He looks up at me and frowns. “I’m being too technical, too blunt.”
I cross my arms and fight back the tears, but I shake my head. “I don’t want you to sugarcoat it for me.”
“I think you’re right, that I must be the one the Old Magic cursed.”
I let out a huff, a mingled laugh and sob. “You came back for me. You stepped between me and Evander back there.”
Nox’s voice is steady. “I did.”
“Why?” I ask.
Nox blinks, as if unsure where the disconnect between us is. “Because he was about to break you.”
In other words, Nox would have done it for anyone.
We spend the day discussing a plan, even though formulating one feels futile.
“I have to get Asha away from Az,” I say. “I can’t just let him…” My throat closes up as my imagination runs away with all sorts of violence a male like Az might enact against the object of his obsession. But there’s a wicked, selfish part of me that longs to go to Asha for another reason, a part of me that hopes freeing Asha will somehow aid me in convincing the Old Magic to break the curse on Nox.
I refuse to lend credence to that motivation by acknowledging it aloud. I’m already a terrible enough person as it is. No need to share those kinds of thoughts.
“I don’t see how getting Asha away from Az is possible. Not with that host of Others under his control,” Nox says.
I tug at my braid. “I was able to take down several of them.”
Nox shakes his head. “Several. Not a host. Even with two of us, there’s too many of them to take down an army of them on our own.”
On our own.
Neither of us brings up the idea of asking my friends for help.
Mostly because I don’t have any of those anymore.
Neither does Nox, I realize.
“Now, if we could find a way to transfer control of the beasts from Az to us, that could present an opportunity to rescue her. Tell me again what Az’s ritual was like.”
I frown, but relay Az spreading his blood in ghostly runes on the thin air. Then I add, “I still don’t know how that helps us, unless we find some way to corral a host of Others through the same hole.”
Nox nods in agreement. “Did Az mention any other theories about how he might control them? Things he tried, but didn’t work out?”
I shake my head. “No, I think he had his method of controlling them planned for a while. It was getting the Rip opened where he devoted most of his energy. He even tried to get ahold of a Gifted woman in Avelea. Thought she’d be easier to obtain than Asha. Until he found me, that is. Ironically enough, Abra got ahold of her. Apparently, the girl’s Gift has to do with her music. We’re still not sure what she was planning to do with her. Only that they were on their way to Mystral.”
“Did Abra ever find out that you’d put Farin and me to sleep?” Nox asks.
“Not that I know of.”
“Maybe it had something to do with him, then. He does seem to be the only thing in the world she cares about, and if she was headed back to Mystral instead of the Rip…”
“Yeah, maybe she was hoping Piper would enchant Farin back to loving her again.” I snort.
Nox shifts uncomfortably. “I know you’re joking, but it’s not out of the realm of possibility.”
Nox and I lock eyes for an uncomfortable moment, but then he clears his throat. “I doubt something like that would have been sustainable. I imagine the effects of the girl’s music wears off over time, just as the emotions evoked by any tune would.”
“Right, of course,” I say, feeling stupid for hoping.
“However,” Nox says, and I can practically feel the wheels in his head turning. “It does make me wonder what kind of effect her music could have on a being of lesser sentience.”
“Like an Other, you mean?”
Nox sucks in a breath. “That’s exactly what I mean.”
CHAPTER 53
KIRAN
By the time the scent of the mysterious incense my father burned fades, and I come to my senses, something is very, very wrong.
For one, I can’t move my limbs. It’s a struggle, but I peel my eyes open. The room is swirling with smoke, except it’s the type I can’t control. It covers every filthy corner of my father’s cottage.
Knobs from the floorboards jut into my back, causing knots in my muscles.
How long have I lain here?
Fin.
Fin?
