Page 226 of A Dagger of Ice and Intrigue
I couldn’t think like that. Not when I was powerless to do anything about it.
I should have taken the other books with me. Dax might have contacted my other cousins or taken refuge with one of them. He could have lost my book.
Too many lies that did nothing to sweeten my dread.
But I had to push it down until we returned from the passage.
I closed the book and pressed it to my chest once more. My power stirred low in my belly, awoken by the visceral Vegheara need to shield.
If I could have yanked Dax from the purple sky, I would have.
But I had to settle for what my ancestors had done since Dria’s time.
Protect.
I stared up at the stars slowly winking out of view as the sun’s first rays glimmered in the distance. Today, they would be cold witnesses no more.
My blue tendrils burst out of my chest, weaving over the book, as a familiar blaze coursed through me.
“Stars above and beyond, hear my plea,” I chanted. “Shield my cousin from all eyes, hide him from spies, and let him fall for no lies.”
The wind picked up, distorting my voice and whipping my hair around my face. But I felt detached from these mortal sensations, overtaken by the power of the magic.
The one which had fueled my bloodline through wars, deaths, famines and every imaginable hardship which had molded us.
I might not have been First Daughter anymore, but I’d always be a Vegheara.
And my blood sang with magic.
My eyes burned as I kept staring at the stars, as if daring them to ignore me.
What if they did?
My heartbeat pounded in my ears, sizzling under the weight of the spell.
“Carry the message to Dax, let him see, and bring his face and voice back to me.”
As the final incantation left my lips, my power surged from my chest, up my throat, as if anointing my words. The rush was so strong, pulling me upwards, that I ended up on the tips of my toes.
Blue light cascaded around me for a breath, before the wind carried it away into nothing.
Then it was done.
I fell back onto my heels, my breaths haggard and stinging. I looked down at the book.. Not a page corner had changed, but I had.
The veins on the back of my hands stood out harsher than before. Just like they had when I’d cast the protective spell for Evie weeks ago.
Until then, this had never happened–and I’d cast too many protective spells to count.
I thought it a coincidence back then and blamed it on the fatigue poisoning my body. But now I’d almost regained my strength.
Yet my blood still engorged my veins as if eager to spill out of them.
I couldn’t stop the shiver wracking through my body. My gaze jumped to Ryker’s, as if he could hold any answers.
But I found him staring at me, eyes wide and lips parted.
“What?” Gods, when did my throat get so hoarse?
