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It’s not enough.

The carriage escapes, and the hailstones grow even larger. I reach a bank and tuck myself under the ledge of dirt and tangled roots, fearing they’ll reach the size of the life-ending boulders that fell through the roof of the school. Hail pummels the ground in a calming, sporadic rhythm. I hide my face in the bank and clutch the roots. As the storm finally loses steam, a gentle quiver of energy trickles through me. The final hailstones plunk to the ground.

I can’t ignore how the energy pulls at me, an inaudible whisper urging me along. It’s different from what happened near the lake, which I still can’t align with reality. Instead of a chaotic scramble of panicked light hurtling its way toward Eli whileenergy—no, whilemagicbarreled up my arms and into my body, this time, it guides me.

My feet obey, and I crunch my way through the aftermath of the storm, studying my mental map, but all the sharp turns following the carriage have me disoriented. I only have the guidance below my feet, transferring from the roots of one tree to the next. I run above the tugging energy, a puppet on the end of its strings. My legs lift and fall, boots gliding and vaulting until the roots run me straight into the runaway carriage.

I don’t understand how the magic found it, but here it is. Relief surges through me. I can bring the babies back to their mothers at the Ring.

The back wheels of the carriage are stuck in a muddy trench, spinning and splattering mud droplets on my face. I climb up and peek inside the cabin. The babies are still deep asleep—which is concerning. Babies don’t sleep through hail storms. It’s only now that I realize nothing was pulling or powering the carriage—no horse, no motor, only…magic. Like what Sola used on Jace’s face. She told me she received her gift after linking, that she could somehow shift matter, but I didn’t believe those same hands—hands that were all over my face, forcing scarlet soda down my throat—were so dangerous. Maybe because the use of magic is almost as sparse as good food around here.

Exhaustion catches up with me, and I slide to the hail-studded ground. I sink into the bliss of success at finding the carriage. My limp and lavished body ties me to the ground along with the truth in the Centress’ words.She’s my mother.

Deep in the woods, with her and the guards defeated and cuffed at the Ring, I prepare for a long, cold night and hide under another bank of roots beneath an aging tree.

My eyes are still fighting sleep not twenty minutes later when footsteps approach and faces appear in a half circle overhead.

Chapter

Thirty-Five

Eli drops to his knees in front of me, grabbing my shoulders and pinning me to the roots at my back. “What the fuck were you thinking? You were supposed to follow Milo.” His wide eyes flare with fear, not with the anger spearing over the rest of his bruised face.

I can’t stop the heat from rising in me and diffusing across my cheeks from simply looking at him. His stubble is a shade darker beneath the late-hour moons, accentuating his angles and framing those ripe lips, the ones he had against mine. But it’s his concern for me that has me staring at his face, an even deeper heat settling in my chest.

“Calm down, Eli,” Milo says, pulling back on his arm. Eli growls and shakes him off. Coen, Sola, Kaleida and Sypher stand behind them, all peering down at me.

“How did you find me so fast?” I ask, but my focus snags on the way his hands grip my shoulders, that scar on his jaw and the earthy cave scent of his darkness, telling me to get as far away from him as possible. I breathe it in. “I must have run for miles.”

“I know the carriage route used for the elixir, but I didn’t know she was putting babies in them too.” Milo shrinks down to a crouch next to Eli in his wet jumpsuit. His bright eyes inspect me from head to toe, but besides being sore, exhausted, hungry, cold and wet, I’m physically fine. It’s my mind that’s reeling and coming undone—the babies, the magic, the Centress.That kiss.

I scan the faces above me. Sypher and Kaleida are covered in black-and-blue bruises from the lake, now with fresh red welts added to the mix. Sola and Coen are equally battered.

Kaleida kneels next to Milo, her tight curls frizzy and escaping the tie holding them atop her head. Her dark brown eyes are full of warmth. “Are you okay?”

Am I okay? My baby-stealing mother tried to take my memories, and tree roots guided me through the woods. No, I’m not okay.I nod. And lie.“I’m fine.”

“We would have made it to the Ring sooner, but it took Eli a while to find Coen and me—and to convince us to join him as traitors to the Centress—but here we are,” Sola says, as though it’s no big deal.

But it is. Why would they help him? And ruin their futures and risk their lives?

To save Milo—it’s the only explanation.

“What were you thinking?” Eli says again, still holding me against the roots.

“I’m taking these babies back to their mothers then searching for Kelt.”Then curling up in a ball and crying over my mother.I hold my head high, my voice only wavering slightly.

“No. You’re going back to the castle, and I’m locking you in my room where you can’t run away and get yourself killed.” Eli lifts me to my feet, hardly giving me time to drop my jaw.

“You’d kiss me then lock me up?”

He doesn’t so much as glance at his friends shifting awkwardly behind him, his night eyes glued on me. “Of course.” My fists are as tight as my legs are weak with what he’s willing to do to keep me safe.

“She went through the trouble of following the carriage. Let’s at least get the babies out of the woods,” Sola says, holding the open gash on her arm and peering at me with a swollen eye. “Milo explained everything. We need to expose the Centress for what she’s doing. Nobody has any idea she’s lying about them dying, and I’m sure she takes the memories from anyone helping her. She can get away with anything.”

“Expose her to who?” Coen counters. “To all her loyal devoted followers? She’s the Centress. They’ll follow her no matter what. She’s nothing special beyond her gift, but it’s all about the title. She could lose her magic, and they’d still line up to serve. I know because that was us earlier today—until Eli asked for our help.”

That’s it? He asked for help and they gave up their loyalty to the Centress? It’s as though they’ll do anything for him, while others hate him with a passion.