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Things were playing out the same way that Tal had described them, excepthewas the assassin in the shadows. This damned wound refused to heal no matter what I threw at it. The garden of my arcana withered. The blossoms shrank and the leaves turned brown.
For a moment, I lost consciousness in Rhoan’s hands. With a start and a gasp, I came to with my chin in his hands. Terror lined his face. The beastly spirit at my side whimpered in distress.
“I’m fine.” I shoved away from Rhoan’s hands.
Beryl wasn’t going to corner me. Her machinations wouldn’t stop me in any way. She’d woven a fine mess here, but I would unravel it and use the threads to weave my own path forward.
No matter what she did, I would prove that I was the stronger and smarter noble here. It was her fault, honestly. I wouldn’t be the woman that I am today were it not for everything she’d done. In destroying my family’s court, she’d plotted the course for a life that would harden me against everything she had to throw at me.
That meant I had what it took to save Tal, too. After that, I could rest and regroup. I could let my guard down with both Tal and Rhoan back on my side.
Right?
There was no real way to know, but I held out hope.
Pain sliced up my side. I grimaced and did my best to swallow the groan that nearly escaped me. The wound in my torso throbbed. The pain stretched further and further, making the edges of my vision turn dark. My hands shook as I reached for the spilled cup.
This would be a stupid way to die. I wanted to face Beryl head on and defeat her that way, not lose the fight from a distance because she scrambled my friend’s brains.
I felt him before I saw him. The air beside me rippled. I couldn’t see that far into my peripheral anymore because of the black edge of pain, but the sensation of familiar arcana made me throw myself in the other direction. Too slow, I felt a hand wrap around my wrist and yank me back.
Rhoan cried out. Time slowed. I wasn’t sure if it was a trick of Tal’s arcana or if this would be the moment where my life would flash before my eyes. Either way, I turned my body into Tal’s and threw my free arm around him. I held him in a tight embrace, which seemed to stun him.
I thought maybe the show of friendly affection would make him see that it really was me. Beryl’s illusion magic was stronger than my weak hug. Tal raised his blade again and shoved it through my skin. I grunted into his shoulder.
A single tear dropped from his face onto mine.
Then time resumed again, and Rhoan grabbed Tal. Instead of chucking the fae man across the room, Rhoan kept ahold of him. I dropped to my knees as the darkness at the edges of my vision threatened to eclipse everything. Determined, I shoved it back so I could keep an eye on the kitchen.
I barely had the breath to warn Rhoan that Fox had returned. Something gleamed in Fox’s hand as he crept up behind Rhoan.
“Watch out,” I whispered as I fell.
This is such a stupid fight, I thought, clinging on to life.
If I had more nightsmane, I could have brewed a potion to make my friend immune to Beryl’s illusions. If I had more time, I could have managed a potion that would at least help him see clearly. There was no more time, though.
I hit the ground, or I would have if it weren’t for the beast that I landed on. Its body softened my impact.
Stupid, stupid fight. Beryl knew that I could take her in a head-on fight in the mortal realm. Maybe she even knew that I could take her in her own underground court.
So she trapped me in nightmares and wove illusions so that my friends would be the ones to spill my blood. The moment this illusion broke, Tal would, too. He would regret everything his hands had done. He would loathe himself for falling prey to the illusion at all. Rhoan would hate Tal, and the two would fling themselves apart from one another.
I wasn’t going to allow that to happen.
Though the garden of my arcana had darkened and withered, I knew that there was still a sea of untamed magic running deep beneath it. All I had to do was reach down and grasp it. Usually, I pulled only a drop or a single thread. I never tried to tap into too much at once.
This time, I threw caution to the wind. I was already bleeding out on the top of a spectral beast while the rest of my world fell apart. What could go wrong?
Teeth clenched, hand pressed to one bleeding wound, I pulled as much untamed magic as I could.
Rhoan
I heftedTaliesin in the air and watched the crown of thorns twist atop his head. They dug into his scalp and should have sent blood dripping down his temples.
“Fight it,” I bit out, shaking him. “You are the strongest man I know. This shouldn’t have any hold on you at all.”
Tal clutched the sides of his head and screamed.
