Page 120 of Her Radiant Curse

The wind buffets my back as I raise the demon pearl high. What did Angma say about how she’d wielded it? Nothing, except that it granted her wishes.

I don’t have time to hesitate. If I don’t act, if I don’t wish, my sister will die.

“Bring me Vanna’s heart,” I command the pearl, my voice trembling. Again, louder: “Bring me my sister’s heart!”

There comes a howl of wind against my neck, and I duck, clutching the pearl under my ribs. Hokzuh’s red eye is bright against the darkness, and he flies like a wraith, shredding everything in his path. Even as I shout his name, yelling for him to stop, he does not hear me. He does not know me.

Instead, his enormous wing scrapes against my back, its barbed edge close enough to skin my elbows raw.

One more dive like that and I’ll be dead. There is only one thing I can do.

I hold the demon pearl close. Shadows waft up from its dark surface, caressing my mouth. I speak: “Khramelan.”

Hokzuh’s true name is heavy on my tongue. Even after it leaves my lips, I can feel its power. I repeat the name over and over.

“Khramelan,” I say again, stronger now. “You swore an oath that you would not harm my sister. Now you will pay the consequences for breaking that oath.”

Hokzuh dives again, but this time I’m ready. I retrieve the spindlebeard from my pocket and hurl it into the forest, mouthing a silent command. Grow.

Spindlebeard bushes burst from the earth, branches springing forth like arms. They wrap around the dragon, stronger than any iron chain. Big, fat thorns pierce out of the vines and hook downward like stakes, pinning his wings in place.

A wounded cry scrapes out of Hokzuh. He groans from the pain, but I do not flinch.

“Restrain him,” I command.

More thorns emerge, the sharpest, most sinister thorns I’ve ever seen. They slice into Hokzuh’s flesh, producing a sound that’s visceral and wet as they release their poison into his veins. Slowly. Painfully. With a hiss.

His body goes limp, and his hooded eyes close in sleep. His fist uncurls. His wings flatten against the earth.

I bend to retrieve Vanna’s heart. Hokzuh lets out a ragged grunt, which I ignore. I’ll deal with him later.

Right now, Vanna needs me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

Vanna is right where I left her, lying on the grass, her head upon Oshli’s lap.

Oshli cradles her to his chest. He’s given up trying to save her with magic, and his dark eyes swirl with anguish. When he sees me arriving with both halves of the pearl, he wipes his cheek. “Save her,” he says hoarsely. “Please.”

A lump swells in my throat as he gives my sister to me.

Vanna wilts against my arm. Her eyes are closed, but her chest rises and falls, so I know she is still breathing. Some of the weight inside me lifts.

“Wake up,” I whisper, stroking her cheek. “Look, I have your light.”

My sister’s eyes twitch, then flutter open. They are the same eyes I have always known, warm and familiar. They gaze at me, unwavering, with the unconditional love of a sister. My favorite eyes.

Vanna reaches for her heart. “It’s warm.”

“It’s yours.” I tilt the dragon pearl to her chest. It’s been inside her all her life. It knows her. Yet as I dip it toward her, its gilded light flickers hesitantly, then dims.

No matter how we try, it refuses to take its place in her chest.

“It doesn’t want me,” Vanna says quietly. “I can hear it. It’s no longer mine.”

A tide of alarm washes over me. “I don’t understand. I have both halves. I’ve seen what Angma did with only half a pearl. Two…”

Two should be able to save you. In frustration, I force the pearl halves together, but like opposite ends of this earth, they repel each other. They will not come together.

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