Page 144 of The Starlight Savior

“The warlock you’re smitten with?” Althea squeaked, somehow sounding excited while holding her injured brother in her arms.

“Smitten?” Conor looked to Saige.

“I’m not—” she sighed, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Let’s just open this fucking portal.”

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Despite Saige’s hope to speed up the process, Baron needed time to collect himself. As they waited, Conor recounted the last few days of Etrane.

The moment Saige slipped through Athalos’s portal, the castle dungeons had broken into chaos. Eva had been hysterical, screaming and crying for her mistakes. Once King Vospella discovered Saige’s departure, he demanded for a task force to retrieve her. General Zathos handpicked each witch and warlock, but Conor bid he be the one to find Saige.

“How did you find me?”

Conor shrugged. “I didn’t have much time to focus on where I was traveling. So I just thought of you.”

“And you ended up here?”

Conor nodded. “I followed you to Denholm, tried my best to stay hidden. But I guess you could sense my magic.” His smile was sly, despite the circumstances.

“Why would you risk something like that?” Saige sighed. If Conor had been caught, she couldn’t imagine the chaos that would erupt.

For the first time, Conor’s cool mask broke. A wave of emotion glimmered on his face, eyes glassy. “If anything happened to you, I couldn’t forgive myself. I needed to make sure you were okay.”

As much as she wanted to curl into him, let the feeling of his thumb relax her body, she wouldn’t give in to such comforts. Not now, when there was too much to focus on. She turned away, focusing on Baron.

“How are you feeling?”

He was still cradled in his sister’s lap, eyelids fluttering. Althea had rested her fingertips on either side of his skull, massaging the skin and bone. “Better.”

Saige’s smile was wide. “Good.” Turning back towards Conor, she lowered her eyes. “Now say you’re sorry.”

Conor almost looked offended. “What? The mortal came running at me!”

“You were stalking us. Of course he was going to run at you!”

“But—”

Saige glared at Conor. “Make amends with my friends.”

Conor looked to Althea and Baron, who waited expectantly. “I’m sorry. Don’t run at a warlock though.”

Saige rolled her eyes. Althea and Baron blinked slowly, unsure of how to respond to the stranger before them.

“We need to leave.” Saige stood to walk towards the portal. When she was about to swipe the edge of the mirror against her palm, Conor stopped her.

“I got it.”

“What? No. I can do it.”

Conor grabbed ahold of her hand. “Don’t be stubborn. You need all the magic you can muster. Do you even know how you’re going to do it?”

No, she didn’t. But Conor didn’t need to know that.

“Fine.”

After Saige showed Conor the direct trigger point on the map, explaining what she had seen in Queen Ameris’s journal, he opened the portal seamlessly. Althea and Baron stood back behind her, their eyes widened in fear and awe.

“We’re stepping through that?” Baron’s hand was gripped tightly onto his sword, as if the purple magic swirling in the mirror could impact them.