Edge of Pathos (Book 4 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 31

With her body functional again, Valerie threw herself back into the middle of battles, only taking breaks to check in on Emin and sleep. Her magic was depleted, but now she knew how much she was capable of tapping into if needed.

The months of fighting she'd engaged in before Reaper had put the flame out hadn't prepared her for the ferocity of the battles now. Her enemies had their full magical potential unleashed, and many relished the opportunity to exercise powers that had been stifled.

She found herself not following Dasan's advice to rest her vivicus power. Again and again, she poured herself into the wounded and dying, and though she didn't regret it, her mind was like a balloon on a string that she had to consciously reel in sometimes in order to access information. The more she used her power, the stronger her connection with Darling became. She could sense every time he saved a life, and she began to yearn to see him again.

Valerie was grateful that Gideon had always made sure that she practiced fighting without the aid of her magic, because now, she had very little of her power to draw on. But she was less sluggish than she'd been when the flame had bound her powers on Earth.

She spent part of each day strategizing with her generals about when and how they would attack Reaper in Arden and the Atacama Desert, but she was pulled away with growing frequency due to emergencies on Earth where every soldier of the Fist was needed. She refused to excuse herself, even if Skye shook his head disapprovingly and Chisisi watched her with worried eyes.

Valerie had successfully led a team of about thirty soldiers to protect the Prime Minister of France and was organizing ongoing protection when a strange, unpleasant buzzing filled her mind. At first, she thought it was an attack from a Fractus with psychic powers, but when she focused on her locus, the sensation remained, and with it a sense that a balance was on the verge of being upset. Then her wrist burned.

The iridescent bracelet made from Clarabelle's mane was humming. A streak of gray wound its way through one of the locks of the unicorn's hair.

Terror filled her, and the Laurel Circle was ice. Kanti had been fighting at her side, and she clutched her stomach.

"Do you feel it, too?" Valerie asked her.

"Something's wrong," Kanti said. "It's like I'm about to fall off the edge of a cliff."

"Clarabelle's in danger," Valerie said. "And I don't even know where she's been hiding."

"Neither do I. But I know someone who does," Kanti said.

They returned to the Globe, to a gigantic field on the snowy plains of Elsinore, where Kanti's new recruits were training. Everyone went silent at their princess's arrival and dropped to a knee.

Valerie turned to her friend with wide eyes, but Kanti took it in stride, as if she was getting used to her new role.

"Send me Blake," Kanti shouted.

Someone pushed through the neat lines of soldiers and came to a stop in front of Kanti.

"What is it, my princess?" he asked.

Valerie barely recognized the man before her. When she'd seen him last, he'd been one of the nearly invisible, breakable Fractus. Now, he was fully visible, and she could see that he was very young, not more than a year or two older than she.

"You told me that Clarabelle helped you develop your power to fly," Kanti said.

"And my speed," he added, standing straighter.

"How did you meet her? We need to find her right away. Something's wrong," she said.

"Every day at high noon, she came to a site on Earth called Machu Picchu. Those of us whose hearts were true could find her," Blake said.