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Akra, Istmere

Present Day

I was swallowed by the darkness, but not even that seemingly endless oblivion could handle my uncontrollable magic.

As I reached what I thought was the end of all-encompassing shadows I had never known before—a peace I desperately reached for—I was spit back out, coughing and sputtering in the dirt.

The last thing I remembered was gazing into Nik’s black, lifeless eyes.

The only sound that filled my ears now was the persistent, hollow ringing after my newly unbound magic had detonated on the plains of Siraleth.

I wiped the smoke and filth that obstructed my vision from my eyelids, my sleeve coming away bloody and stained with ichor.

My gaze found Tess first, and I exhaled an initial sigh of relief before the devastation before me became apparent .

Not only apparent… no. That didn’t adequately describe what I witnessed before me.

It threatened to consume me.

Whatever was left of this part of Siraleth had been leveled.

By me . By my magic.

Bodies were strewn about the rubble, pools of rain and blood scattered across the battle ground. Donika’s men weren’t the only bodies my eyes snagged on as I took in the scene before me.

Resistance members.

Friends.

This wasn’t the first time my magic had lashed out and slaughtered innocents.

Tess moved to my side and my lip quivered as I pushed to my knees, hot tears streaming down my cheeks to leave trails of clean skin in their wake. I turned towards her—but despite her lips moving—I heard nothing.

The ringing in my ears only intensified.

The storm had passed when the shadows claimed me, but I wasn’t sure how long had transpired between then and now. Donika and her men were nowhere in sight.

Nik was nowhere in sight.

My heart was suddenly heavy, as if I were being crushed by the weight of what had happened. Donika had stolen Isaac’s storm magic and left him a hollow, lifeless version of himself.

My mentor, my friend.

He was gone. He was Noctani. A lifeless monster bound to Donika by black magic .

Donika’s Noctani had then set their sights on Nik. The image of his black, depthless eyes would haunt my dreams. Haunt my every waking thought. A vision of him that would flash behind my eyelids every time I closed them.

We had been happy.

We had been bound .

But Donika had ripped that away from me, too. As if taking everything else from me hadn’t been enough.

The numb sensation in my chest was suddenly replaced by anger. I curled my nails against the cobblestone street until they turned red with fresh blood, a growl escaping my throat. I couldn’t sense my storm magic. The only thing I experienced simmering in my core was molten rage.

But that was better than feeling nothing at all, right?

If there had been one ounce of magic left in my body, it would have torn through me in this moment. But I had extinguished any and all of it when I had shattered. It would be days before my magic came back to me, as it had during the battle outside the safe house in Prins.

And I was thankful for it.

I needed the silence.

With the bond being broken, there was no way I could control my magic. My unfettered fury threatened all of those around me.

Broken.

But I was alive. Annelise had said that if Nik died, I would die. That was how the bond worked. But Nik wasn’t truly dead… was he? If he was, I would be too. And fate had decided I wouldn’t greet the Mother today .

If it was only broken, it could be repaired. If Nik was truly dead, I wouldn’t be kneeling here in the dirt, grinding my teeth against the tears that flowed freely down my soiled cheeks. My gaze searched the wreckage and I could see Zion and Annelise stir from where they lay among the debris.

My magic may have sent Donika and her men running for now, but we needed to get the hell out of here.

They could easily come back to finish us off, and I wasn’t about to hang around to find out.

Warrick had betrayed us. Instead of trusting us, he made a deal with Donika to free his family that had been captured in the battle at Prins.

How na?ve.

As if Donika would ever set his family free, no matter what he offered her.

He led her and her monsters straight to us at the cottage in Siraleth and ambushed us.

We thought we were going to save Isaac, but in reality, we were far too late to do that.

Where was Warrick now? I didn’t remember seeing his traitorous face in the melee that preceded my eruption.

Tess offered me her hand, and I took it gratefully, allowing her to pull me to my feet.

My knees buckled, but firm hands grabbed me from behind and held me upright.

A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed it was Puck who had caught me, his eyes a silent apology as he slung my arm over his shoulders, supporting my weight.

I was too weak to walk on my own.

I had expended all of my energy and magic and was lucky my last ember hadn’t been consumed as well when I had detonated. I said a silent prayer to the Mother that I hadn’t killed my best friend. My mother. My stepfather .

Only those that had rushed in to save us.

To join in the battle against the Araneoch and Noctani, knowing there was no way we could win.

The lifeless eyes of the resistance members who met their end by my own magic stared up at me as we crossed the remains, picking our way across the rocks.

A part of me wanted to return to the cottage underground.

To the safety of the expansive library and the Gothic bedroom I had begun to call home. But I knew that wasn’t possible.

My magic had broken any and all spells that kept Donika away from her childhood home, and that would be the first place she searched for us, anyway. No one spoke, and Zion and Annelise joined us as we limped towards the spires that reached into the sky that would lead us into Prins.

Where could we go that was safe? Isaac was one of Donika’s puppets now, and none of the established safe houses could provide us protection.

He would surely divulge the location of all of them.

One particular body stood out to me among the rubble and I nodded towards it.

Puck obliged, turning to allow us to venture towards it.

Warrick’s lifeless eyes stared up at the sky in surprise, his mouth slightly ajar. What had he thought would happen? That he would free his family and live happily ever after? There was no happily ever after… this wasn’t a fairytale.

This was a nightmare.

I bent down to pry the sword from his cold, dead grip. Even in death, his grip was steel. When his fingers finally gave way, I fell backwards into Puck, the sword firmly grasped in my bloody hand. I unbuckled the scabbard from his waist with my other hand and Puck helped me to pull it free .

Warrick had betrayed us. Betrayed me. If it weren’t for his selfishness, Nik would still be here. Warrick himself might still be alive. He hadn’t trusted us enough to confide in us. Instead… he had turned to Donika. He trusted the deal he made with her, and it cost him his life.

I buckled the scabbard across my waist. When I faltered from weakness, Puck slid the sword into the scabbard himself, grasping my arm once more.

We walked on in silence.

It wasn’t until we had passed through the towering marble arch into Prins that one of us finally spoke, breaking the fragile silence that had settled over us.

“Do we have a destination in mind?” It was Tess whose voice rang out among our group.

Zion ran a hand down his face, his brow furrowed.

“Any ideas?” he asked, his gaze immediately landing on Annelise.

Her eyes were downcast, a million thoughts swirling behind her ocean blue eyes.

“I have a friend in Prins. A friend I haven’t seen in… a long time. It’s as good a place to hide as any. With all the safe house locations compromised and Donika sure to be scouring Prins for us, I think we need to disappear for a while.”

“And Saanvi and Kenna?” Puck asked, adjusting my arm across his neck. I could tell he was tired, and I hoped wherever this friend of Annelise’s was, it wasn’t too much further.

“We will have to send word once we are safe,” Zion replied, nodding towards Annelise. “It is on this side of The Shadow? ”

She nodded, her lip disappearing between her teeth as she concentrated.

“It has been a long time since I have been there, but it is on the coast. Between the Siraleth mountains and those that encase The Shadow. Towards the Myrene Sea. We can’t leave the Kotova grimoire behind.

” She shook her head. “I can go back to the cottage and retrieve it, then let Kenna and Saanvi know of our plan. Head towards the coast and I will catch up with you or send Kenna ahead.”

Despite feeling as if I had descended into a catatonic state, I nodded at Annelise.

I was thankful she was willing to go back to retrieve the grimoire.

After my magic had been entirely expelled, I simply didn’t have the energy to go myself.

And she was right… we couldn’t leave it unprotected.

It would only show itself to another Kotova, which left only the two of us to go back for it.

“Good. This friend lives in the middle of nowhere, then.” Zion’s gaze never left Annelise.

She nodded solemnly.

“To the middle of nowhere, then,” Tess agreed with a humorless laugh.

Annelise turned back in the opposite direction, towards the cottage. I watched as her lone figure disappeared into the mist. With how exhausted I was, it wouldn’t be difficult for her to catch up with us.