Turning, I met Madrood’s gaze. If I was going to die fromthis dragon’s fire, I’d do it with a strong heart and the image of Vexxion in my mind.
Love you,I sent to him.
What is going on?he roared, his voice tinged with a touch of the panic taking hold of my mind.
He’d flit to me, but I sensed it was already too late.
Drask cawed again and darted to the right. At least I wouldn’t take him with me.
As flames licked through Madrood’s eyes and smoke churned from his nostrils . . .
. . . I closed my eyes and whispered the first spell that tumbled into my mind.
22
TEMPEST
The tick of my heart sounded much too loud for that of a dead girl. So was the ragged breathing wheezing in and out of my lungs. If I was dead, shouldn’t my stupid leg stop hurting?
I opened my eyes to find Madrood standing too close, watching me. His head tilted, and the flames died back in his eyes. Smoke still coiled from his nostrils, puffing against the front of my leathers. He wasn’t blasting me with fire—yet.
Vexxion flitted beside me, and without pausing, he wrapped me in his arms and took us to our suite. There, he lifted me and carried me over to one of the big, high-back chairs flanking the fireplace. He sat, enfolding me on his lap.
Explain,he snarled.
I told him what happened, feeling my power return to me as if it had been held back behind a filmy wall.
Describe the fae men and the woman.
I sent him an image, surprising myself with my ability to share their faces and build as if they were paintings.
His growl ripped up his throat.I know them.
I couldn’t flit. I couldn’t do magic. They did something to keep me from using my power.Like Selitta had in the woods.
This one time, yes.Death tore through his voice.
I didn’t need to ask what he’d do to them.
I already knew.
When I steppedoutside our suite later, dressed for dinner and heading toward Brenna’s suite, I overheard Vexxion speaking to someone on the landing below. I walked over to lean against the rail.
I wasn’t spying.
Alright, I was.
“Walk with me,” he told a fae man. From the angle, it was difficult to see who it was, but when the man tried to back away, light from one of the wall sconces slanted across his face, revealing him as one of those who’d almost killed me today.
The man’s eyes widened, and his wild gaze spiraled, seeking a way out of what he must know was coming. “I . . . I . . .”
Vexxion latched onto the man’s arm. Pausing, he glanced up, his gaze meeting mine. He jerked out a nod and flitted.
Drask fluttered his wings, and when I looked his way, I swore I read satisfaction in his beady eyes. I swallowed the feverish beat of my heart, shoving it back inside my chest. Mybreathing came in jerky gasps as I took the stairs to the next level.
“My, don’t you look lovely,” Brenna said when I arrived at her suite to help her get ready for dinner. “I love that color on you. It’s the same as . . .”
“Yes.” I flared the rich sapphire skirt that perfectly matched Vexxion’s eyes. He’d left combs for my hair as well, and someone had stopped by to help me arrange it.
