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He holds out his hand. “Let me help you up.”
He’s the greatest threat here. He’s the one who’s orchestrated all the pain and violence.
My magic sears at the imaginary bars of its cage, burning through my veins with a sting so sharp I force another guffaw to cover a gasp. As I lift my hand to take Torstem’s, my power flails madly with the desire to blast at least him apart.
Julita lets out an urgent noise.Your feet are still grounded. Your skin is so thick, no cut you take could ever really penetrate you. Everything important is yours to keep.
An ache fills my throat. The sentiment she’s expressed would have had a much more literal meaning when her brother and his best friend were carving her open to spill her blood in their amateur sacrifices.
As the law professor pulls me to my feet, I will my skin to turn to armor, like the thickest bark in existence. I smile brightly and harden the rest of me.
My magic batters against the new walls I’ve created, but it doesn’t find any cracks this time.
There are other ways I can defeat this man. More important things I need from him than his death.
“Thank you,” I say, and turn my face toward the bonfire as if reveling in the heat. “Things seemed to get rather insane for a moment. Why were the gods angry?”
Torstem smiles back with a curl at the corner of his illusionary hawkish beak. “I don’t think they were—they were only ensuring we stood our ground. All’s well again. There’s nothing to be scared of here. The wildness guides us, and the gods are on our side.”
I feel his gaze studying me, but I’ve given no reason for him to suspect I had anything to do with the supernatural disturbances. The only good thing about the reputation of the riven is no one expects to meet one who seems perfectly normal.
I lift my hands to the fire. “How soon do we really begin? How will we get our true kings?”
“Eager to see the change? I like that.” He turns toward the fire as well, releasing my hand. “You shouldn’t have to wait long. We’ve been gathering our forces. Within a few weeks’ time, we’ll be able to cut straight through to the royal family. Everything will fall with them.”
I tense my neck to stop my head from jerking around in surprise.
A fewweeks, and the king could be dead?
“That’s good,” I coo, the drug slurring my speech without my trying. “So good. Where do we cut King Konram down?”
Torstem lets out a low chuckle. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll build our connection to the old ways until then. When the time is right, we’ll have all the power we need to strike.”
Thirty-Nine
Ivy
Ihave the vague idea that I can grab my cord and my locket without rousing Stavros, leap off to the palace meeting room, and summon the others so maybe I’ll have company before I have to face the former general again.
No such luck. I shoulder open the door to find him standing by the sofa in the thin dawn light that’s seeping past the curtains.
His stance stiffens at the sight of me. “Ivy—”
“There isn’t time,” I blurt out, at least as panicked about the thought of having to discuss what we did earlier tonight as about what I’ve learned from the scourge sorcerers. I snatch my cord from the drawer and brandish it toward him. “We need to talk to the mirror.”
I haven’t had a chance to make sure there’s no conjured creature lurking around this room, so I’m not going to mention the king outright.
Stavros can clearly tell what I mean. He tenses even more, his eyes flashing. “What happened? You’re swaying.”
I am. I grasp the shelf beside me, steadying myself as well as I can, and toss my cord on the floor. It takes a few jerks before I can get it in a full circle. “I’m fine. Just go.”
I hop through the makeshift portal before he can argue.
What exactly happened between the two of you?Julita murmurs, sounding as though she isn’t sure she wants to know.
“Nothing I feel like discussing,” I mutter as I wobble into the meeting room.
In the seconds it takes the former general to set up his own means of supernatural transportation, I conduct my usual survey of the space. No quivers of magic penetrate my lingering dizziness.
