“Not yet. She’ll still be alive. They’ll have given her to the Pellans. You know we’re gathering as manyothersas we can to fuel their experiments. Processing takes time. If you want to free her, let’s find someone to get you inside the Pellan’s laboratories.”
Her gaze shot to mine, incredulous. “Go against the Horned Gods?”
“Is she worth it?”
A fierce look came upon her, and she nodded.
“Then we’ll do it.”
I twisted to bolt, panic blinding me, but Mela lunged forward, her hand raised to stop me. “Wait!”
“Yeah?” I silently cursed myself for mentally screaming at her to hurry and speak, because every molecule in me roared for me to leave and find Nelle now.
“Whatever is going on with you. Whatever it is you’ve got yourself into, you know you can come to me anytime, don’t you? I can help you fix it, make it right.” She couldn’t, but I gave hera nod anyway. She smiled fleetingly, a flash of white teeth, just before she added, “Gray, who’s to say you have to choose? If there are only two players in the game, only two choices, then become the third.” She made ashooingmotion with her hand, and I took it as the release she was giving me. I spun around and ran.
But as I erupted into the subway with its boisterous, chaotic sounds of life and the throng of mortals milling about the platform, her words resonated deep inside, a bell tolling deep and loud.
Become the third.
11
Graysen
Istopped for no one.
I pushed my Mustang as fast as it could go, barreling through Ascendria’s congested streets, tearing down the highway and out across open country roads like it was the Circuit de Monaco, until I roared up the winding drive to my family’s estate. Just after crossing the drawbridge into the fortress, I slammed the car to a skidding halt. Beneath my death grip, the Mustang’s steering wheel vibrated, and white smoke churned from its tires. I was out of the car, practically hurling myself free. My feet hit cobblestones hard as I burst across the courtyard in a streak of panic.
Though there were a few guards and soldiers striding toward the barracks or heading out for the night shift, the courtyard was unusually empty even for this hour. My father was abroad, my aunt away, and my brothers were still dealing with the Widowmakers on the eastern seaboard. They’d taken ourwarband with them, leaving behind a thin garrison to guard our home.
Nausea roiled inside my gut like the churning clouds above that obscured the moon in the night sky. I almost felt lightheaded with it all. I’d driven from Ascendria trying to feel Nelle out. All I could think about was what kind of sickness was ailing her, what could have made the link between us fade. I was a blur of desperation, racing up the winding steps. As I neared the top of the tower, voices carried downward. A male voice, firm yet gentle, and a woman’s voice spilling over with dread.
“Penn, you’re doing good… That’s it…”
“Nothing’s happening. There’s no change in her heartbeat. We need to try something else…anything.”
“There is nothing more we can do, Penn.”
My heart lurched as I listened to the exchange.
Those gathered at the top of the landing drew back at my thunderous approach. I barely gave them a second glance. The door to my room was open wide, and I was inside, slamming to my knees, and everything spinning through my head evaporated the moment I saw Nelle.
She lay on the floor with her head on Penn’s lap. The delicate skin around her gray eyes was bruised purple, and she could barely open her eyelids. Her chest rose and fell in erratic, shallow breaths.
“What’s happened to her?”
Me, that’s who. I knew it before asking.
But what was going on? I’d left her a week ago, and she hadn’t been ill.
Gods, could it be Zrenyth’s collar?
Soft blankets were tucked beneath Nelle’s sickly, shivering body. Low light glinted off the sweat on her pallid face and limbs, strands of her lank hair plastered to her forehead. I carefully eased her onto my lap. Against my large hands, she felt frailand could shatter with the wrong pressure. She’d lost weight in the past week. Her cheekbones were sharp, cheeks hollow, collarbones stark beneath her nightie.
That strange hum beneath my skin picked up in proximity to her, but I still couldn’t feel her the way I used to. The filaments of magic that connected us had become thin, insubstantial threads like mist, a faint, faded copy of what we once were.
A medical bag gaped wide, empty syringes and vials scattered over the carpet.
Penn pulled the stethoscope from her ears, her gaze swimming with pity. “She was slowly coming down with something after you left. At first, I thought it was to do with the malaise of her situation…” Guilt stabbed my heart and I briefly squeezed my eyes shut. “But it only got worse over the last few days.”
