Page 5

“ W e can’t stay here,” Kai told me when I stopped to catch my breath.

Solstice keened in my ear with agreement.

It didn’t matter if my power was draining fast, Kai was right. The ground shook with a reminder that the manticore we’d taken out had only been the welcoming party.

Kai checked his compass again, noting the red streak that flashed from it and spiraled down the worn path we were following.

“Do you know what that’s pointing to?” I asked as I used the broken remains of a dull crystal to stand. “It can’t be a coincidence. It’s pointing in the same direction that you’re saying this village is.”

Killian was alive, for now. I could feel his steady heartbeat inside my chest as if it were my own, but that’s all our bond would allow me to feel. I couldn’t pick up his thoughts or see through his eyes again.

I didn’t even know if Topaz was okay. But, if something had happened to the dragon, I imagined I would have felt more grief and sorrow from Killian rather than panic, so that gave me some reassurance.

“My compass picks up magical disturbances that don’t belong in this realm,” he said, glancing down at the device as he studied it.

He’d been doing that off and on, also when we had been looking for what had turned out to be the Diamond Royal’s soul.

Which, I suspect didn’t mean her soul didn’t belong in this realm, but rather whatever forces were attacking her was from off-world.

Such as Nera’s Corruption.

A flash of memory darkened my senses, taking me back to when she had bled shadows onto Avalon’s floor.

I had thought that she was dying.

And while she had been experiencing a sort of end, I should have known that dragons didn’t experience the cycle of life and death like humans did on Earth.

Death wasn’t the end, not really.

In many ways, it was the beginning of something new.

And Nera wanted to reform the world with her death, so that when she was reborn, she’d have all of the Diamond Royals under her thrall to begin again.

Not happening, Nera, I vowed.

Kai frowned and pocketed the compass as the last glimmers of orange and red magic slithered down the path.

“My compass only activates when there’s a strong resonance.

I’ve never seen it turn these colors before.

” He glanced at me. His brilliant green eyes seemed to cut through the darkness, fierce with the power of a savior destined to bring light back to his realm.

Yes, maybe Kai was the hero I sensed that would rise to weed out the other kinds of Corruption in this world.

“It’s not Killian,” I assured him. Something, or someone, had made Killian send me that jolt of emotion.

Whatever was making Kai’s compass go haywire had to be what was keeping Killian captive. Because I knew one thing for certain, he was alive.

And if I could feel him, he could feel me. There isn’t much in all the realms that would keep Killian and I apart for long.

Meaning whatever it was… it was powerful, too.

Powerful enough to send a manticore after a Diamond Royal? I wondered, but didn’t voice my suspicions aloud.

We’d find out soon enough.

“Let’s hurry before the sun rises,” Kai said as he offered me a hand. “Can you keep up?”

There wasn’t much choice. I had to.

“Don’t worry about me. And, anyway, wouldn’t sunlight be a good thing?” I asked as I took his hand.

He smirked. “Normally, yes. However, I suspect we aren’t going to be welcome in the village. We need to slip in unnoticed.”

Great. Stealth was not my strong suit.

But I’d figure it out when we got there.

We listened to the eerie calm as we left the broken valley. The goblins had retreated, but I had the distinct feeling that we were still being watched.

Solstice remained secure around my neck, digging her tiny claws into my skin to stay in place while she soaked up my warmth.

It was hard on me to endure the drain of not only Violet and the new soul linked to me through my bracelet, but to heal Solstice as well.

My legs felt like someone had strapped rocks to them and every step was a challenge, but I kept going.

I’ve been through worse, I told myself, even if I couldn’t exactly remember when I’d been through worse, right about now.

The compass guided us through the twisting path as the temperature dropped and a low fog crept across the craggy floor.

Strange fungi glowed along the dead trunks of crystalline trees, casting distorted shadows in every direction.

I don’t like this, I thought as I bit my lip and noted how the landscape only grew stranger the further we ventured away from Fae Song Academy.

Kai paused and held out one hand as he tilted his head and listened.

I took the opportunity to drop to one knee and catch my breath.

“We’re being watched,” he told me.

“I know,” I whispered in return.

Kai gave me a raised brow. “Are you up for another fight?”

Biting my lip again, I shook my head. “Not unless we find Killian.” Something was draining me even faster now. I gripped my wrist as a burn radiated out from where my bracelet touched my skin.

Kai frowned down at it. “Can you take that thing off?”

I hadn’t actually tried, but as I palmed the clasp, I knew Violet had been wearing an identical bracelet.

Taking it off could hurt her, or worse. Until I knew more, I couldn’t risk it.

“I’m not taking it off,” I told Kai.

He frowned, but didn’t push me further. “Let’s keep moving, then. The sooner we reach the village, the better.”

I allowed Kai to drag me to my feet again and accepted his arm as I tried, and failed, to hide my stagger.

The mist thinned as we crested the last ridge, revealing the village.

Crystalline domes hunched between jagged spires of stone, their surfaces dulled with frost and time.

No lights framed the quiet village. No movement stirred it. We were met with and eerie stillness that weighed on my shoulders.

I palmed the bracelet again, trying to ignore the stemming throb the heated metal radiated through my skin.

“It’s getting worse,” I told Kai.

I didn’t specify what I meant by that, but he seemed to understand the bracelet had a correlation to what was wrong with this village. “Do you think Killian is here?” he asked me, not addressing my comment.

The subtle warmth that was my connection to Killian was definitely there. That’s all that was keeping me going.

“Yes, he’s definitely here,” I said as I glanced at a shadow that didn’t seem to fit the spire it mirrored.

“It doesn’t feel like a rescue mission,” he murmured.

“More like a trap,” I agreed.

We stood at the edge of the village in silence as the fog curled around our legs. They settled into our footsteps as we slipped into the ruined streets.

It was too quiet.

Like the whole realm was holding its breath.

Waiting to scream.