Page 11 of Fortress of Ambrose
Five
Quell
As Jordan darts away, and before I have a moment to wonder why, someone grabs me from behind. I shove an elbow backward and pull at the cold weight of my toushana. But my magic sputters out in whiffs of darkness and only from one hand.
So I opt for a threat.
“You can let me go, or I will burn your eyes out of their sockets.”
They release me and take off. Jordan is already across the intersection and down a block, running with a limp. I chase after him.
“Slow down,” I yell when I’m close enough to shout. “Jordan, please wait!”
He stops suddenly, and I do, too. His skin has a sickly pallor. Where he was sharp and edged before, now he is hollow.
“Stay back.”The knot at his throat bobs. “You more than anyone need to be far away from me.”
As if I could stay away now that I’ve found him. I step toward him. He moves back, raising his hands. Darkness bleeds from him and a cloud of toushana surrounds him in a rush that I envy. It is so strong. And it’s coming fromwithinhis body. He’s not calling ittohim.
“I mean it, Quell. Get away.” He sways.
Shadows siphon back inside him, not vanishing in the distance as his toushana once did. It is hidinginsidehim like mine does. I rush to his side.
“What’s happened?” I reach for him and he winces, protecting his torso with an elbow. I pull his shirt up and gasp. His body is badly bruised, and his ribs are partly decayed.
“Jordan,” I gasp.
“It’s the Sphere’s magic,” he says. “All I could salvage. The rest is gone. This is all we have left.” He stares off, haunted. “There was nowhere safer.”
Tears sting my eyes as I glare at the wound slowly killing him.
Everyone I love dies.
After all we fought through, Beaulah’s Draguns, freeing myself from grief, Jordan pulling the Order’s claws out of his skin. Didn’t we just touch freedom? Now fate would rip it out of my hands. I shove the tears off my cheeks. Cold thrashes in my chest with a comforting sharpness.
“I won’t stand for this.I refuse.”
Jordan shakes his head. “Iwill fix this,” he says. “The Sphere’s magic is still tied to the Headmistress’s lives. If it is lost, you die.” He swallows.
I run my fingers across his purpled skin. The flesh is tender.Why is this happening? I need to talk to Abby and Nore.“This has to come out of you. And soon.”
“It’s more than your life, Quell, it’s all magic. For your toushana to survive, for any magic to survive, I have to keep the magic inside me alive.”
“It’s killing you!”
Jordan moves the hair out of my face, pushing it behind my shoulder before he traces my cheek slowly. Then my jaw, even slower. His touch is like a blanket when it’s cold out. I curl into him, laying my head on his chest. He winces and I hesitate.
“It’s okay,” he insists.
My head fits perfectly under his chin and I listen to the thrum of his heart, synced in melody with mine. A song trying to compose itself.
“I will fix this,” he says.
“Wewill fix this.”
“It’s not safe, both strands of magic in me are unpredictable. They don’t…” He huffs, exasperated. “Answer when I want. They’re strong when I need them to be subtle, weak when I need to be forceful. And thetoushana seems to be the fiercest. I’ve never felt more out of control in my entire life. There are moments I worry—” He gazes off with a wild look in his eye. “Never mind.”
“You always say magic doesn’t serve us. We serve magic. Well, you’re its vessel now.”
