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Because she didn’t know what would happen if the power was removed suddenly.
My stomach began to twist. We needed Jamic alive or there was little chance we could take down the barrier. But from what Lorian had said, there was no way the fae would cooperate if Jamic attempted to take it down with that amulet still around his neck.
And…I didn’t want to watch him die. I understood firsthand his desperation to live every moment he could. He deserved more time.
I studied the amulet. It was identical to the one I’d seen that day at the city gates, when Prisca and I had galloped through the streets, only to learn that Lorian and the others were fae.
The middle of the stone was dark, as if draining all the light from the room. Yet it lightened at the edges, until it was almost the same color as both the silver setting and the chain around Jamic’s neck.
“What happens if you can’t remove it?” I asked.
Nortris exchanged a glance with Metral. “We change our approach. We’ll bring in someone with more power, and we’ll try again. And again. Eventually, it will work.” She smiled at Jamic, and he gave her a placid nod back.
Did he ever show his true emotions? I shook off that thought. Likely, Regner had stifled such urges while Jamic was still learning to walk.
“I’m ready,” he said.
Metral got to his feet and moved until he was standing behind Jamic, his hand poised over the chain of the amulet. Nortris stood in front of him, her gaze on Jamic’s face.
My skin prickled. Nortris paid me no attention. But Metral glanced at me. There was something on his face…
Metral slammed his hand onto Jamic’s head. And a thick spider web appeared on Metral’s left check.
I was already up and moving, but Metral shoved his power into Jamic. Jamic let out a low, agonized sound as his skin began to turn gray.
Metral was killing him.
Jamic’s eyes rolled up into his head, and he began to seize. Nortris screamed, hands fluttering as she attempted to push Metral away from Jamic.
Metral smashed his free hand into her face, and she fell.
I could taste ash on the tip of my tongue. Dread crept up my spine until my entire body shook with suppressed adrenaline.
“Let him go,” I said quietly.
Metral bared his teeth. The web had encompassed the entire side of his face. “I can’t. Kill me.”
I knew what that web meant. And I couldn’t let him kill Jamic. Still, I hesitated.
Metral did something to make Jamic scream.
My flames came to me easily. Hungrily.
I aimed my fire at Metral’s heart, and he slumped to his knees. Within moments, he was dead. Just footspans away, Nortris sobbed and sobbed.
The door burst open. Fae guards streamed inside, their armor gleaming silver. One of them aimed his power at me, but Nortris had raised a ward. The guard gaped at her, betrayal clear on his face.
She just pointed at Metral, her hand trembling.
My stomach turned. I’d burned a man alive. It wasn’t the first time, and it wouldn’t be the last. But I’d looked into his eyes. He hadn’t wanted to die. But he hadn’t been able to control himself. So he’d made the honorable choice.
Just as Cavis had.
Metral’s body was blackened, extremities curled in. But I’d been careful not to burn his face so they could see Regner’s mark. The proof that their healer was one of the human king’s spiders.
Jamic was slumped in his chair, barely breathing. I glanced at Nortris, and she placed her hands on either side of his face.
Taking a step closer, I watched her carefully, my pulse still racing. She sent me an anxious glance but didn’t protest.
