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“What?”

“How’d you fight him in cuffs? Why are they broken?”

Silence for a tick. “Wait, are you saying I did this intentionally? Why the fuck would I do that?”

“I don’t know, Lux, whywouldyou do that?”

“I didn’t,” he snapped. “Take me to a cell right now. Let’s grab the boys, and—”

“So another one of your apparently crooked guards can let you all out again?”

“Well, what the fuck do you suggest then, Nix? I’m ready to take my damn punishment. I’vebeenready to take my punishment. Tell me where the fuck you want me, and I’ll—”

“Back to the Elder’s Hall,” I said. “The twenty-four of us will—”

Pain shot through my gut.

Suddenly, I saw through Véa’s eyes.

My babies.

My babies were in her arms.

Their throats were slit.

And a blade protruded from the middle of her torso.

“What’s the matter?” Lux came down the steps, taking two at a time. “What—”

I lapsed outside.

With enough power, I could open an egress on my own. It wasn’t easy, but I’d worked on it for thousands of years. The only time I managed to pull it off was when I was in certain danger.

And I wasn’t, at the moment. But Véa was.

Using every bit of strength I possessed, I opened my arms at my sides, screaming the old Elvan words at the top of my lungs. Black clouds rolled over the white ones, licks of cyan throbbing and exploding throughout them. Lightning shot into my palms. I yanked every bit of power from those clouds that they had in them.

And I shot it at the ground.

* * *

The egress opened just outside the Elder’s Hall.

Ejecting into the blue sky, I didn’t waste time for a landing. I lapsed to Véa.

And my heart shattered.

She lay on the marble floors between Mirobhail and Vanna. Her eyes were shut, her body drenched in maroon.

I collapsed at her side, hoisting her into my arms. “Véa.”

Her eyes fluttered.

“Véa, what’s happened?”

She didn’t respond, barely even meeting my gaze. Her mouth moved as though trying to form words, but nothing came out.

I eyed the wound in her stomach, peeling the fabric of her gown apart for a better look. The blood wasn’t gushing, and the skin wasn’t melding shut. It should’ve, but it didn’t.