I realized with glaring clarity that this was my purpose all along. How many years had I spent talking about a better future? About ending the injustice and violence caused by my brother? How many times had I claimed everything I did was for those I loved?
I wouldn’t accept a future in which I lived while someone else sacrificed their life for me.
I pointed to the Alchemist Milo had trained on activating the charm in the fire quartz. “You still have the quartz?” The young man nodded. “Good. Do the spell and give it to me. Everyone else, your roles are the same—get to safety and stay as far from the property as possible.”
Rose blinked, then narrowed her eyes. “Why does it sound like you’re about to play the hero, Nox?”
“I’m notplayinganything.” I took the fire quartz and a piece of flint, rubbing the rough, warm stone with my thumb. “I’m protecting my own.”
An uproar broke out. So many voices blended together that I couldn’t pick them apart.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Nox, you’renotgoing down there.”
“Wait just a moment and let us figure out a different plan?—”
“You’resuchan idiot. Do you really think we’d be okay with this?”
I shook my head and took a few steps back, needing to clear my mind. “This isn’t adebate.” I forced an air of cold finality into my voice. “I vowed to lead you through this, and that’s what I’m doing. The longer we stay here, the longer this curse has time to spread. You need to go.”
Kieran stepped forward. “You expect us to stand by and act like we don’t care? You are not simply ourleader, Nox. You’re our friend. Our brother.”
I balled my hands into fists at my sides. “And would you not do the same for me?”
“In a heartbeat!” he exclaimed, glaring back at me.
“Then what’s the difference? Why is it so wrong for me to do this, if any of the rest of you would take my place? Why should I let one ofyougo instead?”
Kieran swallowed hard, nostrils flaring as his jaw clenched. But he remained silent.
“Nox, please,” my sister said, and heat flared at my back. When I turned to meet her gaze, her eyes sparked with flames. “Letmego. I’m strong. If you tell me what to do, maybe I have a better chance of?—”
“Absolutely not.” I was shaking my head before she even finished her sentence. “You’re finally free, Vera.Youof all people deserve to start over. To live the life you never got to have.” I gripped her hands, so small in my own. Just like when she was younger. “What kind of brother would I be if I sent you off to die?”
She squeezed my fingers. “I just got you back,” she whispered. “Please don’t go.”
My lips tilted up into a sad smile. “If not me, then who?”
Her eyes flitted behind me to the people she’d never met, but who had risked everything to come save her and countless others. Then her gaze strayed to Everett at her side, who had been silently attached to her hip since the moment she came back to herself.
I knew what she was thinking. There was no right way to condemn someone to their death. No way to offer someone else in my place.
Vera threw her arms around my neck and pulled me close, infusing me with her warmth. I closed my eyes and rested my chin on her shoulder. Her freedom was the most important thing. She would get tolive. She would get to dream and wish and love whoever she wanted. That was the only ending I could’ve asked for.
At least I’d done one thing right.
“Go get Mama,” I whispered. “She’s waiting for you in Tenebra. Everett knows the way.” I kissed her cheek before backing away and taking a deep breath.
My dragon half recoiled in disgust when something dark flooded my nostrils. My magic was slow and tired, no longer a vibrant pulse. All around us, dark wisps of black and red filtered through the air in a fog, licking at our skin like it wanted to taste us.
“It’s coming from the west,” Arowyn said, squinting toward the end of the property where the entrance to the Hollow lay. “The spell is spreading faster.”
It was a gradual suffocation. An infection working its way through our systems, pushing and pulling at our powers.
“We’re out of time,” I said curtly. “You know your orders.”
Leo took Rose by the arm, but she paused and reached out to me. “There has to be another way,” she murmured, her green eyes holding so much sadness. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned with Alchemy, there’salwaysanother way.”
