It took Bridget a minute to get her brain working again. Quinn. The Bloodstone. Hundreds of soldiers were surrounding them. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Stellan piecing back together the wall with his magic. “She had the Bloodstone,” Bridget said. “If she doesn’t have that, she loses her reason to keep coming after you. She loses herpower.”
Even though anger marred his face, Cade’s thumb brushed her neck again, tracing the outline of a bruise just beginning to form. “That doesn’t mean you go after her on your own. She’s already proved she doesn’t need the Bloodstone to hurt you.” His gaze flickered to her side, where herleather jacket and green sweater hid the scar that almost killed her. “How did she even manage to get you alone? Where’s Nylah?”
Behind him, Cassia and Archer heatedly argued in hushed whispers as they walked toward them. Bridget didn’t look away from Cade. She reached up and brushed a smear of dirt from his cheek, letting her fingers linger just a moment longer than necessary. She didn’t want to stop touching him. “I sent her with Delphine and stayed back to help Cassia and Archer get people out of that apartment building. Quinn saw me from the forest. She called me Bee and then dared me to come after her.”
Cade’s brows furrowed. “She called youBee? Has anyone ever called you that before?”
“No… And something about that name just got to me. I can’t describe it.”
Beestill echoed in her mind… like a truth that seemed to dangle just out of reach.
Archer came to a stop beside them, cracking his back with a wince before bending over his knees, winded. “Who are we talking about?”
“Quinn,” Cade said flatly, shooting him a glare that could shatter glass.
“Well, she always was a fan of nicknames.”
Cassia rolled her eyes. “Right. I almost forgot you were her little errand boy for a while.”
Archer opened his mouth to respond, but Bridget shook her head, cutting through the tension. “It was more than that. The name felt too… personal.” She sighed. Her gaze cut to Cade. “She also tried to take me with her.”
The words hung heavy in the space between them.
I’m sorry,Bridget told him with her eyes. She’d almost been taken from Elyria just as quickly as she’d arrived. The slight downturn of his lips told her that he understood. A pinch stung her temple. A sign he’d also read her other silent plea. Once his presence filled her head, Bridget replayedher conversation with Quinn and how her behavior had kept erratically changing.
Cade narrowed his eyes.Do you think someone was controlling her?
Bridget raised her brows,Don’t you?
She was wearing your necklace. It shouldn’t be possible.
Blood drained from Bridget’s cheeks. She hadn’t even made the connection… and she’d seen the amethyst herself. Instead, she’d only focused on the explanation shewantedfor the wild changes to Quinn’s demeanor. She hadn’t wanted to see what was happening to Quinn for what it really was: the consequences of magic. Suddenly, her head felt very light.
Was the same thing happening to her?
“Of course you ran straight off into danger. You were supposed to behelping,” Cassia said.
Before blood could seep out of her nostril, Cade left her mind. He pulled her into her chest and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “You need to rest and we all should get back to the palace before our father finds out you’re back. I just felt him a few blocks away.”
Cassia grimaced. “At least a dozen soldiers have come to this area. He might already know.”
Bridget eyed the quiet and still Elder Woods. Somewhere out there, the Wraith still lingered. She watched Stellan fix the last part of the wall. Loud enough for him to hear, she said, “That Wraith was a Tuathan.”
Stellan rubbed the back of his neck and reluctantly joined them. “What makes you say that?”
“She had a heart to heart with Quinn in the Elder Woods,” Cade answered.
Archer scoffed and reached to lift a section of Bridget’s hair, revealing the bruise at her neck. “I still can’t believe you let someone with one arm do that to you. So much for those self-defense classes.”
Bridget elbowed him in the stomach. “Touch me again and I’ll demonstrate the advanced course.”
“Most Wraiths are Tuathan,” Stellan cut in, his voice tight. “But now’s not the time for a history lesson. Cade’s right. We need to find Marin and get back to the palace before anyone realizes we’re here yet.”
Bridget noticed the way his eyes kept flickering to every open space, probably looking for Marin, but Quinn had looked sosmugwhen she’d asked about the Wraiths. She couldn’t let it go. “I just don’t understand how that happened. Have some of the Shamans gone missing?”
Cassia eyed her curiously. “Our father banished them all once we got back from Cavamyne.”
“He was afraid I would use one of them to send Finn or Delphine through the gate,” Cade said. After a quick pause, he shrugged. “He wasn’t wrong. But I don’t think he left them unprotected. He brought one back to send Alexia through the gate.”
