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My hand on her shoulder, I gave her a gentle squeeze as she wiped away the tear.

“I knew I would find you two here.” It was Zion’s voice that rang out from behind us.

I turned, his body silhouetted with the rising sun behind him so that I had to cover my eyes in order to see him.

“How are you… dry?” I called out, assessing the state of him.

Mere moments ago there had been two raging storms here, and Annelise and I were completely soaked through. I was due for a long, hot shower.

Zion grinned down at us from the hill of rubble he stood on. “I stood out of striking distance of the storm until you two were finished.”

He raised a brow at me as he assessed Annelise, the grime and blood caked on her.

“You got a hit in on her?” he asked, suspicion lacing his tone.

“I did,” I said proudly.

Annelise appeared equally proud as she nodded. “She did. She is a natural with the magic. She did well choosing a strong binding partner.”

“Does that factor into the equation? How strong the binding partner is?” I asked.

“Most certainly.” She nodded. “If you bind to someone who can’t share the magic, your ability to control will only weaken. Nikolai is a strong Shade in his own right. Though, with how much magic you have used today, you might find him a little tired.”

“Zion doesn’t look tired,” I pointed out.

Annelise crossed her arms over her chest. “He has more practice with the give and take of storm magic. This was your first time truly using your power and pulling on that energy. Nikolai will never have sensed anything like that before. We should train daily, maybe even multiple times a day so that you both can become accustomed to the effects of the magic.”

“I agree.” I nodded. “I need Nik to be one hundred percent when we storm The Stone City.”

Annelise placed her hand against my back reassuringly. “He will be.”

“I didn’t only come to check on your training,” Zion said from atop the rubble. “Tess has found something that you both might find of interest.”

We exchanged a glance that felt as if I was gazing in a mirror, and we both laughed as we trudged through the mud and followed Zion back to the cottage underground.

Before I joined Tess and Puck in the library, I desperately needed a hot shower. I was covered from head to toe in dirt and grime and I needed to scrub myself clean before I let anyone see me. I returned to my own room to shower, hoping Nik was still getting some rest. I drew myself a bath, scrubbed my skin raw, and washed all the grime from my tangled hair.

By the time I had emerged from the bathroom I was an entirely new person. Not only was I now squeaky clean, but I was a bound Stormshade withcontrolof her magic. A renewed sense of hope simmered in my chest, despite what I had seen at The Stone Palace last night.

I slipped into the library, my hair still wet and braided down my back leaving a wet mark against my shirt. I found Tess and Puck standing, leaning over Annelise who sat at the table. She had the Kotova grimoire beside another book, her gaze traveling back and forth between the two texts. Nik stood across from them with Zion, his arms crossed over his chest.

I gave him a soft smile as I joined them, peering over Annelise’s shoulder to see what it was they were gazing at.

“What is it?” I asked.

My gaze met Nik’s across the table.

“Tess found the meaning of Donika’s wolf sigil.”

My head snappedtowards Tess—eyes wide.

“Youwhat?”

She held her hand out as if to stop me. “I didn’t find the meaning itself, I only found the symbol in this book.” She pointed to the one Annelise was referencing. “I don’t read this language, so I needed someone to translate using the Kotova grimoire as a reference. Not to mention the Kotova grimoire won’t as much as let me glance at it, let alone touch it.”

I raised an eyebrow at the back of Annelise’s head. “You can read this ancient language?”

She nodded, saying nothing.