Page 81 of The Bound Mage
Accepted.
It crashed over him, slamming into his body like a collapsing star. Loren fell back into the cold mud, choking on blood and magic as every nerve flared white-hot with agony. The world fractured—light, pain, darkness—all of it spiraling out of reach. He reached for the bond, the shadows,anything—but there was nothing but silence where they had once stood.
For the first time since the shadows had chosen him, Loren was completely alone.
Chapter
Thirty-Five
Araya fought her way forward,mist pressing in around her on all sides. Bones turned under her feet, almost sending her to the muddy ground without Loren’s hand to keep her steady. Every breath she took settled wet and heavy in her lungs, reeking of mud and rot.
She didn’t dare look back.
The bond clawed at her chest, screaming at her to turn around. But Araya knew if she did she would never be able to keep going. And shehadto keep going. For all of them.
This was the plan.
Loren would holddara’elat bay. Distract them long enough for her to reach his father’s bones.
And then it would be her turn.
Everything hinged on her after that. Her best chance—his too—laid in the hope that she was right about the shadows being anchored to his father’s remains. That she could use that to bring them to heel. To save Loren. Eloria, Galen, Thorne—all the fae.
Everyone but herself.
She took another step—and the bond blazed to life.
Araya gasped, clutching her chest as her magic convulsed under her skin like it wanted to escape. Her heart lurched in her chest, dragging her back the way she had come.
Something was wrong.
She turned, mist churning at her heels as she stared back the way she had come. For a heartbeat, all she saw was more formless shadow closing in around her. Then a flicker caught her eye—movement. Loren’s shadows, swirling toward her with frantic speed.
But that wasn’t right—they’d never left him. Not in the cell beneath the Aetherium. Not on the boat, when the Shadowed Veil was about to crush them. Not even in the months they’d spent fighting the pull of the bond.
Why would they abandon him now?
She stared past them, the mist thinning just enough for her to catch his gaze—his green eyes wide with pain—before he slumped into the mud. And above them all, rising from the battlefield like a wave of death, wasdara’el.
Loren’s shadows weren’t abandoning him. They were shieldingher.
The bond wrenched in her chest again, stealing the breath from her lungs. It splintered, shards tearing through her ribs like broken glass. But under the pain...Regret. Sorrow. Trust.Love.
The echo of everything Loren had never been able to bring himself to say to her, all poured into the last, fragile remnants of the connection between them.
“No—” Araya faltered, tears pouring down her face as his shadows finally reached her, their touch cool against her suddenly heated skin. “No?—”
She had minutes—if that—to reach his father’s bones. Her fingers brushed the pouch holding the glass vials she’d carefully packed this morning, each one filled with the blood Loren hadfreely offered. If she could just reach the king’s body in time, she could binddara’eland save the fae.
But Loren would die.
And Araya wasn’t ready to lose him. Not like this.
He made his choice, the shadows hissed as she took a step.Go—once he dies we won’t be able to stay with you. If you don’t have control?—
Araya bared her teeth, fury clawing up her throat. Her magic surged in response, flooding her veins like wildfire. It burned up her spine and over her skin in a brilliant flare of searing light, heat pouring from her in waves. The shadows recoiled, pulling back in surprise.
“He’s not going to die,” she snarled. “I won’t let him.”
