Chapter 64

Nothing about this made sense.

A dragon disappearing into thin air.

The liquid, rippling darkness.

Trubahn's eyeless, broken body sprawled on the still-flaming cobblestones.

But the most wrong thing was my princess, standing before me with a blank, mindless stare, as if whatever she saw was dissolving her from the inside out.

"Anaria?" I gripped her shoulders, peering into her empty eyes. "Anaria. Wake up."

"What happened?" Tavion growled, his gaze focused on that dark entity coiled before us like serpents waiting to strike. "Did that stuff touch her? Is she infected?" Horror flared in his eyes and something had me reaching out, grasping his arm.

"Her magic touched it. Them. Then she was gone." I squeezed his arm, some of that frantic fear bleeding out of his gaze and into mine. "But she's not in pain, Tavion. Just…somewhere else."

The shadows were a multitude of dark, reaching tendrils merging into one writhing and awful void, held at bay only by Anaria's still-intact shield. My fingers closed tighter on Anaria's shoulders. "Princess. Come back to me."

But peering into her eyes was like looking down a long, empty hallway.

Whatever this magic was, it was sentient. And hungry, consuming my princess's stars like they were some delicacy. They were growing stronger; the shield was failing and neither Tavion or Zor could help me shore it up.

Cosimo had turned his attention on the far end of the street, his pale magic painting the air blue.

"Try again to wake her." Zor took up position to my right, squatting down until he was eye to eye with what was on the other side. "Or get her out of here. Once these shadows get through, I doubt we can fight them. They remind me of a Reaper, just move differently."

"I leave and that barrier falls," I warned him, wondering if we should all just get the fuck out of here and let Southwell fall.

"It's like she's caught in one of those visions. With the skulls," Tavion muttered, bracing his legs wider as a handful of murky forms limped out of the darkness. They moved jerkily, like Trubahn, like someone else controlled them.

"The Oracle," Zor hissed, and Tavion just nodded.

"She's here." The truth shocked me as I studied Anaria's blank, empty face cupped in my palms. Nothing. There was nothing there. "The Oracle has taken Anaria somewhere. Maybe like in the visions." I moved my princess gently, setting her back against the building.

"Get your arses in gear," Lyrae snarled, stalking up the center of the street, right past the writhing darkness trying to get to us like she didn't even see it. "They're coming, or don't you two have eyes in your heads?"

"We see them," Tavion growled, answering for both of us. "Your former master is controlling them. How do we know she's not pulling your strings, too?"

"Fuck you, Montgomery." Lyrae didn't even bother looking over, her hair sleeked back, eyes alight with malicious glee. "But that's easy. If she was, you'd already be dead."

"Go kill them instead." Tavion pointed to our attackers. "You bloodthirsty bi?—"

But Lyrae was already in motion, her lean body a precise, dangerous weapon, tearing through the possessed mages like butter, dodging deadly bursts of magic and spell work easily enough I narrowed my eyes.

"Are you seeing this?" Zorander asked. I kept my hands on Anaria, kept her protected and safe, with her empty eyes and vacant expression, but my gaze was on the carnage unfolding, the oily serpents writhing just beyond our barrier.

"I guess we both have eyes in our heads, because yes, I sure as fuck am."

Lyrae wasn't just dodging the magic; she was countering their attack with magic of her own. Sloppily enough for me to see her power was brand fucking new.

The next wave of the Oracle's puppets straggled sloppily down the cobbled street, Lyrae charging to meet them, then Zephryn reappeared and everything disappeared in a belch of ice-blue fire. The shop beside us exploded, tile roofing crashed down over our heads, and glass sprayed like projectiles.

Lyrae hit the pavement, hands clasped over the back of her head.

I threw myself over Anaria, using my body as best I could to protect her from the punishing fire, from the glass, the wood and tile, and those shadowy serpents so desperate to reach her.

Somehow, I lost sight of Tavion and Zor in the choking smoke, ozone stinging my eyes. I might have heard Tavion screaming, but I couldn't be sure.

Then I spotted Zor, hunched over, sneaking down the street, Cosimo at his side. I raised a hand, waved. "Over here." I shouted. "We're here."

But neither of them looked our way.

Then all I saw were those twisting, liquid shadow serpents. They crawled all over the barrier now, searching for some way inside, consuming what little magic was left. They were driven by desperation, blind and demanding and unstoppable.

As if Anaria was the only thing they wanted.

And I was the only one who could stop them.