And no matter what, she had to be ready because he would not lose her.
“No one was down there,” she whispered. “That’s why I was at the window. I was looking to see what was going on, but… I… I… got distracted.”
“Someone could have walked by and seen you.”
“No. I wasn’t there for long, and if someone had seen me, this would have made them stop. They would have still been there when you got to the window.”
He couldn’t argue that point because it was true.
“My arms,” she whispered as her attention shifted to her arms.
Without the sun on them, the glow was starting to fade from her fingers and the scales were vanishing.
“Your eyes,” Cole said.
Her fingers flew up to her eyes. “What about them?”
Before the gold could fade from her eyes, he clasped her elbow and hurried her into the bathroom. When he flipped on the light switch, she followed him into the room.
He clasped her shoulders and turned her toward the glass. She gasped, but as she leaned closer to peer more intently at them, they shifted back to their normal, vibrant green color.
“What’s happening to me?” she whispered as she inspected her fangs, but they remained unchanged.
“Your powers are waking up. Until you learn how to control them, and can keep these changes hidden, we’re going to have to keep you somewhere safe.”
She leaned away from the mirror and lowered her hands to her sides. “What if I can’t keep them hidden? What if, from now on, this is what happens to me every time I’m in sunlight… or moonlight? What if any kind of natural light turns me into this glowing… glowing thing?”
“I don’t know much about the arach, but I’m sure all immortals would have heard and passed it down through the years if every time an arach stepped outside, they started to glow and resembled a dragon. I think that with time, like with my ciphers, you’ll be able to control this and keep it hidden.”
“And if I can’t learn to control it? There are no other arach around to teach me how to navigate these abilities or even what my abilities are. I can’t spend the rest of my life locked away. And what exactly can I do? Glow like I’m some sort of… sort of… glowworm. That’s not helpful.”
“This is only the beginning, Lexi, and maybe it is the end of your abilities, but I doubt it. The arach definitely had a connection to the dragons; whether that will translate into something more than resembling the creatures when in sunlight, I don’t know. There is also the fire thing; I bet this time, you won’t burn if you stick your hand in a fire, and they were also supposed to be able to throw fire from their hands.
“It’s been centuries since the arach walked the realms, and they were too secretive of their powers for anyone to know everything they could do. But at one time, they could control the dragons, and there’s no reason to think you can’t.”
Taking a deep breath, she lowered her fingers from where they rested beneath her eyes. “What do we do now?”
“Now we have to get you out of here. We can’t have you out in the Gloaming if you can light up like a glowworm,” he teased as he poked the end of her nose.
His teasing didn’t lighten his mood, but it did cause her mouth to quirk in a little smile before it slid away.
“It’s time to return to the others,” he said.
“But you still have so much to handle here.”
“And I will. For now, I’ll tell Niall that I’ll meet him at the palace later. While I’m gone, stay away from the window.”
“I will,” she muttered.
But as she spoke, a wistful look crossed her face, and she glanced back at the curtains.
Chapter Fifty-Three
“It’s done,” Sahira whispered. “The spell… it’s… it is complete.”
Sahira leaned back and, with her forearm, wiped the sweat from her forehead. When she went to rise, her knees wobbled before giving out. Brokk lunged forward and caught her before she hit the ground. He helped ease her down again.
“Are you okay?” Del demanded as he knelt on her other side.
“I’m fine,” Sahira muttered.
But she didn’t look fine. Her skin was paler than normal, and her amber eyes were dull. They didn’t seem to be focusing as she tipped her head back to blink at Brokk.
“I think you should sit here for a little bit,” he said.
“Ye-yes. I think you might be right.”
Her head dropped, and her chin rested against her chest. Brokk shifted his attention to the pentacle in the center of the tunnel.
Beside both of his brothers lay an identical clone. They both looked so perfectly like his brothers that Brokk couldn’t tell them apart until Orin and Varo sat up and the clones didn’t move.
Orin’s lip curled in distaste as he studied his doppelgänger. With the tip of his index finger, he poked at the clone. Brokk almost told him to stop, but he was morbidly fascinated by the clone’s chin pushing in before resuming its previous state.
It almost looked like a wax doll, but it reacted like a dead immortal’s flesh would. It was too creepy, and it had to work.
“So weird,” Orin muttered.
“Very impressive,” Varo said as he poked his clone’s cheek. Then he turned toward Sahira. “Are you okay?”
“Yes,” Sahira said. “It just took more out of me than I was expecting.”
“Well, that’s because you did a fantastic job,” Orin said.
“Did something nice just come out of your mouth?” Sahira asked.
“I’m not a complete dick,” Orin retorted. “I appreciate it when others help me.”
It’s always about you, Brokk thought but kept the words to himself. There was no point in bickering with his brother when Sahira had pulled this off.
“That’s good to know,” Sahira muttered as she rubbed at her temples.
“Thank you,” Varo said. “Even if this doesn’t work, you did all you could to help us survive. It’s very appreciated.”
“Thank you,” Sahira said.
“Now what do we do?” Del asked.
“We wait for Cole and Lexi to return,” Brokk said. “And then I’ll help him take the clones to the Lord.”
“I have to put the harrow stone somewhere safe until we can return it,” Sahira said.
When she tried to rise again, Brokk clasped her elbow. She swayed a little, but this time, she was far steadier on her feet.
“Thank you,” she murmured as she pulled her arm free of his grasp. “Some fresh air will do me good. I’m tired of these tunnels.”
“You must be starving,” Del said.
The spell had taken hours to complete, far longer than he’d anticipated. And he didn’t think Sahira was expecting the grind it became either. He didn’t know if it was her half-witch status, the fact it was for two immortals, or if Sahira had underestimated the spell’s difficulty, but he wasn't sure what time of day or even what day it was anymore.
“I am,” Sahira said. When she swayed again, Del steadied her. “I have to gather my things.”