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Riven leaped from his mount before his horse had come to a full stop. He slashed his arm through the air and tendrils of shadow broke from the black ground, circling around Gerarda like coiling vipers. She had a shadow snake around each limb and one that hung loosely from her throat, not tight enough to cause her harm, but enough to issue the threat it was.
Riven flashed his fangs and his chest rose in heavy breaths as he stalked closer to Gerarda. “What is the meaning of this?” His voice boomed against the darkness like a boulder crashing down a mountain.
She did not answer him or struggle against the shadows, instead she lifted her chin just as she had done to me dozens of times before, and glowered up at Riven. “You had no patience for the advice of a stranger, so the stranger took matters into her own hands.”
Nikolai turned to Syrra, who tightened her grip on the reins of her horse. Riven gritted his teeth and stepped so close to Gerarda I knew he could smell the salt and flame of her skin. “Keera is a citizen of our people and a protector of this land. Kidnapping her is considered treason against the Elverin and all of Elverath.”
My throat tightened. The only thing I had done that came close to deserving of those words was saving Vrail and Maerhal. And even that had been more for me than for the Elverin.
The shadow rope around Gerarda’s neck tightened but she did not strain. “If this doesn’t work, then tie me up in shadow and take me to wherever traitors go.”
Syrra closed her eyes. It seemed Gerarda was not the only one who had grown impatient. “What are you proposing, child?”
“We think Keera can break the seals.” She fought against the shadows to turn to Vrail.
Syrra assessed her student carefully. “Is this true?”
Vrail nodded several times in quick succession. “I’ve learned everything I can about the magic the Light Fae used. Killing Aemon would have broken all the seals simultaneously, but I believe Keera can also break each one individually.”
I scoffed. “You can’t even find them.” Vrail and Gerarda had spent the past two months trying every possible location for the seals, but they were gone.
“I think that is part of their magic. They will only appear for the one able to break them.” Vrail nodded so rapidly my own neck ached. “I tried to ascertain the magic that spelled them from the book we stole, but it took some time. Eventually I realized that the seals were spelled to that blade so Gerarda stole Keera’s dagger—”
I stalked toward Gerarda. “You did what?”
“You didn’t even notice.” She sighed, apparently bored. “You won’t get an apology from me.”
The shadow along her neck tightened ever so slightly. I gave Riven a satisfied smirk but his face was stony and unyielding.
“We were wasting time searching for the seals on our own,” Vrail continued, ignoring the tension between me and Gerarda. “Thespell requireszibi’fir, which I had mistranslated thinking it meant water sincesibi’thiris a derivative—”
“Vrail.” The crease between Riven’s brows deepened. “What is your point.”
“I’m getting there.” Vrail took a deep breath before spiraling out again. “But in that specific instance it had actually been referencing blood, which was confusing since our ancestors used the same word for both.”
“We need Keera’s blood to undo the seal,” Gerarda interrupted bluntly.
I reared back. “Why mine?”
Vrail’s leg bounced. “Because the seals were set by a Light Fae so only a Light Fae can undo them.”
“My blood can break the seals?” I swallowed. “It’s amber not red like my mother’s kin.”
Vrail bit her lip, unable to commit to the certainty.
“Yes,” Gerarda answered for her without a problem.
Syrra’s brow lifted by the tiniest fraction. “And the results would be the same? The siphons would stop draining magic from Elverath and the magic would be restored?”
Vrail tilted her head side to side. “That is my assumption. However, every use of magic has unpredictable outcomes. If we’re correct, Keera would be breaking five times the amount of seals as the Light Fae intended. That poses its own risk.”
“Something tells me Keera is unconcerned about the risks,” Nikolai quipped without looking at me.
I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms. “That is what you brought me here for? To break a seal?”
Vrail nodded.
My mouth twitched, unconvinced. “And you’re certain the seal is here? You just admitted you cannot see it.”
