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I feigned what I hoped was a desperate, terrified look as I called every last bit of power that wasn’t being drained by the seal. Henris pulled his sword from its sheath. “Have any last words for me to give my king?”
I fluttered my lashes innocently. “I have some for you.”
Henris’s brow twitched upward and his sword stilled above his head.
“Sing for me.” I let the turbulent power in my chest cascade down my arm like a gentle breeze. It whipped in a tight loop so small Henris could barely see it until it hovered just above his throat.
He opened his mouth to shout but that was all I needed. I quickened the pace of the tiny whirlwind and pulled the life from his lungs. He choked on the air flowing out of his body as he collapsed to his knees. His hands grasped at his throat for a rope that wasn’t there, not understanding what was happening to him.
I didn’t stop until red blood splattered across the snow and Henris lay dead at the edge of the seal.
My body crumpled. I turned to see Gerarda charge the Shield. She leaped, wrapping her legs around his shoulders before whipping herself above his head. A glint of silver was all I saw and then Gerarda’s knife was protruding from his eye. She pushed off his shoulders, rolling through the air, as he landed in the bloody snow next to his comrades.
Gerarda was barely out of breath as my chest heaved. “They were waiting until you started,” she said with her lip curled over her fangs.
I shook my head at my own folly. “They only had an idea of where it was. There was no way for them to know until I broke the glamour.”
Gerarda kicked his boot. “Their eyes.”
“One of Damien’s experiments, I’m sure.” I slumped against the ground, not sure how much longer I would be able to speak.
Gerarda’s eyes widened and she started emptying the Shield’s pockets. She pulled out a small dagger with a black blade and a bloodred hilt.
“Bloodstone,” she whispered.
“Keep it.” I winced as I moved my blade three more inches along the seal. “That must be how Damien thought he could break it.”
Gerarda stuffed the blade into her belt. “Keera, you’re bleeding.”
I wiped my nose with my free hand but didn’t waste my energy to respond. I needed all of it to finish the seal. Gerarda paced around the perimeter, watching the horizon for any more soldiers climbing up the embankment or the shore.
“Only one line left,” Gerarda whispered, urging me onward.
My jaw clenched and my wrist shook along the earth. My vision blurred and foamy bile spilled out of my mouth. I would have let go of the blade if the seal had let me, instead my limbs shook violently as Gerarda shouted my name.
I was only partially aware of her stepping onto the seal, careful not to disturb the silver liquid, and wrapping her hand over mine. I felt the seal claim her power as she pushed my arm forward. My eyes closed and my head exploded in pain but Gerarda kept going.
A battle horn sounded in the distance. “What’s happening?” I rasped.
Gerarda groaned but I could feel her head shift as she pushed us another inch along the ground. “The ships are moving around the island to help the others. If we don’t hurry we won’t be able to outrun them.”
My eyes fluttered open and amber blood dripped from Gerarda’s nose. The seal was draining her life source much more quickly than it did mine. I opened my mouth to tell her to stop, but no wordscame. They would have been useless anyway because the pull of the seal was not something either of us was strong enough to fight.
Gerarda crawled forward, somehow not disturbing the edge and yanked the blade into the last cut. She coughed and blood bubbled out of her mouth. Her hand dropped from mine and the seal turned gold.
I somehow found the energy to pull the blade free and coated it in the thick layer of blood that covered my neck. Gerarda wheezed on the ground beside me as I plunged that bloodstone dagger into the ground and a flash of light sailed over the sea and turned the shore to ice.
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
“GERARDA, KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN!” I shrieked in desperation. The shocked gasps of the others sounded in my ear and then went silent. The magic had faded. We were alone.
Gerarda’s head lolled to the side and her chest did not rise. I pressed my ear to her flat chest piece, almost unable to listen for her heartbeat over the thunderous pounding of my own. It was faint and failing fast.
My magic surged inside me, completely restored by the seal breaking and with a new icy chill that tickled my spine. But I fought the urge to use my healing gift and examined Gerarda just as Rheih had taught me.
I rolled her onto her side and cleared the thick glob of blood and vomit from her mouth. Once I knew she wouldn’t choke I let that warm magic flow down my arm and into Gerarda. I could feel her body stitching itself back together, along the flesh I could see andthe flesh I couldn’t. When my gift slowed, I pushed Gerarda onto her back and punched her in the chest.
She exploded into a fit of coughs. They settled as my magic made quick work of the rest. “Are you okay?” I asked, my voice still panicked.
