Another flick of Ash’s hand and Rod slammed into a tree with a sickening crack.
I slumped in my bindings. “Ash,” I croaked, my body churning with sickness and stolen power.
Ash turned instantly.
He sprinted to me, ripped the ropes apart, and caught me as I collapsed, holding me against him with trembling hands.
“Seph, baby?” he murmured, voice shattered with worry.
I lurched out of his grip and vomited into the dirt. The stolen magic ripped through me like poison. I braced my hands against the earth, shaking.
I had to release it.
All of it.
Or it would kill me.
“We have to… get out of here,” I gasped. “Now, Ash.”
He didn’t argue.
He scooped me up, cradling me to his chest, and ran—
deeper into the woods, deeper than I’d ever been—
until the trees opened into the shadow of a jagged mountain.
I slipped from his arms and forced myself upright, because I had no choice.
The power surged out of me—pure, raw, catastrophic—and the ground shook beneath our feet.
Ash watched everything.
I couldn’t even bring myself to be embarrassed.
A distant beat of wings.
Sy.
The last of the magic tore free of me and I collapsed backward.
Ash caught me again, pulling what remained of my shredded clothes around me—
but still staring, helpless, guilty, like he didn’t know where to look,
like he couldn’t stop looking.
“Seph?” Ash whispered, desperate.
I felt empty. Weak. Like my body had been hollowed out.
I had drained someone without touching them.
Gods.
I reached up and stroked Ash’s face. His mismatched eyes were wide, terror-filled.
He pulled me into his lap, shielding me with his entire body.
