“You’re still a pig-headed brute,” Kieran snorted, lightening the mood.
Benedict whipped around but the smile Kieran gave him was so disarming he deflated like a punctured fruit.
Kaida gave us an indulgent smile as Nerissa and Nuva moved to join us.
“Good news: the wards can be fixed,” Nerissa informed us succinctly.
Benedict straightened next to me. “Oh?”
She nodded, kicking a small rock of magma with her boot and watching it skitter down the volcano. Kaida’s wings fluttered, her white hair rustling in the breeze.
“Yes. We need to establish anchor points at each end of the island, north, south, east, west. The previous wards used only drakens. While strong, there is too much mixed blood. We must use drakens and witches, and make them more intent-based.”
Benedict frowned. “Bloodmagick itself is intent. We had several elders give their lives to erect the wards when we returned to the island.”
Nerissa rolled her eyes.
“Think of your sacrificial wards like the blast of a cannon. It’s one sharp blast, but it’s messy and wastes much power. You want wards to be more like the strike of blade–clean, efficient, and targeted.”
Benedict’s nostrils flared. Kieran’s expression pinched as he tried to understand it all. Kaida tilted her head to the side.
“It seems I have more to learn,” Benedict admitted gruffly.
Didn’t we all?
I gave his arm a squeeze.
“So if you help us redo the wards we have drakens andwitches,” I confirmed, standing with one arm braced against Benedict, and the other resting low against my stomach. I used to feel the wards beneath my skin as a steady, consistent hum, like a second heartbeat tied to the island itself. Now it flickered, uneven and unreliable.
Benedict tensed and turned to me. His gaze settled on me and stayed there longer than it should have.
“Wren is not participating,” he growled out.
Kieran tensed behind me. For a moment, I simply stared at Benedict, trying to understand whether I had heard him correctly. Then the meaning settled, and heat rose sharp and immediate in my chest.
This was how it began. Once your use has ended, you will be forgotten and put aside.
My lip quivered before I could help it. I fought the dark thoughts that threatened to overtake me. I would not be forgotten. My mates loved me. My people needed me. I had a purpose, and a place.
I hoped.
“You don’t get to make that decision,” I managed to force out.
“It’s already made,” he shot back.
“By whom?” I argued.
“By me.”
The air between us tightened.
I stepped closer, my wings shifting behind me despite my effort to keep them still. “You think because I’m carrying a child, I suddenly became fragile?”
“I think,” he said, meeting me without hesitation, “that bloodmagick draws from life.”
I opened my mouth but Nuva, a bloodwitch I’d barely heard five words from, jumped in. “No bloodmagick. Could kill baby.”
And just like that, I had no argument.
