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“Use your control signifier to channel the power,” Harrington instructed.

She tried to call on control, but she couldn’t focus. Unleash me, the voice spoke to her.

When she opened her eyes and pointed her right hand at the training dummy, a storm of darkness erupted from her palm. It was so powerful she couldn’t direct it. It missed the dummy entirely and crashed against the wall. The bricks shimmered with protective shields. At least this time she didn’t destroy anything.

“Let’s go again,” Harrington said.

They trained for hours until she was able to hone her signifiers well enough to at least hit a target.

“I think that’s enough for today,” Harrington said.

Amelia crossed her arms. “You should be training every day.”

Mira didn’t want to become an expert Wielder. Her Dark Magic only had to help her steal the amulet from Corvin.

Mentally and physically exhausted, she coin traveled back to Dawson’s estate. No longer was she confined to arriving at his lab. He had reset the shields, allowing her full access to his house. She landed in his living room. The estate had slowly warmed to her, but it still wasn’t exactly welcoming. The lights and fire didn’t turn on with her arrival. She had to ask the house, and only sometimes it obeyed. Sometimes it left her in the cold darkness.

She went to his library and researched everything she could find about Mercer’s amulet.

Aidric still hadn’t returned, and it made her stomach churn to think about how—or what—he was doing. She was trying to focus on the books, but thoughts kept swirling in her mind. Was he injured? More than usual? What if he needed help?

There was a loud thud above her. She bounded up the stairs, two at a time, but when she got there, Aidric was already gone. The bathroom door was closed, but she could hear him throw up.

She knocked on the door. “Are you all right?”

She heard him spit. “Yes. You?”

“I’m not the one throwing up.”

Silence.

“Are you injured?” she asked through the closed door.

“No.”

Then she heard him turn on the shower. He was alive. That was the good news. She paced the hallway, wondering what exactly had happened to him.

A few minutes later, the shower turned off and he walked out, a towel wrapped around his midsection. First, she was relieved to see him uninjured. But then her eyes fell to the incantation on his chest. The words were no longer faded scars. Now they stood out prominently against his skin, as if freshly carved. An old language she couldn’t decipher.

She fell into his arms wordlessly, and he wrapped himself around her. He smelled of soap and toothpaste. Despite the hot water still dripping from his hair, he felt so cold.

“You’re back,” she whispered against his skin.

“Always,” he responded.

“Since you won’t let me do a diagnostics, you need to tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong. It’s just side effects from the enthrallment.”

Aidric looked exhausted. Dark circles had formed under his eyes.

“Between the enthrallment and all the Dark Magic you’re using, Corvin must know what that does to your body.”

“Don’t worry about me. I can handle it. I’ve been doing this for years. Corvin doesn’t use it nearly as much as Mercer did.”

Her heart sank at the thought. She could still hear his screams of agony in the Primemage’s office.

“But back then, Aterna potion shielded you from the effects of Dark Magic use. It no longer does.” Not that he needed to be reminded of it, but sometimes she felt as if he had forgotten he could no longer use Dark Magic without consequences.