Nox
Everett and Arowyn were just as horrified by this new revelation as Devora and I had been. They fired off question after question, the same ones I’d been mulling around in my mind.
“I thought you said you saw Scarven in the blast.”
“Does this mean he’s alive?”
“Are we sure he wasn’t in the cave? How else could he do that to her?”
As they spoke, one thought stood out in my mind. A terrible, selfish thought. Part of me was glad Scarven survived the explosion, because there was the tiniest possibility Vera had too. That my sister might not have died down in those caves. And that spark of hope was enough to light a fire under me.
Arowyn and I hastily packed our bags and prepared the horses while Everett applied more healing salve to Devora’s burns. “Are we ready?” I called out. I was met with a chorus of confirmation, and I pointed to Everett. “Help Devora onto her horse, and hitch Arowyn’s to yours.”
Arowyn’s pale blonde hair and pink cheeks appeared at the cave’s opening. “What am I, chopped liver?”
“You’re not coming with us,” I said, meeting her at the entrance. “We need to talk. I have a job for you, if you’re up for it.”
By the next morning,Everett, Devora, and I had made it back to the Keep. We immediately found Milo in the workshop and relayed what had happened at the Guardian Forge as quickly as we could while he took a look at what was left of Devora’s burns. I could tell she was hesitant around him after the conversation we’d overheard Everett and Arowyn having, but if the young Alchemist was bitter toward her, he didn’t show it.
A steady string of spells left his lips, accompanied by more herbs and serums than I could count. The boy looked exhausted.
I put a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve done wonderfully, Milo. We couldn’t have doneanyof this without you.”
He gave me a grim smile, then wiped his hands on his pants. The motion reminded me so much of Silas that a pang shot through my heart.
“Look, Nox, about that mark…” He looked down at Devora’s thigh, which was covered by a new pair of leggings, then averted his gaze. “I don’t know much about dark magic—you know how Silas felt about it. But I—I’ve read some books.” He twisted his lips, as if ashamed of what he was admitting. “I don’t know how it’s done. But I’ve been thinking. There are ways to—tolinkpeople, kind of. Like curses that make what happen to one person happen to another. It’s done with blood magic.”
“And you think Scarven’s Alchemist cursed Devora to link her to Scarven,” I said, putting the pieces together.
Milo nodded. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. You said he was down in the tunnels right before the explosion? And the second it was set off, Devora caught on fire.”
“Almost as if I was there,” Devora finished as she stood. She moved her injured arm back and forth, bending itat the elbow without flinching.
Milo continued, “Say Scarven got burned before he could escape. That would explain why it happened to Devora. And then he carved the letters into his own leg, knowing it would appear on hers.”
“So anything that happens to him, happens to her,” I breathed out.
“How do we break it? This curse or spell or whatever it is?” Devora demanded.
Milo rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “You can’t. Curses are…complicated. They can only be broken if the person who originally casted it banishes it, or if they die.”
“Convenient.” Everett’s husky voice sounded from across the workshop, where he’d been putting back our weapons. “Because I was going to kill Mortep, anyway.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Someone has a vendetta.”
Those dual-toned gray-and-green eyes held my stare. “You have no idea what he did in those cells, Nox. Hewilldie. And I’ll be the one to do it.”
A chill settled over the workshop. I’d never seen the Illusionist so ruthless.
It was good. We needed that.
“What if it also works the other way?” Devora suddenly asked. “What if whatever happens tomealso happens to Scarven?”
“Absolutely not.” I shook my head before she could go any further. “Don’t you eventhinkabout hurting yourself.”
She held out her hands. “I’m just saying, if we need to weaken him, shouldn’t we be using every weapon in our arsenal?”
I growled and stepped closer, my voice low and sharp. “Listen to me carefully. You are not aweapon, Devora. You are notbait. You are not amartyr. We’ll find another way.”
