CIPRIAN
I’ve never been this cold.
The fingers of my left hand are numb around the torch, and the ones on the right—wrapped around Alistair’s waist—ache like someone is playing whack-a-mole with my joints. Worse than that, my legs are actively forgetting how to walk, dragging clumsily against the planks of the bridge.
Even my thoughts are wispy, as if there isn’t enough heat in my brain for them to form.
My magic is the only spark I have left. I cling to it desperately, doing my best to cloak us in a scatter pattern that will keep anyone from noticing us.
“One step in front of the other,” Luca says. “You’re doing amazing, Ciprian. You too, Ali.”
If I wasn’t actively freezing to death, I might be into the praise.But if Luca sees the need to talk me through crossing an icy bridge, we’re in deep shit.
Alistair’s fingers twitch against my side, pinching me through my clothes. I barely feel it, and a shiver racks my body that has nothing to do with the cold.
“Malach, stop!” Celine’s voice carries on the wind. “We need him to get out of here.”
Then she’s standing at the end of the bridge, looking franticallythroughus. I try to drop the illusion only for her, but I don’t have enough control, and the whole thing breaks. “F-f-fuck,” I sputter. “Nightmare down.”
I’ll remember the moment Celine spots us for the rest of my life.
Her wings shoot from her back, and her mouth drops open, then she’s running, sprinting toward us on the wobbly bridge. Her wings wrap around Alistair and I, the feathers trembling wildly. “You’re okay. You’re okay. You’re okay,” she gasps, half sobbing, half laughing as she looks us over. There are frozen tear tracks on her face.
“Stealing our lines, angel. A-are you hurt?” Alistair bends to get closer to her, pressing his cheek against mine so she can reach us both.
“I’m fine. I’ll explain later, but we’ve got to get out of here.”
“I’m cold,” I mutter. “But you’re hot.”Gods, what? That was idiotic.
Celine smiles, her teeth shining white in the dark. I can’t tell her how beautiful she is—my body won’t cooperate, but at least I made her smile. She pushes me in front of her and wraps her wings around me.
Immediately, my brain fog recedes. Walking is awkward, and Celine can’t see well, but it’s faster and warmer than if she carried me. “Can you make it to Malach, Alistair?”
He sighs and tucks the blanket tighter around himself. “Casanell has all the luck.”
“The height difference?—”
“I know, angel. I’ll be fine.”
“Luca—”
“I’ve got your back, baby.”
“No, I know that,” Celine says. “I just wanted to say, I love you.”
He rumbles low in his throat and collides with her back, pressing smacking kisses against her neck. “I love you too. Let’s move.”
We reach the end of the bridge and find Malach and Riven locked in a tense standoff. Their faces are streaked with blood and already swelling.
“Take us to the portal,” Celine says.
Riven looks at her, then his gaze flicks to Luca. “If I do, you won’t all make it out.”
“Why?” she demands. “Did my father rig it like the desert gateway?” Her wings are smoking, and I shudder, leaning into the heat.
“Your father? No. This portal’s function has remained unchanged for decades.”
Luca chokes. “The binding.”
