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I could see the guilt swell behind his gaze as he stood and stepped backwards once. Twice. Putting distance between himself and the rest of us.

I stepped forward, wanting to close that distance, but Annelise grabbed my arm.

“Give him space. Give him time.”

My gaze shot to hers, a witty quip on the tip of my tongue until her expression sank in.

She shook her head, her expression strained. “I know what it is to feel the sudden repercussions of your actions like this. How it is to betray the ones you love, even unwittingly.”

I swallowed hard, my gaze flitting back to Nik.

He held his ripped tunic closed across his chest, gooseflesh breaking out across his skin. He gave me one last glance, his eyes filled with anguish, before turning away from me. As he walked away, his human footprints on the forest floor turned to those of a great wolf, and I could see his black, shaggy fur as his Nightshade form retreated into the forest.

I moved to protest, to go after him, but Annelise held me firm.

“He knows where we are. He will be back. He needs to process this on his own. We don’t know what else happened while he was Noctani. We only know what he did to you. To Puck. To Tess. These wounds are likely deeper than we know.”

My gaze fell to my boots as I gave a soft nod.

As much as I didn’t want to let him go, despite how much it hurt to watch him walk away when I had just got him back, I understood. He was swelling with emotions, brimming with guilt, and he needed to grieve in his own way.

But I had already forgiven him. For everything.

It hadn’t beenhim. Not truly.

I brushed my pants off, meeting Puck and Zion’s gaze. Sympathy was clear in their eyes, and I almost couldn’t take it. I wasn’t the one they should be sorry for. It was Nik. I moved to my pack, stuffing the items that had spilled out of it across theforest floor during the mayhem of searching for the antidote bottle back into the rough canvas.

Isaac was still dead.

We hadn’t been able to save him.

Zion held the second antidote out to me and I stuffed it inside the pack ruthlessly, an emptiness enveloping my chest. My gaze was drawn to Isaac’s still form, motionless among the moss-covered forest. His eyes were closed, the reminder of his Noctani darkness hidden from my view.

“What was that?” I asked, turning to Zion at my side. “When the magic seemed to… swell around him. Into the earth. Was that his Stormshade magic?”

I had thought it was safely enclosed in Donika’s serpentine staff, encapsulated for her to use at her every whim. We weren’t sure what would happen to it if we had cured Isaac… or killed him.

Zion nodded, his gaze following mine. “When a Shade dies, their magic returns to the earth. To where it was first born. I wasn’t sure if Isaac’s would, with Donika having stolen it and him having turned into Noctani. But it appears that when a Noctani dies, so does their magic. It returns to them, then to the earth.”

My gaze brightened a little. “That means Donika doesn’t have storm magic anymore?”

“That’s correct. At least one good thing came from this battle. We know now that killing the Noctani or curing them returns their magic to their bodies and the earth. Valuable knowledge for us to use in the fight against her.”

I nodded. A small consolation.

Isaac was still gone, and we couldn’t get him back, but at least Donika couldn’t use his magic against me. Against us.

Isaac was as much of a father to me as he was a mentor. He was the first Stormshade I had ever met. The first Shade who had magic similar to my own and had taught me how to wield it.

I moved to his body, kneeling beside it. I reached for his hand—his skin cold within my grasp. I remembered how he had taught me more about my magic than I had ever thought possible. He had taught me how to shield, how to use my magic not only for offense but for defense. He had been by my side when my magic turned on me. He had helped me rein it in.

A single tear escaped my eye, and I wiped it away with the back of my hand.

“I will win this war for you, Isaac. I wish you could have known a realm where you didn’t have to hide your storm magic.” I bit back a cry as I gently placed his hand across his chest, fingers splayed out. “Thank you. For everything.”

I stood, a sad smile across my lips as I gazed down at him.

“He needs a proper burial.” I spoke to no one in particular, but it was Amiyah who answered.