XLIDOMENICWINTER
Domenic carried Hanna down the winding corridor to the Citadel’s elevator, and he did so without magic. Magic had always defined their friendship, their effortless talent, their unrivaled strength, but now he felt he owed her his strength, his effort.
As he suspected, the Council’s floor was in disarray. Frosty wind whirled through shattered windows across vacant cubicles. Yet the few magicians who sprinted past didn’t bother to mend them. Some wore NDC gear over their office clothes, preparing to join the teams fending off the storm. Others raced to gather irreplaceable documents and artworks.
As Domenic emerged, several skidded to a halt. One saluted. The others only gaped at him, at Hanna.
“Where is Councilor Seong?” he demanded.
“Sh-she’s with the president, sir. They’re down the—”
Domenic didn’t wait to hear the rest. With his hands too full to draw Valmordion, he kicked open the door to Sharpe’s office.
Sharpe shouted a curse in surprise, and his eyes bulged as he took in the sight of Domenic and Hanna. Then he spoke back into the telephone, “Yes—sorry, Prime Minister. I’m… Well, what the fuck do you want me to say?! Of course the situation isn’t under control.…”
While he continued his conversation, Iseul lunged toward Domenic, who knelt and rested Hanna on the emerald carpet. “Oh my…” Iseul’s mouth quivered as she took in Hanna. “What happened?”
“I don’t have time to explain,” he told her. “But you need to get her out of the city—”
“But the Order needs Syarthis, Dom. If not to fight beside Tenney, then to heal the magicians who—”
“I severed Hanna’s bond with Syarthis.”
Iseul uttered a quiet sound of horror. Even Sharpe balked, dropping the phone so that it clattered atop his desk.
“You…” His face reddened. “You didwhat?”
“I had to. Syarthis was the traitor. But it’s going to be all right. Ellery and I—we have the last prophecy piece. We’re gonna fulfill it. We’re gonna stop the storm. But…”
He cut off. It was one thing to feel the storm worsen; it was another to gaze out the window, at what should’ve been Gallamere’s skyline, and see nothing but whorls of darkness. Even through the reinforced glass, frost had begun to invade, creeping up the wall and ceiling like skeletal fingers. Some of it had clawed across Sharpe’s portrait, shriveling his already shriveled glower.
“Please,Iseul. Take Hanna and get out of Gallamere. I’d feel better knowing you’re both safe.”
“Oh, Dom. I’m so sorry. I-I don’t even know what to say.” Tears brimmed in Iseul’s eyes, and she threw her arms around him. “I know you’ll stop this, though. The way you’ve risen to your destiny… It takes real strength to do all that’s been asked of you and still have such a kind heart.”
Domenic tensed. For all he’d sworn confidence to Ellery, he did not feel strong.
But he didn’t confess his doubts to Iseul. He only allowed himself the small relief of letting her hold him, if just for a moment.
“Th-thank you,” he managed.
“I love you. I love the two of you, so, so much.”
“I love you, too.”
After their goodbyes, Domenic tried hard to banish his dread.It didn’t matter how dire the odds. If his heart was truly what made him strong, he knew what his heart was telling him, same as it had always told him.
Domenic Barrow would always fight for a happy ending.
XLIIELLERY
WINTER
Ellery emerged from the back of the Citadel to an assault of blaring alarms and furious winds. Debris whipped past her, withered leaves and trash and snow, so much snow, slicing into her with serrated teeth. It resembled a category three scurge, yet it was like none Ellery had ever faced. It churned in a colossal tempest across the horizon, seething with terrible power and terrible promise. Ellery didn’t know when the storm would reach the ceiling of its strength, if it even had one. The lone undefeated cataclysm in Aldrish history had obliterated the country’s western regions. But whatever her and Domenic’s prophecy truly predicted, itwasthe final one, the ultimate cataclysm. If they didn’t stop it, it could wreak extinction.
Ellery ached to fight it, if not to stop it than at least to shield everyone she could, to defend her home.
But until she and Domenic finished the prophecy, it was a fight she couldn’t win.
