Page 17 of When Storms Collide

“Ok, Diana,” she replied, a blush rising to her cheeks and painting her tawny skin in the most beautiful shade of rose. “Thank you, for trusting me to come on this mission with you.”

“Of course. You are one of my best advisors, and nobody knows the streets of Prins the way you do.”

“Being a cat certainly helps. I can slip in and out easily without being seen. It’s a common enough animal that hardly anyone pays attention to me.”

“A trait I wish we all possessed. I would give anything to be invisible,” I replied, biting my lip. “I fear even if we are successful in this mission, we have no chance at winning the greater war.”

“I don’t have those same fears,” Saanvi said, lifting her chin. She met my gaze as she tugged on her long, midnight braid. “I have every faith in you—bound or not.”

My brows pinched together as I glanced back at her. “Without the binding, I have no magic,” I protested. “I would be essentially… useless.”

Saanvi shook her head fiercely. “Never useless. You might not be able to call on your storm magic, but the prophecy never said anything about usingmagicto defeat Donika. Only that it would be an unusually powerful Stormshade of the Kotova bloodline that would do it.”

My gaze fell to my boots as we walked, realization dawning on me.

Saanvi was right.

“But without my storm magic, I’m practically mortal,” I argued.

“I’m not sure it will matter. You are wicked with your blade.” She nodded towards Stormslayer strapped against my thigh. “And you’re forgetting one vital piece of information,” she replied.

My gaze pulled from the cobblestones to meet her amber eyes once more. “And what might that be?”

“Donika is not without weaknesses. Blood. Family.Thisis her weakness, and we will do everything in our power to use it and exploit it. Even if we can’t save Nik—”

I cut her off with a glare that had her chuckling.

She cleared her throat before speaking again. “Even if things don’t go as planned and you remain unbound, Donika is weakened by her blood ties. By her family. She couldn’t bring herself to kill her mother, despite having every opportunity to do just that. She knows Zion betrayed her—turned on her—but she never sent a contingent after him when the soldiers she did send couldn’t find him in the woods. And you. She has had the opportunity to kill you many,manytimes. But she hasn’t.”

“While that may be true, I think she might have been waiting until she finalized the siphoning spell. She wants my magic.”

“But does she want your magic more than she wants you dead?” Saanvi asked, her brow raised. “She already has storm magic. She has Isaac’s. She claims to want you dead, then why is she dragging her feet? Why toy with you when she ambushed us in Siraleth instead of cutting your throat?”

My gaze fell to the cobblestones once more as I gave what Saanvi has said some thought. If it was true and family was Donika’s weakness, she might hesitate. All it would take is one moment of hesitation for me to run Stormslayer across her throat and end this. Zion and Annelise would be marching with us, and they would serve as further distraction. She had the opportunity to kill them in Siraleth, too.

But she hadn’t.

Maybe Saanvi was right, and we had finally identified Donika’s only vulnerability.

“I think you might be a genius, Saanvi.” A smile spread across my lips as I felt—for the first time since Nikolai turned—that there was hope to put an end to this war.

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Saanvi laughed. “But I appreciate the sentiment, nonetheless.”

“I would much prefer to march against Donika while bound, but if worst comes to worst, we might only need to distract her long enough to finish the job. She does love theatrics, after all.”

“She sure does,” Saanvi agreed as we crested the narrow hill that brough us into Dragon’s Hollow and towards Alastir’sshop. Saanvi gave me a reassuring nudge as I tucked a stray curl behind my ear. “But I don’t think we will need to worry about that too much. I think we will find the cure to this Noctani bullshit and we’ll be marching against Donika with Nikolai and Isaac in tow.”

“I sincerely hope you’re right,” I breathed.

The flapping of wings and the stirring of air interrupted us as Kenna landed before us, seamlessly turning into her human form without as much as a missed step.

“Did I miss out on the girl talk?” she asked, tossing her sleek onyx hair over her shoulder. It was such a contrast to her pale, milky skin.

“Not exactly,” Saanvi replied as she cast me a knowing glance.

“Have either of you been to Alastir’s before?” I asked as we began the trek back down the hill, Alastir’s shop coming into view in the distance.

“Sure have. We’ve been trying to get the stubborn old bastard to join the resistance for years until he finally told us not to come asking again or he would curse us,” Kenna replied.

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