Her eyes swirl to the center, until she’s blinking at me with her dark gaze. The shadows that creep to her shoulders retreat to her forearms. A small, unsettling smile forms on her lips when her gaze lands on Callum.
I’ve never seen her smile. Never seen so much as a crack of amusement on her stone-cold face. And even if she is now, nothing about it is kind.
“The Callum I remember wouldn’t have risked his life to protect a human.” Shadows creep down her fingers, webbing along the floor around her, but stopping just shy of touching us.
“It’s been a long time since then, Hazel.”
“I suppose it has,” she murmurs, watching him with interest. “Your father was looking for you earlier. I suggest you find him.”
At that, Hazel turns to leave, sweeping her shadows with her. But I still feel them all around. Like the rivers in the cracks in the windows and the invisible ties that bind me to two kings.
Threads.
Chapter 19
Elorie
Isolde opensthe door to my room before we reach it, and Callum carries me inside. I tried to fight him when he picked me up in the hallway, but there was no strength in my arms to stop him.
Hazel drained something more than my energy. It’s like she took a piece of me with her.
Not me—my magic.
While my magic refuses to wake, its absence is haunting. I’m shaking, sweat drips down the back of my neck as Isolde starts to fill a bath. Callum sets me in the tub, still fully clothed, and the sudden chill makes my breath catch.
The icy bite of the water reminds me of the stony Alyssium shore. Snow kissing the tip of my nose. A brutal winter breeze cutting through the thickest furs. Blistering seawater lapping at my feet.
I’m still blinking my vision into focus when Isolde pours a blue tonic into the bathwater. The shade reminds me of my hair. Of the morning glories that used to grow on Alyssium. It reminds me of a time when I thought I was simply human, and things weren’t so complicated.
The tonic mixes with the water, and my vision blinks in and out. Callum and Isolde move around the room in bursts. They’re impossible to watch without my stomach turning, so I close my eyes.
“See through the stars.”
I shake my head.“Why is your voice the one I hear right before I die?”
“You aren’t dying.”Wilder’s sigh is a caress in my mind.
“What if I were dying, would you die too? Or is that only if one of the three of us kills the others? What are the rules?”
“So many questions for a girl who thinks she’s dying.”
“You don’t sound too worried about it.”
“I’m not. Do you see me standing over you panicking right now?”
“To panic, you’d have to care.”I lean my head back as something starts to soothe me. The tonic, maybe?
“True,”he agrees.
“How do you even know what’s happening?”
“If you paid attention, you would too.”
“That’s not an answer.” My throat aches, and I realize I said that out loud.
“Elorie?” Callum’s worried voice has my eyes snapping open. He’s squatting beside the tub, worry etched between his brows.
His sleeve is soaked from where he’s reaching into the water to hold my hand. I hadn’t realized I was holding his in return.
