We finally came to a stop, and even in the dead of night, the waves of heat suffocated me. I fell to the floor, my eyes rolling to the back of my head as my vision began to blur.
“Hey!” Zola’s voice was panicked. “Wake up!” she roared. “Adohan! Idris!”
I heard footsteps frantically speeding across the floor.
“Dax!” Adohan gasped. “Send for the healers! Quickly now!”
The world began to slip away. My limbs felt like slabs of stone as my breathing became labored. I’d drained my well of magic to the point of burning out, giving more than I was able to sustain. Only once had I felt this weak, so close to the crossing that I could feel the sprays of water from the river itself.
“Stay with us, Daxton.” Idris’s voice was soft and comforting. “Skylar is at the veil! We just received word from Fjorda. She’s almost here… Hold on. You must hold on.” Her plea was hopeful.
“Skylar,” I rasped. “Tell her—”
“No,” Adohan interjected, kneeling at my side. “Don’t you dare say another fucking word. You tell her whatever you need to when you see her yourself.”
I huffed a laugh, even though it pained me to do so. I tried to reach for the scroll tucked into my shirt, but despite my best efforts, I failed miserably.
Adohan noticed my feeble attempt and reached out to take the scroll. “You did good, my friend,” he said.
“One more day, Dax,” Idris encouraged as the sound of footsteps entered the room. The healers were already preparing some kind of concoction to try and heal me. “You just have to last one more day.”
One day.
“Skylar will be here, Daxton,” Zola said, quietly kneeling near my feet. “Keep fighting or else she’ll kill you for giving up on her.”
“One day,” I repeated.
I could manage that.
Chapter Forty-One
Skylar Cathal
“Are you sure about this, Sky?” Shaw leaned against the railing, his gaze narrowing as he looked across the vast ocean. “’Cause I’m not.”
“I believe it’s a reality we must face and can no longer ignore.” I braced myself against the increased swaying of the ship as the crisscrossing winds near the veil pummeled the churning waves. “I don’t see another option.”
“They won’t like it.”
“Who exactly?” I asked as I steadied myself.
“The elders.” Shaw pushed off the railing and sat across from me on the deck. His back rested against a barrel of wine we were tempted to drain after circling back to this conversation yet again. “Run me through your thought process once more.”
“We’re outnumbered,” I said, internally sighing as I moved to sit upright. “If war is truly at our doorstep with the humans, they will slaughter us based on that fact alone. We’re more powerful, but that won’t last against the constant bombardment of never-ending troops.”
“I understand that part,” Shaw growled. “I’ve been in the thick of that very fight myself.”
“I know,” I answered with a narrowing glare at my beta.
“Keep going.” Shaw took a deep breath, running through the different scenarios in his mind and thinking of every possible outcome.
“We need allies,” I said.
“And the High Fae, who are at war within their own kingdoms… are the solution?”
I narrowed my eyes at Shaw in annoyance. “We help them, and they will help us in return.”
“You must be certain about this, Skylar. Asking our people to abandon their homes is—”
