Last Stand (The Black Mage #4)(101)

After a couple minutes, I dropped my hand. My head hurt, but there was no blinding ache the way it usually felt after trying a casting when my stamina was too low.

No ache. No magic.

Whatever I’d once had, it was gone.

“Do you think it’s because of your last stand?”

“Maybe.” I didn’t know. A knot twisted in my gut. “Did it happen to Darren?”

“With the condition they’ve kept him in, no one would know.” Alex’s voice lowered to a whisper. “If he can’t, Ry, do you know what this means?”

My fingers twisted in my lap.

Alex scooted closer. “When the two of you each cast your last stand, you canceled out death, so the casting took something else.”

“Our magic.” I knew it was true as soon as I said it aloud. It was the only reason we were alive. It was the reason I felt nothing when I tried to cast, not even an ache.

“There is no record in the books, so there would be no way to know for certain.” His brows furrowed. “You might just take longer to recover your stamina.”

“It’s been two weeks. There’s nothing there. If there was, I would feel it.”

For a moment, there was only silence. Neither of us knew what to say, but I was too busy remembering that dungeon to mourn the loss of my magic.

“What do we do?”

“The rebels won’t hurt Darren again. Priscilla gave Ella her word I could treat the worst of his wounds so long as he keeps the rest to please Horrace.”

“It’s not enough.”

“You can see him.” Alex’s eyes were somber. “You can see Darren and be with him now. And every day we will plead his case to Priscilla. It’s all we can do.”

It isn’t enough.





20





When we entered the Keep’s dungeon, I didn’t scream. I wanted to, but I didn’t.

The guards were still there, watching me. I refused to acknowledge them. The only one I bothered to share contact with was the one I’d attacked. Kiefer was sporting a bloody lip. For a second, I felt a sliver of something other than despair, but then it was gone.

I was standing in front of Darren’s cell. The guards weren’t concerned with a potential escape. Darren’s wrists and ankles were attached to manacles on chains.

They unlocked the bars.

I tried not to stare at the prisoner’s blistered skin, rubbed raw from every time he shifted in place. There was a bucket in the far corner—empty. Priscilla must have ordered it changed after my first visit, but the stench was still enough to water my eyes.

Darren’s eyes were half-closed, his chest rising and falling as he slumped against the bars. This time, he was sitting up—barely—and I could see blood seeping through his rags.

A cry rose up deep inside. Darren.

I knelt down beside the fallen king and my chemise puddled at my feet. Alex and Ella helped me adjust. It didn’t matter, not when this boy was in front of me, slowly fading away in his cell.

I placed a trembling hand to his wrist, doing my best to fight the knot in my lungs.

“Ry…iah.” Darren’s voice was rough and unused. I could hear how much it pained him to speak.

“I’m here.” I didn’t want him to see me cry; I needed to be strong.

Ella placed a calming hand on my back. “We brought Alex here to help, Darren. He’s going to treat some of your wounds.”

My brother knelt. “What hurts the most?”

Darren’s lips were white as he bit out the words. “No… need.”

Alex looked to me, and my nails dug into my thigh until it burned. “Darren,” I croaked, “please.”

For a moment, the king didn’t speak. Then he drew a sharp breath and shut his eyes. “My… chest.”

Alex splayed five fingers across Darren’s ribs, and the king’s face went ashen and pale. Something burned in my lungs. Whatever the guards had done, it hurt a great deal, much more than he let on.

“I’m going to do my best,” Alex murmured, “but Priscilla only wants me to see to the worst of it. If I do too much—”

“I… understand.” Darren’s face contorted as the first spark of green seeped in under his skin, but still, he held strong.

I didn’t realize I was shaking until I felt the pad of a callused thumb against my wrist. I started, and the king smiled, his lips cracked and red.

“You’re… still alive.”

My heart stammered in my chest. “I was your l-last stand?”

Darren’s eyes held my own, and I saw a thousand different emotions at once. His answer bespoke everything I had wondered those last few minutes in the cave. All those things left unsaid.

My fingers locked on his wrist. “You were mine.”

The king’s smile fell away. “Shouldn’t… have.”

“In a week…” My voice caught as I read the set of his jaw. Darren already knew. “I’m g-going to stop it.” My voice was hoarse and desperate. “Priscilla is queen. I’ll f-find a way to convince h-her.”

Darren didn’t say anything, just stared out at the wall.

“You d-don’t believe me.”

“I’m not…” The king’s jaw worked as he tried again. “I’m… not… a hero… love.”