Page 246 of Of Masks and Fury

Pherin landed on the windowsill, her copper eyes watching us with approval.

Love makes strong,she said.Stronger than fear.

It would if we survived long enough to use it.

Sometime later, Gavelle’s warning cry shattered the night, followed by what I was certain was Keek’s high-pitched shriek.

I jerked upright in the bed to find Trew already on his feet with a blade in his hand.

“Ward breach,” he said in a low voice.

As I leaped up and dressed fast, stuffing my feet into my boots, Addie stumbled down the hall and into our room, her silver drake hissing as he scrambled beside her. “What’s happening?”

“Someone’s coming,” Trew said, his magic flaring around him. “Fast.”

We raced downstairs and out onto the lawn. A figure stumbled from the tree line, half-running, half-falling.

“Kerralyn.” I ran to catch her before she hit the ground.

Keek whimpered, peering up at her.

Blood soaked my friend’s tunic, dark stains spreading across the fabric. Her braid had come loose, the strands matted with gore.

“Found him.” Kerralyn collapsed against me, and I could feel how much weight she’d lost, how her body shook with more than just exhaustion. Her clothes were torn, and her eyes held a haunted quality I’d never seen before. This wasn’t the confident scholar who’d broken into libraries and decoded ancient texts. This was someone who’d seen horrors that had nearly broken her.

“How long have you been running?” I asked, helping her stay upright.

“Days,” she gasped. “Maybe longer. I lost count. Had to keep moving, had to find you before it was too late. Found Fenmark, just like we planned. But when Lexie and Derren went in to rescue him, it was a trap. Somehow, they knew we were coming.”

Trew’s jaw tightened. I saw him doing the same math I was. We’d been careful about what we shared and with whom. But someone had talked. Someone who was now back at Syllavar, sending messages to the controllers.

Or someone there was one of them.

Trew scooped Kerralyn into his arms, carrying her inside, Keek racing behind them. We settled her in the sitting room while Addie went to the kitchen for healing supplies.

Our companions clustered around us, waiting silently for Kerralyn to speak.

“Tell us,” I said as Addie cleaned Kerralyn’s wounds. “Every detail you can remember.”

Kerralyn’s story came in fragments as we worked. They’d tracked Fenmark to an old fortress near the veil breach, a place corrupted by years of Skathe presence. Lexie and Derren had gone in to rescue him while Kerralyn kept watch.

The trap had sprung fast. Guards everywhere, Skathes responding to some unseen signal. Lexie and Derren fighting to reach Fenmark, only to be overwhelmed.

“I should’ve gone with them,” Kerralyn said, tears tracking through the grime on her face. She stroked Keek’s spine while the creature looked up at her with sympathy in his eyes. “Ileftthem, but I had to get help.”

“You survived to warn us,” Trew said.

We finished bandaging her wounds, though Trew used his healing power to ease the pain. She’d need time and proper treatment to get better, neither of which we had.

Her hollowed gaze met mine. “They’re planning something big. A ritual that’ll open the veil permanently.”

“Lord Alfred.”

“Him and her. They’re going to remake reality itself. They’re going to perform the ritual at the original veil breach site.”

Chills rushed through me. “When?”

“As soon as they’re ready.” She coughed, and I tipped a water flask to her lips, bracing her shoulders while she drank deeply.