Page 162 of A Dance of Shadows

He heaves himself over the ledge. Just like that, he’s gone, plummeting away from us into the crisp winter air.

Marc is coughing now too. He manages to rasp out words in between. “We have to run for it. I’ll cover you as well as I can. As soon as we’re in the hall?—”

With a thunderousbang, the door across from us bursts open.

Between my stinging eyes and the mix of flames and smoke, I can’t make out who’s standing beyond it. Curses and shouts mingle with the warbling of the fire.

All the same, something feels familiar about the surge of wind that whips through the center of the room toward us.

The blast of air smacks the flames away on either side—and wallops right into Marc. Its force wrenches at his arms and heaves him away from me.

As he stumbles backward, a surge of filmy darkness rushes into the room alongside the conjured wind, swirling as if merging with the air’s currents.

Swirling and firming. The mix of thickening shadows and concentrated wind presses down on the fire raging in front of me, dampening the flames enough to clear a narrow path. More of the combined magic batters Marc. He staggers farther from me, into the inferno.

I swipe at my eyes and make out all four of the foster princes by the doorway. The door hangs askew on its hinges, as if it was bashed open by a battering ram.

Or perhaps by Neven? The youngest prince stands just inside the doorway, his hands clenched into fists. His gift has to do with incredible strength, doesn’t it?

Bastien and Raul brace themselves on either side of him, their expressions taut with concentration. Lorenzo’s dark face shows just behind them.

His illusionary voice resonates into my head.“We’ve got you.”

He squeezes past his foster brothers and sprints with Neven between the warring currents of magic and flames. As I lurch forward to meet the two princes, a grunt from behind brings my gaze snapping around.

Marc has crouched on the damp span of floor where, just a minute ago, he tossed the water from the pitcher. He’s ducked his head with one arm thrown across it, his back hunched low, but he can’t completely escape the onslaught. Fire, wind, and shadow have all merged together into a raging storm that lashes across the temporary patch of safety to singe his hair and clothes.

In a matter of seconds, the flames will be all over him.

In the back of my adrenaline-and-exhaustion-dazed mind, I understand what Bastien and Raul are doing. We always meant to kill Marclinus. Now they have the perfect means and opportunity.

But they don’t know… They don’t know that he risked his life to protect me. That he killed his twin to guarantee my safety not just now but for the rest ofmylife.

That when he had the choice between what was best for him and what would keep me alive… he picked me.

I don’t know what consequences the choice I’m about to make will have yet, but I don’t think I could live with any other one.

My voice rips from my throat. “Stop!”

My unsteady feet are already moving as I shout out the protest.

“Aurelia!”Lorenzo cries, but I sway back toward the man without whom I’d be dead already.

A horrified sound carries from the doorway. The wind blasts harder, pushing the flames wider ahead of me—on my path toward Marc.

The farmer in Cotea said the waterways might never go back to the way they were. The land might be ruined forever. But sometimes it’s still worth wiping the slate clean and seeing what you can make of it going forward.

Her voice comes back to me, even and sure:No matter how barren the soil has seemed, the plants still sprout. We just give them time.

I can barely bend with the ache in my abdomen. The best I can manage is to grip Marc’s scorched hair. As I tug him toward me, Lorenzo and Neven grab my arms.

“Him too,” I rasp out. “We bring him too.”

Marc shoves upright. My grasp falls to his arm. I hug Coraya close and tug him with me as we all stagger to the doorway.

Just as we reach Raul and Bastien, a streak of fur shoots past my feet. Sprite dashes into the hall, favoring one leg and dappled with ashes but alive.

Relief stings my raw throat. She must have been hiding under the bed.

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