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“I didn’t … I didn’t mean to …”

Vrail patted Nikolai’s shoulder as she stood. “I surprised her, Nik.”

“And she attacked you.” Nikolai seethed.

“I’m sorry.” A whisper was all I could manage.

Lash turned to me and froze. Nikolai tilted his head at him but the Fae waved his hand and slowly placed himself in front of both of them.

“Lash, what—”

Lash waved Nikolai into silence, his calm voice not matching the panic in his expression. “Her eyes.”

Nikolai turned to me and his arms tightened around Vrail.

Lash slowly raised his hand. “Keera, does your chest feel tight?”

I nodded. The pain had become almost unbearable.

“How tight?” It was strange for such a mountain of a person to seem so scared.

My lips quivered as I admitted the truth. “I’m about to explode.”

Lash only had one word for me. “Run.”

I didn’t hesitate. I tried to keep control on my magic, but I could feel gusts of wind whipping in all directions as I sprinted down the tunnel. I needed to get out. The pressure inside my chest was peaking and when it blew, I felt as if it would take the entire city with me.

Silver light from the moon fell on my cheeks as I tasted fresh air, but I didn’t stop running. I kept moving along the lake until I knew I was out of the city and out of anyone’s reach.

I collapsed on the sand and I screamed until the taste of blood coated my tongue. A flock of songbirds deserted the nearby trees, sensing danger was near.

The whirling in my chest squeezed the air from my lungs and I let the power overtake me. A strong wind tugged at the trees until the branches curled to the point of snapping. A chorus of cracks filled the wood as the gusts spun around me, tangling my body in their hold.

Thin lines of breeze wrapped around my throat. I lifted my hands, trying to pull them away, but they weren’t like rope. They shifted around my fingers, squeezing tighter, until my body was lifted off the ground entirely. My feet kicked uselessly as my own magic strangled me in the air.

Something moved along the lake. I tried to shout at them to leave me. That it wasn’t safe. But I had no air to scream let alone speak. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I glimpsed fiery red curls. Panic pushed my heart to the brink and I knew in a few short seconds Gwyn would witness my death. Gerarda stood beside her andI stared helplessly, pleading with my eyes to turn the girl around, but she didn’t.

Gerarda pulled something out of her belt and brought it to her lips. She lifted her head to look up at where my magic had lifted me stories above the lake.

Something sharp pricked my thigh and the winds died. I dropped forty feet, free falling, before the shadows found me, wrapping around my waist. My finger trailed over the cool water of the lake as Riven pulled me back toward him. My vision blurred and I finally closed my eyes to rest.

CHAPTERSIX

IDIDN’T NEED TO OPEN MY EYESto know that the room was full of people. I could hear several steady heartbeats and one that was hammering in the corner of the room. My eyelids opened slightly as someone sat at the foot of my cot. Maerhal peered down at me like a cat, wide eyes and sitting on all fours. Her hands were shrouded in the shadows that covered me like a blanket as Riven spoke to someone above my head.

I blinked and Maerhal blinked back. “Her troubles wake her,” she whispered. Vrail stood next to Nikolai but her face was turned to the old woman with yellow eyes on the other side of me.

Rheih Talonseer was crouched over a wooden bowl, mixing together something that smelled like rotting fish.

Maerhal plucked a flower from the table beside the bed and placed it behind my ear. She smiled widely at her son and I realized I was in her bed. We were in the small room off the infirmarywhere Nikolai brought his bouquet of flowers each day now that his mother had returned.

I brushed the petals with my fingers. “Miivra gwethir,” I whispered, squeezing Maerhal’s hand. It was the closest words Elvish had to “thank you.” She lifted our joined hands and placed them on one knee while her chin rested on the other.

Nikolai glanced down at us with a stiff smile. I could spot the worry in his warm eyes, his arm still wrapped around Vrail protectively. She tucked her arm behind her, but not before I noticed her wrapped wrist.

My stomach clenched knowing I was responsible.

“I’m sorry,” I mouthed, flicking my eyes to her wrist.