Page 92 of Magic Betrayed

The ground still shook. But Ethan was focused on Kes, so he didn’t seem to see me coming. Not until I was right behind him and laid a heavy hand on his shoulder, using it to hold myself up even as I reached for him with magic that kept sliding through my fingers.

“Ethan. You need to stop now.”

His head turned, eyes aflame, and I stared straight into the pits of a torment so hellish that I nearly cringed away.

“Why?” His voice rasped at me from a throat gone raw, and I heard the echoes of both power and pain. “Why not let it all burn?”

Where was my magic? I knew I could do this, because I’d done it before. But only by accident. So how could I convince this long buried part of myself to rise to the surface before it was too late?

“This isn’t you, Ethan.”

That was only a guess. There was a chance he’d been violent and power-hungry even before Elayara got to him. But I didn’t think so. He’d sent Ari away, because he didn’t want to hurt her. He’d accepted Kes’s help. And even when he’d helped kidnap me, I’d sensed no hostility. He’d probably thought I would welcome the chance that they could help me, just as he had.

“All of this destruction… It’s the magic—the power that was forced on you. You don’t have to give in. We can help.”

“The fire has burned me to ash,” he said, in that same hollow rasp. “There is nothing left of me. Nothing but destruction, so why not let it end?”

I couldn’t let him give up. Not now. Not when hope was finally within reach. The very thought filled me with fury at those who had hurt us, and in the midst of that fury, I felt suddenly lightheaded as magic flooded my mind, swirling with unseen currents as it drew words from the very heart of my being and shaped them on my tongue.

“No,” I said, and the power of that single syllable resonated through my chest with more than the sound of my own voice. “You aremore, Ethan. More than this power. More than Elayara tried to make of you. You havealwaysbeen more.” A thread of magic wound through my words, humming with a peculiar resonance that buzzed against my teeth. “And now you are not alone. We will help you. Fight for you. Please let us.”

For a moment, the tremors intensified, and I heard a heart-rending crash from behind me. More of the house falling to ruin. Had Faris made it out with Logan?

No, I couldn’t lose focus.

“I’m scared,” Ethan said, his voice trembling as hard as the earth beneath our feet.

“I know.” I let go of his shoulder and set my hand on his cheek, finding it wet with tears. “I am too. But we won’t leave you again.”

The glow in his eyes faded. His shoulders began to shake. And on his other side, Shane staggered up with Kes in his arms, her face pale but determined.

“His hand,” she murmured. “Give me his hand.”

Ethan’s arms hung loose by his side, and when I took his hand and gave it to Kes, he did not resist.

I saw when his power began to leave his body, flowing into Kes’s and pinching her lips with the agony of the transfer. I saw when she reached her limit but continued to take his magic into herself, growing paler and weaker by the second. I opened my mouth to stop her, but then his shoulders slumped, and all at once he crumpled, dropping to the ground in a boneless heap and taking me with him.

The tremors stopped. But in that sudden silence, I heard a deep, tortured groan. Timbers creaking. Joints protesting. My head jerked up, and I watched in horror as the Haversmith House finally gave way and collapsed onto itself.

Boards and pillars snapped. Debris flew, and I could hear it thudding to the ground all around me. But none of it touched us, because the dragon was faster—Callum had put his body between us and the danger, letting the shrapnel bounce harmlessly off his scales.

We huddled there until the sounds stopped. Until the remains of the house finally settled and the clearing was silent, but for the sound of my breath, rasping in and out of my chest. The sound of Ethan crying softly, while Kes whispered comfort.

We’d done it. We’d stopped Ethan before he lost control entirely. But at what cost?

I had no idea what Callum was thinking or if he’d forgive me, but in that moment, the fear of his rejection was pushed aside by one last desperate thought.

Had Faris found Logan in time?

I pushed off the ground, ignoring the pain as I left Ethan with Kes and Shane and started hobbling back towards the remains of the house, choking on dust and smoke and overwhelming fear. The fires were still smoldering, but they’d burned through the majority of their fuel, and would die soon, leaving us in darkness.

We just had to find Logan before then. He had to be okay. Faris was far too tough to die just because a house fell on him, but Logan was still a skinny teenager—all bones and eyes and awkward enthusiasm. He’d been helpless to save himself, so Farishadto have gotten to him in time. This wasn’t how our story was going to end. Not after everything we’d survived.

I didn’t get very far before Callum’s dark, scaled bulk stopped me, his massive head lowered to regard me sternly out of those fiery, reptilian eyes.

I was almost too afraid to look at him. If he was judging me, if he was angry, I didn’t want to see it right now. But when I refused to acknowledge him, he nudged me with his nose—gently, but firmly.

My hands shot out to steady me against the warmth of his shoulder, and then I couldn’t help but feel his emotions.

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