Page 32 of The Storm of the Empire (Flyers Of The First Kingdom #3)

THIRTY-ONE

HAZEL

“ O kay?” I asked again. I had to know he was sure because once it was done, if it unblocked any kind of magic he had, there would be no putting it back.

“Okay.” He looked me right in the eyes, confirming his choice. He didn’t shy away from it or agree to it reluctantly. He faced everything with his eyes open, and that was one of the things I loved most about him.

I pulled my power from all my cells and from the stone we stood on and through it from the earth and the deeper nodes. This was my land. My power was connected and harnessed through this soil and through the storms the Goddess gave us. I harnessed that power, knowing I’d need a big boost to break the chain holding the pendant in one go.

I prayed, readying myself. I’d need any power he might have to escape this place, and if this didn’t work, I would have depleted myself, and then we stood no chance of breaking out of here. I stopped myself from doom spiraling and relaxed into the feel of my lightning power. It reassured me.

“Are you ready?” I checked.

He cupped my face, keeping close. “For you? Always.”

I laughed and let the power wash over me. Focusing on one single link in the chain, I let it loose. I pushed the power to increase until the atoms themselves began to separate. I was almost there, only a little more…

Luka flinched, and I worried.

Not now, I implored, not taking my focus off the task. Don ’ t pull away, I urged him mentally as if he could hear me. But he held steady.

Footsteps clicked down the hallway, and I gasped. If they walked in when the necklace came off, they’d know. There’d be too much ambient magic in the air—it would be impossible to hide. But I also couldn’t stop. If I did, there would be no telling when I’d regain enough power to try again, and they were going to cut off my power like they had Kol’s.

I had to have faith and keep going. The Goddess would protect us. She had this far, and I trusted her.

The fibers finally unwound, and I pulled, snapping the chain.

As it fell away, the steps also faded into the distance, and I jumped at him, praying I wasn’t holding out false hope that he would have some magic in him.

He wrapped his arms around me and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Should I be feeling different?”

Disappointment flooded through me, and my stomach dropped. I was so hopeful, but maybe I was on my own. “Maybe it takes a minute?” I hedged.

“If I had magic, wouldn’t it, like, come out immediately?” Doubt came with his words. “ Seems suspect.”

I realized with a jolt the last thought came mind to mind. This couldn’t be possible, could it? I bit back a squeal, clapping a hand over my mouth . “I heard that!” I shouted into his mind. Then I stared, waiting for his reaction.

His eyes went wide, and in a sudden rush, threads seemed to pull from my chest. I could feel them knitting with his, binding us tighter than I’ve ever been bound, by even my own magic. They threaded themselves so tightly, it was hard to know where I ended and he began. Warmth flooded through my veins. This was more than I ever thought possible.

He stared at me, his gaze going from my unmoving mouth to my eyes and back. “ You ’ re shitting me?”

“ I can hear you loud and clear.”

“ What does that mean? That ’ s not normal magic, is it?” His heart rate picked up.

I put my hands on his face. “ Breathe. And don ’ t freak out. It means you ’ re my ryder, Luka!”

“ So—so— not only do I have magic, but I ’ m a ryder? Your ryder…”

I nodded bracing for his reaction. He almost staggered back, taking in my words. I could hardly believe them myself. I was just hoping he would have a little power I could use to boost my own to break us free from this cell, and now, I had the ryder I’d waited my whole life for—and it was Luka! That had to be why I was drawn home. It was the call after all, but his pendant was muting it.

“ And all this time, the pendant kept me from you?”

“ I think so.”

He closed his eyes and mentally whispered, “I ’ m sorry.”

“ Why are you sorry?” I rubbed my thumbs over his cheeks, wiping away the single tear running down his cheek.

“ Because I ’ ve been stubborn, and it has stopped this. All this time… It could have been so much easier.”

“ Look at me,” I said, but he didn’t open his eyes. “ Hey, come on. Look at me please.”

Reluctantly, he opened them.

“ We can ’ t dwell on that. It happened when we needed it most. Now we really have to get out of here before they come back with that shit they used on Kol.”

He let me go and looked around. “ How? ”

“ Close your eyes and feel your energy. It should be like a low hum all around you. Sometimes it has a color or a shape.”

“ Okay.” He closed his eyes.

“ Do you feel it?”

“ Maybe?”

“ Push it at me. If you follow it, you ’ ll find our connection.” It was a strong connection. I could feel it’s pull without even searching for it. I didn’t tell him what I thought it meant. There would be time for that later.

A rush of power hit me, and I stumbled back. “ Woah.”

Luka caught me. “ Are you okay?”

But I was not okay. I was in shock.

It clicked, all of it, in a heady surge of rightness. Power flowed between us, swelling in me and working its way down into the roots of my soul.

“ More than,” I assured him

“ Did I do okay?” He sounded unsure, but I nodded effusively and sent him some back, watching it light him up. “ Goddess. What are you doing?” he gasped.

“ We ’ ve melded. Our magic has fully connected, and now it flows between us like I only dreamed it could.”

“ What? Doesn ’ t that usually take a long time? Zaria and Nyx trained for months…”

“ They didn ’ t have what we have. We put in all the trust work beforehand. We were ready for each other.” I took his hand. “ Now, if you want to get out of here, I ’ m going to need all the power you can spare. But not a big push. Feed it to me as I pull. Can you do that?”

“ I think so.”

I put our joined hands on the door and gathered my lightning. I pushed, but the stone didn’t even shudder.

“ Can you give me more?”

“ Yes?” he replied, clearly unsure. He didn’t know how much power he had, and I didn’t want to take too much and incapacitate him.

“ Don ’ t drain yourself.” I didn’t want him to burn himself out. I couldn’t fight with him out of it.

“ Like I know what that means,” he grumbled to himself, forgetting I could hear.

“ Just watch it, okay?” I mustered my powers again, but he suddenly pulled away.

“What?” I said out loud.

He brought a finger to his lips. “ Someone is coming.”

“ How do you know? ” I cocked my head, not hearing anything.

“ Just a feeling—I get them sometimes. Please trust me.”

I waited, and sure enough, only seconds later, I heard footsteps. We hurried to the back of the cell and huddled in the corner. The footsteps stopped near our door, and my heart jumped into my throat. We couldn’t be too late. I wasn’t sure those shackles they used on Kol would have the same effect on me as a storm dragon, but I would succumb to the Dragon’s Bane treatment, and now so would Luka. I panicked because by unblocking him from his magic, I’d also weakened him to that poison, and now we were both in great danger.

“ Just breathe.” He was confident in his words. “ He will move on.”

“ Are you, like, controlling him with your mind?” I asked because there was no way he could know what he would do otherwise. But to my amazement he moved on in a matter of seconds. “ What in the Goddess ’ ’ dreams?”

“ I don ’ t know. I just feel things sometimes. When it ’ s really strong, I act on it. Other times, it ’ s a guess. That, I knew.”

I stared at him but kept everything I was thinking to myself, but the more I thought, the more I remembered his inklings and feelings of late. This whole fucking time, there had been signs he’d had magic, and I’d blocked it out. If I got too deep into it now, though, I’d distract myself. We had plenty of time to think about it later.

Right now, we needed to move. “ Come on.”

He grabbed me, dragging me back to the door. “ We need to go now. They are coming. You have one shot to break the door. Take as much of my power as you can.”

“ I can ’ t do that to you.”

“ Yes, you can. Now, Hazel.”

Our hands met on the door, and he shoved power at me through our connection. I rammed it all at the door, giving it every last bit could. Lightning flashed, blinding me for a moment, but the stone began to crumble. I shoved it again, this time with sheer force, and it blew out.

“ We have to run,” I yelled into his head.