He loops an arm around my shoulders. “Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse,ihana.”
We start the slow trek back to the others. Lumi guides us, staying low between the trees, lighting the path ahead. Katja walks sedately behind us as I help Lark limp along.
“Okay back there, Doc?” Lark asks after a long stretch of silence.
Katja grumbles. “Sometimes I wonder what the point is of having power if I’m not allowed to help people with it.”
“You do help people,” Lark says.
“I help our family,” Kat replies. “But what about everyone else? Who’s helping them?”
I look at her, at Lark, at the moonlight slicing through the branches.
What is the point of power if not this?
To protect. Totry.
Not to hoard it like my stepmother. Not to take it for granted like most Point Fae. Not to pretend it doesn’t exist like I once did. But to wield it with care, for those who need it.
For everyone waiting for the cold to end.
Chapter 27
Lark
Mikael’s steps plod through the crusted snow beside me, his head low. His arm is close to mine, ready to steady me at the slightest stumble. I barely convinced him not to carry me home on his back when he saw me limping. After he returned to his usual form, it took everyone with any bit of fire or warming magic in our troupe to melt him out of the massive ice cage the princess conjured.
I’m still in awe.
She did that for him. Forus.
She protected Mikael and saved the others from him when he wasn’t in his right mind. When I wasn’t there.
She did all of that…without worrying about showing off the true strength of her magic. I could tell myself she did it without thinking—pure self-preservation kicking in—but I know she didn’t reveal Lumi to the kids accidentally. There’s no way a celestial would act thoughtlessly, so she must have convinced Lumi they were both safe with my family. She trusted us.
Despite the horrors of the night, my heart glows with the rising sun.
Every few steps, Mika glances over to check if I’m still here.
I nudge him with my elbow. “I’m fine. Truly. Just thinking.”
He shakes his head and grumbles.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“I could have killed you.” The misery in his tone almost does kill me.
“But you didn’t. Still alive. Still here.” I loop an arm around his shoulders to show him I care. That I still feel safe with him. That I maybe, slightly, kind of need his support—just a bit—to keep walking. He gives me a shy smile and takes some of my weight. I groan with relief. “Oh, thank you. I don’t know why I didn’t do that sooner.”
“Because you’re as stubborn as the lazy mule at the inn,” Katja informs me.
I refrain from telling her to get wet, focusing on Mikael. “I’m sorry, Mika. I should have checked the shackles more carefully. I should have taken you deeper into the forest. I should have—”
“Trusted Val and asked her to help sooner,” he finishes for me.
Yikes.
He’s not wrong.
