27. Sariel
SARIEL
M y intuition nudges me, and I figure this is as opportune a time as any to ask about the spinning top. I will the object into my hand and present my upturned palm to Evandriel. He does a double take at the sight of it, and his jaw falls. “For fuck’s sake… Where did you find that?”
I shrug. “Doctor fuckhole. What is it? And why does it have so much magic pouring off of it?”
There’s a glistening in Evandriel’s eyes that’d be hard to miss. I feel like from the moment I stepped out of that underground, and we left the Terrenean realm, the brute-ish mask Evandriel wears has slipped further and further. It makes me realize just how stark the contrast is between the facade he presents and the male he truly is.
With one hand, Evandriel slowly reaches out to grasp the top with careful fingers as though it is something immeasurably precious and fragile. “It is a mana siphon. It absorbs one’s power. Stores it to be used later...”
His eyes shift to Elowen, whose lips part in realization.
My heart roars its victory—at last, we finally have a way to find my brother. My heart thumps, and my muscles tighten with the need to snatch the top from Evandriel’s fingers, and I silently curse myself for being so naive as to let him take it from me.
“My mother’s power…”
Evandriel nods. “This is how he relieved her of her so-called ‘madness’.”
As if Evandriel can read my mind, his eyes return to mine. Instead of returning it to me, he takes Elowen’s wrist to open her palm, and places it there, curling her fingers over it. It gives me another wedge of respect for him.
“How much power is in it? How many times can we use it?”
Evandriel’s brows lift as he sighs, shaking his head. “I have no idea. She used it for years to drain her power. It’s why there’s so much magic emanating from it.”
Elowen grips the top tight. “I could use it to find her…”
Evandriel nods. “I would imagine so. Yes.”
I don’t have the heart to shatter her hope by demanding we use it to find my brother.
Guilt lines her features as she stares up at me. “I just… Until you, she was all I ever had. She suffered so much when she was alive. Even if I can’t speak to her, I just want to know she’s found her peace.”
The singular grain of hope I have of finding my brother slips through my fingers like sand. Despite having known Elowen for all of a few days, I’m woe to forbid her anything.
“How do we use it?”
Evandriel straightens, brows pinching. “ That is something I don’t have an answer for.”