Devora. My misery pooled and formed itself into resolve, like liquid silver solidified in fire.
Arowyn stared down the steps. “This was the only thing I could do, Nox.”
“Where did you take us?” I growled.
“You’re in the Hollow. There’s this spell Mortep cast,” she said. “Magic can’t exist down there. It’s siphoned out the second you cross the boundary.”
I flexed my hands at my sides, wishing I could feel the imprint of my claws. “I don’t care, Arowyn,” I gritted out as I stepped onto the stones leading aboveground. “I need to find her.”
The instant my feet reached the surface, magic flooded back into me like a dam had broken. I looked down in shock. My dragon was back, as if it had never left.
Arowyn stopped me with a hand to my chest. “Magic can’t exist down there,” she repeated. “Thebondcan’t exist.”
I blinked again. My lips formed her words, saying them back to her slowly. “The bond can’t…”
“She’s alive, Nox. Devora is alive.”
A buzzing sounded low in my ears. “I—I don’t understand.”
“It’s some sort of siphoning spell. Mortep casted it when we scouted out where to set the explosive charm,” Arowyn explained, the words tumbling out of her faster than my muddled mind could keep up. “It takes away our magic. I’ve been bringing the mutants down here, and it cures them of his magic. I thought it might work on the bond too. It was a crazy hunch, but?—”
“Take me to her,” I demanded, barely registering her story. All I could hear was “she’s alive.”
I had to see for myself. I had to get the image of her head cleaved from her bodyout of my mind. My control was hanging by a thread.
Arowyn abruptly shut her mouth and nodded. When she grabbed my arm, the ground disappeared for a heartbeat before we landed back in the field.
At first, there was nothing. My dragon thrashed with hopelessness beneath my skin. But then?—
A body slammed into me, the scent of pomegranates and sunshine enveloping us. My hand immediately gripped the nape of Devora’s neck and slid into her hair. Was she really here? Was thisreal?
“Nox,” she murmured, and the sound broke me.
My other hand crushed into her back, pulling her as tightly into me as possible. I closed my eyes and breathed her in. I didn’t realize how badly I was shaking until her small hands on my back steadied me.
She was alive. She washere, whole and soft and safe.
And mine.
“What happened?” she asked, her voice still weak. “Where did you go? Where’s Scarven?”
“Arowyn.” That was the only word I could get through the tightness of my throat, my relief so all-consuming, it clogged everycell.
Devora pulled back, studying me with that little crease in her forehead, and I couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward and kiss it.
Swallowing hard, I finally said, “Arowyn strode us to—to the Hollow. Something about a spell, and our magic…” I shook my head, thoughts still fuzzy.
But comprehension lit Devora’s face. “Is Scarven…is he?—”
Next to us, Arowyn made a squelching noise and slid her thumb across her throat.
Devora reached for her own neck with a look of alarm. Her normally bright skin was ghostly pale with a hint of green still lingering in her veins. “The spell took the bond away?”
“And not a second too soon.” Arowyn whistled. “You better be glad I’m quick on my feet. I just saved your life, Shadow Wielder.”
“Arowyn, I—” My voice cracked with gratitude, and I cleared it. “I don’t know how to?—”
“Don’t mention it, Boss,” she said, offering me a small smile.
