15
Maia slid off the back of Lethe and let her legs fold, dropping her to the grassy hill. A scream trapped between clenched teeth, she slammed her fists into the ground over and over—and over.
"Maia," Ark said, alarmed.
He set his hand on her shoulder but Maia didn't stop punching the ground, her knuckles flattening grass and tearing up the dirt underneath. Silver magic flared, blinding, from her hands and expanded to the rest of her body. Her hands tingled, goosebumps rising all across her skin, and something wound impossibly tight in her chest—not like anxiety, but like a catapult drawn back, ready to fire.
"It's okay," Jaro said sweetly, approaching. "Everything's going to be alright, love."
It wasn't. Through gritted teeth she growled, "He was supposed to behere," and slammed both hands into the hill.
It didn't matter that her skin broke and bruises formed on her knuckles.
"He was supposed to behere, and we were supposed to save him, and no one else was supposed to get hurt because of me!"
The catapult snapped in her chest, and power detonated, lifting the hair from her shoulders and whipping her clothes and the grass into a frenzy. There was no wind, but magic tore through the world like a storm, and Maia's eyes stung with tears.
"Enough," Bryon growled, kneeling in front of her and grabbing her hands. His big shoulders blocked out the sight of the charred, burned mess that had been a town. Had the residents of this place been hunted and eaten like in Ilysen? "You'll bring the whole damn world down."
Maia snatched her hands out of his and glared with all her rage and guilt, fangs bared.
"Bryon, I'd advise you to back off," Azrail said casually, stopping beside Maia. "If my mate doesn't pulverise you for putting your hands on her,I will."
Bryon growled at Az, but he took a few steps away, mindful of the edge of the hill. "She was going to hurt herself," he fumed under his breath. "Excuse me for stopping her breaking her damn fingers."
Maia scowled. She wasn't a pampered princess, no matter what he thought. She could take care of herself, and he was just being condescending.
"Maia," Kheir said in a strange tone, almost wondering. "Look at what you did."
Maia's stomach twisted with nausea. Great, what had she fucked up now? Holding her breath, she followed Kheir's gaze, her shoulders hunching at Jaro's gasp.
She expected to see the dark, poisonous sap from the Forest of Skies seeping across the grass like the hungry limbs of a sea creature. Instead, a carpet of pink and lilac flowers spread out from where she knelt, flowing all the way to the dark edge of the forest just visible across the invisible border.
"Holyshit," she breathed.
Ark smiled down at her, the shadow of Calvo's destruction gone for now. "If you ever doubted that you're the new saint of spring and life ... here's your proof."
Maia wasn't sure what to feel, with the burnt wasteland of a town at her back and the blazing riot of colour and life in front of her.
"We'll find Vawn," Azrail promised her, as if he could make that sort of vow. She gave him a wry look, and he echoed, "We'll find him."
Maia was content to stay on the ground and keep punching her aching hands into the dirt, but Az held out a hand to help her up. She was worried about him after the episode in the forest, so she put her palm in his and stood, casting a look at what was left of Calvo. Nothing—that was what was left of the town. Ash, ruined earth, and wasteland.
"Just because his scent disappeared here doesn't mean he did," Ark said sensibly. "Bryon, show us where these shields start. If we bring them down, we might find another trail."
Hope didn't lift Maia's heart, but at least it gave them a path, something to follow. Otherwise, this dead end meant they were lost completely.
"What if we can't find the trail?" Kheir asked, his arms crossed over his chest and worry tightening his face.
"We search the nearby villages," Az replied, his expression darkening. "And follow the stories of monsters."