And I poured all of the rage and hurt and aching in my soul into my Angellight, flooding the storms.
“Alabath!” Tolek yelled as my magic consumed me. As my skin glowed gold and heated,burned, but his hand held steadfast to mine. “How much more will you give?”
Wind whipped my hair around my face. Through gritted teeth, I swore, “As much as it takes.”
Chapter Fifty-One
Santorina
Goddesses be damned,I rarely wished to be one of the fae, but as I tore through the Lendelli Market and my lungs caught on fire, I wouldn’t have minded having their stamina or physique.
A gust of wind slammed down the alley, shoving me into the wall.
“Gods,” I cursed as my shoulder caught my weight.
I braced a hand on the stone, struggling upright, but a much larger, warmer hand dwarfed mine. I opened my mouth to argue, but the body pressed me to the wall as another blast of wind shot down the street, and the frame of the person behind me eclipsed me from the force.
When it passed, a voice growled, “Keep your head down, Bounty.”
I spun, pain radiating through my shoulder, and came face to face with Lancaster. Pressed firmly between his disgustingly honed immortal body and the building, the sand barely lashed me.
“Get off of me!” I forced.
His brows flicked up, and he stepped back in time for a smaller gust of wind to throw sand in my face. Over his shoulder,Mora scolded him and Celissia eyed us. Barrett and Dax had gotten separated from us when a burst of wind sliced between our party a few blocks down, but they were with Malakai, Mila, and Lyria.
“She’s human,” he shot at his sister. “She shouldn’t be here.”
“Why do you care where I am?” I asked, wiping the dirt from my eyes.
Lancaster paused, narrowed stare flicking over my face. “You helped my sister.”
“Then I am perfectly capable of helping here, too!” I shoved his chest to step around him, but he barely flinched. Lancaster eyed the shoulder I was still massaging. Damn immortals and their quick healing. The storm barely seemed to rock his sturdy frame.
“Stay with us,” he demanded, and he took off down the alley, Mora and Celissia waiting for me to go ahead.
We helped the Lendelli citizens cover up windows, the worst of the storm being in the center of town. Cypherion and Vale were in this stretch with us, the Starsearcher beneath a shelter reading. Cyph flicked nervous glances her way as he helped me latch a set of broken shutters with a strong length of rope, Soulguiders, Celissia, and the fae working hurriedly opposite us.
“We should get inside,” Cyph called as the howling wind picked up.
But it was Vale, in a distant voice that didn’t sound like herself, who called, “Wait!” She emerged from beneath her shelter, unbothered by the sand and wind. Her eyes swirled with silver. “Something is happening.”
Vale turned toward the center of town, head tipped to the sky.
And then, light pushed through the clouds. It was incremental, a scattering that peeled back the storm and bathed the city under siege. It crept around corners and alleys, piercingthe dark night with a warm golden glow, and reached to something within me.
“What isthat?” Lancaster asked, squinting as his stony features were illuminated.
“That,” Vale gasped, voice still eerie, “is Ophelia.”
Cypherion and I exchanged a look.Angellight.
Ophelia’s Angellightstopped the storm. I didn’t understand how—the citizens of Lendelli were even more confused—but it calmed the riotous sand clouds tearing through the market enough for us to begin restoring the alleys.
Using a small amount of magic, Mora glamoured her and her brother’s ears. She, Celissia, and I took charge of one lane where barrels and crates had been overturned, stalls shredded like claws of wind had ripped right through them.
As the fae righted a cracked barrel, grain spilling over the stone street, she rolled her shoulder. I paused my sweeping, bracing an elbow on my broom.
“Is it still plaguing you?” I inquired. Mora turned her keen, immortal stare on me, and I nodded to her shoulder.
