Alexei laid Jasper in the grave. Finlay buried him, and Kiara laid a few lavender sprigs on the top of it.
I stared at the grave with a sort of coldness I’d rarely felt, save for when Lady Magdalina died. The list of the dead kept growing longer and longer, and at the moment, I didn’t fear my own prophecy anymore.
I was destined to die. It was high time the gods got it over with so we could be done with it, because I belonged with my friends in the land of the dead. Not uselessly mingling around in the world of the living, fathomless to what my purpose was, cursed to fail over and over.
Once Jasper was buried, Kiara grabbed my arm. “What happened?” Kiara asked. She didn’t bother to wipe her face as she glanced down at the letter that was still crushed in my hand.
“Jasper came to the Willow Maiden to surrender the Crystals willingly, but Gabby’s soldiers ambushed him on the way here,” I said, voice cracking. “The soldiers took him back to the city and tortured him to find out where we were hiding. Gabby couldn’t get it out of him, so she sent him back here to be hanged, as a message to us. She already knows she won. She didn’t have to kill Jasper. She just wanted to rub it in my face.”
“So she has the Crystals?” Ethan asked hoarsely.
I nodded slightly, though the movement, though minimal, was difficult to make. The stones were in Gabby’s possession. The very thing Milonna had warned me about.
“The Crystals of Harmony are now in Droga’s hands. Who knows what he’ll do with them,” Finlay said heavily. “We’ve lost everything, for us and for generations to come.”
He spoke the truth. I was another one of Milonna’s false champions on a very long list of failures. Except this time, I would be the last one.
I couldn’t blame Jasper for working for Gabby. I’d done it myself, once. I knew how frightening and manipulative she could be, and using mates against the people she was threatening was a talent of hers.
“You aren’t going to the Underworld, Jasper,” I whispered. “Tomir will forgive you.”
If he didn’t, I’d go to the gods myself and demand justice. Surely they’d understand his situation, and if not, I would force them to. If they wanted to pass judgment on someone, it should be me.
“Ozzie,” Amantha gasped. “Where is he?”
My world came crumbling down all over again. In the horrible grief of it all, I’d forgotten about him. Fresh terror surged through me as I realized Ozzie was still out there.
I ran into the woods. My friends cried out after me, but I was ignorant to their pleas. Ozzie was in danger, and there could be a chance we could still save his life. I hurried through the woods, desperately searching for traces of him, although I didn’t notice any straight away.
Ethan loped by me as a wolven, his nose stuck to the ground. “I can’t get his scent,” Ethan said in terror.
I looked at Kiara desperately, hoping she could use her locating spell to find him, but she gave me a miserable shake of the head.
Panic welled within my chest. “Ozzie!” I cried out. “OZZIE!”
“Emma, ssh,” Kiara whispered nervously, but I didn’t listen. I kept crying out Ozzie’s name, not caring if Gabby, her soldiers, and all the gods heard me.
“Over here!” I heard Finlay cry out. His words were not relieved, nor joyus. They were stricken with misery. My heart raced as I plunged through the brush, emerging from the woods and into a misty clearing.
My insides dropped out of my core when I saw the sight before me. Ozzie was in his dragon shifter form, lying on the ground with dozens of arrows sticking out his sides. He lay in a pool of his own blood, breathing heavily while his claws scraped desperately against the dirt. His eyes were full of sorrow. He appeared to be a poor, defenseless animal who couldn’t understand why someone would do such horrible things to him.
Ozzie had fallen barely half-a-mile from the Willow Maiden. I wondered why he hadn’t tried to fly away, until I realized with shock that they’d broken his wings.
Gabby’s soldiers had run him down. Then they’d shot him full of arrows before they’d left him here to suffer. Ozzie wasn’t a fighter. He hadn't even been able to defend himself.
I was going to kill them. I was going to kill themall.
“He’s still alive,” Ethan rasped. Finlay and Amantha were already there, standing over Ozzie like they didn’t know what to do.
We ran to him. I collapsed when I reached him, reaching out and taking his scaly head into my lap. “Oh, Ozzie.”
“I knew you’d come, Emma.” Ozzie’s tone was delirious. He was only half-living as it was.
My voice trembled. “It’ll be all right, Ozzie. We’ll get you back to the estate, and we’ll…”
I looked up at Kiara. She shook her head again, and bit her lip to keep it from trembling.
I couldn’t promise Ozzie that we’d heal him from this. The blood loss alone was too much for him to survive. I stroked his horns lovingly and gave him a kiss. “We’re here now. We won’t let you go through this alone.”
