Tobias #2
My magic burned at the thought of returning below this castle, even though we wouldn’t go near the dungeon. I clenched my fists. The heat of my fingertips seared into my palms, the burn welcome as the pain drove away the fear threatening to consume me.
“I’ll come with you to take down the wards, then come back,” Marin said.
She turned to Bash. “Try to keep her cool. A lukewarm bath might help…I’ll go get it running.
If she wakes while I’m gone, make sure she drinks some water.
With the way that fever’s already spiking, she’s at risk of dehydration. ”
Bash nodded. Marin walked into the adjoining bathroom, the sound of flowing water the only sound until it shut off.
When she returned, Bash barely seemed to notice. Shadows swirled in his irises, the only sign of life as he stared blankly at Eva, like her absence was tearing out the very heart of him.
“I can barely feel her.” He sounded breathless, like he was breathing for both of them. “I don’t understand why she isn’t healing herself. The magic of the land…it saved her before.”
Quinn sighed, her shoulders slumping. “It was a conscious decision when she called it to heal herself and Rivan. Maybe when she wakes, we can get her to try.”
If she wakes. I knew better than to say the dark thought aloud. Not when we are all already thinking it.
Bash set his blood-covered towel aside, then reached back for Eva like he couldn’t bear not touching her even for a second.
His thumb stroked against her cheek before resting on her temple.
“We spent so long not knowing. Fighting what we were because we thought we knew better. Losing that time together.” He drew in a shaky breath.
“And then I almost lost her to Aviel…only for this to happen.”
“You’re not losing her,” Quinn said, her voice soft but firm. “We won’t let that happen.”
“I can try to dreamwalk to her…as long as whatever’s affecting our bond doesn’t block that too.
” Bash’s shadows stroked down Eva’s limp arms as if gently trying to wake her up, a storm swirling in his eyes.
“It feels like a fog I can’t fully penetrate.
Something impermeable, and I think it’s worsening. ”
Marin leaned over the bed, pressing two fingers against Eva’s brow. She frowned as her magic flowed from her hands in a greenish glow. “I think I can sense what you’re talking about.” She swallowed hard. “Let’s go so I can get back quickly.”
Quinn nodded, then looked at Bash. “Do you need help getting her in the bath?”
A curved shadow supported Eva’s head as Bash gently lifted her into his arms, two more slipping off her shoes. “I’ve got her.”
He brushed a kiss against my sister’s forehead in a gesture so intimate that it felt like I was intruding.
Marin tilted her head in a silent invitation to follow. Quinn reached the doorway first, then glanced behind her, making sure I was following. Our eyes locked, her fear so sharp it carved into me as we hurried down the hall.
?
I could feel every step downward in my bones. My body screamed at me to turn back around, my magic heating beneath my skin like it was trying to escape. The faint screaming in my ears got louder the further down we got, until it was all I could hear.
Marin stopped short, and I snapped to attention.
We stood in front of an iron doorway. There was no need to tell us where we were.
A greenish glow spread around the edge of the iron as Marin removed the wards blocking Silvius’s laboratory from entry.
With a grunt, she yanked one of the doors open.
The sound of iron against stone froze me in place.
“You know where to find me,” Marin said tersely before turning on her heel.
Quinn started forward, and I forced myself to follow. There was no telling what traps Silvius might have left behind, even if Eva’s friends had already given it a once-over. I wouldn’t let her go in there alone.
The counters were silver, the walls white.
A solitary window allowed the moonlight to stream into the room, dim lighting flaring to life once we passed the threshold.
For some reason, I had been picturing a mad scientist’s lair, not this sterile scene.
Quinn rummaged through the identical silver cabinets, laying out an assortment of medical implements.
I turned away from a tray of syringes that made me feel queasy to look at.
It had been bad enough walking into the depths of Morehaven as I pictured the dungeon and the mask and the cell that had caged me.
At least the mask had been eradicated. Silvius had only ever made one, a fact he had told me almost proudly, like I should be impressed by the uniqueness of the iron pressing against my face with tortuous claustrophobia.