Page 26 of Swords of Soul and Shadow
“I can only give you enough Soul to keep you stable for now,” the woman clarified as she let go of Hallie. The cold in her body had improved, though she wouldn’t say she was warm. She hesitantly reached for her power, for the heat, but it had retreated behind a wall again. “Using your power often in small doses will keep you from overextending yourself due to build-up.”
She didn’t trust this woman, but she had to admit there seemed to be some truth to it. She didn’t feel as terrible as she had after Achilles.
But what was Soul?
King Filip knelt beside them and checked Niels. “His pulse is very weak.”
He then put a hand to Niels’ cheek, a glow emanating from his fingers. Hallie scrambled toward him. “No! Please!”
So much for not overreacting.
The woman grabbed Hallie, keeping her from leaping forward. She looked to the king. “Do not overburden yourself.”
Filip took his hand back. Niels’ face was still pale in the wan light, but he was no longer the same color as the snow patches beneath his bloodstained trousers.
He’d…had he helped Niels?
“What did you do?” she demanded.
“He is no longer in immediate danger of succumbing to injuries, but it is a temporary solution. You did well up to the end.” King Filip stood and straightened, looking back as the fire on the other side of the lane abated. “I merely allowed his body to take a portion of Soul to aid his natural healing. But with the bullet still in there, it will be painful to walk.”
Guilt slammed into Hallie like an avalanche. “Will I be able to fix it once I can…” She didn’t know exactly how to ask, but the King seemed to understand.
“I am unsure, but it would be unwise for you to attempt it again now. You need more control, and we cannot risk the Essence power you wield being reborn.”
“Why?”
Boots crunching through the snow and debris interrupted them. Correa appeared behind the King. Dark smudges streaked across his cheeks, his hair mussed and unkempt. He walked with a pronounced limp. The lines at the corners of his eyes deepened as he squinted. “Because Jagamot is here now.”
Hallie recoiled, stumbling back involuntarily. It had been too much to hope the fire would kill Correa. The sparks only had so much kindling to devour with the melting snows.
The woman caught her, but it wasn’t her touch that made Hallie’s blood run cold. She shivered as she met Correa’s eyes. Before the recent firefight, he’d ordered her to kill Kase with her own power. He’d tortured them both before Hallie had been able to take the Essence. He was a monster.
“Excellent work, Your Majesty,” Correa said, a small dip of his head. It was an odd scene, knowing what she knew now—that Filip was his nephew. She briefly wondered if it bothered Correa to bow to someone so much younger. “But I would argue that your methods are still too tame for the task ahead of us.”
“I am your sovereign.” Filip’s drawl was lazy and bored—different than it had been moments before. “My methods are not yours to argue.”
Correa turned his gaze upon her. “Where are her restraints?”
“The Lady Fely is more than her match, General.” The last word had a bit of a bite to it, but it was so subtle she wasn’t sure if anyone else would catch it. “She can barely keep her feet as it is. No need to be excessive.”
Correa’s fingers twitched, as if he longed to use his power against his nephew. A small spark leapt from his pointer finger to his thumb so fast Hallie barely glimpsed it. But it was enough.
She tried to swallow, but it was as if her fear had solidified in her throat. Her chest squeezed. She couldn’t breathe. The pain branched like lightning in her veins.
A light touch at her elbow brought a small pulse of heat. The woman, Lady Fely. The heat was gone as quickly as it appeared, but Hallie was able to breathe.
What had Filip said? That he’d given Niels a little bit ofSoul? What did that mean? Was it actually someone’s spirit? Their own, perhaps, or one of the lives they’d collected? Like Yarrow’s?
Hallie’s stomach roiled as Correa holstered his pistol. “Leave him and let’s go.”
“No,” the King replied.
That same bored voice.
Hallie waited with bated breath. Correa’s glare turned deadly. “This is not the time to be careless. We must find the final Essence. Asa has been unsuccessful at locating him and the secondary Gate.”
“My brother might have been successful if you hadn’t ordered the city burned.”
