I continue to squint through the smoke and haze, as Phyre moves tantalizingly close, Dace’s soul precariously balanced on her palm.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Her fingers flex, soften, then flex again. Leaving no doubt that one solid squeeze will see that it’s done. “It’s so fragile. So delicate. So easily … crushed.” She curls her fingers. Looks right at me. “So strange to hold the soul of the boy you love in the palm of your hand. I’m afraid this is it, Daire. He belongs to none of us now.”
Her fingers clench.
Her eyes fill with tears.
And I use the moment to duck my head low and barrel straight toward her. Knocking her right off her feet, sending her soaring into the sky, her arms windmilling wildly. Until she slams hard into the ground, with me right on top, and the force of the jolt causes the soul to slip free, just as I’d hoped.
I push off her and watch its progression. Hoping with everything I have in me that th
e familiar presence I spotted in the distance is still on my side.
Catch it! Oh please, catch it!
Phyre leaps to her feet, tries to get past me, but it’s too late.
Raven has already swooped down.
Already caught it in his opened beak.
And by the time he makes the handoff to Horse, I turn back to find Phyre has fled.
thirty-six
Dace
“How do you feel?” Daire hugs me tight at the waist, resting her chin on my shoulder in a way that causes her soft strands of hair to brush over my cheek. Our bodies swaying in tandem to Horse’s easy gait.
“Good. Still good.” I crick my neck just enough to take in her glittering green eyes, the rosy flush of her cheeks, captured by the absolute wonder of her.
“Like your old self?” She narrows her eyes. Gnaws hard on her lip. A move I recognize for what it is—an attempt to keep her joy contained—her hopes well in check.
I flatten my lips, and stare straight ahead. “No. Not yet,” I say, preparing for the lie to come. “But someday. Someday soon. I’m sure of it.” I nod to confirm it, but the truth is, I have no proof whatsoever to back up my words.
While I may have gotten my soul back, it still bears Cade’s mark.
The day I took a soul jump into my twin, I came away changed.
There’s a good chance I may never find my way back.
“Dace—can I see your eyes?” Her voice is both forceful and tentative. And I’m amazed yet again at her ability to do that. To ease my fears as though they never existed, convincing me to do the one thing I’d prefer to avoid.
With a heavy heart, I allow my gaze to meet hers, only to see her flinch in response.
“Oh.” She drops her gaze to her lap, unsure what to make of it—make of me. As though she needs some time to process and think.
I heave a ragged breath, preparing myself to lose her again. But there’s no way to prepare for something like that. I can’t imagine my world without Daire.
“I thought maybe…” Her voice fades. There’s no need to finish when the unspoken bits are easy to guess.
“Daire—” I pause, backing away from the lie I told earlier. It was a cowardly, self-serving act. If nothing else, I owe her the truth. “I’m afraid it won’t be that easy. Now that I’ve stolen a piece of Cade, I have no idea how to get rid of it.”
She absorbs my words with a serious face, a determined tilt of her chin, as she asks, “What can I do? How can I help?”
I squint. Not sure I heard right.
She wants to help? Does that mean she’s not looking to leave?