A faint, sad smile touched his lips. Not triumphant. Not relieved. Just… sad. He brushed a strand of hair from her face.
“I love you too, Elora.”
Chapter 40
Tehvan
Everything was falling apart.
Elora disappeared back into the tunnels, and Tehvan resisted the urge to follow her. He had given her precise directions to the secret beach and assured her that the path was clear. But his fear grew with every passing moment.
He told himself she would be fine.She can defend herself.After all, she had transformed, become something stronger, at least physically. Thorn had forced this new form onto her, and Tehvan kept telling himself that it was an advantage. But the truth terrified him.
The transformation had broken the natural order of things. It twisted her in ways that even he, with all his knowledge, didn’t completely understand. It made her into something he didn’t quite recognize, and that fact gnawed at him.
He missed the clear blue of her eyes, eyes that had always looked up at him with so much hope, with so much willpower. Now they were different. The golden ring around her pupils gave her an ethereal presence, a glow that wasn’t hers. They were beautiful, yes, but they weren’thers.
Now she radiated with untamed, unexplored magic. And it was warping her, not just her body, but her mind. Her very essence. Each time he looked at her, he wondered if she would slip further from the person he had known.
When they reconnected in Kilfaire—if they made it that far—would she even be the same person?
He fought to shove the thought out of his mind. He had no right to impose his expectations on her, not anymore.Of course, she wouldn’t be the same person.No one could be after what she’d endured. But that didn’t change how he felt.
He could still see her as she was when she was nine years old, clutching his cloak, looking up at him with those innocent, trusting eyes. That memory anchored him. He wouldn’t lose her. Not to the empire’s cruelty, not to the magic, and certainly not to his brother’s twisted notion of revenge.
Tehvan took a deep breath, steeling himself. There was still a chance to get her to safety. And no matter what happened, no matter how much time passed or how far she drifted from who she once was, he would be there. Because whatever she became, Elora washis.
His daughter.
∞∞∞
Tehvan moved swiftly through the dark, narrow tunnels, retracing his steps. His mind raced, but his movements were measured. He couldn’t afford to make a mistake now. As he reached the storage room they had originally slipped into, he grabbed a small jar from a shelf, acting as if he had merely come to retrieve something. It was a simple ruse, but an effective one.
Tehvan pushed open the door and stepped into the hallway, where the commotion had already spread. Guards were running upand down the corridors, their shouts echoing through the halls as they spread the lockdown orders.
One guard came to an abrupt stop in front of him, saluting. “Master Tehvan! You need to return to your chambers. The Institute is on lockdown.”
“Of course,” he said calmly, his voice steady. “I was just retrieving something from storage. I’ll head there now.”
The guard nodded and saluted again before continuing down the hallway at a brisk pace. Tehvan, however, turned in the opposite direction. He sped up his steps, hurrying, but not enough to draw attention. He needed to get to the alchemy ward.
The plan was unraveling, and every second counted.
He slipped into one of the smaller labs, one with a clear view of the docks outside. His stomach dropped as he saw the guards and crew still searching, their lanterns swinging, their shadows flickering in the moonlight. He couldn’t stay here long.
Quickly, Tehvan began setting up a distraction. It had to look like an accident, something common enough not to raise suspicion but serious enough to demand immediate attention. He scanned the shelves, grabbing a few ingredients and preparing a simple potion on the burner. It wouldn’t take long to destabilize once the glass heated. It was a careless mistake, one any novice alchemist might make.
He worked swiftly, adjusting the flame just enough to ensure the potion would overheat and explode within minutes. Anyone investigating the lab would assume a student had abandoned their potion in a panic when the alarms went off.A simple oversight.
Satisfied with his work, Tehvan slipped out of the lab and jogged back toward the professors’ quarters. As he rounded a corner, he nearly collided with Professor Sadia. Her eyes widened in surprise, and they both froze. Sadia was the only person in the Institute whoknew about his plan to escape with Elora. Her expression told him everything. She knew something had gone horribly wrong.
Before Sadia spoke, a thunderous explosion echoed through the hallways, the sound reverberating off the stone walls. Tehvan didn’t flinch.
“That’s it,” he muttered, glancing down the corridor where the blast had echoed. The explosion would rattle the guards, leave them scrambling for direction without Thorn to command them. Most would rush to the alchemy lab, trying to contain the damage, unaware that their headmaster was unconscious in his lab. They wouldn’t know where to focus, what to prioritize. And that confusion was exactly what Elora needed.
Chapter 41
Elora
