Page 255 of Of Masks and Fury

I outlined what we needed to do, leaving Addie to make her way to Fenmark and free him. Once she’d taken him outside the circle, that should break the anchor.

“Once he’s free, I believe the ritual will lose its focus,” I said. “They’ll try to compensate, which will create a fresh chance for us. That’s when Addie and I will approach the breach and seal it.”

“How?” Kira asked.

I looked at my sister. She looked back at me, and I saw the same answer in her eyes that I had: we didn’t know. But we knew what we were willing to offer.

“We’ll improvise,” I finally said.

Terror clawed through my chest. I was asking friends to trust their lives to abilities I barely understood, powers I’d discovered only a short time ago. What if I’d misread the weave? There could be something crucial I couldn’t see.

Trew pulled me into his arms.

“Come back to me,” he said roughly. “You don’t get to be a martyr without me.”

I kissed him, pouring everything I felt into the contact. Love and fear and desperate hope, all tangled together.

“I’m yours,” I whispered against his mouth. “Now and always. That’s not changing, no matter what happens today.”

“I’ll find you, no matter when.”

“And I’ll seek you.”

He pressed his forehead against mine. “Twin flames.”

“Twin flames,” I whispered back.

We parted and Trew crawled over to join our friends. Derren and Lexie would flank Trew. Kira nodded to Trew, looking at him with so much respect it made my heart ache. Kerralyn settled into a ready stance nearby, long blades in hand, ready to take down Skathes.

Addie gripped my fingers hard enough to hurt.

“We can do this,” I said.

“Of course.” Her teary smile rose. “Because we’re sisters, and there’s no bond stronger than that.”

Our companions shifted back into their beast forms. Pherin and Gavelle stood side by side, radiating heat. Kira released her death adder, while Addie’s Nim expanded into an amazing silver dragon. The other three scraped at the ground, ready to attack.

We crept closer, using the corrupted landscape for cover. The ritual circle hummed an uneven tune, and I wondered if it would harmonize if we sealed the veil. Lord Alfred’s voice rose in an ancient language I didn’t recognize, the words making my skin crawl.

The veil breach writhed and expanded, tearing wider with every passing second.

Fenmark screamed. His raw agony cut through everything else as they began draining his life force.

Addie’s entire body went rigid. “Now,” she snarled. “We go now.”

Trew met my eyes. No words were needed. His expression said everything.I love you. Remember me.

I nodded once.

He turned to the others. “Protect them. No matter what.”

Thorne's face flashed through my mind. The ashwine. The children in the reformatory. I’d failed them. I would not fail the people running beside me.

I squeezed Addie’s hand one final time.

She squeezed back, tears streaming down her face, but her jaw set with determination.

We broke from cover, running toward the breach.