bChapter /bb182 /b

Eryx POV

The moment that the word ‘Good‘ leaves Rnd’s mouth I’m already moving, I’m lunginf forward with all the force that I can summon, my de angled high, but he’s faster than I expect. He sidesteps so quickly it’s fluid and sharp, like he saw iting before i even moved. My de ms into the stone wall where his throat should’ve been, sparks fly on impact as I twist then pivot to follow the movement.

Hisughter echoes again, low and cold.

“Oh,e on, Eryx. You’re already that angry? We’re just getting started.”

I don’t let him use words to get to me, instead I ignore him and let my magic rise within my. mes lick up my arms as I pull forward and send a burst of fire down the narrow passage to him. The heat scorches the stone and illuminates the corridor in orange light, but again, he’s not where he

was, he’s moved. When I twist he’s behind me.

“How do you think she’s doing right now?” Rnd murmurs, his breath too close. His voice slides over me like a de. “Can you feel it? That bond burning? It’s her, Eryx. Her body’s giving up. Her heartbeat is starting to slow.”

I move, rage surging so hot that I lose focus for half a second. I don’t need fire this time, I m my palm forward, and the air folds with it. Rnd is sted back into the wall, he hits with a thud. The force knocks some of the smugness off his face, but only some as smirks at me again.

Heughs again, wiping blood from his lip. “You think you’re the only one with tricks?”

His words confuse me, then I see his fingers twitch and before I can react the stone floor beneath my feet trembles. Something like shadows coils from the cracks and surge up like smoke. My eyes widen as I see the sharp tendrils of darkness whip forward, they slice toward me with lethal precision and my eyes wide.

I jump back, and throw a wall of heat up between us as I try to burna way whatever spell he’s using, but the shadows cut through the mes like they’re nothing. One wraps around my ankle, grasping it hard and yanking. It sends me crashing to the ground again.

Pain explodes through my shoulder as it ms into the floor, but I twist and throw another surge of power out. it snaps the tendril like brittle ice and I

scramble back to my feet, my chest heaving as I stare at him in shock. This is wrong, this isn’t possible.

“You have magic?” I spit the words like venom. How, how can he have magic?

He grins. “Didn’t you wonder how I’vested this long? I’m not just some rogue scavenger. I earned my ce. Every pack I’ve burned, every female I’ve broken, it’s been because I can do what they can’t.”

His hands lift and the air around him crackles. The shadows return this time they are thicker and seem to crawl up the walls and across the ceiling. The corridor is far too narrow and closed off, I don’t have enough space to do a lot of things that I want to. My fire could easily kill us both if I let it reach it’s

full strength or make the wrong move.

Still, I won’t quit or stop.

い

I gather my power again, drawing it from my core and force it into the space between us. I feel the temprature rising sharply and the air begins to emble with the pressure of it. The stone under both of our feet begins to glow a faint red. I throw forward another st, thsi time sharper and more focused. It ms into him, and he stumbles back, but recovers too quickly.

“You’re so eager,” he taunts. “So desperate. But you’re toote, Eryx. She’s already dying. Can you feel it?” He steps closer, even as I fire again, heat pulsing like a heartbeat through the air. “Her skin’s gone cold. Her pulse is fading. You’ll feel it snap soon, the bond. And when it does, you’ll know you failed her.”

Angry swirls within me and I lose all sense of control.

“Shut your mouth!” I roar, hurling a wave of fire strong enough to turn the walls ckb. /bIt clips him this time, his clothes bsingeing /bbas /bbhe /bbducks /bblow/bb, /bbone /bbarm /brising to shield his face. He hasn’t had magic for long, he can’t have. My father would have mentioned bit/bb, /bhe would have known bif /bRnd bhad /bbmagic /b

So it’s new, this has to be new.

b10:09 /bbSun/b, 27 bJul /bG’D

The scent of burned flesh hits my nose. I force myself to push harder, mes licking down the corridor like a living thing, hungry and brelentless/b, He tries to cast again, his shadows surging forward, but I meet them with heat, magic singing through me like wildfire.

Still, the space is working against me. I can’t maneuver properly. Every movement is limited, every angle cut off by stone. He knows it too.

“You’re sloppy,” he sneers. “All power, no control. That’s why you’ll lose. You’re not but a boy, small, weak and useless.”

I bare my teeth and advance. I can’t keep trading magic forever, not here. I need to get closer.

I need to end this before he has a chance to bdisappear /b

I hear it quickly, footsteps. Dozens of them, all rapid, heavy and rushing toward me from behind. My parents, the guards, I know it’s them, I know bthat /bthey’ve found me.

Rnd hears it too.

His head tilts slightly, listening, and then a slow, bitter smile spreads across his face. “Ah, there they are. The cavalry. Come to save the day. His head tilts mocking. “Such a shame, you y the big man, Eryx, but you’re really just a child needing to be saved by your parents.” His head tilts mocking

I re, ready to attack and he steps back, shadows curling tight around his frame, forming a shroud that begins to pull him into the wall itself. I throw a final strike, fire ring so bright it blinds me, but it hits only smoke.

“No!” I shout, lunging forward, but it’s toote.

He’s gone, hisughter lingers, curling in the smoke as it echoes off the stone. “I’ll see you again soon, little prince,” his voice whispers. “And maybe next time, I’ll get to see you die with my own eyes.”

The corridor goes still and silence rushes in, louder than the noise before it, broken only by the thunder of my own heartbeat. I stand in the ruins of scorched stone, breathing hard, my hands still glowing with heat, the scent of sulfur clinging to the walls. I can’t feel April’s heartbeat. Not anymore. I can’t tell if that’s the bond, or just my fear.

Footsteps finally reach me, and my father’s the first to appear, his weapon drawn, his eyes darting to the burn marks and the warped floor. My mother follows, her hands already glowing with protective magic, scanning for danger even though it’s toote.

“Eryx,” my father says, voice low and urgent. i“/iAre you hurt?”

I shake my head once. “No. He’s gone.”

My mother moves to imy /isidei, /iexamining the wall where Rnd vanished, her brow furrowed tight. “He’s using shadow magic. I didn’t know he had that kind of control.”

“He shouldn’t,” imy /ifather says grimly. “That kind of magic, it’s old. Dangerous. No one just has it. He’s never had magic”

“He said April’s dying.” My voice cracks as I say it. “He said he could feel it. That the bond is breaking.”

My mother’s expression hardens. He’s trying ito /iunnerve you. Break your

“He almost did,” I admit. “He wasn’t just ying with me. He was stalling.”

focus.”

My father nods once. “So we find her before his stalling pays off. No more dys. Focus, right now Eryx.”

“We go deeper,” I say immediately, already turning back toward the end of the corridor. “The bond was stronger hereb. /bThis is the bright /bbdirection/b. I’ll bfind /b

her.b” /b

“Not alone,i” /imy mother says firmly.

I nod, not arguing this time. “Together, then.”

bWe /bbmove /bforward, but the sound of hisughter still lingers behind us like smoke bthat /bwon’t clear. bAnd /bbthe /bbache /bbin /bbmy /bbchest /bbonly /bbsharpens /bbecause don’t know bif /bI’ve just lost iher/ib, /bbor /bif I’m bstill /bin time to save what’s bleft/b.