“No.” I tapped a finger on my bouncing knee, my lips twitching at the sides. “But if you can find lollipops somewhere on this island, I’ll be forever indebted to you.”
“Lollipops?” Everly said. “You hate lollipops.”
“Not anymore.” Not when I had myLolliback at my side.
Elias grinned. “This is why Teddy will forgive you. Once she sees how happy you are, she’ll be just as happy for you.”
I dragged a hand over my face and groaned. “She’s going to demand to know why we didn’t do this back in Niev, where she could torment me with questions and hypotheticals.”
“She’ll demand you give her all the details.” Elias nodded. “You should keep a journal so you don’t leave anything out.”
I muttered a curse, secretly delighted to fill Teddy in on everything. Keeping a journal wasn’t a terrible idea. I could also record the list Finley had made of all the things she wanted to do and looked forward to.
If she let me, I’d be the one beside her as she crossed out each and every item.
“Why don’t you and Finley take the day off?” Elias asked. “Yesterday was rough for her. Some rest will do her well.”
I ran a hand over my chin, considering. “What about the dragons? We came here to help them, not step away.”
“I’ll be meeting with Kassidy,” he said. “We’ll come up with a plan that doesn’t hurt Finley the way her magic harmed her yesterday. No one is asking her to push again today.”
“I command it,”Hoshiko said through our mental connection.
I breathed in his words. Helping them couldn’t mean burning Finley out until nothing remained.
Truth be told, I’d love a day of doing absolutely nothing with her. The problem was that Finley wasn’t one to sit idly by.
“I’ll see if I can convince her when I apologize,” Everly said.
I glanced at Everly. “You can hear my thoughts now?”
“No,” she said dryly. “I know warriors. Tell one to rest, and their brain starts to melt.”
I hid my grin behind my palm and wondered if a day with me made it on her list.
Chapter
Thirteen
FINLEY
The warm windwhipped around me, howling across the cliffs like it knew what trembled beneath my skin. Death stirred inside me, restless and gluttonous, but this time Hoshiko wasn’t with me to restrain the storm.
Instead, I’d trekked alone, and despite the many hours that had passed, I still tasted Brenton on my lips and yearned to feel him again.
The desolate ridge beckoned me with the jagged stones beneath my boots, blackened from when I’d released my magic a few beats ago. It hadn’t been enough, and my hands trembled with the power that coiled in my veins. Too big, too loud, too hungry.
I took in a deep breath, giving my magic room to rise, this time slower.
On an exhale, I released a pulse of death, much larger than I’d wanted. It vibrated in the air, and for a few beats, it drained light from the very sky. At my feet, the grass curled and died.
Still, it wasn’t enough.
Not even the bird that fell at my feet satiated my magic.
I stepped away from the edge, and an anguished scream tore from me. “What more do you want from me?” I spun a circle, needing to find blame in someone, anyone but me.
Magic surged, flooding out of me, damning the world closest to me in death.
