It’s too much to take in. My hands close around the edge of the parchment. “Is this how she’s lived for so long?”
Ryuji gives me a brief smile. “With a heart powered by arcane magic like this, yes, it’s probably how. Also probably why, with this magic seeping into her bones, she passed these traits on to you.”
“But metal is…metal, for fuck’s sake.” I gasp. “How can it be passed on?”
“Because the arcane magic that was used on it was living magic. Creation magic. That’s why every piece of metal affected by that magic was considered extremely dangerous.”
He takes the page from me and I expect him to tear it to pieces, but he scrunches it into a ball and wraps his fist around it before a brief look of concentration settles over his features.
Energy bursts around his fist, an explosion of what feels like air rushing outward, but by the time it reaches me, it’s become a gentle breeze.
Ryuji opens his fist to reveal only fine grains of white dust that float away into the air.
“How did you?—?”
He gleams at me. “Air, when compressed, can be deadly.”
“Fucking air dragon,” I whisper, trying to shake off my fears.
Fear of the unknown and unknowable.
He peers at me. “You’re the first to bebornwith those claws.” A faint smile ghosts around his mouth. “New life, Veda.”
Like my biological mother’s name.
I give a wobbly laugh. “You can’t possibly be trying to convince me to forgive Galeia, can you?”
His forehead puckers. “Sometimes, to protect the ones we love, we must leave them.” He sighs and whispers, “Or let them go.”
Oh, there is so much that could be implied from what he said.
Maybe he’s talking about Miku. Or his own decisions.
Or maybe, he’s trying to ease a wound in me that I fear will never close.
Ryuji gives my hand a squeeze. “When we first met, we spoke of fear,” he says, contemplating me—shockingly—without anyhint of distrust. “It seems to me that the fears we all must fight are our own.”
He releases my hand and takes a step back and, with a sense of finality that brings unexpected sadness, I realize we’ve reached the end of our conversation.
It’s the end of our truce.
“We’ll be gone within the hour,” I say, repeating my promise to him. “You won’t see us again.”
Unless I somehow manage to retrieve his favorite sword—and even then, I’ll find a way to get it to him that doesn’t involve me returning here.
“Well, then…” He gives me a deep bow. “I wish you well.”
He takes to the air with a firm sweep of his silver wings and then, he’s gone.
I join my family moments later, waiting for them to gather around me—the dark elves, my dark angel brother, and the keeper, all of them carrying the weight of shadows and scars. All of them dangerous because of who and what they are.
Including me.
I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and say, “Let’s go.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
We step out of the keeper’s transportation magic onto hard pavement.
