The freed fae have gone still, pressing close to their horses.They don’t have the Nightwild connection, but they can feel the pressure in the air, the ancient magic flexing around them. Their horses stamp and toss their heads, eyes rolling white.
And Alleria?—
I feel her through both connections. The blood magic I forged, and the Nightwild threads that are still weaving themselves around her despite my resistance. This summons isn’t meant for her. She hasn’t accepted the Guard. She hasn’t taken the oath.
But the magic chose her anyway. And now it’s pulling at her the same way it pulls at the rest of them.
Her breath catches. Her hand presses against her chest, fingers digging into the fabric over her heart. Her breathing has turned shallow, her pupils dilated. I can feel her confusion spiraling closer to panic. Her body shifts toward me, drawn like iron to lodestone.
She has no idea what is happening. And the part of my mind not focused on the summons acknowledges that she’s going to have questions about this that I won’t be able to avoid easily.
“What—” She stumbles a step closer. “What is that? What are you?—”
She doesn’t finish. Shecan’t. The magic has its hooks in her now.
I hold the call for three more heartbeats, then let it fade.
Therin pushes himself to his feet, rolling his shoulders. “A warning would have been nice.”
I give him a sidelong look. “Consider it a test.”
“Of what?”
“Your control. Our connection.” I look at Vel, who’s still trembling slightly. “For both of you.”
“Bastard,” she mutters, but there’s no real heat to the word. Her mouth even twitches a little.
Therin laughs, then breaks off, his head snapping toward the village. Three figures have appeared at the edge of thesettlement, all moving fast along the road.
Runningtoward us.
They move the way only fae can move, eating up the ground in long, fluid strides that would leave any human gasping for air. Even from this distance, I recognize them. It’s in the way they run, the way they hold their bodies, and that particular grace that marks them as Nightwild Guards.
Kaelith reaches us first.
I haven’t seen him in over three centuries. I wasn’t even sure he’d been trapped on this side of the Sealing. But I’d know him anywhere.
When he sees me, he stops dead. For a heartbeat, he just stares at me. His chest heaves. His eyes are bright, too bright, and his mouth works, but no sound comes out.
Then his knees hit the dirt.
“Cairn!” The word tears out of him. His head bows. His hands press flat against the earth. “Eldráfn.”
Sorel and Vessara reach us a heartbeat later. They drop beside him without hesitation, foreheads nearly touching the ground, shoulders shaking.
I look down at them. Three hundred years and they’re still here.Still mine.
“We felt it.” Kaelith’s voice is rough. “We felt the bond sever. One moment you were there, and thennothing. We thought you were dead—” A shudder runs through him. “But no one rose to take your place. The magic didn’t pass. So we thought that maybe the Sealing had done something. That maybe you were on the other side, and we were cut off.”
Sorel makes a choked sound beside him. “But you’re here. You’rehere.”
“I’m here.” My voice is soft. “Get up. All of you.”
They rise slowly, while Therin moves to stand at my right.Vel stays where she is, arms crossed. Vessara’s face is wet, and she makes no move to hide it. Sorel’s jaw is clenched so tight, I can almost hear his teeth grinding together. Kaelith keeps blinking, as though he’s expecting us to disappear at any second.
Then Kaelith moves. He closes the distance between us and pulls me into an embrace before I can react. Every muscle in my body goes rigid for a second before I catch myself.
This is Kaelith. One of mine.
