She was so desperate, I had to help her. I bit my tongue and rose to my feet. Brietta stayed kneeling in the grass, her heart and mind open as I splayed my fingers toward her.
The golden blood bond from Fraleigh’s magic twisted around Brietta’s heart like a halo, its light shining in every one of her veins.
Brietta closed her eyes and the bond loosened, like she had let go of her end of a rope. I closed my fist, feeling the tautness of that golden rope of light instead of air against my skin.
Even though her blood bond was sealed, I could pull it out of her throat just like Daigen had done with me. In theory, anyway.
If my magic let me do it, the bond would shred out of her body with the intensity of the sun. It would hurt her…and it would hurt Derrick too.
Before I could even tug on that bond, anguish radiated into my hand and up my arm. Everything I had done to Derrick blared back at me like a trumpet, announcing my guilt loud and clear.
I released my fist as my eyes stung with tears. Brietta opened her eyes.
The little red ember beneath the diamond in my heart glowed red. As much as I wanted to protect Brietta, my magic could not remove her blood bond.
My heart might have been bathed in flames, but it would never desire to hurt Derrick again.
The afternoon sunlight lit up the battlements of the towers of Bloodstone Fortress as we finished our ascent of the mountainside.
Daigen stood with his arms folded at the open gate, his cloak fluttering around him in the soft breeze as he waited for us.
Annalisa stopped her horse at the gate and I dismounted. My legs ached from the long ride, but I wanted to get to Daigen before Annalisa or Brietta could ask any questions.
His violet eyes glanced past my shoulder. “Do they know?”
“No.” I held my arms. “They would try to stop me if they did.”
He looked up at the bright blue sky, where the waxing moon hid behind the treeline. “You have until tomorrow night. I suggest you rest now.”
I avoided the eyes of the soldiers as I escorted Annalisa and Brietta through the courtyard. A couple of maids came to our aid as soon as we entered the fortress keep, helping Annalisa and Brietta find refreshment and accommodations.
For once, I did not bother with food. I silently dragged up the set of spiral stairs in the corner of the dining room until my feet found the hall with the crimson carpet runners. I could have turned left in the hallway to where my bedroom door had been, but instead I turned right.
The oak door creaked as I pushed it open. A shiver skittered across my shoulders as the mountain air crept in through the cracks of the broken window. Someone had boarded up the window and removed the fragments of glass from the floor, but Riyan’s huge mattress still sat atop of a shattered bedframe.
Despite the chill in the room, I peeled off my singed clothes. I crawled into Riyan’s broken bed and pulled his heavy blankets over my shoulders. His scent of nectar and wheat filled my nose as I hugged his pillow.
Only one more night until he was back in our world again.
The Nordingaard crystal pulsed heat against my throat as I finally let myself rest.
I slept for sixteen hours.
My last meal as a mortal was a crust of bread that I nibbled in the corner of the kitchen. Every bite of the bread turned to ash in my mouth, but I needed energy for the journey up the mountain.
I had dressed myself comfortably from my old wardrobe and pinned the crimson cape that was once Riyan’s around my shoulders.
I had successfully avoided everyone else in the fortress, including nosy Erik, but I still allowed myself one goodbye.
The sunset cast an orange glow on all of Astrid’s paintings in her bedroom as I knelt before her wheeled chair.
Her hands were delicate as parchment as they rested in mine. Her grey eyes stared at the wall, but I knew whatever shards of her mind floated around in her head could still understand me.
I smiled at her. “I am bringing him back, just like I said.”
Astrid’s eyes slid to the wall above her bed. “Ragnar.”
I turned, following her gaze to the portraits of Ragnar she had painted. She still held out hope for him, but he had used her and abandoned her.
