Page 25 of The Dragon and the Dove

Measuring her breaths until they were deep and even, Sera laid her hand on Val’s chest. Magic jolted at her touch. Eager, already waiting there inside her, like a kettle on the boil.

Heat suffused her, flooding her bloodstream until she was awash once more with that ancient rippling power.

Val’s chest heaved, her body bowing off the rug to claim it.

A worthy choice, Sera’s magic purred.

And so began the making.

Sooner than before, Sera grew dizzy. Gripped tight in the flow of her power, she was only dimly aware of her body swaying back and forth, her breath quickening, her heart thundering.

Almost there.

She felt it again – that yawning in her core. The world was spinning and Val was groaning, and Sera’s magic was churning. Cleaving.

She was gasping now, air grating as she gulped it down.

‘Sera?’ Val croaked from somewhere far away.

She snatched a split second of consciousness – just enough to see her friend’s eyes staring back at her.

They were dazed.

Golden.

Saint.

There was a finger-snap of triumph. Then her magic receded in a rush, leaving behind a terrible coldness. It chilled her blood, turned her bones to ice.

She slumped over, that old voice humming in satisfaction.

Rest, Maker.

It is done.

The blackness was a wave. Sera let it take her.

‘Seraphine? Can you hear me?’ She woke to warm hands cradling her face. ‘Come on, spitfire.’

Ransom was here. His voice was a key unlocking the rest of the world. It all trickled back in: the sun slipping through a gap in the curtains, the faint scent of lavender. Val’s curls tickled her forearm.

They were slumped on the floor, side by side.

Wrenching her eyes open, Sera managed a croak. ‘Val.’

‘Sleeping.’ Ransom again.

‘Pretty soundly, if her snoring is anything to go by,’ added Anouk from the doorway.

There was a rush of relief.

Val was all right.

‘How long have I been out?’

‘I couldn’t say.’ Frustration scraped against his voice. ‘We walked in and found both of you lying here like a pair of corpses.’

‘Beautiful corpses, to be fair,’ Anouk chimed in. ‘You missed his meltdown.’