“Koen!”
I drop to my knees, reaching, but before I can touch him, searing agony slams into me. It burns in my chest like my heartis being carved out with fire. I claw at the floor, screaming with him, my voice raw. I can’t breathe. I can’t think.
Shadows tear free from me, light rips from him, and together they spiral upward in a furious storm, colliding midair until the hall itself trembles. Gasps and whispers rise around us, but I can’t hear words, only the roar of our pain.
Fire erupts on my skin. Spirals of black and gold etch across my arms, branding me, burning me alive. I sob, broken, as my body writhes against the marble floor.
All of a sudden, the bond snaps.
It slams into place like a tether in my soul, anchoring me to him. His pain rages through me like it’s my own. His terror, his desperate need to protect me, and his love that’s so fierce, so consuming, it nearly drowns me, rush in until I can’t tell where I end and he begins.
My body shakes. A few feet away, Koen stares back, marked with the same spirals, and…my eyes widen. One of his eyes remains gold, but the other is now storm-gray.
We stumble to our feet, reaching for each other. Our hands stretch across the space, but instead of touching, they slam into an invisible wall. We both flinch.
A shield hums between us.
My stomach drops because I know this magic.
“Lioran?” I whisper.
He steps forward, his face cold. Gone is the boy I laughed with, sparred with, trusted. In his place stands something sharp and cruel.
“Lioran,” I choke, fury and disbelief tearing through me. “Drop the shield.”
He doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. Just stares at me with a bored expression.
Behind him, Asbel falls to the floor, asleep.
My blood turns to ice when I look to my mother as she slumps forward on her throne, head lolling.
“No…” My voice shreds apart. “No, no, no.”
“Release it!” I scream, slamming my fists against the shield. I try to call my shadows, but my magic doesn’t answer me. I’m burned out, drained from the bond. Still, I claw for it, begging shadows that won’t come.
Koen whirls to fight, but before he can lift a hand, Lioran shackles him with glowing cuffs. The sound of them clicking shut is the sound of my heart breaking.
“No!” My fists pound the barrier, skin splitting, blood smearing across the invisible wall.
Elowen steps inside the shield, casual, as if strolling into a garden, her long green hair flowing behind her. Following her, a guard drags Dimitri’s unconscious body, bound and collared.No. This can’t be happening.
My gaze frantically sweeps the room. My eyes land on Ravelle, slumped, also asleep. Everyone but me is asleep.
It’s a nightmare.
“Serenya!” Koen’s voice is hoarse, desperate, his fear crashing into me through the bond.
Rage consumes me. I slam my fists against the shield. Over and over. If my magic won’t answer, I will give it everything else. My flesh. My bones. My will.
“Lioran!” My voice tears raw. “Release the shield, or I swear to you—”
My voice trails off when a pixie flies into the shield after Elowen, opening a portal.
“No.”
Koenthrashes against his restraints, shouting. His voice cracks. “Serenya!”
Our bond blazes with our fear. My heart stops.
