She flinched when a crash was followed by a series of terrified screams from the floor above. “Not anymore, it isn’t. Quickly now. The Priestesses can’t hold the line for much longer.”
Scrambling to do as their mistress bade, the men and women of Tritan’s research program began to dismantle their experiments.
Tears shining unshed in her eyes, the High Priestess squeezed my arm. “Mila, come. Help me with this.”
Wrenching my eyes away from the organized chaos, I moved to her side. With trembling hands, she pulled a chunk of virgin Glaith from the bin, pressing it between her hands.
“What are you doing?”
“Glaith absorbs ki, Mila. Its limit to store ki over time have not yet been reached, even here in the temple labs. Just a moment—” She raised her voice, shouting above the din of destruction. “Place anything you want destroyed on this bench, please!” After several shouts of affirmation, she turned back to me. “You and I are going to dump as much ki into this Glaith as we can, my little rogue. Between us, we shall incinerate everything the Tritan science department has worked for over the last five years. Now,” she said, putting the last shard in place and completing the circle, “give your Glaith to your father and take my hands.”
I did as she bade—though the captain’s ring remained in my possession even as the ki of a Trila-Glís flooded my every cell. With each new item added to the pile, I winced, heart beating at the base of my throat. Every distant scream and unexplainedbangpushed my heart rate higher, until sweat beaded along my brow and my breath came in uneven bursts.
“Relax, Mila. It’s going to be okay.”
Lost to the seductive whisper in the air, I turned sightless eyes upon her, tasting the lie. “No. It won’t.”
The High Priestess cursed, cupping my cheeks in her palms. Forcing calm. “You must promise you’ll keep the Glaith on your person at all times, Mila. I know it won’t be enough to contain you forever, and I wish I had time to build a proper wall around your power, but for now a promise must suffice.”
“Y-yes, Your Grace. I promise.”
She nodded. “Good. I wish—”
“That’s the last of it,” Ancaster said, clapping the dust off his hands. “They can take whatever else they find but it’ll be of little use to them without one of us to decipher it.”
“Good. Now flee! Through the salt caves.” The High Priestess squeezed my hands. “Are you ready?” At my nod, she offered a weak smile, then said, “Good. Then give me everything you’ve got—”
Something above us shattered, striking the floor with enough force to buckle my knees.
But I didn’t flinch, for my mind had been flooded with another, wilder ki. The Elites had broken the line. I could feel it. Without the Glaith to deaden my senses, I couldn’tstopfeeling it. “They’re coming,” I whispered, voice lifeless in the face of somuch.
“I know. Are you with me, Mila?”
The Elites… they were so… wild… sopowerful…
“Are you with me, girl?”
The captain. Standing directly above… he was… coming. For me… I could feel those rough fingers onmypendant… caressing… so hungry…
With a snarl, the High Priestess pulled me to her, seizing my mind in an unbreakable grip. Too late, three young Priestesses barreled into the room, their faces streaked with soot and blood. But the High Priestess would not be distracted. She forced me to dump the excess ki storming through my system into the Glaith clenched between our hands, commanding my ki as if it were her own to use. Exhausting us both.
“Just a little more, Mila. That’s it. Get back! All of you, back!” But for all her power, all her mastery of ki, her hands trembled in mine. I felt it when she swayed, nearly at her limit—but I hadn’t hadmychance. I shifted her grip, my hands on top as I reached deeper, pulling everything I could reach to the fore. Forcing her to takeeverything, as I had with the lotus.
And then, just as the blackness began to creep in, the High Priestess tossed the Glaith into the pile of Tritan research and incomplete technology. It ignited in a flash of blinding white, incinerating everything within reach and searing the exposed skin on my cheeks and chest. A scream tore free of my throat, and I collapsed, trying to shield myself from the heat.
Hands, rough and familiar pulled me free, running over my exposed skin.
I groaned, trying to avoid the stimulation—it was too much! Too soon… my ki-sense was bleeding and raw. And my skin… “Don’t. Goddess,don’t!The High Priestess… help… helpher.Leave me be.”
“Don’t you worry, Miss Tannovic.” Josh. Hands too familiar on my shoulders. Neck. Face. Propping me up against his hip. “Ancaster got her free o’the blast. Now up you get. I know it hurts, lass, but we’ve got t’move.” He hoisted me over his shoulder, one arm wrapped around my waist as he sprinted from the room, squeezing the breath from my lungs with every step.
After a few more seconds of contact with his vibrant, Eloran ki, however, I began to squirm. “J-Josh. Put me down.” I dug my nails into his lower back, trying to get his attention.
“Just relax, Miss Tannovic. I’ve got you.”
“I-I’m going to be sick…”
“Right.” He skidded to a halt, swinging me down from his shoulder just in time for me to expel the contents of my stomach all over the floor. “Alright, miss?”
