Page 92 of A City of Smoke and Demons
‘You’ll live.’
Another Familiar had been captured. He was tied to a chair, head bowed. Analise was terrified of trying this again, but after High Garden, she felt more in control of her magic. The voices she’d heard that night hadn’t come back, and she still hadn’t told anyone about them.
Ezra stepped into her line of sight. ‘Before you do this, you need to know something.’
She looked past him, catching sight of a head of black hair.
‘It’s your Familiar, Analise.’
Analise gasped, pushing past him and kneeling before the creature tied to the chair. His eyes were closed, and he looked strangely peaceful. She sat back on her heels, watching him, wondering who he was. She’d never really thought about it because, until she’d learnt about the Order, she didn’t know there was a possibility he could be returned to himself, and still didn’t know if she could do it.
His eyes opened, focusing on her face. He said nothing, just smiled at her, tracking her as she stood, knees trembling and magic pricking her fingers. She could do this.
Jem took her by the arm and led her away a little. ‘Ezra says this one is yours.’
She nodded.
‘Can you do this?’
Analise nodded again. ‘Yes.’
‘Good, because we need to get this right, Analise,’ he said firmly.
‘I’ll get it right,’ she said, taking her place behind the Familiar. He twisted his head to look at her with the same contemplative stare he’d always given her. She took a deep breath, and placed her hands on his shoulders. He stiffened and tried to squirm away from her touch, as if he knew what was coming.
Her magic surged and then, reality shattered as she plunged into the Familiar. She would not let this one—herFamiliar—die. Magic speared through his body, gathering up the strangely arrested death that lived in him. Analise called it to her, pulling it slowly, one cell at a time. As she pushed through his body, that chorus of voices sprang to life inside her head, a soothing melody of whispers, giving her courage.
She threaded her magic through veins and blood vessels, through muscle and tendon and bone marrow; and from each part of him she drew out that darkness of death. In her mind, she saw the diagrams she’d studied with Charles and imagined her magic travelling the circulatory system like lines on a road map so she followed it, death drawn to her, and she to it. She left nothing behind, reaching the heart and extracting death with precision, until nothing remained except oxygenated blood flowing through arteries and veins.
The Familiar’s heart jolted. Analise withdrew, snapping back to herself so quickly it made her gasp. Death swirled through her, pieces of it trying to take root in her like it did the Familiar. Her magic caught it, absorbed it, and devoured it.
Analise’s knees were weak. She stumbled backwards, bumping into something warm and solid. Hands gripped her arms as she swayed.
‘I’ve got you,’ a voice murmured.
She couldn’t tell whose it was, but it sounded safe, protective, so she relaxed, leaning into that solid warmth. An arm snaked around her waist, holding her steady.
She tried to speak, but her tongue was thick and heavy. Her heartbeat slowed as the last pieces of stolen death slipped away.
‘I’m alright,’ she heard herself say. The arm around her was pleasantly warm, the fingers on her elbow gentle. She was shivering and took an unsteady breath.
Slowly, the room began to swim into focus.
‘Analise?’ Ezra’s voice in her ear.
She nodded. ‘I’m alright.’ Her vision cleared. The Familiar was slumped over. ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘No, no, no, no …’
Lira crouched before the Familiar, peering up into his face. Her expression gave nothing away, until she looked up at Analise and smiled. ‘You did it.’
‘I did?’ Analise moved away from Ezra, going to stand in front of the Familiar on legs that didn’t feel like they belonged to her. Even slumped over, she could see he was breathing. Lira stood and gently tipped the man’s head back. He was unconscious. Skin pale, shadows dusting the flesh beneath his closed eyes, but there was colour in his cheeks and lips.
It was a human face.
Analise breathed a sigh of relief. Lira untied the man, then stepped back as Tobias and Charles lifted him from the chair and carried him from the room.
The walls began to move.
‘Analise?’ Lira’s voice was far away as a wave of exhaustion began to crest over Analise’s head. She swayed where she stood.Something moved in the corner of her eye as blackness filled her vision.
