Page 85 of Silver in the Bone

“What happened outside?” Cabell asked, turning to look at me.

“The Children have surrounded the tower,” I said. “The Nine are holding them off with fire.”

Cabell frowned. “Is that going to be enough?”

“Olwen told me fire is the only way to truly kill them,” Neve offered, rubbing her finger along a knot in the wood. “The creatures fear it, and hate light.”

“The bigger issue is that they’re blocking our way back to the portal,” I said. “We need to find another way back to the mortal world, otherwise we’re little more than a feast for the undead.”

“You’d really leave?” Neve asked in disbelief. “You don’t even want to try to help them?”

“What am I supposed to do about any of this?” I asked.

Her gaze hardened. “I don’t believe you’re that heartless.”

My nerves prickled. “Could that be because you barely know me?”

“We can do something,” Neve tried again. “This can’t be the end of Avalon.”

I knew she wasn’t just angry with me for having a realistic take on the situation. There was at least some misplaced anger over keeping the truth about the ring from her—someone who clearly prided herself on being self-taught and knowledgeable. Which, fine. It felt good to fight. To release some of that painful pressure that had been building up in me since we entered the watchtower.

“I came here for the Ring of Dispel, and now the trail isn’t just cold, it’s dead,” I said, not bothering to soften my tone. “I’m not going to risk my life or Cabell’s scouring the forests for a relic that may no longer even be here. I’d rather get back to our own world and find another solution, and I suggest you do the same.”

“This is about more than the ring now,” Neve protested. Her face was the very portrait of noble-minded compassion that had been getting heroic people killed for thousands of years. If ever there was a time for her to be selfish, to trust the impossible odds, it was now.

“Did you forget the whole reason you wanted the ring?” I asked. “What makes you think the Council of Sistren will accept you for saving the very place they were banished from?”

Neve looked down, her expression tightening. Clearly, that was exactly what she’d been thinking. “It’s not—it’s not just that.”

“You want access to the priestesses’ texts so you can learn more about magic?” I suggested. “Including that light spell you cast?”

“The one that saved your life?” The fierce expression she turned on me made me sit back in my chair. The fire seemed to suddenly roar at my back, echoing the heat of her words.

“Tamsin’s right—” Emrys said.

I looked over, brows raised.

“Yes, for once I actually agree with you, Bird—”

“Stop calling her that,” Cabell interrupted.

Emrys continued, ignoring him. “We still have the portal waiting for us. If we travel by daylight, we can probably survive long enough to use the one trip back the hag promised.”

“Yeah, let’s just hope one of the Children doesn’t find it and try to climb out into our world first,” I said.

The three of them looked at me with varying degrees of horror.

“Can you please tell whatever chaos gremlin lives in your brain to be quiet?” Cabell asked, pained.

“I’m just saying that time is of the essence,” I said.

“You’re right,” Neve said, pushing her chair back. “Which is why I’m going to stop sitting here spiraling into deeper and deeper panic and head back to the library to look for solutions.”

I shook my head, casting a quick glance at Cabell, but his troubled expression had only deepened.

At the door, Neve stopped, and didn’t bother to turn around as she said, “I’m sorry about Nash.”

Then she was gone.

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