Astrid stalls, then places a hand over Skylar’s outstretched one. “It will still be the same ring, still the one he gave you. We just need a little of his essence from something connected to him for the locator spell to work.”
Skylar hesitates a moment longer before dropping the ring, which lands with aplopin the crucible. Astrid lowers her stirrer and lightly blows over the elixir.
“We need to let it sit for a few minutes. Did you bring the map I asked for?”
Skylar reaches into the bag wrapped across her body and pulls out a rolled-up piece of parchment, handing it to Astrid. Astrid unfurls it, laying it on the floor of the balcony. The corners refuse to flatten, as if the map doesn’t want to reveal itself, so they weigh down the corners with various objects: a dagger, her grimoire, and a pair of shoes.
“Very professional,” Skylar drawls, and Astrid titters.
While only a crescent of Mija is visible tonight, Maja is at her fullest, and Astrid can see Skylar as clearly as if it were noon. The dragon heir is nervous.
“Tell me about him,” Astrid says.
Skylar’s eyebrows pucker. “He has sandy hair—”
“No, no, tell mewhohe is, not what he looks like.”
“Oh.” Skylar shifts. “Well, he’s my best friend. My only friend.”
An angry squeak and a high-pitched growl interrupt her. Kaida obviously says something to Skylar, as she rolls her eyes but smiles. “My only non-dragon friend.” She stares at her baby dragon, lying curled around Bastet in his cat form. “He will love Kaida. He’s so into the dragons but not in a weird way; he just loves the idea of them. He used to talk about what kind of dragons we’d bond with.” She laughs. “He is going to lose his mind when he finds out I’m a fucking princess and the famous egg hatched for me.” Her smile falls away. “He won’t be scornful, though, won’t mock me. He’ll say he always knew I was special, but that’s because he saw something special in everyone. That’s the kind of man he is. Sees the good in everyone, whether they deserve it or not. His parents, they treated him like he was worthless, but he has never treated anyone else like that. He always puts others first.”
Astrid smiles. “He sounds wonderful.”
“Yeah, he really is. But he doesn’t take any shit, though, either, and is always up for an adventure, he’s just… so much fun. And makes me laugh like no one else ever has or ever will. He is—” She stops abruptly. Like she’s said too much. Her cheeks pink a little.
“Don’t ever be embarrassed to talk about them,” Astrid says. “The people who matter to you. You’re lucky to have Cam, and he’s lucky to have you. Just like I was lucky to have Jess.”
Skylar bites the inside of her cheek and gives a small nod. “And she was lucky to have you, Little Witch.”
Astrid doesn’t agree. Jessa never would have died if it wasn’t for her, but she doesn’t say that, not wanting to bring the mood down. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, Little Dragon.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll leave it to my brother to say nice things to you, so don’t get used to it.” It’s Astrid’s turn to blush now. She told Skylar she bumped into Zryan earlier, though she didn’t tell her what they spoke about. Astrid is still trying to get her head around it all—not just Zryan, and what he…isto her, but whether her discovery about Nyx and Aeloria matters. How does the two of them being mates change anything when it comes to the duel?
Skylar smirks, then puts Astrid out of her misery by changing the subject. “How much longer?” She points at the crucible. The small fire it sits upon is beginning to burn out.
“I reckon we’re about ready.” Astrid picks up a tea strainer and Skylar raises a questioning brow. “I couldn’t find my tongs, so I’m using this to get the ring out.”
“As I said, very professional.”
Astrid flips her off. She scoops out the ring and dries it, then loops some cotton thread through it. “A ring was very handy, you know. If you’ll pardon the pun.”
“Fucking Arach.” Skylar rolls her eyes, but Astrid sees the curve of her lips.
She scoops a cup of the elixir and hands it to Skylar. “Pour this around the map—not on the parchment, just on the balcony. Don’t get it on my shoes.”
Skylar takes it and does as Astrid asked.
“Now I’m going to hold the ring over the center of the map and I have to cast, so I’ll need to focus for the next few minutes. It might take a little while for it to react.”
Skylar wipes her palms on her thighs. “Okay,” she says shakily.
Astrid is nervous, too. This is it, this is when she could find out where the Heart is. Her pulse is throbbing and she takes a deep breath. Then she begins to cast. She keeps her eyes focused on the ring as the words flow from her and her magic begins to flow with them. There’s a yank on the cotton thread. She can’t help the skip in her breath, the excitement as the ring begins to sway. Skylar is leaning in, intent, anxious—Astrid can see it on her face.This is it. When they’ll both finally find what they’ve been looking for.
The ring shoots up in the air. The cotton pulls taut, and Astrid only just manages to keep hold of it. Horror courses through her veins at the sight of it suspended above her, straining for the sky. For the Stars.
“What—what does it mean?” Skylar asks.
Astrid’s throat is closing up. This can’t be right. It’s not fair.
