Before Kassidy had the chance to cut Finley down further, I stepped in. Not to shield her but to stand at her side.
“You see her magic as a danger,” I said. “I see it as power restrained. Strength that has saved me, saved Elias, saved countless others. She’s here because she chooses to fight for us, even when it costs her. That’s not dangerous. That is bravery and loyalty.”
“What do you call it when she loses control?” Kassidy asked.
“That isn’t of Finley’s doing but my own,” Elias said. “Last year, my mate and I forfeited our magic so our healer could absorb it to heal a friend. In losing my magic, it seems all magic in Niev began to malfunction.”
“I didn’t ask who’s to blame,” Kassidy said, leaning her elbows on the wooden table. “What do you call it when her magic escapes her hold? When death pours from her without her consent?”
Unflinching, Finley’s eyes met Kassidy’s, and her voice did not waver. “I call it a reminder that my magic is not gentle.That it can take, as you said, without consent. That’s why I left yesterday. So I would not harm anyone here.”
“Will you always be able to contain it long enough to be clear of others?” Kassidy asked.
“I can’t promise you perfection, Kassidy.” Finley’s tone gentled. “But I am vigilant. I know my magic and feel it when it rises. Everly offered to help me with training. Although I’m cautious to take it, her advice has already proven helpful.” She brushed a finger across my knuckles, looping her pinky around my own. I held it fast. “You fear for your people. I understand. I do not wish to endanger anyone. That’s why I train every morning, so that discipline holds me when control slips.”
“No,” a female whispered. “There’s more to your magic.”
“This is my younger sister, Willow,” Kassidy said. “She is a dragon-bound. Similar to a healer in your realm, but she uses her dragon’s magic to heal others.”
“I can feel your death magic.” Willow’s eyes locked on Finley’s, sharp and unblinking. “But there’s healing in you too. My dragon and I share a line between us. I feel the same line inside your magic.”
Finley drew in a sharp breath, her shoulders tensing as if Willow had pressed a hand to an old wound. For all the years I’d known Finley, she only knew herself as one thing. Death. To hear another name. Healer . . .
Her chin didn’t lower. Not even when her fingers trembled slightly in mine.
I squeezed back, reassuring her, while a storm twisted and raged inside me.
The air around us grew heavy with the silence that followed. All the while, Willow’s words lingered, impossible to ignore.
“But there’s healing in you too.”
Chapter
Fifteen
FINLEY
I balkedat the words that scraped against my chest like jagged glass.
Healing.It echoed in my head, foreign and sharp.
Healing. It wasn’t a word I’d associated with myself or my magic. How could I when all I knew was death? When my value was determined by the destruction I caused?
Willow’s eyes flicked to Kassidy, seeming to ask her permission. “I can prove it.”
“I don’t think?—”
Willow rose from the table, cutting me off while she peered down at her sister’s frown. “Solana still suffers. Allow me to prove it with her.” She said it with such unwavering calm, I almost believed her.
“You can’t possibly think?—”
“I don’t think,” Willow told me. “I recognize it.” She glanced at Kassidy. “We’ll go to the cave.”
Brenton was the first to stand, tugging my finger before he let go. I gripped his hand harder, my heart torn at the loss of contact.
He brushed his lips over my hair. “I didn’t know if you’d want to stand on your own,” he said so low that only fae ears could hear him.
While normally I would, I needed his strength. His bravery.
