Nocturna (A Forgery of Magic #1)(98)

Worried, his mind supplied.

“Confused,” he said instead.

“It all just happened, the maldito dragon!” she said. “A guard caught me and I needed a distraction. And the magic just listened to me, like you said.”

“Qué? You used it? How?” She shouldn’t have been able to use it, but that must have been why he’d felt such pain when she was gone. In a way, it made sense. But how could she wield it? The magic only listened to him because he’d dyed his magic black, made it think he was a part of it. Why would it listen to Finn? The realization clicked into place in the space of a breath. Alfie muttered a curse and kneaded his temples. Of course it had listened to her. He’d asked it to. He’d hoped as long as it was with her it would protect her, listen to her if she needed help. He’d been wishing for the best, not commanding the black magic, but it was connected to him and listened all the same.

“Co?o,” Alfie cursed into his hands.

“Then I released all the prisoners.”

“What?”

“It was the dragon again, not me! Ignacio showed up and stopped the fireworks, I didn’t have a choice—”

“Wait, Ignacio is here?” His hand fell from his face and found the bend of her arm. “Are you all right?” He looked at the dried blood on her wrists, anger rising in a tidal wave. “Did he do this?”

She looked away from him, her face drawn. “Doesn’t matter if I’m okay or not.”

“It does,” he insisted, and he knew he needn’t finish his sentence, needn’t say that it mattered to him, because when her eyes found his, he could see her spotting those words on his face; they were clinging to his skin like drops of sweat.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ve got no time!” she said. “Ignacio infected the prisoners and guards with the magic. He came here because the magic gets stronger when he infects people, but it only works on certain kinds of people, ones who can carry the magic without turning to dust. Bad people, I’d wager. So he came here. Once he’s got this whole prison under his power, he’ll be strong enough to do whatever you fear and worse,” she said, her eyes shining with fright. “Did Bathtub Boy find anything out that can help us stop him?”

Alfie’s mind sputtered as her words sank in. If Ignacio had already infected the prison, then his power now would make their last encounter in the Brim look like child’s play. He’d tried to pull Alfie’s bones from his skin then; what would he do now with the magic within him stronger than ever?

“Prince!” Finn said, gripping his shoulder. “Did Bathtub Boy come up with anything?”

His body numb with fear, he fished the sliver of dried parchment from his pocket. “Not anything that will help us. He sent me a message saying that Sombra’s body didn’t turn to bone, it was turned to stone, like a statue.”

Finn stared up at him, her eyes lit with discovery. “Of course,” she whispered. “What Ignacio’s looking for is in the palace!”

Alfie looked at her, confused that a message he thought so inconsequential could brighten her face with realization. “What do you mean?”

“Sombra’s body turned to stone, not bone,” she repeated, her words hushed. “Ignacio is after those weird stone hands in the palace vault! Those are pieces of Sombra! We have to get there first and stop him from getting them!”

Alfie’s jaw went slack as it all fell into place in his mind. That strange piece of a statue in the vault, the thing he’d always thought to be the least interesting among the palace’s treasures, was a piece of the god’s body. There were many fragmented pieces of art in the vault, salvaged from when Englass had attempted to destroy all forms of Castallan’s culture. Alfie had assumed the stone arms were just another recovered piece of art from a time long past. But instead they were the key to begin to wake Sombra.

“We’ve got to get to the palace! Stop him from reaching those hands!”

Alfie’s mind spun with diverging paths to take. If Ignacio had already infected the prison, he would surely be powerful enough to storm the palace. Should they fight him here, face him now, stop him from getting to the hands? Or should they go to the city and try to warn his people?

He didn’t know what path was right—but the thought of Ignacio getting any closer to those stone hands made his stomach tighten.

“If he’s here, then we’ll face him here. Now.”

Finn stared at him. “Are you out of your mind?”

“No,” he snapped. “I’m trying to stop a man full of evil magic from getting anywhere near those hands and my family.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. “I can’t believe I have to be the maldito cautious one right now. Prince, what happens if we die trying to stop him, hmm?” She leaned forward, daring him to ignore her. “If we die, which at this point is very possible, no one will be able to warn your family of what’s coming. No one will know to protect the maldito stone hands. I know you don’t want everyone to know about what you did, but you’ve got to go home and tell them! Give them a fighting chance!”

Alfie blinked at her. Was that why he’d avoided the thought of going home? To keep himself from having to admit his mistake? Alfie swallowed down his shame and left it for another time. She was right. They needed to go home.