Page 42 of Veinblood
“I spent last night and most of today going through everything I remember about the original ritual, my Lord. Before we try this, if you’ll forgive me, I need to understand how your summoning worked. The crossing was sealed when the other Veinblood masters died. No magic should have been able toreach through that barrier. Yet somehow, yours reached across dimensions and pulled Elowen through.”
Ellie shifts beside me. “Please, it’s Ellie. Just Ellie.”
“I’m sorry. Ellie, then.” Nyassa gives her a small smile, then turns back to me. “I need to know what made your casting different.”
I know what she isn’t voicing. She needs to know if there’s a way to send us back without one or more of us dying.
I think back to those final moments in the tower before Sereven sealed me inside. The desperation. The rage. The absolute certainty that I was running out of time, that everything I’d fought for would die with me.
“Before they imprisoned me, Sereven had me tortured for weeks, trying to break my will. By the time they were ready to seal me away permanently, I was barely conscious, barely able to think clearly, but in those final moments of freedom, I knew I had to do something. I was desperate, exhausted, and dying. I combined shadows with Voidcraft in a way I’d never tried before.”
“What did you do?” Ellie’s voice is hushed.
“I cast the spell with my blood.” Nyassa’s intake of breath tells me she understands the kind of risk that was. “It anchored shadows to Voidcraft, and allowed me to reach beyond what was left of my strength. I instructed it to find someone who could break the binding.”
Nyassa taps one finger against her lips as she thinks. “The Voidcraft. That’s what was different. We had to force our way through with pure Veinblood magic, but Voidcraft doesn’t workthe same way. It slips between spaces instead of through them. Combining that with your blood will have strengthened it. If your Voidcraft can follow the energy trail that threw you to Earth?—”
“There shouldn’t be any backlash,” I finish her thought.
“What if something goes wrong?” Ellie’s voice is small.
“Then we all die,” Nyassa says. “This requires perfect timing and absolute commitment. Once we begin, we can’t hesitate or second guess. My Tidevein magic will stabilize the path Lord Torran creates with Voidcraft and shadows. Ellie, your power will be what drives us through. Your bracelet is our focus. Direct all your power into that. Lord Torran and I will do the rest.”
Ellie’s face is pale in the dim light of the cellar. She stares down at the bracelet on her wrist, plucking at it with her fingers. Then she lifts her head, and looks at me.
“I need to talk to you before we start. In case we don’t survive.” She glances at Nyassa. “Alone, if that’s okay?”
“Of course.” The other woman moves to the far side of the small space, and turns away, giving us a small appearance of privacy.
“It’s all right if you have changed your mind, Mel’shira. This is?—”
“No! That’s not what I want to tell you.” She reaches for my hand. “I’m sure you already know, but I need to say it out loud. Before we risk everything, and maybe even die trying to get back to Meridian.” Her grip tightens. “I love you. And I don’t regret anything!” Her voice is fierce. “Not coming to Meridian. Not helping you escape from the tower. And not choosing to goback, even though it terrifies me that we won’t make it. Because it doesn’t matter, as long as I’m with you.”
I’ve seen the way she looks at me, felt the connection between us, but hearing her speak the words aloud affects me in ways I didn’t expect. For once, I’m at a loss for words. I use our linked hands to tug her toward me, and cup her face with my other hand.
“Mel’shira.” I dip my head to press my lips to hers, trying to put everything I can’t say into the kiss. When we pull apart, I rest my forehead against hers. “You’re my choice too. In this world and Meridian.” I straighten, and turn to Nyassa. “We’re ready.”
Nyassa walks toward the center of the space, and holds her arms out to either side of her. “Ellie, place your bracelet in the center, then the three of us must join hands. The physical connection will help link our powers. Once we start, wecannotstop until we have crossed.”
Ellie crouches and removes the silver band, placing it carefully onto the floor, then stands and reaches for my hand again. The moment she touches me, light brightens her skin. I summon my shadows, while Nyassa draws water from the damp air. The link between our powers snaps into place with an almost audible click.
“Aim it at the bracelet, Ellie,” Nyassa instructs.
Silver power snakes down Ellie’s arms, racing over our joined hands and pouring into the bracelet. The metal begins to rise, spinning slowly as energy floods through it. The air around it shimmers with heat.
“Lord Torran,” Nyassa murmurs.
Shadows lift from my skin, and move around the outside of our circle, growing and expanding until they surround us.
“Ther’van nul.”I send the words out into the void. But this time, I’m not casting blind, searching for an unknown target. This time I knowexactlywhat I’m hunting for.
Voidcraft sinks through layers of reality, slipping between the spaces where normal magic can’t reach. When it finds the damaged barrier, the connection that forms feels like touching a raw nerve.
I bite down on my tongue, until blood fills my mouth.
“Kaelen vash mor.”
The shadows around us spin faster, streaks of silver flashing through them, creating patterns of light and dark that pulse with shared purpose. Water erupts from every surface, moving in spirals, while lightning cracks through it. The cellar’s walls begin to vibrate. The bracelet blazes with the same glow that surrounds Ellie, and then light explodes outward.
