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Adira rolled her eyes. “Oh, well, now I see the point in trying to have a rational conversation.”

“Everyone here—including you—knows the risks for such a spell.”

“Yes, and everyone here—includingyou—knows the risks we face if we do not try.” Adira spun away. “You do not want my neck on the line, but what makes you think I want yours?”

A broken, angry piece of me wanted to shout back that now she could see what such sacrificial choices did to the one you loved. I bit down on the tip of my tongue instead. “I’m not losing you again, Adira.”

“And I’m not losingyou.”

“I suppose we’re at an impasse.”

“No.” She stormed across the distance between us. “We are not.We, Kage Wilder, are going to use our heads and discuss every damn point if necessary.”

“There isn’t anything to discuss. I’m not willing to let you die again, and it seems you’re not willing to accept that.”

“Don’t be an ass.”

“I don’t know how not to be.”

Adira let out a huff of irritation. “Let me ask you something, and if you hold any ounce of affection for me?—”

“Adira,” I warned.

“No, truly. If you mean the words you say, then answer me truthfully. Do you believe me to be of House Ravenwood?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Do you believe House Ravenwood to be blood mages, curse breakers?”

I frowned.

She laughed, dark and low. “I’m taking that as a yes.” With care, Adira pressed her palm to my heart. “I am a curse breaker, Kage. I am. I feel it in my veins. When I read this grimoire, when I see the pieces of this cast, I can practically smell it, taste it. I know, if successful, this will create something capable of unraveling what has been done here.”

“And do you not question the validity? Do you not question if this is a ruse?”

“I recognize my writing?—”

“And there are such things asofskyhallucinations in this damn place.” I turned away, kicking a stool as I went when frustration boiled over. With a slow breath, I cooled the angry thud of my pulse and closed my eyes. “I cannot help but fear this is a trap to lure you, once more, into an impossible choice.”

A gentle hand roved over my back, encircling my waist, until both Adira’s arms were wrapped around me from behind.

“I know I wrote it, I know I hid this. When you were fighting at the borders and I discovered you were being targeted by the cruel ones, I must’ve taken steps to prepare for their darkness.” Adira paused, pressing a kiss between my shoulders. “Do not ask me how, but it burns within me, that this is what I crafted. A spell cast thathas not been cast before. One meant to draw out blight from the very soul of this land.”

“How would it have found Gaina then?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Some of it remains in a haze.”

Because there is something of importance we cannot know. The thought was a bolt to my skull, a truth I did not want to admit, not when it meant Adira would need to do a drastic act, like crafting a deadly spell cast.

“I think those moments are hidden with a purpose.” With care, I eased around to face her, and pinched her chin between my fingers. “I think those who caused this do not wish us to see those moments for answers lie within them. Those will be the last memories restored, no doubt.”

One corner of her mouth tugged up. “So, does that mean you’re willing to discuss this?”

I wanted to lash out, wanted to let fears and the past speak for me, but buried in a fiercer side, I wanted that vine wrapped bower. I wanted those spoken vows and hundreds of seasons with her at my side.

I’d only gotten her back. Was it not worth a battle to keep?

My shoulders slumped, my fists unfurled. “Let’s go over the list.”