I rolled my eyes. “So if our magic combines, then you’ll be able to use my powers, and I’ll be able to use yours?”
“Yes, for as long you and I are connected … in theory.”
“So this connection isn’t permanent?”
“With the Navan, it is.” Joth sighed. “Combining magic is a very personal experience. It requires the two people involved to share each other’s thoughts and emotions. The bond becomes very close … the closest of all bonds.”
“I won’t do it,” I said. “We don’t even know each other, and we certainly share no feelings for each other.”
He smiled. “If you have any feelings at all for me, I know what they must be. I apologize for my behavior earlier. I felt my mother was forcing something upon both of us without caring for the consequences of combining magic.”
“What consequences? Are you speaking of love, because—”
“Connecting powers has nothing to do with love, but it often becomes love, because no one will ever be closer to you than the person with whom you have combined magic.” When I didn’t answer, he said, “My mother first proposed this idea after she brought you to All Spirits Forest. I rejected it too, for all of the same reasons you oppose it, though I’ve begun to change my mind. I know Celia’s death upset you, and I know you’re trying to do what you believe is right. So maybe enough good remains in you that we can work together.”
I rolled my eyes, wondering what might follow that sour compliment. Would he congratulate me for not getting anyone killed today? Or admire my features with the glow of Endrick’s curse on my skin? I had no interest in him or his piercing words.
Sensing my irritation, he added, “I’ve had a month to get used to the idea of connecting. I wish I could give you the same time too, but the Dominion is clearly aware of what you’re doing here, so we’re out of time. We should at least test whether we truly can combine powers.”
I was skeptical of that too. “I won’t do this test. I’ll find another way.”
He started to answer, then tilted his head and, with a tone of surprise, said, “You have a visitor.”
My brows wrinkled. How was that possible?
Without another word, he walked to the door where Loelle was waiting on the other side. “Stay ready,” he mumbled to her. “I’m told there is some unrest.”
Then he widened the door, and almost instantly, I felt a new presence in the room, something warm and loving, something familiar.
“Darrow?”
I couldn’t see or hear him, but I knew he was there.
“Where is he?” I asked.
Joth nodded sideways. “Beside me. He’s staring at you, Kestra.”
My eyes filled with tears, and I turned to about where Darrow would be. With a quick glance at Joth, I said, “I’m going to heal him.”
“He’s different than the others here,” Joth said. “He was cursed differently, so there is more … substance to him. Yet it will be harder than you think to restore your father, requiring more than you alone can give.”
I immediately understood where this was going. “But if you and I were connected, then I could do it, is that the plan?” Joth hesitated, and I stepped closer to him. “I will not be forced into this!”
“I didn’t bring him here! He came …” Joth cocked his head again. “Wait. Something has happened.” He started toward the door, but Loelle opened it first.
“I hear noises,” she said. “Oropods. They’re inside the forest!”
Joth held up his hand for silence, listened with a growing tension in his eyes, then said, “The Dominion has breached the forest boundaries. We are doing our best to stop them, but there are so many, we can only slow them down.”
“We’ve got to get Kestra out of here,” Loelle said.
“Not without my father!” I was firm on this point. “What do we need to do? I’ll connect with you now.”
“Not like this,” Joth said. “I won’t do it this way.”
An oropod screech sounded in the distance. Far away, but not far enough. Loelle grimaced, then held out her arm to me. “Take what you need to restore your father,” she said. “Hurry!”
I held out my hand, and Joth told me that Darrow had placed his hand against mine, something I felt in my heart rather than on my skin. As quickly as possible, I sent strength to him, gradually feeling warmth against my palm as a faint image of my father appeared. Drawing from Loelle, I continued to give to him, though I was fading fast, and I was terrified of taking too much from Loelle.
The faint image of my father gradually grew in presence, like a person emerging from a fog. As soon as I saw the light in his eyes, I fell to my knees and released Loelle, whom Joth caught before she fainted entirely. While he helped Loelle to a bed, Darrow knelt beside me, touching my face with his fingers, then wrapping his arms around me.
“I thought I’d never see you again through living eyes,” he whispered.
Tears ran down my cheeks, though I was too empty to return his embrace. I only said, “I’m sorry.” I wasn’t sure why I was saying it, only that I knew I needed to.
Another screech cut through the darkness, though this one was different from before. Darrow stood and ran to Joth’s door, cracking it open.
“I’ve called the others to come.” Joth began strapping any weapons he could to himself. “They’ll guard my home for as long as we need them to, but that won’t help us escape.”
“An escape is available to at least one of us,” Darrow said, widening the door. “And I think it’s you, Kestra.”
Directly outside the door was a dragon, noticeably larger than the giant condors in Lord Endrick’s service. Its scales were silver and more reflective than the finest mirrors. Its eyes were large and intelligent and as focused on me as when Simon used to look my way. The dragon crouched low, as if waiting for a rider.
Loelle must have seen it too, for she sat up on one arm and said, “Trina rode with us when we left Nessel. At that time, she told us that Simon had saved a Rawkyren. Do you suppose—”
“He sent this animal to find me,” I whispered. “I think I’m supposed to ride it out of here.”
“You can’t go alone,” Loelle said. “As weak as you are, you’ll fall to your death. Joth, you must go too.”
“She’d rather have her father there,” he said.
“But she needs someone with magic,” Loelle said. “Go with her.”
I looked up at Darrow, who smiled as kindly as he always did. “A battle against the Dominion is coming,” he said. “I’ll be there for it, I promise.”
“You need to go now,” Loelle said. “If the Ironhearts get closer, the spirits can keep them at bay for a while, but not forever.”
That was enough to get me to my feet. With Joth’s help, I stumbled toward the Rawkyren, rolled onto its back, and felt Joth’s arms wrap around me as he braced us for a launch into the air. Which happened so suddenly that I felt like my stomach was floating up to my chest; then we cleared the treetops and went higher. And sometime shortly after that, I fell asleep, utterly exhausted.