Page 43 of The Bound Blood
I feel words rise to my lips, but they’re not mine. They taste like they are a blood-soaked truth. I don’t think. Iremember.
“Veil to stone, stone to sky, sky to shadow… you are closed.”
The crack shudders. The air warps. But it isn’t my words alone that do the trick. Light arcs from my fingers—silver and gold and shadow-black. Symbols spiral into the air, unfamiliar and yet somehow part of me. They stitch themselves into the breach like thread through cloth, and with a soft, echoing sigh, the rift closes.
The magic settles, and the shimmer fades.
Silence falls.
I stand there, hand still outstretched, not breathing, not moving. I can feel them watching me—Kael behind me, Raiden across the room, Nolan to my right. The stone wall before me is smooth. Seamless. The Veil, sealed.
Slowly, I lower my arm.
My knees buckle, but Kael is already moving. He catches me before I hit the ground, lowering me with careful strength, wrapping me back in his arms like he never let go.
No one says a word.
No one dares.
I rest my head against Kael’s shoulder, breathing him in. The weight of what just happened presses against my ribs, trying to suffocate me.
Then, softly, almost too quiet to hear, I whisper, “What am I becoming?”
Kael’s arms tighten around me. No one answers. But I feel the question ripple through all of them—echoing like a warning. And I don’t think I want to know the answer.
The corridor is too quiet.
Not the eerie kind of quiet I’ve grown used to. No whispers slipping through the Veil, no pulse of magic from behind the walls. Just the soft echo of my footsteps, Kael beside me like a shadow, his hand steady at the center of my spine.
Raiden, now in a council robe, and Nolan follow at my heels. I feel them more than I see them, their presence anchoring me. But I keep walking.
I don’t remember how the chamber door opened. I don’t remember how I got upright.
Only that I knew I had to go. I couldn’t be in the room where they tried to take my magic any longer.
The air tastes different out here—less like stone and dust, more like something charged. I can feel it against my skin, likethe moment before a storm. My bare feet press into the cool tile, and my fingers tremble, but I don’t stop.
A light flares at the edge of the corridor.
Then a sound.
Soft. Then louder. Rhythmic. Chanting.
“Let her speak. Let her speak.”
My heart stutters.
Kael slows his steps, angling in front of me slightly. Protective like he’s always been, but it’s a little elevated now and makes my heart squeeze slightly. But I press a hand to his arm and move forward.
Around the corner, the corridor widens into the main hall—and I freeze.
There arehundredsof them.
Students packed into the space like they’ve been here for hours. Sitting on the stairs. Lined along the balconies. Spilling into the corridors. All of the houses are here; every single year are represented in some way. Some wear their House colors. Some don’t. Magic hums in the air between them, thick and sparking in the space.
“What… what is this?” My voice cracks on the last word, barely audible above the noise.
A blur of dark red curls pushes through the front of the crowd, and then Tamsin is standing in front of us.
