Evariste froze, except for his arms—which automatically tightened around her and clutched at the fabric of herdress.
Her soft hair rubbed against his cheek, and they were so close, her breath tickled his neck. “Evariste?” shewhispered.
Evariste swallowedaudibly.
She sighed a little, and Evariste could tell by the way her body relaxed, she was slipping from her waking dream. “I wish you were here,” shesaid.
He blinked, her breathing deepened, and she was asleep. The powerful flavor of her magic faded, and Angelique disappeared from his arms as her magic retreated, breaking whatever connection their powers hadforged.
Evariste sat still, trying to preserve that tiny moment of joy in his mind so he could last through whatever nightmares he was plagued withnext.
Wait.He paused, revisiting his previous thoughts.Her magic faded, breaking off the connectionourpowers forged. That means my magic—even though it’s separated from me—recognized our connection and reached for her…Is that why all of these curses have romantic love as theirweakness?
Because I loveAngelique?
Chapter 18
It wasn’tuntil noon the following day that Pegasus and Angelique finally caught up to thewyvern.
It had landed in the scant patch of flat plains and farmland that lay between the giant forest surrounding Swan Lake and the beginning of the mountain range that separated Kozlovka from Verglas to theeast.
This made it a pain to sneak up on, as there wasn’t much to hide behind. Angelique was forced to use an invisibility spell, but keeping Pegasus covered was something of a struggle given his propensity to wander off when she was watching the wyvern through thespyglass.
This has all beengreat. Justgreat.She didn’t bother to camouflage the scowl that twisted her face as she tip-toed closer to the wyvern. (She wanted to get in striking distance so she could hit it hard before it was able to flee to thesky.)
Chasing after a deadly creature is always a fun time, and I justlovedreaming of Evariste. It doesn’t make me feel at all guilty or like a failure. And it’s definitely not worrying that he looked like death warmed over in the privacy of my own thoughts. Yep. Just agreattime.
She paused when a breeze drifted through the air, bringing the wyvern’s stench with it. The wyvern reeked of decay—an overpowering and sour smell that made Angelique’s already upset stomachchurn.
When her gag reflex subsided, Angelique resumed stalking the wyvern, tugging on her magic to confirm her invisibility spell was in place. (Pegasus’ hot breath on her back confirmed he was right behindher.)
She carefully started to twist her magic, preparing for the slew of spells she planned to sling at themonster.
Her heart thudded in her eardrums, and she swallowedsharply.
The wyvern, unaware of their presence, stretched its wings out in the noon sun, growling as it twitched its tail back andforth.
This is it. I have to make my attacks count, or it will take to the sky again, and even if I engage it, I’m not certain it will stick around to fight if it catches sight or scent ofPegasus.
Angelique squared her shoulders and breathed shallowly—the wyvern’s reek made her eyeswater.
She pulled more of her magic, her eyebrow twitching when she felt it slide down her arms in a cool, assuring sensation. Her magic tickled her senses, luring her with a call formore.
Angelique clenched her teeth and ignored the feeling. She waited until the wyvern looked north, thenmoved.
Now!
Angelique’s invisibility spell spilled from her shoulders as she threw the most powerful magic she had crafted—an icespell.
Ice so thick and cold it crackled and steamed in the sunshine spread across the wyvern’s leathery wings, freezing them into their stretched-outposition.
The wyvern roared its irritation, tottering slightly as it swiveled back around to faceher.
Angelique threw the next spell she had prepared—a sleepcharm.
The wyvern’s blood-red eyes shut for a moment before it shook its head free of the spell’s influence. Green smog puffed from its nostrils before it spat ather.
After her fight with the basilisk, Angelique had been prepared for the sleep spell to be ineffective, so she already had a shield raised in front of her. It blocked the gooey green spit—which bubbled and frothed on her shield’s iridescentsurface.
