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“Ziva, open your eyes right now.”
On my next sniffle, I obey.
And I think I must be hallucinating, because Kellyn is standingthere. Impossibly tall from where I’m slumped to the ground, his hair a burning beacon with the sun lighting it from behind.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”
I’m too scared to blink, afraid what I’m seeing will all go away. I’ve done impossible magic; who knows what toll that’s taken on my body?
“Kymora told her you were dead,” Temra explains. “She’s weeping for you.”
“Dead? With Ziva’s sword to protect me? Not a chance. Oh, honey, come here.”
He bends down and holds his arms out to me. I’m afraid to touch them. What if my hands pass right through?
Kellyn’s face turns to uncertainty. His hands drop. “What is it?”
“You’re not real.”
“Yes, I am.”
“Prove it.”
He reaches for me so quickly that I don’t have a chance to react. Very solid hands grasp me, yank me off the ground, and crush me to an even more solid chest.
“Kymora was a manipulative bitch,” Kellyn says. “Are you going to believe her or the very real person standing right before you?”
I start crying again.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Petrik waits until I’ve calmed down before gloating.
“Everyone thinks it’s the big tough fighters who win wars, but it’s the little guys, the smart guys, that change everything.”
The royals try to organize everyone into cleaning up the city now that the fighting is over, but our little group of four huddles together outside of it all.
“I think you mean it’s the talentedwomenwho get things done,” Temra tells him.
“Ziva did the work, but it was my idea. Give me some credit.”
Temra raises one brow at him. “Your idea?”
“Okay, so she made the idea better! That doesn’t mean—”
“Wait,” I say. “You didn’t intend for me to magic the whole city?”
“Not exactly,” Petrik says sheepishly, “I thought you might magic part of the mountain, so we would be safe up here. Or render weapons useless or something trivial. Whatever you couldmanage. I didn’t realize the whole city was built upon the iron deposits.”
Kellyn flexes the arm he has wrapped around me. “Of course she went above and beyond.”
“But it was a good idea,” Temra tells Petrik, kissing him on the cheek. “Thank you for making all the preparations.”
He blushes at her praise.
“However, I’m more impressed by all the speeches Ziva’s been giving of late,” Temra says. “You convinced the mercenaries to fight for us. You talked down the cotton spinner, turned Kymora’s men to our side. I’ve never seen you speak with such confidence.”
“I cheated on that last speech.” I explain how the magic took my fear away temporarily.
