I felt numb and helpless as the Darkest Lord wrapped Silas's wrists behind his body with smoky ropes that moved like eels, as if their very threads were alive. I could tell from the wince on Silas’s face that it was painful, the magic cutting intohim, leeching the good from his essence and filling him with darkness.
“Give me your magic, Alessia,” the Darkest Lord said, “and I will make this part painless for Silas.”
“Even if I wanted to give you my magic,” I said, “I wouldn’t know how.”
“Yes, you do. What do I keep telling you? We are not all that different.” The Darkest Lord studied me. “I know you contain the heartbeats in your chest. Transfer them to me, and I’ll let your precious islanders live.”
“My magic stems from the trust and loyalty and love of the people around me,” I said. “From my ancestors gifting me their experience and power. Thatisa Fae Queen’s magic. It’s not mine to own or to give away.”
“Then I can help you,” he said. “I will take the heartbeats; you just need to let me. Submit to me, and I will handle the rest.”
“Never.”
“Then I will start taking the spirits one by one,” he said. “As you already witnessed, it won’t take long. I’m giving you an opportunity to make this simpler. But if not…”
I felt sick as I remembered how quickly he’d snuffed out the life of the islander all the way across the river.
“If you give them to me, I will let them live in this court under my rule,” the Darkest Lord promised. “I will let them keep their heartbeats. If you do not, I will collect the souls of each and every member of your court one by one and I'll start withhim.”
At this, the Darkest Lord tipped Silas's head back. That black-armored hand hovered over Silas’s chest, and I felt it at once: the rip as he began to tug the spirit from Silas’s body.
I vaguely remembered the sensation of having my soul separated from my body in the underworld, but it was vastly different having it happen in the realm of the living instead of the spirit world. It was acutely more painful; I knew what washappening, I understood, and due to the intense bond between me and Silas, I could feel everything. I could feel his soul being teased from his body like it was my own, as if someone had taken a knife and dragged it down my chest, cutting me in two.
“No!” The wail as I collapsed to my knees was primal, uncontrollable.
“Alessia, stop.” Hands shook my shoulders. Atlas’s face appeared in front of me. “What did Silas say to you before he left?”
I just shook my head, murmured something sluggish like, “Don’t know...”
“My brother never says anything he doesn't mean.” Atlas shook me again, so hard my teeth rattled together. “What did he tell you?”
The pain of losing Silas was overwhelming, coming in waves now as the essence of my mate left him for the dark chamber where the Darkest Lord collected his souls.
“I don't know,” I managed. “It didn’t make sense.”
“Think about it,” Atlas demanded. “It could mean everything.”
“He…he told me our bond would never be broken.” I sounded like I was speaking around a mouthful of marbles. “But I know that. It doesn’tmeananything.”
“What else? He told you two things. I heard it. Alessia, focus.”
I felt like I was going to pass out from the overwhelming physical pain. I glanced over as Silas’s body grew limp in the Darkest Lord's arms. The sight made me sick, but it also gave me a burst of resolve to focus on Atlas’s words.
“Silas told me that our bond could never be broken…and that the Darkest Lord can’t steal the magic of a Fae Queen—that nobody can.”
“Stand up,” Atlas instructed. “You are our queen. You can defeat him, and you must. For my brother, for yourself, for your court.”
Atlas’s words shook something loose in me, something that registered on a primal level. Something that prompted me to peel myself off my floor and stand at the balcony before my throne. My hands gripped the railing, my knuckles feeling like they would shatter into bone fragments if I gripped it even the slightest bit harder.
Time was running out. There was no fight left in Silas. If I didn’t act now, he’d be gone forever. I checked in on him via the heartbeat in my chest, noting Silas’s glowing marble was now dull and faint, but still there. Like paint on a window that had mostly been scrubbed off, but the faintest smudge still lingered on the glass.
As I checked in on him, it dawned on me—not for the first time—that the power between a Fae Queen and her subjects was reciprocal. Our bond went both ways. I could channel to Silas, just like he had offered a part of himself to me. Hadn’t I done just that when I’d melted the snow, when I’d connected with each and every islander to defeat the spirits attacking our island?
This time, I isolated Silas. It helped that we possessed the most natural connection in the world. I felt for him, and when I found our bond, I immediately channeled my magic in his direction. I channeled every last bit of power within me down that tenuous connection, the intangible string uniting my heart with his in any world. In any realm.
Our bond can never be broken.
The Darkest Lord cannot take the magic of a Fae Queen.
