Vera froze. She blinked up at me once, twice…and then her entire body convulsed. Magic pulsed through the air, violent and bitter on my tongue. My brow pinched in horror as herskinshook—not her muscles, but the actual skin.
Her veins grew darker with the same blackness that bulged out of Scarven’s mutant experiments, but this time mixed with gold instead of red. I watched, refusing to let go of her, as the black and gold pushed beneath her skin until iterupted.
Magic oozed from her like oil, black shadows leaking from her flesh and pouring into the ground. I kept holding on to her as she trembled with wave after wave of dark magic exiting her body. She let out a shriek that turned into a mournful bird’s song, and the sound splintered my heart.
Then she went slack in my arms.
Fear shot through me. I strained to hear the sound of her heartbeat, weak but steady in her chest.
“Vera?” I whispered frantically, placing her on the ground. “Vera, can you hear me?”
Another figure rushed over. Everett’s hand shook as he reached for her. “What happened to her?” His voice cracked, full of raw emotion.
“What happened to her?” His voice was raw, cracked, full of more emotion than I’d ever heard from the Illusionist.
I didn’t say anything. I simply waited, my hope draining out like the sludge of magic that drained from her body.
Something grazed my knee, and I looked down.
Her finger flinched. The tip of it brushed my knee again, and then she gave a shuddering gasp.
Her eyes flew open to reveal that bright, beautiful, golden light, void of the emptiness that had taken her captive.
“N—Nox?” she murmured.
My heart soared. I gripped her shoulders as a tear slipped down my nose. “It’s me, Vera. It’s me. You’re safe now.” I pulled her into my chest and repeated the words over and over until they became unintelligible.
“Nox, I—I’m so sorry,” she said with another gasp. “I almost killed you. I ki—killed so many people—” She cut herself off and clutched her dirty-blonde hair in her hands.
“No, you didn’t,” I pressed. “None of that was you. It was all him. It’salwaysbeen him. But you’re free now, and he can’t get to you ever again.”
Her eyes were still frantic, golden tears lining the lids. “But I—I remember it all. It wasme, Nox. I still—I still did those terrible things—” She looked down at her shaking hands, and I wondered if she was picturing them covered in blood.
I went to reach for her again, but before I could, different hands replaced mine.
Everett sucked in a breath as his fingers traced a path along her jaw. Slowly, so slowly, she followed his guide and turned her head to face him.
I had no clue what was happening. My mind still refused to wrap around the fact that Everett knew my little sister—that he wasin lovewith her. But I watched, transfixed, as Vera’s eyes searched his, that crease at her forehead deepening even further.
Her lips parted on a ragged exhale. “Swift?”
It was like the clouds had parted to reveal the sun on Everett’sface. “It’s me, Songbird,” he whispered. He cupped her face in his hands. “I’m so sorry. I wanted to come back for you. I tried for so long, but you?—”
“He moved me,” she croaked out. “Right after you—after you left. I thought he…” Tears spilled from her as she gripped Everett’s wrist. “I thought you were dead. Mortep told me you weredead.”
“No, no, sweetheart. Please don’t cry.” Everett’s husky voice broke as he collected her in his arms, and she buried her head in his shoulder. “I’m right here, Songbird. I’m not going anywhere.”
A beat passed before I said, “You two”—I pointed between them—“have a lot of explaining to do.”
Vera twisted away from Everett and threw herself at me, embracing me in a hug so tight, I thought she was going to pop my head off.
“I missed you, big brother,” she breathed into my neck.
“I missed you so much, Vera.” I couldn’t believe she was here. For the first time in nineteen years, we were both free.
Almost.
She broke away, determination ringing those golden eyes. But the fire didn’t wipe away the pain, the gaunt cheeks, the hollowness from an entire life of torment and captivity.
