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“We’re in this together and we stay together. No matter what.”
She was too tired to argue. She fell to her knees and plunged her hands into the soggy loam, down through the blackened, dead undergrowth. Zor knelt on one side, me on the other. I braced my hand on the small of her back, and this time, she didn’t fight me. Her fingers dug deeper and deeper, until she stopped and blew out a long, shaky breath.
“Last chance.” Her head hung low, hair dripping into the mess before us. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you two stubborn fools.”
I had no idea what this was about, no idea what she was planning, until the ground rippled beneath my knees. Zor and I pitched forward, almost face planting in the turf.
A mist of stars—spinning sluggishly in the air—surrounded us, the ground quivering. Then ever so slowly, the forest sprang to life all around us. Ferns unfurled in delicate whorls, tiny wildflowers emerged, delicate leaves and starlike flowers, until they covered the floor of the forest.
Anaria panted, but life spread out from her in a wave of green and purple, out across the ground and down the banks toward the river. The cracks smoothed out, even the dead trees glowed with the acid green of brand new leaves and moss.
“There. My part is fulfilled.” I didn’t know what she meant, her whisper little more than a breath of air.
I caught her before she pitched into the loamy soil, picking her up and following Zorander, though I looked back once. Call me crazy, but I could have sworn the forest was whispering.
And if I had to put a name to the sound, it would have been Anaria’s.
Adele struggled to her feet when we appeared—tried to take a step and stumbled. Tavion was right there, and she threw her arm over his back, then sank back down, watching our approach with tear-filled eyes.
“She’s okay, just exhausted.” I laid her beside Adele, who ran her hands over her daughter then pulled off the cloak and wrapped it around Anaria. “We’ll let her sleep while you tell us what the fuck just happened.”
“The fucking Oracle happened,” Tristan snapped, his tan skin covered in dirt. “That crone trapped us belowground, where we were almost crushed by tree roots and buried alive.”
Tavion stared at me, a low growl building in his throat as he eyed my neck.
“Yes, the collar’s gone. Now change back so we can fucking talk to you.” A tip of his head, and his pale eyes raked down my clothes to tell me why, exactly, Montgomery would remain in wolf form for the time being.
“Or fine, stay that way, but you’re of little use if you can’t add to the conversation.” Tavion sniffed, trotted beside Anaria, and curled around her, staring balefully at us.
“She cast a summoning spell.” Adele tucked the cloak around Anaria, elbowing Tavion out of the way. Somehow, the great silver wolf huffed with all the arrogance of his Fae counterpart but moved aside. “I thought the Oracle was summoning the magic, and she was, but not how I imagined.”
Adele’s eyes flicked over the thick canopy of leaves. “Is all of this from Anaria’s magic?”
“All of it.” I picked at my muddy clothes. “So what about this magic the Oracle cast?”
“That crone restored herself to…what she once was,” Tristan finished, crossing his legs. “She’s young again. While we’re…” He turned his arm enough for me to see the black veins running from his wrist up into his shirt. “We’re not the same.” Zor displayed his and I touched my face.
Tristan laughed, but it came out hollow. “Yours hasn’t changed one bit, you lucky bastard.”
I didn’t know if I agreed. Something inside mewantedthat mark. Wanted proof Anaria and I were bound together, and I shoved away the glimmer of anger and regret that I didn’t have it.
“We go to the Wynter Palace,” I suggested softly. “There’s food, water…” My eyes wandered to Tavion. “Liquor. We can sleep, recoup, take the tunnels back to Nightcairn and decide where to go from there.”
“A boat to the other side of the world sounds good right about now,” Tristan muttered.
“We’ll pass too close to Tempeste.” Zorander shook his head. “Too close to the king.”
I took a shaky breath. “I need to catch you all up. There have been some…developments.” And I did, telling them about Carex’s death—what little I remembered from my rage-fueled haze—the grisly death of the entire Reaper army, the ancient forest springing to life from a wasteland. Me taking the collar off. I stopped, my hands suddenly sweaty.
My gaze drifted to Zorander. “When I broke the Shadow King’s spell on the collar, something happened.” Gods, this was so much fucking harder the second time around.
“When you welded that onto my neck, the king sealed his binding spell with a drop of your blood. Blood magic kept me from taking off the collar. Because if I ever did, your life would be the price.”
Zorander blinked in confusion. “I don’t understand.”
“You died, Zor.” I nodded to the faint traces of blood still on his bare chest. “Anaria brought you back using her magic. And her blood.”
“I…died?” His face turned stark white. “That’s why I can’t remember anything?”
