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As Darien moved, he glanced down at Loren, watching and listening for her shallow breathing. His preoccupation with her was the reason why he didn’t notice something was amiss until he was about a dozen feet from the vehicle.

The faint click of a gun’s safety being lowered slowed his feet.

He could feel it—the target on the back of his head.

Darien froze, arms tightening around Loren. Black flooded his eyes as he attempted to rally his magic—

But the black went away as soon as it got there. His magic was still spent; there wasn’t one drop left.

Malakai’s voice tore through the night. “Brodie!” he barked. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Slowly, Darien turned. Once he was facing Brodie, he saw that his twin brother had a gun on him too.

Malakai was standing in the path of the guns, hands raised, eyes—all the black bled out of them—bolted wide. “Someone tell me what the fuck is going on!"

There was a look of maniacal delight on Brodie’s face. He was looking at…at Loren, Darien realized. “She has the powers of the Well.”

Darien’s blood ran cold.

Loren stirred in his arms, a hum that sounded like she was coming to floating from her lips.

But her heart—it was still weak. Still nothing but a faint flutter.

Darien whispered, “Brodie.”

Brodie tightened his grip on the gun. “How long were you planning on keeping her a secret, huh?” His words were ragged shouts that carried far. “How long?” he roared, the veins in his temples pulsing.

“I can explain,” Darien tried.

Malakai was gaping in confusion. “What the fuck do you mean you can explain?” His head swivelled between them. “Is it true? Does she have the Well magic?” He waved a hand at Loren. Darien tightened his hold on her. “Does she?”

Darien couldn’t find words. He had no idea what to say or do. He was drained, and all he could do was hold onto Loren, praying they would make it out of here. That she would make it out of here.

She had to live.

She had to live.

“That was how she was able to seal the Veil,” Macen cut in, his words for Malakai, who stared at Darien, rage and disbelief contorting his features. “How she was able to heal Darien. She is the girl everyone’s been looking for.”

“What’s going on?” The sound of Loren’s soft voice made Darien’s knees weaken with relief. Relief—and a fresh wave of fear that sent his heart into a sprint.

Carefully, he set her on her feet and pulled her behind him, so his body was shielding hers. He might be able to protect her with his body, might be able to keep her safe now that he wasn’t having to carry her.

Darien raised a hand in surrender, keeping the other arm gripping Loren, as he said to Malakai, “It’s true. It’s true, alright? I’m done lying to you. I was hired to hunt her down last fall. But I decided to dig deeper when I saw that she was human. She is innocent, Malakai. She does not deserve to be hunted like this. If she uses her magic, she will die—”

“You’re a fucking liar!” Malakai exploded. He stepped closer, pointing a finger in Darien’s face. “You lied. What happened to not keeping secrets, Darien? What happened to that?” His upper lip curled back over his teeth. “You two-timing son of a fucking bitch.”

“It wasn’t like that,” Darien said, swallowing a wave of nausea. Loren gripped his arm, fingers fluttering. “I didn’t mean it like that—”

Malakai tried to point around him—at Loren.

Darien hid her by angling his body. She was sagging against him, nearly falling down, her cold hands gripping his arm. So cold, he could feel the icy temperature through the tears in his bodysuit.

“She is what I need to heal Jewels,” Malakai said, still pointing. The manic excitement sparking in his eyes made a sharp contrast with the rage marring his features and the black staining his cheeks. “She can cure her of the Tricking.”

“We don’t know that,” Darien tried. “She hardly knows how to control her magic, Malakai. The only person she’s ever healed is me. And the Widow told her that if she uses her magic, she will die.”

“Another bullshit lie,” Brodie spat.