Around us, the trees start to fall. They echo through the splintered forest. Stone rips from the palace. A strong wind starts to gust. Guards try to hide and run, but the doorways are blocked, and there’s nowhere to go. A few try to cross the Well in search of an escape, and it swallows them whole.
My eyes close, and I search the sky for answers. I call down the sight of a star to see the other side, but this gap in the middle is too strong. It muddies my vision when I try to reach out for Wilder.
For Selia.
Snapping my eyes open, I press my palms to the ground and seek her out anyway. Starlight crawls beneath the aether, ripping the realm apart. It weaves through the shadows, butting up against the Well.
“I can’t get around it.” I shake my head as Greer grabs my shoulder.
“We need to go.”
“I can’t.” Tears spill down my cheeks, blurring my vision. “Wilder.”
His gaze lifts to mine, and there’s unending rage splintering through him. His golden eyes are dark amber as his aether stills for me. He looks at the courtyard as if he’s just now seeing the destruction his grief is raining on everyone.
The battle mutes.
The forest quiets.
But the realm beats steadily, with a haunting thrum.
“I can’t reach her. I can’t.”Another tear slips down my cheek.
My magic won’t cross the divide. No matter how far I stretch, I can’t get there. But what’s worse is that even if I could, I don’t know that I’d be much help. The other side is empty, like it was with Isolde. Selia isn’t there.
“I’m sorry.”Tears stream down my cheeks, and my magic spreads.
Starlight whittles at the edges of the barrier, trying to slip through. But the Well drinks and drinks. There’s no getting past, even when it tangles with Wilder’s aether.
After what Malachi said, it doesn’t make sense. Our magics tap into the heart of both realms. We should be able to heal, to create, to do anything we want. And yet, I’m met with a limit every time I try.
It’s the same thing that happened in Solace. I quieted the Well and drove it away, but I didn’t heal anything. Not even with Wilder beside me. Something else tangles in the threads. Something Malachi missed. Something dark. Something light. Different colors weave together, leaving gaps that aether and starlight can’t fill ontheir own.
“Elorie.”Wilder’s voice is a whisper, broken with pain.
The loss of his sister is so heavy that I can barely handle the pressure of it crushing my chest.“I can’t reach her. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. You didn’t do this. He—”Wilder swallows down a burst of anger, but I still feel it prickle my arms.“You need to leave.”
His gaze moves up as another tree crumbles, crushing a part of the courtyard, along with a guard who was standing beneath it.
Wilder’s court surrounds him, tugging his shoulders, trying to get him to follow them into the Arch.
“I’m not leaving without you.”This time, the burning in my chest isn’t my heart. It’s the mark, deeper than my skin. The physical proof of the bond I’ve shared with Wilder since the moment I stumbled upon him in the prison.
The prison leads you to where you need to go, and it led me to him. I finally understand.
“You have to go. I can’t lose you too.”His grip on his sister’s shoulders tightens as he stares into my eyes.
Over my shoulder, Greer fights back a line of guards while Callum opens a Gateway. It swirls and beckons. But on this side is my mate, and the thought of leaving him tears me to pieces.
“If you go to Vaelier, how am I going to get to you? For all we know, this is the last Arch.”The others are already faltering, and with the kingdom crumbling to pieces around us, I have no confidence in the strength of the realm.
“I’ll find you, Elorie,”Wilder promises, soothing me with a wave of his magic through the thread.“No matter what it takes, I will find you. I promise.”
Another tear slips free, and the ground shudders. Callum helps me to my feet, and I don’t fight him. For Wilder, I let Callum pull me away.
“I choose you, Wilder,”I promise through the bind.“I always should have chosen you. This was my mistake.”
