Page 30 of The Princesses of Ruin
Lily roars as she throws runic casts at the fifteen-foot embodiment of the goddess. The green magic splashes against her legs and fizzles into brilliant sparks.
“We need to consult Cora,” I say. “With her prophetic magic, surely she can help us.”
“It could put the outcome at risk,” Alastair says.
“And if the outcome is our destruction, would she not tell us how to avoid it?” Reina demands.
Jasper squeezes her shoulders. “If the outcome isourdestruction and the preservation of Gaien, she might.”
Reina clenches her mouth shut, blue magic simmering in the scars of her arms.
“This must be a dark spell we can counter,” Kazimir says. “Nothing in this world is impenetrable.”
“Ashai is not of this world,” Alyse says.
Lily screams, clawing at the statue with bestial rage. The black magic shimmers, shearing her claws down until her fingers bleed.
Alastair pumps his wings, makes a single massive leap over the crystalized bodies of the soldiers, and snatches Lily away. “You’re hurting yourself, wife.”
Lily kicks and snarls. “She thinks she can take me! She thinks she owns me! I am me, not you! Not you!”
I look at Alyse.Are you helping her as you are me?
“I am. It appears to be less effective, despite my efforts.”
I cross the singed grass and grab Lily’s arm. “Stop thrashing like a wild animal.”
She bares her sharpened teeth at me, malevolence burning in her green eyes, but she calms.
Zane grabs the back of my neck and whispers against my temple. “Please, don’t.”
I glance at him over my shoulder. “I must. She’s my sister.”
I suck down a deep breath and close my eyes. I’ve never sought out a specific power in something, but I know I can. I can sift through all that is Lily and take away only Ashai.
I touch her face and find the little worm wriggling in her spine. I pull on it, summoning the dark magic to the surface. It slips away down her back. The hunt is on. Lily screams in pain as I give chase, sliding my hand down to her stomach.
I sense a small flicker of something…else. But there’s no time to investigate that—the stupid bitch is trying to bury herself deeper. The magic fights me, but I pull, drawing some of Lily along with it, but I get her. I open my eyes and will the bit of Ashai out into the open.
Perhaps I can cast her out and she’ll dissipate.
When she’s fully ousted, the magic thrashes like Lily had, fighting desperately. I cage my fingers around it, and Alastair pulls Lily away. I slacken my hold, attempting to set the essence free. It darts toward Lily, and I snap Zane’s magic around it, capturing it again.
If I lessen my hold, she’ll just dive back into my sister.
I have to take it into me.
I draw my spindles into my chest. The squirming evil fights my hold as I thrust it into my own gut. The magic batters my stomach, trying to get back into Lily, but then I sense the darkness in me move to meet the new essence. It surrenders then, accepting my body as it joins with the other bit of Ashai.
“What have you done?” Zane whispers.
I swallow back bile. “What was necessary.”
Lily pants, wide-eyed as she stares at me. She looks down at her arms, then back to me. “You took her.”
“I have before, in the Dark Room.”
“We must consult Zephrom,” Alastair says.
