Page 77 of A Court of Wings and Shadows

Remy started to dismount, but I shook my head, slipping from Katama’s back myself.

My boots hit the rock, and I steadied myself with a hand against his flank, eyes closed, breath shaky.

We were here.

But I had no idea what came next.

Remy moved quietly beside me, the ocean wind tugging at his dark cloak as he reached beneath his armor. His fingers emerged with something small and gleaming, an artifact no larger than my palm, shaped like a teardrop of obsidian crystal.Silver runes spiraled across its surface, glowing faintly like starlight trapped inside.

He held it out to me.

“Here,” he said, voice quiet. “Take the Wyrdglass and funnel your power into it. Don’t force it. Just... breathe. And focus on the Blood Isle.”

I took the artifact, surprised by its weight. It felt warm against my skin, like it knew me. Or maybe it was just waiting.

I glanced toward the horizon, squinting through the night. The Blood Isle loomed in the distance, wreathed in curling black mist that clung to its shores like living shadow. It pulsed and moved like breath, swallowing the land in unnatural darkness. Even the moonlight avoided it, bending away as if the island repelled the very idea of illumination.

I closed my eyes.

Focused.

But nothing came.

Just the thrum of blood in my ears and the growing ache in my temples.

A hand touched my cheek, soft, familiar. Like a memory I didn’t ask for.

“You can do this, Ashe,” Remy whispered. “You were always stronger than you realized.”

I clenched my jaw, drew a breath, and pushed. Power flickered at the edge of my senses, raw and chaotic. It licked through my chest and into the artifact.

And then—I heard it.

A voice. Deep. Commanding.

“Find the crystal. We are running out of time.”

My eyes snapped open. “They’re looking for it too.”

But before I could dig deeper, the connection shattered. The mist broke apart like torn silk, and the artifact dimmed in my hand. My knees nearly buckled.

I sagged back, breath ragged. “We should’ve brought Kaelith. I feel… weaker when she’s not near.”

Remy gently took the artifact from my hands, his touch lingering longer than it should’ve. “It’s okay,” he said softly. “This was just a test—to see if you could use it.”

“A test?” I stared at him, still catching my breath.

He smiled faintly. “I knew you were special the minute I met you.”

My heart twisted, and cracked.

“So special you walked away without a word,” I whispered. “Let me believe you were dead.”

His smile faded like a dying star. “I had no choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” I said. “Yours just wasn’t me.”

His eyes darkened, pain flickering behind them. “I love you, Ashe.”