“If you must cast blame, then blame the one who created the Orb of Sacrifice.” Alastor emerged from the cave with Javier and Everly behind him. He didn’t look at Kassidy, or Finley, or me, but to the dead. A muscle twitched beneath his eye before hisgaze landed on Finley. “You were correct in what you sensed.” His tone softened, his attention shifting to me when Finley stared at the ground.
I ran my knuckles across the back of her hand. She neither reached for me nor flinched away, so I closed my fingers over hers, cold and stiff, and gave her a gentle squeeze. Although she didn’t react, I held on tight.
“Several thousand years ago, before mages were massacred in our realm, a daughter born from both a mage and a god created the Orb of Sacrifice and gifted it to the mages,” Alastor said, his tone heavy. “The orb was designed to siphon magic so its master could wield it at will. Whoever is attacking your dragons is feeding their magic into it.”
“Do you mean the orb is here?” Kassidy asked, her palm still pressed against the dead dragon.
“Yes,” Alastor answered. “And so is the one who wields its power.”
“Is it the dead mage then?” Callan asked, kneeling beside his sister. When he set his hand on her shoulder, she leaned into him. Grief broke through her features in a way that twisted my stomach.
Alastor’s shadows slithered from his feet, slashing at the ground several times before he called them back. His face remained impassive, though I saw the anger and grief brewing behind his darkening eyes. “It feels similar to my sister’s magic, but not the same.”
Kassidy stood, exhaustion making her shoulders drop although she narrowed her eyes at Alastor. “Your sister?”
“My sister, Leanora.” He dipped his head in a nod, not offering anything more. “This time, the orb feels hungrier. Stronger. I do not yet know the wielder’s purpose, but if they continue, they will keep taking until nothing is left.”
I shivered at the implication while my mind ran through his words. Through Finley’s words about the daughter of the gods who’d helped her, who’d spoken to her about teaching her, who’d given Finley the choice of relinquishing her magic. All to free souls trapped, whose magic had been stored in the very same orb Alastor now spoke about.
While I knew Finley, knew her heart and her desire to fix the imbalance the orb had created, to renew the fae’s failing magic, to save the dragons dying in Vistos, it was too much of a coincidence. There was a reason Zaicha started visiting Finley just before our trip to Vistos. A reason she wanted Finley’s magic.
I didn’t speak it aloud, not wanting to betray Finley’s trust.
“The orb siphons magic,” I said slowly, piecing together both the words Alastor spoke and those he left unsaid. The ones I knew because Teddy had told me about the orb’s origin. My attention went to Finley, to the way she continued to stare at the ground and the rigid set of her shoulders.
My mind replayed the moment she’d screamed in agony, her body bowing as if she were trying to hold her magic inside. But it hadn’t erupted outward the way I’d seen before. It had burst into the air, pulled from her. Controlled. Directed.
Cold realization thrashed through me. Whoever held the orb wasn’t just stealing the dragons’ magic.
“My magic killed these dragons.” Finley’s words came out dull, her eyes fixed on her boots. “The orb’s wielder used me as a conduit.”
“That is correct.” Alastor’s gaze swept across the fallen dragons. “Whoever holds the orb was able to channel through you. That is why the deaths came at once. Why the male dragons were the sole targets.”
Finley’s shoulders hunched, shrinking into herself.Gods, her power had been used against her will again. How would sherecover from that? How could I help her from . . . slipping away again?
Chapter
Twenty
FINLEY
I couldn’t liftmy gaze. My boots blurred beneath me, but I still felt every pair of eyes on me. Heavy. Searching. Afraid. Yesterday, I’d believed I could belong. Kassidy’s family had drawn me into their dance. Brenton had held me close in the quiet of his tent. Now all I felt was the weight of the dead pressing into me.
“It’s not safe for me to stay in Vistos.” My voice scraped out, thin and raw, those few words costing me what little strength I had left.
Willow’s sharp inhale broke the quiet. “We need you, Finley. The other dragons. Your magic can still heal them.”
My throat closed. The thought of reaching for any part of my magic turned my stomach. Hadn’t I already destroyed enough? I shook my head.
Before I could force the refusal out, Brenton stepped in, his voice fierce and firm. “We’ll discuss this later.” His hand brushed against mine, and this time, I grasped it. He turned to me, his hazel eyes steadying me. “We’ll go somewhere you feel safe.” His soft tone wrapped around me like an embrace.
For a few beats, I wanted to let him. Gods, I wanted to let him. But there was nowhere I could go that would keep anyone safe. Not if the orb’s wielder could reach through me. Not if I couldn’t even protect Brenton from myself.
“You’re our only chance.” Kassidy’s hand circled my wrist.
I hissed, flinching away as I drew my arms tightly around myself and ensured my magic was wound just as tight.
Kassidy turned her gaze to Brenton. “If she leaves, we loseeverything.”
