Page 16 of Anchor

My ears kept on ringing. I looked down at our linked hands, at mine, at the imprints of my fingernails all over my palms, some red with dry blood.My magic.I’d drained the Rainbow of the Iris Roe. A man-made rainbow with so many colors. Intense and beautiful and full of magical energy. With Taland’s help, I’d drained all those colors, had taken them for myself, and I’d felt them. In my chest, I’d felt them. To my very core.

“My ring,” I whispered because I felt it now, too. I felt the magic under my skin, crawling down my shoulders, as if itwanted release. It felt strange, but I’d been without magic for so long that it was possible I’d forgotten the feel of it. Very possible.

“Exactly. Let’s…l-l-let’s look for your anchor and then we could…I don’t know, try to do magic!” Poppy said. “Did it work? Do you know if it worked? Because I’m losing my mind here, wondering about it. Ihaveto know!”

I shook my head, let go of her hands. Yeah, magic was important, but it wasn’t as important as I’d always thought, was it? If anything, the Iris Roe had taught me that.

And regardless of whether I’d won or if I had my magic back—nothing mattered except Taland.

But I went for a smile for Poppy’s sake. “I’m sorry, Pop. I’ll be back before you know it, okay? But I really,reallyhave to go.”

Before she could say anything else, I moved around her, grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open.

Madeline’s cold brown eyes filled my vision.

My body froze, hand on the handle still. The sound of her footsteps against the hardwood floor was like nails being hammered into my skull. She was coming, and she was close, too close. Fiona was against the wall, hands folded, head down, and two guards were at her sides, watching me. Waiting.

“Where do you think you’re going, Rosabel?” Madeline said, slowing her step.

I read the words on those red lips, took in her red suit without really meaning to, her flawless hair, those big round earrings.

Goddess, the way I hated this woman was something else. The intensity of it made my knees weak—or was it the fear? Because I knew I couldn’t win against her. I couldn’t outrun those guards. I couldn’t just jump out the window and disappear into the dark.

“I have…I have to go,” I whispered anyway, becauseTaland.

Taland could be at the Blue House waiting for me, and I needed to go find him. Screw Madeline and magic and the Iris Roe—I just wanted to see Taland.

Madeline pressed her lips and stretched them into what was supposed to be a smile. Her hand rose and her lips moved and blood-red flames came out of her fingers so fast. So precisely.

Someone let out a small scream—could have been Poppy. But I didn’t move away in time and I couldn’t have if I’d tried. Something about Madeline that always got to me. Something about Madeline that had metrappedand I never knew how to free myself.

Redfire magic was suddenly all around me, coming inside my body through my parted lips and my nostrils and my eyes and my ears. My mind cleared instantly, completely, and the whisper of her spell echoed in my now empty head.

My body gave up and I was no longer standing. I felt the cold of the floor against my cheek, and then there was only darkness.

Taland.I had to get to Taland. I had to see that he was okay, and the Drainage hadn’t…drainedhim. I had to see.

Would he be at the Blue House still? I really hoped so. Otherwise, I had no idea where to go looking for him next.You better be at the Blue House, Taland,I thought, and I was on my way.

I had been on my way to the Blue House…right?

My memories struggled to make sense to me. So many images were thrust in front of my eyes—blood puddles and dragons, laughing elves and dead crows, gorgeous big moss-green eyes and ice, his lips on mine, his hands all over me?—

“Wake up.”

Every hair on my body stood at attention. My grandmother’s face was in the center of my mind as if some gigantic floodlights suddenly shone on her, and I knew exactly where I was.

Or at least, who I was with.

My eyes popped open, and I realized I was sitting somewhere—a leather armchair and my head had been down, chin pressed to my chest. No idea if my neck hurt because my focus was on my surroundings—on the dark hallway I was in, on Madeline standing next to me, and the guard a couple feet behind her.

Not just any guard buttheguard—the guy who’d smuggled me into the Iris Roe, who’d liked to push and pull me around for kicks. It washim,and when our eyes met, I was terrified for a moment. Terrified to remember.

“Get up,” Madeline said then, and I looked up at her, possibly the worst human being in the world as far as I was concerned.

“Where…where are we?” My voice was a dry, weak mess, but she understood the words.

“We’re about to enter this office to meet with the Council, Rosabel. Stand up and fix your hair.”

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