“Farris?” Ezra’s voice wavered again, desperation thick and raw, filling the air with grief. He lifted his clawed hand, placing it carefully on her chest as if feeling for her heartbeat, holding himself tense with every shallow rise and fall.
For a long moment, he remained still, his breath catching in his throat, before he exhaled slowly, relief seeping into his posture.
“She’s alive,” he whispered, resting his forehead against her chest, his shoulders sagging under the weight of both her unconsciousness and the aftermath of what had just happened.
I stayed frozen, chest still pounding, aware of the terrifying clarity of the power I had wielded and the lives I’d broken in an instant. The silence after the storm was deafening.
Relief filled me that I didn’t kill my friend. I looked at Abram who watched me quietly. He brushed my hair from my face and smiled softly.
“Are you scared of me?” I asked.
He jerked back with confusion.
“Elowyn, you will never scare me. You could kill a thousand men and it wouldn’t change my love for you.”
He leaned in and kissed me.
“What will happen to Farris?” I asked.
“We’re not sure. But Thomas warned us that it would have to happen. Our fate was always to kill Loma and Philip,” he confessed. “The heavens punished me for not completing a duty I thought I had already. The vyrak were never meant to be here. I thought I got all of them. I told Della I did, and I was wrong.”
I nodded but looked back to Ezra as he stood and held Farris gently.
“I’m taking her home.” He looked at us.
“Ezra, I’m sorry.” I frowned.
“I’m not angry with you, Elowyn. Farris told you to do it, knowing the consequences. I won’t let her die.” He nodded with certainty. “And I promise, Philip and Loma’s souls will never know peace. I will punish them for an eternity in the cellars.”
Then they disappeared into his magic.
"The cellars?" I asked Abram.
"Ezra is the God of Souls and has special cellars in his home. He gets to decide the punishment or reward of souls when they die."
I nodded, but I felt exhausted. Abram wrapped his arm around me.
“Let’s go home.” Abram scooped me up in his arms.
Chapter 30
Elowyn
Iwas lying in bed staring at the ceiling. The quiet pressed down around me like a heavy blanket. Abram was gone, and I wasn’t sure where he was. It had been three days since he came for me, and I had been so exhausted that I hadn’t left the bed. My body still ached. Not from pain, but from everything that had happened, from everything that I’d done.
A faint creak of the floorboards made me glance toward the doorway. My heart jumped before settling when Abram appeared, smiling at me as he held up pastries and a cup of tea. His presence always seemed to fill a room, to make it smaller, safer.
“Where were you?” I asked, smiling despite the unease twisting in my chest.
“Checking on Ezra and Farris.”
My smile fell as guilt crawled up my throat, bitter and suffocating. Abram set the stuff down on the nightstand, the sound of the teacup clinking grounding me for just a moment.He sat down on the bed and brushed his fingers along my cheek, gentle and steady, as if he could erase the things I’d done.
“She’s doing better. She’s not awake yet, but her magic is increasing every day. Ezra is taking very good care of her.”
“Is he hungry? Should we take him some food?” I wanted to be useful, to make things right somehow.
“I took him some,” he reassured me softly. “Ezra is doing well, I promise. He isn't angry with you."
