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Ealhswip would not claim any more of my loved ones.
Too slow, the priestess raised a hand as if to halt me.
The knife pierced the robes, then flesh.
The world stalled. The Goddess pressed down.
Pain exploded in my chest, as if I too had been stabbed. The cold magic of death tore through me, finding no purchase.
Unable to tell where my mind ended and began, I fell together with the priestess’s limp body.
When the Goddess claimed her, darkness took me as well.
Chapter sixteen
Vanya
Awet cloth gently cleaned the dried sweat and blood from my face. Above, the stars laughed. I recognized the effect of magic overuse this time, knew that the screaming pain in my soul must mean that I had finally, irreversibly, broken something inside.
A whimper escaped my lips as I clutched my hands to my chest. I had killed—again—and now I was dying because no one could survive this pain.
“There’s no wound,” someone said, removing the soothing fabric. “How do I help her if there’s no injury?”
Dimitri.
I lay in his lap. Past and present overlapped. Day and night, my body heating and dying, but the feeling that he would not let anything hurt me remained. He was safe.
I had made it in time.
Somewhere far away, beyond the piercing pain, anger still smoldered. He left me behind.
Above me, his eyes glowed, and dripping dark hair clung to his chiseled jaw. There was no sound of battle, just people talking in hushed tones, as if what we had experienced this night would remain untrue until someone heard.
Those who remained had faced death and survived, but, like me, they were altered. For the prince, I had taken a second life, when for my sister—my blood and second half—I had not been able to. Without recognizing it, I had become one of those who thought there were things worth not only dying for, but killing for.
The relief I should have felt at waking stayed out of reach, as if parts of me had separated, floating wrapped in pain on top of my emotions.
“It’s magic overuse, yes, but also something else. Her body thinks it’s dying,” a cultured voice said. “She must block her magic.”
An older, armored man narrowed his eyes, as if he could see through me. More bone soldiers surrounded us.
My ragged breath quickened.
Dimitri leaned closer until we were sharing air. His face blocked out the world and his hand pressed against my cheek. “It’s finished. You need to stop it. Do it for me, and it will all be better.”
Something inside me was sliding into place, like the gears in a lock when the right key turned. The pain intensified until all I could hear was the melody of his words, their meaning tangled.
A door inside me opened. The bond to Lumi widened until ripping me apart. Was she reaching out because of my magic overuse? Where was she?
The magic slammed back into my body, and I pushed it all shut, rebuilding my wall.
It was too much.
Too much pain.
I fixated on the prince’s caring eyes. I was here and we were both alive. Lumi had finally decided to reach out when I was drained and hurt. She could wait another moment. I was in no state to argue.
Soon, I tried to whisper to her.
