Only death would break the ritual bond.
I had to make sure that death was Alvin’s.
But his scent disappeared. Above, little wooden charms dangled from the branches. It would have thrown us off his trail if it weren’t for the ritual arcana still singing inside me. It tugged and pulled, eager to return to the puppet master.
It left a sickly feeling in the pit of my stomach. If we got there and Alvin made a sacrifice to control me, then our chances would be cut in half. Alvin would have the upper hand. I should have spent more time cultivating the ice protecting my arcana. I should have looked up ways to protect myself from Alvin’s influence.
“Where do we go?” Ryder asked me.
The swell of arcana inside me lurched to the left. I followed it, my feet tangling beneath me before I could correct myself. The ritual arcana seemed to laugh at me. I could feel it’s menacing presence ready to dig its claws into me. Given the opportunity, it would gladly hand me over to Alvin.
It led us back to Alvin’s estate. The house had been burnt to the ground. Yellow caution tape dangled from the charred carcass of what had been a house. The smell of smoke still lingered in the air because it had infiltrated everything. I shook my head to cast the acrid smell from my nostrils, but nothing worked.
“Where is he?” Ryder muttered under his breath as he scanned the landscape.
I tried to think back to the ritual Alvin had set up the day that he kidnapped me. He’d circled me with candles before starting the incantation. Though I didn’t see any candles, I searched for firelight. There had to be some sort of fire.
Right?
I caught the soft flicker of light behind a blackened wall inside the estate. Before running headlong into danger, I grabbed Ryder’s pantleg with my teeth and tugged. His attention flicked to me. I tossed my head in the direction of the house—or what remained of it.
For a moment, Ryder’s expression furrowed into confusion before his eyes caught on the light. Ryder rolled his shoulders back and cast another glance in my direction.
He seemed to ask if I was ready. I would never be ready for this. I hadn’t been ready any of the times Alvin had separated me from my pack to berate and hurt me. All of those times prepared me for this, though. Those instances helped me brace myself before we charged forward.
“It’s too late,” Alvin said from inside the house.
The ritual arcana spiked. It pierced my body like a thousand nails. I let out a whimper and tried to keep my feet steady though my legs wobbled uncertainly.
Ryder noticed, but I shook my head. He couldn’t slow now. We had to stop Alvin from going further.
We could escape this curse in death: Alvin’s death.
Ryder launched himself forward. His form exploded. Wings snapped out and shattered the brittle burnt walls. His tail lashed over my head, making my ears ring.
Before Ryder could make impact, the ritual arcana probed deeper. I lurched forward and nearly fell onto my face. My form changed. Human hands hit the ground while my vision refocused.
The ritual arcana lifted my chin and moved my lips. I fought back, but Alvin’s gaze remained fixed on me. My vision cleared, and I saw Alvin’s outstretched hand covered in the blood of a recent sacrifice. I shuddered and wondered what had died to give him this power.
It would be the last death. Alvin couldn’t have me, my body, or my arcana. I grabbed ahold of the ice in my chest, but the ritual arcana split it open and snatched a sliver of my magic.
“Stop,” I said against my will.
Ryder dropped to the ground, inert. I watched his talons dig into the charred floor out of frustration. He knew that my command wouldn’t hold him forever. The ritual arcana had only stolen a fraction of my power. Soon, the command would break, and he would be able to attack.
Behind Alvin, a brazier flickered with bright light. A fire roared inside it, replacing the candles that he would have needed on a smaller scale. That led me to believe there would be more braziers, perhaps situated where the others had died.
If I could reach my arcana without Alvin stealing it from me first, then I might be able to summon a storm that would extinguish the flames. Thunderstorms followed me everywhere I went. I’d used my arcana to summon lightning before. Could I call for rain, too?
Maybe I couldn’t, but Ryder could. I didn’t have to use my arcana, either. All I had to do was ask. For a brief moment, my mouth was my own. Hope flared bright when I moved my lips.
Alvin clenched his fist, and my body seized. My jaw snapped closed, nearly taking the tip of my tongue with it. I was still present, though. He didn’t cast me back and turn me into a husk. At first, I thought that was a good thing, but then I realized Alvin wanted me to see.
From behind his back, he pulled out a long blade. “I misspoke earlier. You are, in fact, right on time.”
Alvin tucked that blade under Ryder’s neck. The soft sound of metal tapping scales sent chills up my spine. Though I wanted to believe that no normal blade could cut through dragon scales, I was stuck as I watched Alvin maneuver the bladebeneaththe scales. A rivulet of red slid along the metal.
My whimper turned into a growl. My hound resurfaced, eager to break free from my human body. She hit a wall each time she threw herself forward. It seemed as though Alvin had chosen to lock her inside me this time.