Fear chews through my insides, but I can’t let Ani or anyone else see how absolutely terrified I am.
Ani, if I can’t bring you back from this…
“Ani,” I call gently, releasing Isla and Professor Maddox’s hands and easing myself toward him. “Everything is going to be okay. You can release this magick now. Stevie, Kirin, and Baz are safe.”
I can’t know that for sure, but the immediate danger of our brothers being consumed by Ani’s fire magick seems to have passed, so I’m pressing that advantage. Hell, at this point I’d say just about anything to bring him back, to save him from his own best intentions.
But my words make no impact. The look in Ani’s eyes is so cold and lifeless, so utterly lost, I barely recognize the man I’ve come to think of as my kid brother.
“Ansel,” I try again, softer this time, stepping over the last of the smoldering fire to get close to him. “Please. You need to rein it in now. I know you meant well, but you’re putting yourself and everyone else here at risk.”
No response. Even as I come to stand right beside him, Ani still doesn’t acknowledge my presence.
“I need you to do this for me, Ansel.” I place a hand on his shoulder, fighting the tremble in my voice. “Come back to us now. We can’t do this without you.”
It’s a long moment before anyone speaks, the echo of my own ragged heartbeat all that I hear as I wait for his impossible return.
But then, his shoulder twitches beneath my touch, and Ani looks up and meets my eyes, his gaze slowly coming back into focus, brows knitting together in abject confusion.
“Cass?”
“You little shit.” Blowing out a sigh of relief, I haul him in for a hug. When I pull back, he’s still confused, looking out at the scorched earth, the soot-stained faces of our friends, the devastation that he caused.
“Did I…?” He glances down at his hands, then back out across the smoldering embers. It’s as if he’s just returned to his body after a long trip away, completely lost and disoriented.
“It’s okay, Ani. You’re safe now. We’re all safe.” At my words, the last of the fire sizzles out completely. The river retreats into the earth, back to the lands of Blood and Sorrow. And the thick, churning smoke blows away in the breeze, revealing a cage of glowing silver-blue light.
Behind the ominously pulsating bars, two women lie slumped on the ground, breathing but clearly unconscious.
“So this was your crazy plan?” I say. “Imprisonment by fire?”
“Hey, work with what you’ve got, right? Stevie taught me that.”
“You nearly worked yourself into an early grave. The rest of us too.”
“But I didn’t. And now we’re no longer hostages, so… yay me?”
“Yay you.” I shake my head, but I can’t help but grin. Ani has always had that effect on me. On all of us.
Ani’s return smile is as sweet and charming as a mischievous child’s, and in that moment, I know he’s truly back. That he’s one of the rare, lucky few to survive a trip through his own private hell unscathed.
Perhaps I should have had more faith in our Sun Arcana.
Ani, the eternal optimist.
“Next time, give a man some notice before you light the place up,” I say.
“I couldn’t exactly communicate with you, and from where I was standing, it didn’t look like anyone else had a better idea.”
“Hell of a risk, Ani. Hell of a risk.”
“Paid off, though.” He shoots me another grin, but it does nothing to quiet the lingering voice in my head. Things may look good on the outside, but something tells me this is far from over.
“We’ll be discussing this later,” I warn, pulling him in for another hug.
“Live in the moment, Cass.” He pulls back and winks at me, once again diffusing my anger. “But do you think you could make the moment a little shorter? I’m not sure how long that cage will actually hold. I should probably check on it.”
“Be my guest.” I stand aside to let him pass, not entirely sure I want to approach it myself. Instead, I busy myself retrieving their guns from where they dropped them.
