Page 51

Valen

The moment Tania left the estate with Gensted, I sent word to Kopic to rally the guard. We moved out almost immediately. There was no word from the kelpies, but Daroose stayed behind—after a fair amount of arguing—just in case.

The original plan was for Tania to tell me where she was and coordinate an attack with razor precision. That isn’t possible anymore, but we can adapt. Me, Suveo, Wren, Delkin and Benj—a small but strong force of our best fighters and magic wielders—went ahead of the guard. Suria, much to her irritation, was left to guard the estate. At least that’s what I told her. I don’t know how much control Aphelian has over her—or if it’s still in place—but I’m not taking chances. Kopic tracked Tania. We followed her tracks in the snow—tracks she definitely did nothing to hide. She was still with us.

An hour later, our forces gather on the edge of Nif. Tania’s tracks led to a large tree, then disappeared.

“Now what?” Kopic crouches in the brush just outside the clearing. He had the guard stay back about a half a mile while he, Delkin, Benj, Wren, and Suveo came here with me.

“Are we sure that Tania hasn’t betrayed us again?” There’s resistance in Wren’s voice, but she stands tall.

After what happened at the estate, it’s a valid question. She wants to believe in Tania, but she doesn’t know her like I do. To everyone else, what she did to Suria…to me—it’s an act of war. There might not be a way to come back from it. Even on the way here, I overheard some of the guards whispering about her.

“I’m sure. If she can’t communicate, then something went wrong—”

“Communicate how?” Suveo puts his hands on his hips, glaring. “How was she even supposed to get in touch with you?”

“You’ll just have to trust that we had it under control. I’m convinced she took Gensted to maintain her cover.”

Delkin and Benj both nod. There was never any doubt about how they felt. Wren hesitates but nods. Kopic will go along with whatever I do, but I also know he trusts her. Then there’s Suveo…

He laughs. “Trust you?”

“Suveo…” Wren rests a hand on his shoulder. “We need to trust that Valen knows—”

“I don’t trust any of you.” He shakes Wren off. “He’s going to get us all killed by placing his faith in that filthy human!”

I grind my teeth. “If you think—”

“As long as we stick to the plan, we’ll be fine,” Delkin says. He steps between Suveo and me.

“And how is that supposed to work?” Suveo snaps. “He just said his human can’t communicate—whatever that means.”

“I believe we can still do this.” Delkin glances toward the tree where Tania’s prints disappear. “We know where she is. We—”

“Where she is?” Suveo throws his hands into the air. A violent breeze rolls through the forest. “It’s a fucking tree!”

“Sometimes a tree is more than it appears,” Delkin says calmly.

Kopic adjusts his sword and squares his shoulders. He’s itching for a fight. “You think Tania will still be able to give us some kind of signal?”

I might not be able to feel her, hear her, but I trust Tania. With my life. With the lives of my people. “I think—”

A thunderous boom shakes the forest. Birds erupt from the trees, taking to the skies. There’s so many of them that they block out the sunlight. A moment later, smoke billows from the trunk of the tree.

“That can’t be good,” Benj says. He takes a step back and releases his dragon. White scales and razor-sharp fangs—my uncle is a force to be reckoned with. Delkin follows suit, releasing his wolf, and roars.

The smoke thickens, and there’s a…a glimmer of something. It’s angry. Enraged, really. It’s primal and untethered, and there’s a level of volatility I didn’t think possible.

The ground shakes again. The others gasp and reach for whatever they can grab hold of to keep themselves upright. The leaves of the tree are engulfed now. Thick white smoke gives off heat that becomes nearly unbearable despite the distance.

“Gods above!” Wren stumbles back. She staggers, but Suveo is there to catch her before she goes down.

“Fall back!” Kopic yells. “The flames — ”

The blaze climbs higher, reaching the topmost branches of the hulking tree. It’s getting hard to breathe through the smoke. “You heard him! Go, go, go!”

I pivot and start for the other end of the clearing, where the small group of Kopic’s guards waits. The ground shakes again, but this time most of us don’t remain upright. I lose my footing, collapsing in the snow. The link is different now. There’s an odd kind of static and an overwhelming sense of raw power. Elemental magic that’s barely contained.

I climb to my feet, creating an ice sword as I run. “Tania!”

It’s too much. I don’t know if it’s Tania’s connection to the Fae magic or the entirety of druid magic coursing through her body—shit, maybe it’s both—but she’s close to the edge. No living being can contain such power for long.

Delkin roars and leaps from the ground. There’s a breeze that nearly sends me to my knees as Benj flies overhead and makes a swipe for me. I inelegantly duck beneath his reach and stumble but manage to keep going as he soars back into the air with a shriek.

They’re just trying to protect me. They mean well. But they don’t understand.

Reaching the tree, I have to shield my face from the heat blazing through the clearing. There’s magic at play here. The air is charged. An electric haze that surrounds the tree and its inferno.

I try to get closer, but the heat keeps me back. Whatever is going on inside, Tania is there. She’s alive. If I can’t get to her…

“Tania!”

Tania…