Ice traveled through her overheated veins. “Hurry, Nikolai. We don’t have much time.”
He moved into the cave.
Tyrez, Dani, and Ash stayed at the entrance. Cara led Nikolai to the very back, and the other two Watchers paced in behind him. Aria sensed his tension in their presence and kept her hand on his neck. It pulsed hot beneath her fingers, as hot as her own skin. She tingled at the chaotic energy buzzing off him.
Jacques scrambled to his feet as they approached, and he planted himself against the back wall. Nikolai snorted at him.
Aria gestured toward the Satyr. “Nikolai, this is Jacques.”
Nikolai inhaled and then tossed his head. “Whaat is he?”
“I-I’m just a friend.” Jacques stammered as he clutched Sparkle so tight the Phoenix twittered at him. “Nobody, really.”
As if in response to the bird, something squeaked, and Mai peeked out from beneath Cara’s hair. In an instant, she’d scampered down her arm. Cara reached to Nikolai, and the little shrew hopped into his mane.
Instantly, a tiny ray of calm permeated his chaos. Aria stroked his neck.
“Okay,” Cara said, rubbing her hands together. “Let’s get started.”
The other two Watchers stayed in equine form. They stood to each side of Cara and oriented their horns toward Nikolai.
His tension increased. Aria’s fingers curled against his neck.
“We’re going to be working fast, Nikolai, and I won’t have time to talk you through it. It will probably hurt when we destroy the runes. The lock rune will take the longest.”
“Will thee destroyed rune break Galeran’s hold?” he asked.
Cara shook her head. “The control rune is linked to those that Galeran has on his skin. We can disrupt the one on you, but until his are also destroyed or disrupted, he will still have access to your power.”
Nikolai was rigid as steel beneath Aria’s hand. “Then whaat is thee point?”
“The point is, you will also have access. So it will give you the ability to block him.”
“I waant to destroy him.”
Cara’s eyes blazed at him. “You engage in that kind of fight, Nikolai, and you will take this entire realm down with you. You must promise me that you will not do that. Let us handle Galeran. Your job is to stop him from accessing what you can offer.”
Nikolai had lifted his head, his neck impossibly arched. “Galeran must die for whaat he has done.”
Cara matched his blazing stare. “That is the Perditor speaking. It cares not for what it destroys. You must deny it, Nikolai. Your future, and that of everyone around you, depends upon it.”
His arched neck had pulled out of reach, but Aria tugged hard on his mane. “Please, Nikolai. Listen to her.”
A shudder passed through him. “If thou want me to control thee Perditor,” he growled, “thou must save Lucas.”
It was a warning and a promise. Cara drew herself up to her full height and nodded.
Nikolai lowered his head until his horn rested on the ground. Cara raised her hands, which had begun to glow. And the other two Watchers began to sing.
The harmony interwove with the glowing energy and drifted over Nikolai, winding in lazy swirls around his legs, his barrel, his throat—every spot where the runes had left silver tracings in the dark hair.
Nikolai began to shake. With her hand once more buried against his neck, Aria sensed the tumultuous emotions held in check by the presence of the runes. With each one eliminated, they pushed closer to the surface.
Cara sensed it too. For just an instant, her gaze flashed to Aria, filled with trepidation. “Be ready, Aria. Your connection to him may be all that stands between us and chaos.”
As ice traveled down Aria’s spine, Cara leaned closer to Nikolai, until her glowing hands touched his shoulder.
Another shudder passed through him as his emotions churned a little closer to an eruption, and the knots in Aria’s gut twisted tighter.
