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“Not anymore,” Adara said slowly. She met my gaze from where she was sitting directly across from me, a hopeful spark in her eyes. “You’re immune to shadow magic now, same as I. We can travel to Mount Furian together.”
“Right.” I blinked as the realization rushed through me. I’d forgotten Adara had transferred that power to me during the battle with Dune. The bastard had poisoned me with his shadow magic, turning me into a raving beast who didn’t even remember his own name. He’d nearly succeeded in getting me to kill Adara, but she’d brought me back from the brink by biting me, tapping into the bond between us so she could suck the shadow magic out of me and destroy it using the icefire she’d created inside her own body. She’d pushed the last of that power into me before severing the connection, leaving me with the ability to resist shadow magic on my own.
It was the most precious gift she could have given me… and right now, it might prove to be our salvation.
“Hang on,” Mavlyn said. “We can’t let Adara go through the portal and into a whole new realm all by herself. Yes, we know you’re powerful and can kick ass,” she said when Adara began to protest, “but none of us have any idea what is on the other side of that portal, and you’re too important to the fate of our world. I’m coming with you.”
“Me too,” Leap insisted, eyes sparkling with excitement. “There’s no way you’re leaving me behind while the two of you go off to explore a whole new world.”
“Absolutely not!” Adara exclaimed. “There’s no way I’m putting you two at risk. Have you forgotten that dragons hate fae? Einar almost killed me himself when we first met—the only reason he didn’t was because of my fire magic.”
That actually wasn’t true, but I kept my mouth shut. I wasn’t about to announce to the room that the reason I hadn’t torn Adara limb from limb was because the mating bond had tethered me to her like a dog to a leash. In fact, even she didn’t know that was the true reason.
“The dragons might be willing to show me the same leniency,” Adara went on, “if I can get enough time to explain my half-dragon heritage. But I’m almost positive that they’ll kill you both on site.”
“I hate to say it, but Adara is right,” I said. “The only one of us who could safely travel with her is Quye. My people consider seers to be sacred, and they know of her—Ylena would never allow Quye to be harmed. And if I send you with a letter written in my hand, explaining the situation, she’ll agree to help you.”
“Ylena?” Adara asked. “Who’s that?”
“Your aunt,” I said with a smile. “Daryan’s sister. She’s also the high priestess, and the one who guides all dragons along the path of the Umnar—our own version of the coming-of-age ritual. She’s the one you’ll need to win over.”
“This is unbelievable,” Leap grumbled. “You’ve barely spent more than a handful of days away from the air temple in your entire life, Quye, and now you’re going to go off to a whole new realm?” He shook his head. “Uncle Oren would have an apoplexy if he knew.”
Quye laughed. “Uncle Oren is so busy with the war at his doorstep, he hasn’t even realized I’m gone,” she said. “Besides, this isn’t the first time I’ve visited another realm—I visit the spirit realm and the dream realm all the time when I’m sleeping. That's how I was able to get messages to Mavlyn when you two were searching for me. If you think about it, I’m actually the perfect person for this task.” She winked at Leap. “Besides, you and Mavlyn are needed here. The two of you need to spread the word about Nox and convince your respective people to resist.”
“Convince them to resist?” Mavlyn scrubbed a hand across her face, looking a little overwhelmed. “I’m not sure how to do that, Quye. I don’t have any influence in Domhain—I’m just a lesser fae.”
“No, you’re not.” Quye took her hand, and something passed between them as their eyes met. “You’re brave and smart and resourceful. You wouldn’t be part of our little band of heroes otherwise.”
Mavlyn’s expression softened, and some of the tension left her face. A small smile curled her lips as she looked over at Adara. “I’m just a loyal friend who would do anything for her bestie,” she said.
A pang of envy hit me at Adara and Mavlyn’s camaraderie. Most of my close friends were dead, and the ones who’d survived were in a realm I could never journey to. I wished I could cross over with Adara to see them, instead of being made to loiter in the Deadlands and wait while she met the people I had said goodbye to decades ago.
“You’re a lot more than that,” Adara said. “You’re everything Quye said and more, and also, being a lesser fae is a strength here. You and I know how it was growing up in our village—we were disconnected from the Greater Fae, and our elders were downright resentful about our lack of representation. How many times did we hear our parents bicker about the amount we pay in tithes, only to have no say in how the realm is run? As a fellow lesser fae, you can tap into that resentment, but in a good way. Remind the people that they don’t need to throw their lives away just because the Greater Fae say so, that they can choose peace instead of sending their children off to die.”
“That’s a pretty good point,” Leap said. “I spent enough time as a street urchin in Wynth to know that the lesser air fae feel similar.”
“There is one other matter to address,” Quye said, looking at me again. “The bond between you and Adara.”
A sense of unease rippled through me, and I saw Adara go still out of the corner of my eye. “What of it?” I asked cautiously.
“It hasn’t been completed, that’s what,” Quye said, wiggling her eyebrows. “From everything I understand about dragons, it's emotionally painful for you to be separated from Adara until you two seal the bond… and you’re about to send her off to another realm. Don’t you think that’s something the two of you should handle first?”
“Actually,” an unfamiliar voice said as the tent flap opened, “they should not.”
We all turned, startled, as an ice fae female—one of the matrons who’d been running breakfast—entered the tent. At first I couldn’t fathom why she was interrupting us, but when I locked eyes with her gold-green gaze, I understood.
“Kiryan.” Annoyed realization swept over me. “I see you’ve joined us again.”
Kiryan inclined his head—or was it her? Did Radiants even have a gender? “And not a moment too soon,” he said in the female’s melodic tones, taking a seat next to Quye. “The Oracle usually gives stellar advice, but she was about to steer you terribly wrong with this one.”
Quye huffed. “I do my best, but I’m not omniscient.” She tossed a skein of curly white hair over one shoulder as she eyed Kiryan. “Why, exactly, is this terrible advice?”
“Because,” Kiryan said, looking over at Adara, “once the two of you complete the mating bond, your lives will be tied together. That means that if Einar dies, you will die, and vice versa. We can’t afford for you to take that risk, not until you’ve completed the ritual and defeated Nox.”
The breath whooshed out of me as Kiryan’s words struck, more powerful than a well-placed blow to the gut. Adara met my eyes from across the room, the stricken look on her face mirroring my own feelings. I hadn’t had time to think about the bond much, what with everything else going on, but I would have wanted to complete it before sending her off to the dragon’s new realm. Mated dragons could communicate telepathically over great distances, and though the bond had never been tested between realms, a part of me thought it would still work to some extent.
“When General Slaugh kidnapped you and shadow traveled with you to Kaipei Castle, I felt like a piece of my heart had been torn out,” I said hoarsely. I held Adara’s gaze as I spoke, wanting her to see the raw honesty in my face. “The only thing that kept me from losing my mind was that I had a way to get back to you—that, and that Leap and Mavlyn were by my side to help me.” I cast them both grateful glances. “I can’t imagine how much worse it will be if I send you to another world with the bond still incomplete… but I’ll do it, if this is what you wish.”
