Soul of Flame (Imdalind Series #4)(12)

When.

Ilyan spoke of something akin to marriage, and I fought the blush that threatened to cover my face.

Sain bounced on his heels in eager anticipation, the bright-eyed look making me uncomfortable.

“When?” Thom spat, his irritation growing as the same word gave him a completely different reaction. “Surely not right now. You’ll at least give me time to leave, right?” Thom growled, his scowl growing before he turned away to focus on the map in an obvious attempt to drown us out. I was surprised he had stuck around all this time.

“I do not know, My Lord. As you said, this was only lore until now. You were lore, my dear child,” he said, his eyes darting to me as his voice echoed. “The treasured sight of a child who would come forth and save us all from the destruction that Edmund has brought.”

“You should be more worried about what your fused souls are going to do to the sight,” Thom said loudly as he smacked the table in frustration, causing me to jump at the sound. “The Siln? will still be able to fight, right?”

His desperate panic moved back into him again as he walked over to us, his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. I had never seen him look so haggard, as though he was going to snap any minute.

“I’m right here,” I mumbled, trying not to let my frustration bristle at being referred to like a dog that had been taught tricks.

No one seemed to hear my quiet voice. Thom didn’t even look at me before Ilyan’s arm tightened me against him, his voice raising as he faced his brother.

“The sight has shown she will fight, so she will fight. I believe in her ability to do so,” Ilyan said as he held me against him protectively.

“Yeah, but did the sight say Ilyan was going to go off and fuse his soul to hers?” Thom asked as his hands jumped from his pockets, the movement so quick that I jerked in the expectation of being hit.

I flinched like a wounded dog, the action making Thom’s eyes glare into me more. The fear that lived in him turned into disgust that made me feel worse, made my anxiety jolt.

“No!” Thom snapped, his tirade continuing on as if he hadn’t noticed the way his action had affected me. Or maybe he had. “We have no idea how this is going to change her magic, her ability. She may be useless to us now.”

“Useless?” I spat, a strong, jagged edge of anger running through me. Right then, he only saw me as a thing, a pawn.

“It has made my magic stronger, Thom,” I said, my voice shaking even though I had tried to push the strength of the anger into it.

Thom only looked at me with the same disbelief he had held before.

“She will rise to the path the sight has chosen for her. I expect nothing less from her,” Sain said, his voice deep and mellow.

His words promised his confidence in me, but he did not look into me with the pride my mother always had. He looked at me with a reverent awe, almost as if I was untouchable.

Like I was a god to him.

The thought made me sick to my stomach.

“I would hope not, considering that now we are surrounded by hundreds of blood-thirsty Trpaslíks. You ready to face that, Siln??” Thom turned to me with the same hard look in his eyes, the plea for an answer digging through me.

I wanted to tell him yes. I wanted to say I was strong enough—that I was ready—but I knew it would be a lie, so I held still, my arms clinging to Ilyan even though I was aware it made me look weak. I needed the rock of him underneath me.

Thom’s eyes narrowed at my lack of response, the fear in my eyes giving him all he needed to know.

“Didn’t think so,” he growled before he turned away, his back crouching dejectedly.

“You must find your strength to protect her, to be near her, for it is only by your side that she can find her true purpose, that she will find the strength to kill those that would end the magic of the world.” Ilyan’s words flowed from him, the air rippling with the power that they held as my blood warmed. The second the last word left him, thunder rumbled around us, the sky opening up as if the earth felt the power as well.

“The words of the sight, Thom,” Ilyan continued. His voice lowered as the air continued to crackle with an electric charge. “You should know better than to doubt them. Joclyn has been given this path, and this power, for a reason. Without them, Wynifred would have never survived the zánik curse.”

Something that Ilyan said had hit a live wire in Thom. He spun around to face us, his dreads swinging as the fire in him turned into a torrent. “And Dramin would be standing next to us, not dying in his room.”

I cringed at the snap of Thom’s voice. My anxiety flared in warning, the unwanted fears breaking through as he glared into me.

“D-dying?” I stuttered out, unable to look away from Thom, even though I knew I should look anywhere other than at the face that was fueling my fear.

I couldn’t. Because, even though I could feel his anger, all I could see was the pain. It wasn’t the fearful looks I had been given in the T?uha. No, it was the same raw fear, the same heart-breaking anger that I had felt every time the demons of the T?uha had come after me. It made it so I could almost understand him. I heard the pain that seeing Dramin injured had caused him, the fear of losing someone so close to him.

My eyes widened as Thom came undone right before me.

“Yes, Siln?,” Thom snapped. “When you attacked him, you killed his magic. Ilyan has been able to revive it, but it never stays, his magic keeps fading to nothing. He’s an ancient. How long do you think his mortal body will last without his magic?”