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“Explain to me exactly what happened.”
She fidgeted, and the lines of her shoulders blurred and re-formed. “I don’t understand.”
“Uma.” I steeled myself against the burning impatience rising within me. “Gaige is gone. Please, just explain to us what happened.”
Her gaze bounced from person to person until finally she stared at the floor. “I lost my pair bond to the shadows.”
No one spoke. No one breathed. We all waited, giving her the chance to sift through her emotions and find the strength to carry on. Eventually, she forced herself to raise her head.
“He’d only been raised for a week, but he just never got used to it.” She hugged her midsection as she spoke. “All I remember is waking up one night to find him standing in our room, but in the shadow realm. I got up and joined him so I could hold his hand. He was just…staring.” Glistening, onyx tendrils streamed beneath her eyes. Her body, wherever it was resting, was crying.Shewas crying.
“I don’t know how it happened. We were standing there, and then there was this awful disturbance… Shadows surged all around us, but they were different. Theyfeltdifferent.” Her gaze riveted tome. “Theyhurt. And I–I let go. I didn’t mean to let go. But as soon as I did, those shadows stole him away.”
“Uma…” I couldn’t find the words. Her pain, so much like the agony I felt in my core, was evident in the way she now stared at her upturned hands. Her faraway eyes were locked on her palms as if she could still feel the ghost of her pair bond’s grasp.
Isla pushed around me to kneel on the floor in front of her. “May I?” She nodded toward Uma’s trembling fingers.
“You won’t be able to touch her,” I said. “She’s only a projection.”
“I don’t need to touch her.” Isla pressed her lips into a thin line as she extracted the quartz stone from her pocket. Everything about her was rigid. Still, she forced the floating gem to hover above Uma’s outstretched hands.
Ozias and Calem had come to my side while Kaori and Raven crept closer. I didn’t know what we were waiting for, but there was no mistaking the bob of Isla’s throat as she stared daggers into the magical orb. Seconds ticked by. I glanced at Ozias, but he only regarded Isla with a strained intensity that magnified the moment the quartz turned black. Hand trembling, she wrapped her fingers around it.
And just like before, miniscule electrical currents surged across her arms. She released the stone and gritted her teeth, weathering the effects of the magic much more skillfully than before. Her power fizzled out, and she used the edge of the counter to help hoist herself up.
“Show me where you last saw Gaige.”
Heavy, uncontrollable ringing flooded my ears, and I nodded. I could barely formulate thoughts, let alone string together a sentence, so I led her into the bedroom without a word. The others followed, leaving Uma behind as she attempted to compose herself.
Again, Isla performed the ritual to detect trace amounts of magic in the space. And again the stone turned black and electricity coated her body. By the time she’d wrangled her power, her hair stood on end around her like a halo, and the magical sheen in her gaze had blown her irises wide. Face parchment-pale, she stood at the foot of the bed and clung to the frame.
“The shadows that took Uma’s pair bond are the same shadows that affected the monsters.” Her voice was raspy, and she forced a dry swallow before meeting my gaze. “They’re the same shadows that took Gaige.”
“What does that mean?” My words were barely a whisper, but she heard them all the same.
“It means that he’s not lost in some unknown realm that may or may not be real. It means he was forcibly taken.” She released the bed frame. “And it means that there’s a chance we can bring him back.”
TWENTY-SIX
KOST
After sending Uma home, we remained in the kitchen while Kaori brewed tea full of herbs at Isla’s request. She listed off ingredients like comfrey, extract of daisies, essence of horehound, and sage. And while Kaori had always been skilled at preparing excellent drinks, even she paused at Isla’s peculiar list.
“Don’t worry about the flavor,” she’d said with a wave. “I’m more interested in the magical properties. I’ll need all the help I can get.” At that, Kaori had nodded and left abruptly to ransack the herb supply near the dining tent. Ozias had gone with her and secured an assortment of fruit, nuts, and bread for Isla. They returned quickly, and Isla picked at her food while Kaori got to work. The anxiety was so thick in the air I couldn’t bring myself to sit. Instead, I paced.
“This might not work,” Isla said as she accepted her tea from Kaori. Gently, she blew the curling steam off the liquid before taking a sip. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
“I don’t even understand what we’re doing,” Calem muttered from his perch on the couch.
“I’m going to try and rip open a portal by blending my magic with shadow magic like this other mage did.” She took another drink from her cup before setting it down. For a long moment, she staredat the remaining dregs of her tea. “I just… I need you to understand something.”
“What is it?” Dread wrung my heart tight. I couldn’t take any more of this emotional whiplash. One moment Gaige was here, the next he was gone. Now there was a chance we could save him, yet there was an obvious hang-up she’d yet to voice. I would risk anything for even the smallest chance of this working. I just needed her to agree to that level of commitment, too.
“I’m not exactly the most powerful mage.” She toyed with her mug.
“I’ve seen you annihilate the front line of an army with a sparking ball of electricity.” Raven side-eyed her as she gripped the lip of the counter. “Pretty sure that makes you powerful.”
“I can perform some magic exceedingly well. I didn’t spend enough time in Allamere to learn it all, though. Other mages don’t even need this.” She gestured to her tea, and then brought it to her lips. When she set the cup down, it was empty. “But I will try. I will do everything that I can.”
