Gareth.
I launched myself into the air and sped back to the house, nearly crashing into Ryder, Farrin, and a detachment of Upper Army soldiers as they emerged from the front doors. I landed hard, skidding to a halt with Gareth’s name on my tongue. “What’s happened?”
“Caiathos,” Farrin said breathlessly. “I think we’ve finally calmed him down, but it was touch-and-go for a while.”
“To put it mildly, my lady,” added one of the soldiers, grimly surveying the ruined lawn.
Gareth. Gareth.I swallowed hard, forcing my mind to focus. “Can Caiathos fight?”
“Your mother thinks so,” Ryder replied. “She and Gemma are working with him now.”
“Philippa suspects that being imprisoned by Kilraith was so traumatic for his host body,” Farrin explained, “that now it’s doing everything it can to defend itself and resist Caiathos’s will.”
“Resist the will of agod, my lady?” another soldier asked. “Is that even possible?”
“A reborn god who isn’t at his full strength and has been tormented by Kilraith? Unfortunately I think it’s very possible, Lieutenant.”
I hardly heard them. There was something on Ryder’s face that I didn’t like, something that made my whole body prickle with fear.
“Where is Alastrina?” I asked. It seemed the safest way to ask—for me, if not for him.
“I can’t find her,” he replied brusquely, not quite looking at me. “That whole wing is in ruins. Three of the librarians got out before Caiathos…” He fell silent, his jaw working.
It was like the ground beneath me disappeared. I lost both my breath and my balance. My talons instinctively dug into the earth to keep me standing.
“We’ll find them,” I heard myself saying, as if it wasn’t me talking at all but someone very far away. I strode past him toward the doors. “I’ll find them. I’ll move all the rubble—I’ll blast it to pieces if I have to. Someone find Lady Fontaine!” I shouted in the general direction of the soldiers. “She’s a stone elemental, and she knows the house…”
I trailed off as the ground began to quake, a soft tremor the othersdidn’t notice. I whirled around, tracking its source to the horizon, where a dark figure loomed over the distant Mistline. The figure was small, still far away, but the shape of its wings was clear, like the sails of a massive ship, and it was getting closer every second. The long silver Mistline roiled behind it, right on its heels, like the train of a cape. The Mist wasfollowingit.
Followinghim.
Farrin came up beside me. “What is it?”
“He’s here,” I whispered, my mouth going dry. “Kilraith is here. And I don’t know how, but he’s dragging the Mist right toward us.”
A stunned silence followed my words. For a moment we were all caught in the same fist of terror. I heard Farrin’s sharp intake of breath when the disaster coming toward us became visible to her ordinary eyes.
Then the brisk clip of bootheels on stone made everyone turn back toward the house. Ryder let out a small, ragged cry.
Alastrina stood at the cracked threshold of Big Deep, hands on her hips, dust in her short black hair, and a glossy raven on each shoulder. Her blue Bask eyes glittered with gold, and even in a borrowed Upper Army uniform that didn’t quite fit, she was resplendent. Sheglowed.
“Kilraith’s here?” she said, her voice somehow deeper, sweeter, and brighter all at once. Everything about her was a more resonant version of the Alastrina I’d known. She took Ryder’s arm with a grin. “Then let’s kill him, shall we?”
Chapter 41
Ryder looked down at his sister in astonishment.
“Trina,” he whispered. “The transference worked?”
“Beautifully,” she replied. “Though Neave and I have a lot to work on together once this is all over. She’s very respectful but is also rather, ah,emphaticabout her opinions.”
“Sounds like someone else I know,” Ryder said, his eyes bright.
Alastrina looked at him keenly for a moment before pulling him into a fierce embrace. “I’m all right, little brother,” she said, an incredible tenderness in her rich new voice. “Everything’s going to be just fine, I promise you. And don’t worry about Lily,” she added. “She will heal, and she will live. And once all of this is over?” A cold smile curled her lips. “Neave and I will make sure to visit the people who hurt her.”
I could no longer contain myself. I felt wild, like I might soon combust. “And Gareth, is he all right?”
“He’s gone to look for his mother, who has disappeared, apparently, the troublesome old bat.” Alastrina took a second look at me, then touched my arm and offered me a little smile. “He’s perfectly fine, Mara. And he wasbrilliantin there. I’ve never seen a mind quite like his.”
