Lorelai kept her hands in the water as the river swept through the Falkrains and into Eldr. As it rushed across the craggy surface of Kol’s kingdom until it reached the Chrysós Sea at the other side.
Whispering her thanks to the water’s heart, she slowly withdrew her hands and tucked them into her sweater for warmth. The wall of water on Ravenspire’s side of the border collapsed with a tremendous splash.
It’s done. Nothing will be able to get past it as long as I’m alive. If the ogres use magic against it, my magic will fight them. I know it isn’t a perfect solution, but—
He pulled her hard against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. His breath came in unsteady jerks, and the relief that threatened to undo him spilled over into her thoughts as well.
Eldr is safe now. Brig is safe. His hands shook and he fisted them into the back of her sweater. I can’t tell you how much that means to me.
I already know. She leaned her head against the warmth of his chest because he seemed to need it, and because another warmth—bubbly and strange—was unspooling in her stomach and tingling with a magic of its own.
His thoughts spun too fast for her to catch more than glimpses, and she tried her best to give him the space he needed to collect himself by focusing on something else.
Like the way his heart pounded against her ear. Or the way he turned his face into her neck and sent the warmth in her stomach straight to her chest.
“Lorelai, down!” Gabril’s voice was a whiplash of command that Lorelai obeyed instinctively.
Grabbing Kol’s shoulders, she threw them both to the ground and rolled away from the river. An enormous foot made of stone smashed into the bank where seconds ago they’d been standing. Lorelai looked up to see one of the statue kings come to life, his blank eyes staring into hers as he raised his stone sword above his head.
Irina had made her move.
Kol wrapped his arms around her and rolled again as the sword slammed into the ground, slicing deep and sending a chunk of the bank sliding into the river.
She was leaping to her feet before the statue could pull the sword out of the damp ground. Get to Gabril. Keep him safe. He can’t run.
She sensed Kol’s dragon heart thundering viciously as the statue of a queen leaped from the bank above them and crushed the rocky shore beneath her feet. The queen whirled toward them, a stone scepter swinging at their heads.
They ducked, and the scepter struck the bank behind them.
I’ll fight Irina. You protect Gabril. Go!
As Kol climbed up the bank to get to Gabril, Lorelai grabbed the queen’s scepter with her bare hands, her magic blazing.
The heart of the stone statue was obstinate and indifferent and completely under Irina’s control. Lorelai felt the whiplash of Irina’s power sizzling against her own.
The king raised his sword as the queen’s enormous hand closed into a fist. Lorelai let go of the scepter and ran.
She leaped over fallen rocks, skimmed across the muddy soil beside the river, and then snatched a gnarled tree root that protruded from the bank above her and swung her body toward the clumps of withered grass at the top. The statues chased her, their massive footsteps shaking the ground.
Gabril is safe. All the statues are coming for you, including the ones from the north. Get away from the bridge, Lorelai. Lorelai!
She focused on her goal, on the purpose that burned within her like a flame. I came to destroy this bridge. She isn’t going to stop me. She reached the top of the bank and sprinted for the bridge as all eight statues on the south side of the river lunged toward her, weapons and fists flying. Her focus narrowed, her world nothing but instinct and training.
She leaped over a fist that crashed into the ground in front of her and skidded beneath a falling sword. Flipped backward to avoid the jagged blade of a queen with a gentle smile frozen on her face and was nearly impaled on the crown of another queen who’d gone down on her knees to reach for the princess.
They’re converging. You have no way out. Kol’s voice was furious. His thoughts raced with panic. With a desperate desire to shift into his dragon and smash the statues to pieces. Use magic and get out of there. Or . . . oh skies, you used up your power on the river, didn’t you? I’m coming. Hold on.
Stay back. She dove between the feet of a king with a cropped beard and round cheeks and somersaulted onto the weather-beaten bridge. Just be ready to help me if I need it.
She didn’t have time to overpower the statues’ hearts with her magic. By the time she forced one of them to obey her, the other seven would crush her. She sprinted toward the middle of the bridge and scrambled to come up with another plan.
The wood beneath her heaved and buckled as the enormous statues from both ends of the structure ran toward her. She ran faster while she frantically catalogued her options.
Huge, heavy stone statues.
A wooden bridge with the hearts of heaven knew how many trees in it.
The river that already obeyed her.