Page 226 of Captive of Secrets and Storms

Silas drops next to me. His hand grips my shoulder, but he immediately rears back, his features twisted in pain. His red palm fills the edge of my vision.

I burned him.

I don’t have the ability to apologize. The curse is stronger than ever before, spreading too far, too quickly.

Darius is going to die…and I can’t stop it.

But I can. Do you trust me?

My thoughts muddle. I don’t even know you.

Yes, you do. I am you. I am all those who came before. And I am telling you…I can do this. Just. Let. Go.

A scream builds in my throat. “I can’t!”

“Can’t what?” Anders shouts. “Elara! What’s going on?”

“I— AH!”

My head whips back, and my back arches with another scream.

The distraction has cost me. The curse now flows into my veins, leeching all warmth from my cells.

RELEASE ME!

My head snaps forward. A dark aura surrounds Darius’s unmoving body.

Thick.

Pulsing.

It bleeds outward, creeping along my flesh.

My heart seizes as it begins to overwhelm my light.

No!

Ferria, sunlight beaming on her bright-red hair through our kitchen window, sits at the kitchen table. She tosses a piece of charcoal at me, chastising me for not sitting still while she sketches my likeness.

The image is replaced with Juniper, dirt caked under her nails, placing two Rootshearth petals in my palm, explaining how to grind them to extract the sap for medicine.

The memories rip through my mind. My eyes burn, and the curse slithers toward my aching heart.

This can’t be the end.

I can’t leave this world.

Ferria needs me.

I need her.

My vocal cords scream.

Still, I manage to strangle out, “Do…it.”

The marks on my arms dig into my flesh, holding firm, as if it can withstand the magical war waging within me.

Then—