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Chapter 10

Roksana

My hands trembled, pressed against Lily’s chest. I wished I could return her to life by sheer force of will. A dragon roared in the distance, but it barely registered over the ringing in my ears.

Lily’s heart still didn’t beat.

I’d purged the toxin from her veins, restored her Aether, and yet her heart stood still.

‘Roksana, hurry up, I can’t hold the Veil closed much longer,’ Alaric’s muffled voice called from behind me. The relentless pressure of the Veil pushed against me, trying to rip Lily’s life from my hand.

‘No…’ I whispered, pressing my lips to hers and breathing out. Her chest rose and fell, then stopped moving.

‘Sana, you promised… You promised…’ Irsha’s guttural sobs added to my panic. He cradled her in his arms, praying to old, forgotten gods to take him instead of her.

If she died, I would lose them both.

Death stared out from his eyes. Death cradled her body.

I couldn’t bring her back. I’d killed Lily.

I’d killed Lily.

Something inside fractured. Grief, an unstoppable force, burst forth with the power of a hurricane.

‘No!’ I screamed, slamming my palms into her chest. ‘Live!’

Everything came to life. Chaos erupted. Emerald power washed over the room, branches sprouting from the bedframe, twisting and growing, following the swirling power.

Lilliana’s body arched, cradled in a cocoon of magic. Her eyes flew open, pupils contracting. She dragged in a raw, pained breath with desperate, heaving lungs.

I poured in all I had. The stream of Aether made my head spin, opening the door that should never have been opened. I was in the dwarven mines; I was in a clifftop cave; I was in The Brotherhood dungeon.

The power of many voices rushed through me, and reality crashed around us, flooding the room with blinding emerald light. For a moment, I was someone else. Until the thump of a beating heart brought me back.

Once.

Twice, resuming its regular staccato beat.

‘Sana,’ Lily gasped. A broken sob was my only warning before Irsha knocked me aside, buried his face in her hair, and repeated her name like a madman who had only one word left.

I fell back into the wall of vines surrounding us. Next to me, an axe head cut through the branches, dragging them back.

‘Drah’sa, stop. Gods, everything’s alive. Please stop,’ Tova pleaded. His arms closed around my waist and pulled me out. The residue of my power washed over him, but the dwarf only winced and held on.

‘Lily…’ Her name passed my lips as I fought a vortex of magic.

‘She’s alive, Drah’sa. Look, Riordan is with her, so is the Dark Fae. You did it. Now call it back before your power warps everything around us.’

I closed my eyes, focusing on the emerald maelstrom. My breath quickened when I opened myself fully, recalling the power, but it was like trying to capture a swarm of hornets. With my tinkerer’s arms anchoring me, it receded. Slowly, one heartbeat after another, the pressure subsided, and the vortex of unbridled life faded.

My nose was bleeding, and my headache almost blinded me, but I was in control. Still, the fear lingered.

Did my magic have a will of its own? Would it break free every time I used it? Transform everything it touched?

‘Help me up. I need to see her,’ I croaked, and Tova lifted me as if I weighed nothing.

Riordan was on the bed, cradling Lily’s head. His veins bulged at his temples as he fought the geas. When she gasped, I jerked forward. A second later, a relieved smile ghosted across her face, and she sagged into Irsha’s arms.