Chapter 40

Forty

Lambert

M y arms are wrapped around her, the way she fits there so uniquely satisfying that I grin and pull her closer.

North is yanking on my collar like he’s trying to strangle me. He’s probably jealous. If I had half a brain left after the game and the thrill of victory, I’d tell him not to be. I can share.

Unfortunately, my mind isn’t working right. Or maybe it’s my eyes?

I blink, trying to banish the cracks spreading out from her lips. For a long second, I wonder if it’s the flickering Christmas lights playing tricks on me. The coldest—and most anticipated—kiss of my life is everything I hoped it would be and more.

She’s kissing me. Kyrith is kissing me like I’m the last man alive, and damn, I’m into it.

But she’s stiff as a board, her expression fraught with pain as she falls back, and North finally manages to pull me off her.

They are cracks, I realise, grimacing as I realise whatever’s wrong with her, it’s getting worse. But why is everyone looking at me with horror? Why is she looking at me like… like that ? All relief and pain and acceptance and…

Nothing makes sense.

The black lines spread from her lips, breaking in all directions across her face. I trace one as it forks across her nose, and then ricochets through her eye. I glance down to check on the other cracks, and the place where my arms were wrapped around her is worse, too.

Me? I did this?

I’ve just put two and two together, ice feathering through my veins in a way that has nothing to do with her closeness, when her expression glasses over.

She shatters.

I’ve never seen her fly apart into mist like this, but one second, she’s there, and the next…

Gone.

No. That’s… That wasn’t… I won the game. I won, and she was supposed to be happy. Any minute now, she’s going to pop out and declare this is some elaborate joke.

A heartbeat passes. Then all of the wisplights die at once.

“No,” Leo murmurs, voice rising. “No. No. She fecking didn’t.”

His accent comes out more when he’s upset, and as he grabs a scrap from his pocket and summons his own wisp, I realise he’s swaying slightly on his feet, his eyes unfocused and his expression pinched with pain.

He’s the calm, composed one. Sure, he gets intense sometimes, but I’ve never seen him so devastated.

“She’s not…gone?” I ask, finally recovering my voice. “She just… We only kissed.”

The thrill of winning the game had been nothing compared to the moment she freaking threw herself at me, but that’s gone now. Instead, I’m stuck in some awful nightmare as my thick skull finally puts the pieces together.

She always refused to hug me. Always. She refused to come through the shower screen when I asked her to snuggle. She knew… She never mentioned what would happen, and the others… They knew, too. That’s why they were always so careful.

Which means Kyrith just used me to…

Magic. I’m gonna be sick.

“Boss.” My voice wavers. “Boss, this isn’t funny.”

“No. It isn’t.” Dakari steps back, face grey under the glow of Leo’s wisplight.

“She’s gone.” I didn’t expect North to care, but he looks almost as haunted as the rest of us. “I thought…”

“She wasn’t living,” Eddy whispers, her cheeks streaked with tears. “She said it was like watching life through a pane of glass… That real death would’ve been preferable.”

She felt that way? Why didn’t she say anything? I would’ve been there. I could’ve done something.

Numbness is tingling through my limbs. Some strange ringing has taken up residence in my skull, echoing in my ears like a scream.

Wait…

That is a scream. Kyrith’s scream.

I’m on my feet in the next second, shoving past a frozen Eddy to the door. The Rotunda looks like it was the scene of a battle. The Christmas tree has been knocked over, sending broken baubles and torn ribbons everywhere, but my focus is on the trapdoor.

“She didn’t want you down there!” Dakari yells after me, grabbing my arm.

“Fuck that!” I retort, brushing him off. I dive for the handle and yank on it with all of my strength. “She’s screaming .”

Arcanist

The Arcanaeum Book 2

Coming Soon…