“Kairyn has left the city,” she whispers. “He’s hunting Ezryn. What do you think he’ll do when he feels her Blessing?”
Panic swells in my breast. I should have tried to escape the arena. Should have run like a coward to protect her. “Wren, I can’t win this.”
She drops her forehead to mine. “What if there was another way?”
“What way?” My breath rattles.
She strokes my hair, such a tender gesture. “Give your Blessing to me.”
“What? I couldn’t ask that of you.”
“You’re not asking me. Dayton, I would do this thing for you. I may not have been able to give you your true power—”
“That wasn’t your fault,” I rasp. “It was—”
“You’re my mate.” Wrenley places her hand over my slowing heart. “I want to protect you, and if I can’t save you, let me save someone you love.”
“Kairyn would come for you.”
“I can escape before he returns,” she says hastily.
My head falls to the sands, which are red now. My Blessing flickers inside me. A burden I never wanted.
Since the first moment I felt it blaze inside me, it has been nothing but tragedy. I imagine Delphia in the desert, feeling that weight transfer to her. She’s already had to bear too much responsibility for the last twenty-five years.
Wrenley’s no fool. There’s a quiet sort of bravery about her. This choice will save Delphia, but not the Summer Realm.
Summer is as lost as me.
Gritting my teeth, I force myself up and look into my mate’s eyes. “Wrenley …”
“I’m ready, Dayton.”
CHAPTER 82
Keldarion
“You need to tell me which way, George. Which way?”
George’s eyes seek mine, but he can’t focus. He looks past me, body twitching on the purple stone of the labyrinth. “Best to take the train. Slower, but better view. Best to take the train, yes, best to take the train. Though, we could travel coach—”
George’s condition has worsened rapidly, each mile we travel eroding more of his strength and cognition. Thankfully, we haven’t run into any more visitors or traps.
“Focus, George.” I shake his shoulders. I’ve let him sleep as much as I could, but we’re out of time. If he falls unconscious again, I’ll have no way to find Anya. His connection to her is our only compass. My sole choice would be to abandon the mission and use the seed Caspian gave us to escape. But I’m not leaving here without the Queen.
His eyes find mine, and he blinks. “Kel.”
“Yes.” I breathe a sigh of relief and lift his head slightly. “Which way, George? Feel inside. Where is Anya?”
A grimace crosses his features. “I can’t go on, boy. Everything hurts. I can’t think straight. Everything inside of me is rotten.”
I still my hands, which threaten to shake. “Don’t say that, George. Everything’s not rotten.” I place my hand on his chest. “You feel that? Right by your heart? That’s your connection to Anya. That canneverbe destroyed. She’s so close now, George.”
Tears stream down his cheeks. “It’s all so far away. I’m so far away. I’m lost inside my mind—”
I grab his hand and squeeze it. “I’m right here. I’m going to keep you tethered to me, okay, George? Keep listening to my voice. Anya’s waiting for you. Rose’s mother. She wants to see you and Rosalina.”
“I can’t remember anything,” George cries out. “It’s all messed up.”
