Chapter 68 #3
Marcella’s eyes widen, then fall. Her lips thin. “I’m going after him. I’m probably the only one who can track him anyway.” She turns her gaze to me, filled with layered emotions. Determination. Remorse. Sorrow. Devotion. “I will bring him back to us, Lyra. You have my word.”
I nod at her, biting down on my lip, knowing deep in my gut she is the best choice for it. “Go.”
She watches me a heartbeat longer, then throws her arms around my neck, squeezing tightly. “Be safe.”
I hold her with all I have. “You too.”
We pull apart, and Marcella sprints for her horse, mounting with impressive grace. She yells instructions to the mare, turning its reins and making off in the direction Gray went.
I only allow myself a moment to watch her leave.
I sprint to Rhea, throwing out vines before Marcella’s magic is out of reach, coiling them around Draven’s ankles while his magic is contained, spinning them over his wrists, pinning them away from him.
“I can’t…” she chokes when I reach her. “...nullify the magic much longer.”
I stretch my hand out to her. “It’s okay. Release him and let’s go.”
Draven squirms against his bindings, one hand already tearing free from my vines. I know I should weave thorns into them—add the extra layer of security. But I just…can’t.
“No,” Rhea says, keeping her palms outstretched as she funnels her magic over him.
“You must. You aren’t safe here.”
“No. I won’t leave him.”
I grip her shoulders and drag her back. “I don’t want to leave him either, Rhea; this is killing me. But we have to. I will explain when we have more time, but for right now, I need you to trust me.”
“I barely know you,” she hisses, breaking free of my grip. She whirls around on me, and I realize she’s lost her hold on Draven’s magic. Dark tendrils whip into the air, yet she doesn’t so much as turn around. “I’m not leaving my brother.”
“Listen to me,” I seethe back, the lack of time pressing against me. “You trust Draven, right? Well Draven trusts me. So I need you to trust me as well, and if you still can’t do that, trust Draven’s judgement.”
Rhea’s jaw flexes.
I make one final push. “You know the decision he would want you to make. Know the promise you made him.”
Rhea glances back at him. Draven’s upper-half is fully free of my vines, his lower-half alive with a black flame eating away at my magic. Her hands clench at her sides. “Fine,” she mutters.
She takes my hand.
We sprint for where Nuri leads the retreat.
Magic clashes and roars around us, guards and wielders alike making their final efforts. Four aether portals are swirling in the air, a mix of glittering silvers, whites, and blacks. I push Rhea to one such portal.
“Go through it,” I demand.
She shoots me a warning look, seeming to want to lash out. Yet she swallows her anger instead, eyes finding Draven a final time. He walks toward us at a steady pace, dark magic pouring from him like steam from a hot spring.
“Fuck,” she mutters under her breath, hands balled into fists.
Rhea steps through the portal.
I find Nuri next. “You came.” The emotion bloating my words is far more loaded than she is capable of understanding.
She nods, acknowledging that which doesn’t have time to be spoken. “They have him, Lyra. They captured my father during the raid and are holding him hostage somewhere.”
Our father, I correct in my mind.
The weight of that threatens to upend me.
I do not let it.
Instead, I turn back to look at Tynan one last time. He remains where I left him, watching me with that polished smile once more.
He lifts a hand and waves his fingers in goodbye. “I’ll be in touch.”
I bite down on my anger and swivel my gaze back to Nuri. “We will find him, and we will rescue him. But for now, we must retreat.”
She nods. “I know.”
I glance over my shoulder at Draven. Black pools in his palms, and he directs his hands at us.
“Go. Go.”
Nuri watches the remaining wielders as they retreat backwards, battling off the incoming attacks. “See you on the other side, yes?”
“Yes. I’m right behind you.”
A spear of dark magic soars through the air, and I pull on terra magic to deflect it with a wall of rock, sending shards of stone flying for Draven’s feet after.
Nuri monitors, then nods at me once it seems safe. She disappears behind the glittering silver and black.
I find Klytis next behind two wielders a few paces away. He slides his eyes to me, and I gesture for him to follow into his portal after me.
We need him with us.
Klytis dips his chin with understanding.
I glance back, allowing myself to watch Draven for one heartbeat longer.
Come back to me, my love.
Despite everything, I reach for a slip of parchment tucked into my pocket, pulling it out to read the script.
The world tried to rewrite our story once. We will not let them do it again.
No.
We won’t.
I slide the slip of parchment back into place.
Then I step through the portal to face the ashes of an incinerated kingdom and a stirred-up war, revelations wedged beneath my skin and desolate hope clinging to my fingertips.