The wards have fallen.

At its core, magic demands balance.

Whatever you take will be recouped, and it is not the wielder who determines the price.

—MAGIC: A UNIVERSAL STUDY FOR RIDERS BY COLONEL EMEZINE RUTHORN

CHAPTER SIXTY

Xaden drops the shadows, and we both turn at the same time to survey the damage.

My heart seizes, and I reach for Xaden’s hand reflexively. The wardstone lies in two pieces on the ground, and there isn’t a flame in sight.

Holy Dunne, Navarre is defenseless.

There’s no seeing over Baide’s body to check on Mira, so I whip my gaze to the right, meeting Rhiannon’s wide eyes where she stands at the front of the archway, protecting Ridoc and my mother.

Jack stumbles backward from the blow of my dagger, a dazed but elated look twisting his face as he wrenches it from his shoulder and drops it to the floor.

“He only has minutes,” I whisper to Xaden.

Barlow has just killed his own dragon. It’s unfathomable. Impossible. And yet Baide is most certainly dead as Jack falls to his knees and laughs up at the sky fifty feet above us.

Mira appears, moving silently around Baide’s corpse, and Xaden gives her a subtle shake of his head when she lifts her sword. She keeps it poised for attack but doesn’t continue forward.

“You know you’re about to join your dragon, don’t you?” Xaden asks, his voice low as shadows move in riotous swirls at our feet.

“What are you doing?” I palm another dagger.

“Getting whatever information we can.” The utter calmness of his tone is unnerving.

“That’s the thing,” Barlowe says, his blond hair covering his forehead as he falls forward onto a hand. “I’m not. They have us thinking we’re the inferior species, but did you see how easily I controlled her? How easily the energy she bonded us with is replaced?” His eyes slide shut as his fingers splay on the stone.

“Jack! Don’t do this!” Nolon storms past Rhiannon, his features slackening when he takes in the destruction around him. “You…you’re better than this! You can choose!”

My chest tightens. “The way he said that is almost like he expected this.”

“Because he did,” Xaden answers, his gaze locked on Jack. “He wants to mend him. He’s been trying to mend him since May. He’s too weak to shield his intentions now.”

“Mend what? The injuries from the fall?”

Xaden’s brow furrows in concentration. “Jack’s turned venin. Somehow, he managed it within the wards.”

I think I might be sick.

“There is no choice!” Jack shouts. “And if there was, I made mine the second I saw her”—he shoots a glare my way—“bond the most powerful dragon available at Threshing. Why should they determine our potential when we’re capable of reaching for fate all on our own?”

Oh. Gods. His eyes have been bloodshot for so long. When did it happen? Before the fall. It had to have been before I wielded that first time. Back in the gym that day…

And I’ve thrown the wrong dagger.

“Baide,” Tairn growls, and I glance up to see his silhouette block out the stars far above us.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Magic requires balance,” Nolon argues. “It does not give without a price!”

“Does it?” Jack inhales, and the stones around him turn from a dark, slate gray to a dusky beige. “Do you understand how much power is beneath your feet?”

One block pales, then another, and another.

“Xaden—”

“I know.” Shadows shoot forward, knocking Jack backward and driving him across the floor before lifting him from the ground, pinning him in midair with an X across his torso. “When did you turn?” Xaden asks.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Jack fights the binding, but Xaden closes his fist and the shadows snap even tighter.

“I know you’re going to tell me.” Xaden walks forward. “Because I have nothing to lose by killing you. So tell me when. Earn yourself a little good will.”

“Before his challenge against me,” I answer when Jack refuses to. “He forced power into my body. I just didn’t recognize it for what it is. How? The wards—”

“Do not block all power like the dragons want you to think they do! We can still feed from the ground, still channel enough to survive. Enough to fool them. We might not be at full strength, capable of wielding greater magic under your protections, but make no mistake: we are already among you, and now we’re free.” Jack gestures at Baide, his glare alternating between Xaden and me. “I’ll never know why it’s you he wants. What the fuck makes you so special?”

“This changes everything,” Tairn urges.

“You have no idea what’s coming for you.” Jack grasps at the shadows, his feet kicking against only air, but Xaden wraps another band around his throat, and he stills. “They’re faster than you think they are. He’s coming with a horde of greens. They all are.”

“Might take them a minute to read the map.” Xaden’s tone shifts to taunting. “And you’ll be long gone before they arrive.”

“We need to keep him alive for questioning as long as possible.” I shift my weight carefully to avoid Jack’s attention.

“And what’s your solution for that?” Xaden asks.

We have to cut him off from his power. My gaze swings wide, and I see Nolon creeping up on the left. He’s kept him under control all these—

“The serum,” I tell Xaden. “He must be why they developed the signet-blocking serum.”

Motion near Mira makes me glance her way as Dain edges past her.

“They don’t need a map. Not when I showed them the way. While you were busy smuggling weapons out, we were busy smuggling them in.” Jack’s motions grow weaker, his breaths more labored, just as Liam’s had been. “This whole place will be ours in a matter of hours.” He splays his palms wide and reaches the wall, then shudders as color leaches from the stone.

My heart jolts. We’re underground.

Xaden pulls his alloy-hilted dagger and strides forward, but Dain gets there faster.

“Not yet!” Dain grabs hold of Jack’s head and closes his eyes as stone after stone loses its color.