”
Milo swallowed. “I’ll stay. Someone needs to try and get Silas’s wards back up. Especially if we think they’ll keep coming back forher.” His gaze flickered to Devora, his jaw clenching briefly before looking away.
“Don’t you need to activate the explosive charm thing?” Arowyn asked.
“I can do that before you go. Just don’t set it on fire until you’re ready,” hewarned.
“I’m going,” I said, straightening my spine. “Tessa, Kieran, you stay back with Milo and Devora. Protect the refugees and make a plan for if we need to evacuate. Arowyn and Ev?—”
“I’m going with you,” Devora interjected, facing me with those fierce, determined eyes.
I sighed. I saw that coming. “No, you’re not.”
“Yes, Iam.”
Kieran raised an eyebrow. Tessa looked between us and said, “This sounds like something the two of you need to work out.”
I kept my gaze trained on Devora, refusing to break her stare. “Go. Get some rest,” I said to the others. “Arowyn and Everett, meet me here at sunrise.”
One by one, they slipped out of the workshop, leaving the space silent and strained.
“You can’t stop me, Nox,” Devora finally said.
I let out a low chuckle. “Trust me, darling. I think I can.”
She crossed her arms. “I thought we’d moved past this. What was all of that about ‘a wise woman once told me I can’t keep forcing others to sit out?’”
“Yes, well, that wasbeforewe found out he experimented on you.” I stepped toward her. “He said it made you ten times more powerful. Moredeadly. Whatever he did couldhurtyou, Devora.”
“He already did!” she shouted, chest heaving. I stopped in my tracks. “Healreadyhurt me, Nox. In more ways than you can understand.” Her head shook as she took another ragged breath. “This ismychoice. I can do things nobody else on the team can. I canhelp. Don’t you believe in me?”
I ground my teeth together. Of course I believed in her. She was the most incredible woman I’d ever met. That wasn’t the problem.
Now that Scarven and his Alchemist knew of my feelings for Devora, every single step would be a trap. Scarven would stop at nothing to rip her from me, the way he had my father. Vera. My mother. Sage.
I was selfish. I had already signedDevora’s fate by falling for her, but I wouldn’t be the one to lead her straight to her death. Even if she hated me for it.
