Page 76 of These Fractured Bonds

“You have to come outnow.”

His warmth rushed through her, melting the frost from her body, and she lost sight of her core, her control slipping.

She glared at him. “I had it.”

He took her hands into his palms. “Then, you’ll get it next time, but we’re done for tonight. Your body can’t take any more.” He gestured at her hands, pale with purple bruising on her fingertips. They stung. Despite the truth, she wanted to argue, but she bit her tongue when she noticed the bruising extended far past her fingers and onto her forearms.

“Fine.” She accepted his warming spell. Then, after her stubbornness thawed, she asked, “Was it this hard for you, too?”

“Yes. It’s not an easy feat. It took me a couple of months to do it.”

Months. Yareli didn’t have months; she needed it sooner. The council loomed over her, promising an unknown fate that flipped her stomach.

As if he felt her impatience, Augrys said, “Don’t attempt it alone. You need someone to pull you out.”

She slumped over. “I know, I know. I just…”

She couldn’t finish saying what ate at her, how the constant thrum of danger kept her awake some nights. There were too many unknowns, and she was definitely not in control. It was terrifying.

Augrys hesitated before he said, “There are cases of Fae unlocking their core within a few weeks. The same could happen for you.”

“You think so?”

He let go of her hands; her body had already returned to its normal temperature. “You are one of the most stubborn women I have ever met. I believe you’ll do it out of sheer tenacity.”

At his words, any lingering rebellion in her died out; it was the first time he had mentioned what he knew ofherbefore all of this. Fine, she would wait to try again. He stood, helped her rearrange her furniture back in place, and took out the scroll he had picked up from Mr. Manie.

“Do you mind if I work here?”

Sheshouldkick him out, but curiosity beat reason. “Not if you promise to share its contents with me.”

“I plan to.”

She smiled, appreciating her inclusion in the matter. Remaining in the dark had already proven dangerous once. She sat in an armchair, pulling out a short novel that Bri had gifted her, but every time she attempted to read, her eyes glazed over. Her thoughts kept returning to her mom; small words in Spanish continued to pop into her mind, and she took hold of them, clutching them close to her chest.Later, she promised herself. After the council, she would brave the black tar that polluted her lake of memories and remember who she truly was. And her family.

WritteninancientIzmarian,the scroll took Augrys an hour to translate. Once he was done, he called Yareli over. She took a good look at it, noting the swirls of their writing system; Leo had attempted to teach her their alphabet, but she hadadmittedly forgotten some already. At the bottom, there was a painting of a dark cloud descending on a village.

“What does it say?” she asked.

Augrys leaned back on his chair, tilting his neck back to stare at the ceiling.

“Unfortunately, not enough. It does confirm that nox creatures are not born from the human world, as conservatives have been spouting for years. This phenomenon happened thousands of years ago. In the first known attack, a village was razed to the ground by an unknown dark cloud filled with monsters that match the descriptions of nox creatures.”

“Any mention of their origin?”

“None. I suspect there were more scrolls. See right here.” He pointed at a scorch mark on the bottom right of the scroll. “That’s fire damage. Someone was determined to destroy the historical accounts.”

Yareli frowned. “Do you think it was the Watchers?”

“I think,” he said, rubbing his chin, “there is a sect within the Watchers who may be involved.”

“But we don’t know who is part of the Watchers.”

“Only suspicions.”

She met his stare, certain the same thought was crossing his mind—they were pulling at straws while their enemy pressed on. She squared her shoulders; when the time came, she would force the answers from Tuom. To keep others from the same fate, she would become a monster.

Chapter 29