The air wavered again, and a moment later, my sister strode into view, clutching Scarven’s severed head the same way I clung to Devora. Her eyes darted frantically until she found me.
She dropped his head and staggered forward. “She’s okay?”
My Vera was back, the voice of the sister I remembered from so long ago. Regret flitted across her face, erasing the coldness of the phoenix who hungered for Scarven’s death.
I didn’t blame her. How could I? Everything Scarven said was the truth. She was the one to suffer at his hands for her entire life, never getting an ounce of freedom, never finding herself or trulyliving. He knew all the ways to goad her, all the right nerves to press. He’d always been a master manipulator.
But…she had almost killed Devora.
Both things could be true. Both things were solidly ingrained in my mind, as firm as any foundation. And as I stared at Vera inching toward us, I couldn’t help but turn protectively in front of Devora.
I nodded. “She’s okay. There was a way around the bond Scarven had with her. It’s over, Vera.”
Those three words made tears swim to the surface of hergolden eyes. Her shoulders slumped as her chin fell to her chest, and I could practically feel the weight of her twenty-one years of life settling over her.
When she looked back up, I held my arms out on instinct. There was a brief moment of hesitation before she barreled into me and clung to my sweaty, blood-soaked leathers, whispering apology after apology.
Something snapped into place in my chest. I clutched her tighter, hardly remembering what it was like to hold her.My family. My little sister, finally—finally—free from her cage. How could I fault her for what she’d been through? For the decisions she made? Fates knew I had done worse.
“I don’t blame you, Vera. It’s okay,” I said. “I love you. He’s gone for good.”
No matter what future obstacles we’d have to overcome, what nightmares would linger in the backs of our minds…thatwould never change.
It was over.
Arowyn cleared her throat behind me. “There’s another problem with your plan, Nox.”
80
Nox
“That magic-siphoning spell we told you about?” Arowyn said. “It started way down in the Hollow and has already reached the surface. Unless someone knows where that creepy Alchemist went, we don’t know how to stop it.”
I released my sister. “What are you saying?”
“It’sspreading,” Arowyn explained exasperatedly. “Quickly. Like,tooquickly. It was slow enough for Devora and me to outrace it at first, but now…” She bit her lip and glanced off toward the west, where the stables lay. “Can’t you feel it?”
It was difficult to feel anything after the events of the last few minutes, but as I looked beyond her to the battlefield, something in my magic stirred. There was a shift in the air, a different type of urgency unrelated to the mutants and the smell of bloodshed.
Something darker. Thick and pungent, hanging heavy in the night and slowly coiling around the property.
Dark magic.
“It’s bad, Nox,” Devora whispered at my side. My eyes hovered over her downturned lips and scared eyes. “It’s like the fatesprig, excepteverywhere. The second we came into contact with it, our magic was gone.”
“We have to get the others,” I said, gaze snapping to my AshenOrder still fighting in the courtyard, unaware of Scarven’s death and the new threat lurking around the corner.
“Wait, Nox, I’ve been thinking about it, and?—”
Arowyn tried to get my attention, but I was already halfway to the battlefield. My people had certainly held their own against the swarm of mutants and Scarven’s men. But as we got closer, I no longer saw clashing swords and whirling magic.
The remaining mutated Veridians stood in the aftermath, smoke and the occasional crackle of flames wavering in the air. Weapons hung at their side as they glanced at one another in confusion. One half tiger, half antelope had its horns locked with the unmistakable form of Kieran’s white stag. It dropped its head and stumbled backward, shifting into a frightened teenage boy.
A boy. Barely older than I’d been when Scarven captured me.
Thatwas who he had fighting for him. Innocent victims who were forced into a battle they wanted no part in. Pawns in his schemes, disposable property he experimented on and sent out to do his dirty work.
Just like me.
