Edge of Pathos (Book 4 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 29

Valerie didn't know what it would be like to be absorbed into the ether, with her parents, but she doubted that it included a shard of ice lodged in her heart. That was how she knew that there was a flicker of life within her.

Her vivicus power rose like a rising tide, spreading from her heart through her veins to every part of her body. Every time she'd saved someone with her power, it had almost consumed her. She thought she'd drown in it, or be swept away by it. And always, there was pain, as if something incalculably precious was being torn from her.

This time, releasing her power was simple and painless. Her magic hummed within her, winding itself around the shard of ice in her heart and melting it bit by bit.

She became aware of the sensation in her fingers first. They were interlaced with Thai's, she knew from the scar on one of his knuckles. He was pumping his own magic into her, amplifying and containing her vivicus power.

Her body ached everywhere, and an acute pain in her chest made her worry that Reaper's dagger was still inside her.

Then she heard sounds, a low bustle that reminded her of the Oakland Children's Hospital. She cracked her eyes open, half expecting to see Dr. Freeman leaning over her, listening to her heart with his stethoscope.

Instead, she saw a large tent set up with neat rows of cots. Thai's grip on her hand relaxed a fraction. His face was gray, and Valerie pulled her hand away, guilty that she had stolen so much of his strength to heal herself. But he grabbed her hand back and gripped it tighter.

"Don't you dare," he whispered.

"Another heroic battlefield rescue that you were unconscious for," Cyrus said, and she turned her head and saw her best friend in the chair next to her. "Why I'm not the guy who gets the girl is beyond me."

Cyrus sounded tired, and his jokes were forced, but he was there, even though Thai was holding her hand. She could guess what it cost him.

"Reaper?" Valerie croaked.

"In Plymouth, we think," Cyrus said. "Sanguina and I attacked him together, and I called forth as much light as I could. I think he would have killed us, but Willa set off a whole bunch of explosions around that fountain that used to lead to Plymouth, and he left to close the hole she created. We took off with you while he was distracted."

Valerie tried to sit up, but the effort made the room spin, and she collapsed back on her pillow. She touched her chest with a gasp, expecting to find a shard of Reaper's dagger still lodged in her heart, but all that was there was the bump of what promised to be a fantastic scar.

Involuntarily, she reached for Pathos, before remembering that it was gone, destroyed by Reaper's scythe. Its loss wasn't anything like losing a person, but it was more than a broken weapon to her. It was her connection to her mother, and a reminder when she doubted herself that this ancient, powerful sword had chosen her to wield it.

Pathos had had dozens of owners over the centuries, and had survived thousands of battles. But she had broken it. An old, horrible feeling clawed at her heart that she was meant to be alone because everything she touched suffered.

There was some truth to it. Hadn't she failed Midnight, her father, Dulcea, and Henry? They were only a few of many more who had been hurt because of choices she'd made, or times when she hadn't been strong enough. Her eyes drifted to Cyrus, whose heart she'd obliterated, and then to Thai. Would he be next?

She pulled her hand from Thai's, and this time, he let her go. She couldn't stand their love, didn't deserve it. She knew that the worst part of herself was surfacing, but she didn't have the energy to fight it. It was time for the Fist to find a new leader. She'd done her best to defeat Reaper and hadn't come close. But she knew no one would let her quit, not now. The thought was so overwhelming that Valerie squeezed her eyes shut.