Darrius, behind you!
Luckily, they evade the attack, but there’s no help for the azdaha or the rider as Darrius’s shadows make quick work of them. Our eyes meet, mine wide with sorrow and horror.
This isn’t working, I tell him.Anahima is healing any physicalwounds as fast as we can inflict them.
Darrius nods grimly.We need to unseat her.
But how?
Digging deep into my well of power, I send bolt after bolt of starlight toward the azhi, hoping to keep it distracted while Darrius comes in from above, his shadow magic aiming for his sister. But it’s as though Anahima has eyes on the back of her head; she turns the beast at the last moment. And in slow motion, I see the third head release a white cloud heading straight for the king.
“Darrius!” I scream, nudging Razulek into a spinning dive.
At the last second, I feel the azhi’s breath crash into me instead of Darrius, and the dearth of magic that instantly takes over my entire mind feels like I’ve been submerged underwater. Everything is muted, the sound of my heartbeat thunderous as my magic is abruptly silenced.
Starbright, what the fuck did you do?
I gasp in a breath, trying to keep the panic at bayandhide it from my soul-fated. I need him focused on his sister, not me.Better methan you. I can feel my magic coming back already,I lie. Don’t worry about me, get Anahima!
We circle around for another round, hearing hideous screams as two more azdahas get caught by the corrosive breath, blood spraying everywhere. Darrius evades another breath attack—this time the nightmare one—and my relief is huge. I don’t even want to imagine the destruction he could cause if his powerful godly mind was affected by hallucinations. He’d wipe out half of our forces.
Reaching inward, I try to draw on my magic. But there’s nothing, not even a spark. It’s like I’ve lost a limb. What if itdoesn’tcome back? This isn’t like the cuffs, it’s much worse. I can’t even feel my simurgh, who’s a constant presence in my chest. Instead, it’s hollow and empty where she should be, like a gaping hole.
Lightning bolts spear toward us, and I barely hold on as Razulek attempts to dodge, but the last blast catches the top of his wing and we start to spiral. My heart is screaming with terror when we plunge downward in a sickening death spin. Maker above, I don’t even have magic to heal him! Or to save us! Tears spring from my eyes as nerve-racking horror sets in.
Raz!I scream.
Hold on, little queen.
The ground comes toward us much too quickly as he aims for a clearing of trees. At the last moment, Razulek bucks me off and flips his entire body to catch me between his wings, which wrap securely around us. He takes the brunt of the fall on his back as we smash into the trees, sliding fifty feet before we stop. Mostly unharmed with the wind knocked out of me, I catch my breath, gently easing Razulek’s limp wings off.
Fuck, Raz! Are you hurt?
His chest is rising and falling, but he’s unresponsive. My cheeks are wet with tears, but I don’t have time to deal with my emotions as the person I last expect to see appears in a blur of dark smoke.
Anahima... and she looks furious.
Chapter Forty
Iclutch my dagger as my enemy stalks toward me.
She pulls an old sheet of parchment from her pocket that looks like it has been ripped from one of the library books she’d been studying. “What a windfall! Time to bind your powers for good, little Starkeeper. Can’t have you interfering in my plans, but I need you alive so that I can make sure brother dearest succumbs to the curse when I cut you to pieces.”
“He’s your blood,” I say, trying to buy time. Terrified, I reach deep.Come on, simurgh, wake up.
“I’m crowning a new queen,” she says. “And he never cared about me, so why should I care about him? He had everything, and I was rewarded with the crumbs.”
“Ani, he loves you. You know that.”
She scoffs. “There’s that word again. You throw it around a lot, do you realize? The only thing that is good for”—she taps her chin—“is nothing.”
“I know Vogon hurt you—”
“Donotspeak his name,” she hisses, and then relaxes her expression with a speed that has me reeling. “Where were we?”
She begins to chant and ice slivers through my veins. Whatever she is summoning is powerful and dark. I can feel it brewing like a malevolent cloud. I lurch forward with my dagger, prepared to strike her in the heart, but a burst of magic from her palms sends me sprawling. My head smashes into a rock and my ankle twists painfully. Shaking off the darkness devouring my vision, I crawl for my dagger, blood dripping down my temple.
I don’t even have the magic to heal myself.
