“The NDC called us as soon as they reached the square. A winterghast inSummer! And in Gallamere! It’s unprecedented. The only reason it broke through the city’s defenses was because we weren’t prepared, not off-season. The office—it’s already in havoc. Tenney’s rushing down from the border of the fallen territory, and Sharpe and the rest of the team are scrambling to draft a statement.”
“Shouldn’t you be helping them?” As the Director of Public Relations for the Council, Iseul Seong acted as the primary spokesperson of the Magicians Order. Amid the fog of foreboding since Valmordion’s awakening, it’d been Iseul reassuring the public each night on the radio or each morning in the papers. And though Iseul never complained, the increased stress of her already stressful job was taking its toll. Purple pooled beneath her dark eyes that not even powder could conceal. Her short gray hair, normally neatly curled, hung limp and flat. And a pallor seeped across her already fair skin.
“I had to make sure you were all right,” Iseul answered. “Hanna wanted to come, too, but Glynn needed her to consult Syarthis’s Archives about any past unseasonal winterghasts. But maybe I should call her. You haven’t developed frostmaul, but corporeal magic isn’t Calynia’s specialty.…”
“No, I don’t want to bother her. And I’m not going to the hospital.” He couldn’t handle more people—not tonight.
Iseul heaved out a breath. “Fine, fine. I’ll do my best. But you need to hold still.”
But Domenic couldn’t stop quivering, and Iseul’s brow creased in concentration as she cast Calynia. Gradually, his blisters receded, and pink bloomed across his fingers.
“Thanks.” He drew away and wrapped the blankets tighter around himself. “But I don’t get it. How did you know I was there?” He’d fled Mercester Square shortly after Caldwell.
“Because of the eyewitness descriptions. Male, slender, fair, very freckled, about six and a half feet tall. How many academy students does that sound like to you?” Her soft laugh wilted into a sigh. “Ellery Caldwell was recognized at the scene, which is no surprise, given how famous she is. But it’s only a matter of time before reporters identify you as well, if they haven’t already.”
Domenic stiffened. He remembered all too well how flocks of reporters used to accost him outside the Citadel, the months he entered and exited this house through the back door.
“But you c-can’t…” Domenic stammered. “I mean, you can’t stop them—?”
“I can’t keep your name out of it. I’m sorry. But it won’t be like last time. A pair of teenage magicians slaying a winterghast with training wands? Dom, that’s incredible. That’s—”
“I never would’ve been able to without Caldwell. She was the one who kept a level head, who told me what to do and helped me do it. She was…” He couldn’t even think of a word for Caldwell in those moments: her voice clear over the whirling wind, her determination unfaltering even as the world caved in around them. “Yeah, I cast some strong magic. We saved all those people. But I never thought of them—not once. All I was thinking about was getting out of there alive. Because for a few minutes, I really believed I wouldn’t. Just like…”
He clenched the blankets in his fists. His windpipe felt narrowed to the size of a drinking straw.
“Hey.Hey.” Iseul rested her hand atop his. “It’s all right. You’re safe now. You’re home.”
Domenic nodded, sucking in shallow breaths. He was safe. He was home.
Six years ago, gossip had flared across the Order after Councilor Seong had volunteered to take in two fledgling magicians. And not just any two, but a thirteen-year-old girl who’d bonded with a notorious wand under the most traumatic of circumstances, and the automotive tycoon’s son who’d been the sole other survivor. While most had chalked up her decision to her recent divorce, Domenic and Hanna knew better—Iseul understood how it felt to survive a disaster. When she was a student herself, a classmate had tried to murder her after already killing two of her friends, all to decrease the competition for Calynia, one of Alderland’s most powerful enchantment wands.
“I don’t get how it could’ve been me again,” Domenic rasped.
“What do you mean?” Iseul asked gently.
“Ever since Valmordion started thawing, all I’ve been able to think about is what’s coming. It doesn’t matter if I’m here, at the Gardens… I can’t stop, like I can feel doom breathing down my neck. And just when I try to do something fun and take my mind off it, what happens? I’m face-to-face with the first fucking winterghast to breach Gallamere in centuries.” He laughed darkly and smeared the tears out of his eyes. “All these years, I’ve been trying to get better—really, I have. I’ve told myself over and over that what happened was bad luck, and this cataclysm that’s about to show up, it won’t touch me. But thenthishappens, and it’s getting a hell of a lot harder to ignore that voice in my head, you know? The one that keeps reminding me that bad luck finds me. Italwaysfinds me. And so if this cataclysm could really destroy Alderland, well, even if Alderland survives, there’s no way I’m making it out.”
“Oh, Dom…” Iseul wrapped her arm around his shoulder, and he crumpled against her, so tall he could only rest his chin atop the crown of her head. He felt ridiculous. He felt pathetic.
For nearly a whole minute, neither of them spoke. Domenic stared at the artwork and decorative porcelain on the wall.
“Can I confess something to you, Dom?”
“Sure.”
“I’m scared, too. I’m terrified. All these meetings I take about how bad this Winter is expected to be… I just want this family to be safe. And Hanna—we both know how proud that girl is, how hard she pushes herself. But it’s you I worry about most. What you did tonight was incredible, but without a Living Wand, you’re vulnerable. You know that, don’t you?”
Shame curdled in Domenic’s gut. Iseul had enough burdens without him adding to them.
“You and Hanna win, all right? I’ll do it. I’ll bond with a Living Wand as soon as possible.”
She lurched back from him and frowned. “This has never been about winning. And just because you need a wand doesn’t mean we should be hasty about a decision that will define your entire life.”
She said “entire life” like it was so substantial. Like Domenic ought to care about a future he could barely fathom beyond tomorrow.
“Sometime soon, I’d like us to talk about wands, just you and me,” Iseul continued. “And—”
“We can talk now, if you like.”
