Below us, Kaida folded her arms. “Good. Now that we’re all clear on that, we work.”
Benedict straightened immediately, attention snapping into place. “You’re moving forward with the wards now?”
“We have to,” Kaida replied. “Veskor proved how easily they can be broken. The vampyres tested us. And now we know there are more out there—more draken, more threats we haven’t even named yet.”
Nerissa stepped forward, eager to have a new project to distract her. “We don’t patch them. We rebuild them.”
Domik, who had been lingering near the edge of the group, spoke eagerly. “We anchor them. That’s what you’re planning, right? It’s in my book.”
He held up the dusty tome to us, blushing at everyone’s sudden attention. The book drew every eye.
He gestured at Nerissa. “Like you said, four anchors—one at each edge of the island. Blood-bound and stable.” His gaze flicked to Nerissa, then Kaida. “Something that can’t be torn open from a single point, and accounts for everyone living here, not just drakens.”
Nerissa nodded once, sharp and approving. “That’s how it should have been done from the start.”
Kieran picked me up and we headed down the stairs even as Benedict vaulted over the railing, using his wings to drop heavily down into the group instead of falling.
“Draken wards are the best—” Domik argued.
“You should have accounted for the breeding,” Vanca cut over him decisively, throwing her braid over her shoulder.
Benedict shot her a look. “Who holds each anchor?”
“I’ll take the south,” Nerissa said immediately. “That’s where the current weakens the line, and I have strong ties. I will take Kieran with me, and Meruse, if she’s up for it.”
“I’ll take the north,” Benedict volunteered.
Nerissa sighed. “An airwitch would be best. Ask Yenna or Astrid. That leaves east and west?”
“Ronan can take the east with a firewitch when he returns, and that leaves you with the west, and a Nuva.”
Domik blinked as if suddenly remembering he was to be an active participant in all of this, and not just a scribe.
“R-right,” he stuttered out, ducking his head.
Vanca smirked at him. “Saving the island and helping reset ancient bloodwards—hot.”
If Domik’s face became any redder, it would have burst into flames.
Kieran’s gaze shifted toward the horizon. “The north is buried under that storm, so it will be a while until Ronan and the others return.”
“Which means it’s also the strongest source of energy we have,” Domik said. “It might behoove us to do it as soon as possible.”
We all looked at him again. A bird screeched in the trees, almost as an omen.
He hesitated just a flicker but pressed on. “If we placethe anchor just inside the ridge … not against the storm, but within it … the wind feeds the ward instead of tearing it apart.”
Nerissa studied him. “Risky, but possibly extremely effective.”
Pride flashed across his face before he could hide it.
“Well,” Vanca said, “if we’re talking about risky and effective, I feel personally summoned.”
Domik visibly tensed as Vanca gave him a flirtatious look. He blinked a few times too many, and her eyes narrowed.
“Youdoremember, me, do you not?” she asked him, tone pointed.
Domik stepped back, clutching his book to his chest.
