Gus, who hadn’t made a sound since they arrived, didn’t even hesitate. “You’d likely make her the first to regret her meal.”
Ford threw his hands up. “Oh, come on. I’ve been told I’m an acquired taste.”
Nezra’s lips moved up, not quite a smile, more like a secret she didn’t mind him knowing.
Ronan nodded toward her hand. “And the runes?”
She sighed, “The glove helps me control the song when I’m not near the sea.” Subtly, her fingers flexed. “The runes feed off the core magic here. It keeps me anchored. Without them, I’d lose form.”
“Lose form?” Elysian repeated, knowing all too well how that felt.
Her eyes shone. “Drown in myself.”
Smoke drifted at Ronan’s boots. “Why did Killian find you in that cottage?”
“Because I heard what they planned for the fire wielder and Verena,” she said. “And because…” Her focus moved to the tent where Verena lay unconscious. “The moment I saw her in that tavern, every rune on my body burned.”
Ford leaned forward on his elbows. “So, naturally, you decided to risk your life for total strangers. Sounds perfectly reasonable.”
Nezra didn’t look at him. “It wasn’t a choice.”
Elysian stepped closer, tension snapping in his jaw. “What does that mean?”
“The call of the curse,” she murmured. “It pulled me here. I’ve spent years trying to reach this place. To reachher.”
Ronan’s eyes sharpened at that. “And what, something whispered it to you, a divine voice hidden in your spells?”
Nezra’s eyes shot toward him, steady and bright as moonlight on water. “Not divine.”
Ronan let out a strenuous exhale through his nose. “You said the glove anchors you, that it feeds your song. Does that mean it feeds onus?”
Her head tilted. “Only if I want it to.”
Elysian’s growl was quiet. “Try it and see what happens.”
Nezra didn’t answer as the symbols on her glove dimmed with light.
“Enough.” Gus’s tone was gentle as he stepped between them. “She’s the reason they’re alive.”
Nezra bowed her chin toward him, grateful.
Ford stretched, feigning a yawn. “Well, I for one amthrilledto have our very own haunted Liraern on the team. What could possibly go wrong?”
Ronan’s stare cut sideways.
Ford smirked. “What? You’re all thinking it.” A growl tore from Elysian’s chest, half the camp going still. Ford just sighed dramatically, brushing imaginary dust from his tunic. “Don’t growl at me. It’s embarrassing for both of us.”
Ronan ignored him, eyes locked on Nezra. “If that call brought you here, then it knows more than it should.”
With her lashes lowered, she whispered, “It doesn’tknow.It remembers.”
And as the words left her mouth, the runes on her glove flared bright and a raven, the color of midnight, landed atop her shoulder.
A high-pitched cry shattered the quiet. “Where are they?”
Ronan knew that voice well already, he didn’t bother turning. Elysian had retrieved the princess easily enough. Had found her locked in her chamber, roses scattered like offerings on her bed, her body crumpled among them, face bruised, cheeks streaked with tears.
No guard had survived the retrieval. Not after what he saw, everything they failed to guard her from.
