Power is not predictable. Much like magic.We shall succeed.Power—that must have been Maura. Isanara was repeating their conversation directly.
Only one gate remains, witch. You are almost out of time.
I shivered. It was not the term of endearment that Garrick murmured when he kissed me.
Did the king know about the talisman? That could not be it. The talisman was the key to Maura setting herself and all witches above the fae and their king. But the talisman was not Maura’s only goal. Auri had admitted that Isanara was the reason they’d taken us from the gates. We’d only returned when the wrath of the gods coalesced to try to kill us. First, the fire in Garrick’s room, then the cave-in. Apparently, Alize had nearly been impaled on a broken bedpost, only to find herself tumbling down a staircase that disintegrated beneath her feet a few days later. The gods’ message was clear—fulfill your oath to the Seven Gates.
But their presence, waiting for us, meant that we would not be allowed to proceed to the final gate. Their purpose in kidnapping us had not yet been fulfilled.
There will be no more mistakes, Your Majesty.Isanara’s voice reeked with loathing as she recounted Maura’s words.
But if there was any more to the exchange, we did not get to hear it.
The iron gate groaned and swung open. All conversation halted; all attention shifted. A sweep of shimmering lavenderwings, and Isanara was back at my side, fangs bared for whatever might come.
Garrick the Red walked out of the Peace Gate, where both Alize and I had stumbled. His steps were steady, his shoulders back. To everyone else, he must have looked like the conquering hero. Victor of six of the Seven Gates of Velora.
But I knew Garrick better than my own soul, and I was past the point of being able to deny it. I saw the agony in his eyes. I felt the burn when they landed on me, the desperation that he would only show to me.
We might physically survive the Seven Gates. But they could still destroy us.
Maura and the king were just one of the threats hanging over our heads.
We were running out of time.
PART II
THE UNKNOWN
Now face the dark no map has known.
A heart they cannot hide?—
But what waits ahead is theirs alone,
And so, they must decide.
CHAPTER 40
GARRICK
Sweat poured down my cheeks,but I did not stop. I should have opened the window or let the fire go out. I could not compel firewood to stop burning, but I could douse it with the pitcher of water in the corner. But I did not stop. I could not stop.
I swung the greatsword again, pivoting on my heel and landing heavily on my right foot. My arms ached with the effort. Hours had passed since Koryn left me alone in our room, Isanara at her side. I’d spent every minute with this sword in my hand, trying to drive away the memories.
I’d survived. Seven people hadn’t. Forgiveness did not mean forgetting.
“You are lagging to the left,” a silken voice observed.
I knew exactly where I was lagging. I always lagged on the left when I got tired. But it should not have been perceptible to anyone. Except maybe a god.
I spun back, the tip of the blade slicing through the floor-length curtains that covered the entire northeastern wall. The room was too small for this. But I did not stop.
“If I wanted input, I would train in the courtyard instead of a cramped bedroom,” I growled between jabs. I imagined the blade sinking into Amero’s gut. I hadn’t killed him with a blade.But I was trying very hard not to remember any of the exact events of that day.
The voice took shape in the shadowy corner of the room. The same leather pants, the familiar black vest. At least this time he had a damn shirt on beneath it. I was torturing myself enough. I did not need his muscles and that tattoo taunting me as well.
He drummed his long, elegantly tapered fingers across the mantle. “An opponent might help you drive away the faces that haunt you.”
