I gasped, unable to take enough of a breath to absorb everything as it came to me, unable to comprehend how even my own magic seemed to have doubled in strength. With the next wave of his magic, I suddenly realized that I was kissing him, or he was kissing me, I wasn’t sure how it had begun.
I only knew that he had become so much a part of me that he was in my mind and my every thought was of him. I didn’t fully understand what was happening, only that our magic had crashed together and was one united power now.
For the first time since we began, he released my hand and wrapped his arms around me, but the kiss between us continued. I was feeding on his strength to build my own, and as I became more powerful, I knew he must be pulling strength from the half-lives around him to continue to give to me.
His hands were on my neck, and for the first time, I realized how warm they were. Too warm. I pushed away, separating myself from him, my eyes widened.
“Joth, you took in my corruption too.”
When it had only been mine, I had not thought it to be too dangerous, that it was something I could control, but the change in his eyes made me nervous. The bright blue had turned silver, like molten steel now, flaming with emotions I could not understand, even as he worked to slow his breathing.
“At first it felt like taking in poison,” he said. “But then I began to understand it isn’t corruption at all. It’s power, and together, we will take all of it.”
“I …” I wasn’t sure what he meant by that, whether I wanted what he was now suggesting. But his next kiss seemed to dissolve any concern I might have had. By the time we emerged from the woods, hand in hand, my resolve was clear. I was ready to kill Lord Endrick.
No, not simply ready. I was eager for it.
Trina shook me awake, and I sat up in a bed, disoriented, until I realized we were back at Woodcourt. At first, I didn’t know how I had gotten here, but the pit in my gut told me something had gone horribly wrong. Then I remembered, and it was worse than horrible. We may have ruined everything.
“Did she escape?” I asked, not certain of how I wanted Trina to answer.
Trina nodded, but said, “Harlyn shot her with a disk, so she couldn’t have gone far. If we follow the trail of blood, we should be able to track her down.”
“That isn’t the plan anymore,” Tenger said, walking up to join me and Trina. “The few of us Coracks who are here aren’t enough to fight those two. Kestra retrieved the blade, so we can assume they’re going to begin preparations for an attack on Lord Endrick. We need to be there when it happens, and with a force strong enough to demand their attention. Hugh and I are returning to enter negotiations with the Brill.”
“The Brill, who want Kestra dead?”
Tenger’s eyes sparked. “The Brill, who have both the numbers and weapons that we lack. Their technologies are better than anyone else’s in getting around magic, whether it’s Endrick’s or Kestra’s, or this boy with her. Like it or not, Simon, we need their help.”
“Are you sure of that?” In my head, I heard the echo of Kestra’s question to me, of whether I would still give my life for her. How could I possibly have answered that?
I cursed and tried to stand up, but Kestra had taken more from me than I had realized at first. I was having a hard enough time simply sitting there.
Harlyn sat near me on the bed to check the bandage she had wrapped around my side earlier. As she did, she said, “You’re lucky to be here. Kestra nearly killed you.”
“And you tried to kill her,” I countered. “Do you think there’s any chance she’ll work with us now?”
“You must stop pretending that is even a possibility.” Gabe had been leaning against the far wall of my room, but now he stood taller. “We all know how you feel, but you’ve got to see her as she is. Simon, if she is not stopped, she will be a greater enemy to us than Endrick ever was.”
“I do see that. But I won’t allow you to kill her. We must weed the corruption out of her.”
Tenger and Gabe exchanged a look, which was easy enough to read. Then Tenger said, “You warned me against giving her magic and were obviously right to do so. I thought we could keep control of her magic better than we have, delay the onset of corruption.” Then he straightened up, scratching his trimmed beard. “Loelle betrayed us and, in doing so, has already destroyed Kestra. Blame her for Kestra’s troubles, not me.”
It was a nice speech, and I did agree that Loelle had brought great harm to Kestra, but that didn’t mean Tenger was blameless. We wouldn’t be in this situation but for him.
Though to be fair, Kestra wouldn’t be alive today if she hadn’t received magic. We had done that to her.
And to be even more accurate, if I had not captured her that night, and forced her into the betrayal of her family, someone else would have become the Infidante, and Kestra might have had the simpler life that she had wanted.
Tenger nodded at Trina. “I need you to assist Basil in his recovery. Try to find out anything you can about his time in captivity—perhaps we’ll learn something to help our cause. Even if we get the Brill on our side, it won’t be enough. You must convince him to send for his armies from Reddengrad.”
“They were nearly destroyed in the last battle,” I said. “They won’t come to help us fight here.”
“We saved Basil’s life—they’ll come.” Now Tenger addressed me. “And what orders will the king of the Halderians give to his people? Is it not his obligation to retake the Scarlet Throne?”
If I didn’t care to occupy the Halderian throne, why should he think I would seek out the throne to rule over all of Antora? Especially because I knew at what price I would obtain that throne.
I started to shake my head, but Gabe said, “Can you all leave us alone for a minute?”