CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

FARON

COLOR HAD RETURNED TO SIGNEY SOTO’S CHEEKS BY THE TIME Faron heard her sister’s voice.

Faron had watched Gael’s every move just in case. He’d taken a knife from Signey’s holster and used that to cut his palm open. He’d swiped two fingers through the blood and closed his eyes until it began to glow a deep green, like moss. That same green had begun to illuminate Signey’s body, spreading through the veins beneath her skin. Her eyes had fluttered, her body emitting a pained groan from somewhere so deep that even Faron had felt the phantom pain. Her pallid skin had darkened back to fawn brown, her breathing evening out to something healthier. Through it all, Gael hovered, unmoving, above her, and that was how the two of them had remained, right up until Faron heard Elara call her name.

She turned to see that Elara was helping Reeve across a series of shadow platforms that she had conjured over the Snowmelt. Faron was so happy to see the two of them alive that she almost missed a few key details. The first was that Elara was helping Reeve because Reeve no longer had his right arm. The second was that Elara had cried out Signey’s name next, because she had noticed the body on the ground with Gael’s magic pumping through it.

Faron stepped between them, holding her hands up in a surrendering gesture. “She’s okay. It’s okay. Well, it’s not okay. But it’s Gael, not Iya. Signey broke his bond with Lightbringer, so Iya is dead and Gael is himself again. It just… took everything she had.”

“Is Jesper…?” Elara asked as she and Reeve stepped off the last platform.

“Alive,” Faron confirmed. “Sleeping, apparently. It’s Signey we should be worried about.”

“Signey is… fine,” said Signey, her voice cracking in and out like a bad radio signal. Tears ran down her cheeks, but she ignored them. “Worry about… someone else.…”

Once Elara was sure Reeve could walk on his own, she ran forward. Faron expected her to go to Signey’s side, but Elara threw her arms around Faron instead.

“You are such a fool,” Elara said through tears. Faron started crying, too, feeling so relieved that her body melted into her sister’s embrace. “Next time—and I pray to the gods there won’t be a next time—we do this together. Got it?”

“I got it,” Faron murmured. “I’m sorry about commanding you. I should never, ever have done that to you.”

“You shouldn’t have done it to anyone,” said Elara, still holding Faron as though she were something precious. “But I understand why you did. And I love you.”

“I love you. I’m so sorry.”

Faron tightened her arms around her sister’s waist and closed her eyes. She felt as if she were home for the first time in a long time, even though her heart was being torn in many directions at once. She had no idea how the battle was going—if Lightbringer had won or lost. She had no idea if Gael would actually manage to free Jesper once the war was over. She had no idea what had happened to Reeve’s arm, though she felt the vengeful urge to attack whoever did it.

But she knew she was where she belonged: with her sister.

Together, they would end this.

Elara let her go, pausing to wipe Faron’s tears and press a kiss to her forehead before moving past her to join the Sotos. Faron went to Reeve, unsure whether it was rude to look or not. He was still as obnoxiously handsome as ever, but he was standing oddly, likely because he was unused to the lack of weight. Faron pulled him into a hug next, resting her cheek against his chest so she could listen to his heartbeat. He was alive. They were alive. And, if they managed to stay that way, they had a chance to build something realer than her years of resentful hatred had been.

“Thank you for knowing me,” Faron whispered.

Reeve pulled her even closer. “Thank you for trusting me.”

“We can’t wait any longer,” Elara said, drawing their attention back to her. She held Signey’s hand between her own, studying her girlfriend’s face. “Obie says they need us at Hearthstone Academy to end this. Gael, will you fight for us? Signey, can you fight for us?”

“Of course,” Signey said, struggling into a sitting position. Elara’s arm came around her back to help, and her eyes closed for a moment. The tears Signey had been fighting fell in quiet streams before she reopened her eyes. Determination burned like flames within her sepia gaze. “I want to end this.”

The green glow faded from Gael’s hands, taking the bloodstains with it. He kept his head bowed, as if to hide the fact that he was still wearing Jesper Soto’s face. “I don’t have my Empyrean powers, or my Rider powers, but I can still manipulate blood for magic. I’m still a trained soldier.” His tone was fierce, his eyebrows drawn together. “He destroyed my life. I want to destroy his. And I want him to know I was there when he finally lost.”

“We need to get to Valor,” Elara continued. “Faron, you’ll stay with me. Reeve—”

“I’ll work with Signey,” Reeve said. “As soon as I can get my hands on a dragon relic, I’m sure we’ll make quite the team.”

Signey was watching Gael, and there was something in her expression that gave Faron pause. But there was no time to figure out if that should worry her or not.

“We need to find Torrey,” Signey said, dragging her attention to Reeve. “She’ll have extra relics, and she and Azeal can get us where we need to be.”

“It’s time to fix what we’ve done. All of us,” Elara said, getting to her feet. She reached for Faron, who grabbed her hand without hesitation. “Good luck, everyone.” She nodded at Reeve, at Signey, even at Gael, a sharp movement that said We can do this and Stay safe and I love you all at once. “We’ll have to fly fast to get back to Hearthstone in time.”

As they boarded Valor, Faron had so many questions, she felt about to explode. But when she asked about the whereabouts of Gavriel and Mireya Warwick, all Reeve or Elara would say was that they “were exactly where they deserved to be.”

Empyrean? said Queen Aveline’s voice when Elara had finished the minor repairs needed to get the drake airborne. Elara might have passed out, but Irie had managed to secure a safe enough landing that Valor wasn’t in pieces. Are you there? Report. Report.

“Um,” said Faron, “hi.”

The long silence that followed her greeting made her wish that she’d kept her mouth shut, but Elara had encouraged her to answer, and Reeve, Signey, and Gael were up in the cabins. She abruptly wished she were up there with them. Elara nudged her in the side. Faron cleared her throat.

“Hi, Your Majesty,” she continued. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for, well, everything that happened. Every life we lost is on my head. Every building destroyed. Every drop of blood spilled. I thought I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t. And I returned your faith in me with betrayal. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I hope we get a chance for me to do better. On the other side of this war.”

There was another silence, but Elara was smiling, so Faron supposed she hadn’t done too badly.

You know, Faron, said Aveline, and that was Aveline and not the formal queen who looked down on Faron every time they met, there were days when I hated you so much that I couldn’t breathe, blaming you for everything wrong with my life. Faron winced, but Aveline exhaled a breath that was almost, almost, like a laugh. But I know you. We spent far too much time together during that war for me not to. I never once thought you’d actually joined him. Not once, Faron.

Faron’s eyes burned with the need to cry again. “Thank you. We’re on our way to you now.”

There is an end to this madness. I will see you both on the long journey after it.

The astral call ended, and Faron felt so shaky that she went to sit in the front cockpit until she felt less like bursting into tears. There would be time to cry during the long journey ahead. For now, they had a war to win.