Page 146 of Tale of the Heart Queen

I feel her stiffen.

“Please,” she says. “If you ever hug me again, I will rescind my offer.”

I hear everyone trying to stifle their laughter, and then I drop my arms, wiping a tear that’s slipped down my cheek with the back of my hand.

“Sorry,” I say. “Sorry.”

“Hmm,” she replies, withdrawing the ark from her cloak. We all return to our places, prepared to repeat the process again. This still doesn’t solve the issue of my impending fate as a god, but at least we’re one step closer to giving me a chance to survive.

D’Arcy spins up her magic, focusing a concentrated beam of pure starlight into the ark. It’s as beautiful as I imagined it would be.

The ark absorbs her light before it starts to glow. Again Zerra appears, wavering in and out. She spins around to face me, and it’s then that I’m sure she can see me. Her form flickers again, and then suddenly, she becomes solid, like she’s standing right there. I take a step back, stumbling over the rubble under my feet, feeling the stones give way.

“You!” she screams as her arms fling out. Silver lightning spears from her fingertips as everyone blocks her with their magic, but Zerra is strong. I can see everyone struggling to hold her back as more and more magic filters from her hands.

Red lightning twists up my arms, my power swelling in answer.

Zerra flings out a silver whip of light. It circles around Nadir’s ankle and yanks him towards her, dragging him over the rough ground. He roars as he fights and kicks, trying to break free of her tether.

“Nadir!” I call. I don’t think. All I can focus on is the fact I’m about to lose him again. I leap off the wall, my feet slamming into the stones as I land in a crouch.

“Lor!” Someone shouts my name. “Don’t!”

I ignore the call as I run for Zerra. I watch in horror as more of her silvery magic wraps around Nadir, like a caterpillar building a cocoon.

“Lor! Don’t go near her!” he shouts as magic closes over his throat and chin, but she will not take him.

Zerra flings out a burst of magic and I react, blocking it. Red lightning surrounds me in a burst of jagged streaks. I pray everyone has taken cover. My pace never slows, and then I knock into her with my full weight. She stumbles, though she doesn’t move from the circle of the ark.

Snarling, she blasts out more magic and I duck before I slam my hand into her chest, filtering out more of my magic, trying to inject it into her blood. We scream together as she bows, her back arching. She bends slowly like a tree fighting a gust of wind. With my teeth gritted, I cling to my power, shoving more of it in.

A moment later she snaps up, and I go flying, landing on the stones with a thud, scraping my palms and tearing the leather at my knees and elbows.

I noticed more of Zerra’s magic surrounding Nadir, swallowing him up. All I can see now is the top of his head as the entire horrible creation writhes with his movements, still fighting to break free.

And then I’m up and running, once again slamming into her. She grabs my wrist and squeezes so hard my knees buckle. “You little brat!” she hisses. “You took my arks and my Herric. You won’t get away with this.”

Then she grabs me by the throat and lifts me up, squeezing hard enough to make stars burst in my vision. My feet dangle in the air, my toes just barely scraping the ground.

“Herric betrayed you,” I choke out, yanking on her hand and trying to loosen her grip.

“I trusted him,” she says. “The others refused to visit me. He was the only thing I had left from the surface.”

I hear the anguish in her voice, and it makes a small piece of my heart twist with pity. She squeezes harder as she lifts me higher, and spots swim in my vision. Dimly, I register magic flashing around us as the others try to help, but they also don’t want to hit me or Nadir.

“That’s not Herric. You can’t have him,” I gasp as my legs flail uselessly against the air.

I grab onto her wrist and call up a blast of lightning. It spirals around her arm, over her shoulders, and down her torso, before her heart starts to glow right through her skin. She screams and then drops me. I roll over, coughing, trying to catch my breath, but I’m fueled by something primal and the need to save Nadir.

I leap up, grabbing her wrist before I douse her with another surge of magic.

Her eyes spread wide before she clamps a hand over my face. I jerk when I feel an opposing surge of her magic flow into my blood. My skin glows with that same silvery color, and we both cling to one another, battling for dominance.

I moan as it feels like I’m being cooked from the inside out. We are nearly equal in strength, fighting for our lives. But hers is coming to an end, and mine has barely begun.

Another blast of power sends me flying with a scream. I crash into the wall and collapse in a tumble of limbs. I try to get up, falling to my hands and knees as I stare at Zerra. She stands straight, flinging her arms wide as she bursts into silver light so bright I use my arms to shield my eyes.

The noise around the square mutes to nothing as rocks and debris fly towards her, the force tugging at our hair and clothing. She sucks everything in, and we all cling to the rubble as she pulls and pulls like a giant gaping mouth, preparing to swallow us whole. D’Arcy remains where she started, her stance hunched as she continues filtering starlight into the ark, but Zerra only has eyes for me.