Tam sat with his legs crossed in the middle of a small clearing amongst a copse of maple trees.

  He tried to settle his thoughts.

  Tried to breathe through the ache in his chest.

  But he could only succeed for brief moments of time before fresh waves of anger and panic would overtake him.

  His hands clenched into fists, his aggravation rising.

  What if Luca was banished to the Forest of the Afterlife before he could get to him?

  What if he was being tortured?

  Then the recent confirmation of his identity of him being the devil crept up.

  The intensity of emotions in Tam’s chest stormed more violently.

  He was angry that the damn dragon had told him the truth.

  He was angry that the Gods left their son in a childlike state to fend for himself.

  And he was livid that he had no doubt that the first witch was probably going to tell Luca his origins and that his heart would break. Luca would feel the guilt of it. Because that was who he was.

  Tam knew Eli had relayed from the dragon that the devil had no memories from his previous lives in his child state, but how could he change so much? He had a good heart, and to think that centuries of horrible situations—situations created by the Gods—could turn him into the literal representation of evil, was doing horrible things to Tam’s own good nature.

  Then there was Penelope… why did they grab her?

  Or was it that the coven and first witch already knew she was a seer and wished to use her for her abilities?

  Tam had promised her he’d protect her, and he hadn’t been able to do anything. Would he ever see her again? What if she never forgave him? Never trusted anyone again, all because he had failed her?

  All these horrible thoughts drenched him in fresh fury.

  It was endless.

  He reached for his magic, and felt the world around him shudder ominously. The leaves shook, the grasses bent away from him…

  The cry of birds fleeing the area reached Tam’s ears, forcing him to cut off the connection with his power that was barely starting to return. He had only awoken from his long magic induced rest two days ago. He’d need longer to recover, and meditation wasn’t doing much to help him. Which only fueled his impatience. What if when they left he still couldn’t do anything? What if he needed months to properly recover?

  A sudden tingling of awareness skittered down Tam’s spine.

  Eli was approaching in her human form.

  Interestingly enough, ever since Kat had shoved magic at Tam and he’d been unconscious, he’d been able to sense Eli more keenly than before. Previously she used to be able to sneak up on him and surprise him, but it seemed now if she was within fifty feet he knew about it.

  “Tam?” she called out.

  He could hear the weariness mixed with hesitancy in her voice.

  Opening his eyes, Tam looked over his shoulder, sparing a half smile. “How did flying lessons go?”

  Eli grimaced. “I was able to glide a few feet off the ground after a few running starts, but it’s been a slow process.”

  Tam stiffened. “Do you think we’ll still be able to try flying all the way to Gondol in a week?”

  Sighing, Eli folded her arms over herself as she stood in front of Tam who remained seated on the ground. “Wixim thinks I’ll be fine. He says the hard part will be getting all of us up in the air, but once I’m able to find the currents of air on a good day, I should be able to glide mostly there. I’ll be tired, but… Apparently it’s still feasible according to him. I’m hoping I can get high enough to clear the tree tops in three days and stay up.”

  Tam managed a polite nod. “Thank you. Thank you for your hard work when I’m sure you’re already tired.”

  Eli stared down at him tilting her head over her left shoulder. “I know we said we’re starting a rebellion, but I want us to set ground rules so that we understand each other.”

  Tam raised an eyebrow.

  “We do not kill civilians unless they attack,” Eli started to list firmly.

  “Agreed.”

  “You are not careless with your magic. Like opening a void for example if a crowd of people get in the way of us at some point.”

  “I’ve never been careless like that.”

  Eli kept watching him, her thoughts unreadable behind her eyes. “You’re desperate, and we both know desperate people get reckless.”

  “And you’re not desperate?” Tam retorted with feigned calmness.

  Eli’s eyes flashed. “I am, but I’m not as emotional as you are. Being emotional will get us nowhere.”

  Tam rose up from his spot on the ground. He looked down at Eli, his intense feelings bubbling higher. “I know. You might notice how right now I’m not currently shouting and smashing things. But I am allowed to have emotions about everything that has happened.”

  “I never said you weren’t allowed. I just said that when we go to retrieve the children, we have to maintain said control.”

  Tam narrowed his eyes. “Why are you suddenly worried about this?”

  Giving a small jolt, Eli faltered in responding straight away, but eventually admitted, “Wixim mentioned something.”

  “Oh?” Tam slipped his hands in his pockets.

  “He mentioned that you’re incredibly powerful, and he hoped that you wouldn’t use your power in a fit of anger or for anything else dark like that.”

  “Glad to see your faith in my character is so unwavering,” Tam remarked coolly.

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  “Tam, I know you’re a good person, but even good people can do terrible things in bad times,” Eli argued, her own anger apparent by the frown pulling her brows down.

  Running his tongue over one of the sharp peaks of his teeth, Tam held back saying anything. He wasn’t confident he’d be able to stop himself from showing just how much Eli’s concerns had hurt him.

  He had thought she’d understood him better than anyone.

  Yet there she was, worried he wasn’t going to be able to control himself and would casually hurt people…

  He turned away from her. “I’m going for a walk.”

  Eli made a noise of irritation behind him, but he didn’t bother commenting on it. He needed to sort through his feelings of betrayal, hurt, and all the other nasty emotions before speaking again.

  And then it happened.

  Again.

  The intense, hot burn of magic in his chest that sent Tam to a knee, his hand clutching his chest as he let out a yelp of pain.

  “What is it?” The sound of Eli’s feet hurrying around Tam distant in his ears.

  The heat rose up into Tam’s throat, and pulses of tingling magic rushed down his limbs to the very tips of his toes and fingers. Blood roared in his ears as his power swelled in him.

  “It’s Godsdamn Kat. I don’t know what the hell she’s doing,” Tam grunted, closing his eyes to try and ground himself.

  Eli’s hand rested lightly on his back.

  While Tam knew she was merely offering a gentle comfort like she had the last time this had happened, at present it only added a sting to the pain he was feeling. His earlier frustrations had not dwindled regardless of Kat overwhelming him with magic.

  However, one thing was becoming clear to Tam as the intoxicating and potent power from his sister flowed into him…

  Kat was being careful how much magic she sent him. It was a smaller amount. A careful distribution unlike before where she had simply sloshed out a bucket of power down their connection. This time, she was dribbling it in, bit by bit, and Tam could feel exactly what it was doing.

  It was restoring his own magic.

  But it was still making his head buzz. Whereas the magic before had simply broken down the walls of his magic’s limitations, now it filled the freshly expanded magical stores that existed in Tam. It was an intense, heady sensation that Tam had never had before in his life. He hadn’t even been entirely aware of just how much Kat’s previous magic contributions had done to him until this moment. It expanded his awareness of the world around him; to the point he started to feel the connections not just between the miniscule spaces of the plants themselves, but also how the soil under his boots was conscious of the roots of every growth in the immediate vicinity.

  Tam tried taking a deep breath, tried to focus on the texture of the grass beneath his palm, tried to focus on the scent of earth and the plants around him. To focus on the whir of cicadas in the forest…

  It wasn’t enough. He needed something more. Something to hold him in the world. He couldn’t go unconscious again. But he already felt dizzy, his mind a little drunk on the power.

  Eli’s hand slid from his back to his shoulder, making Tam shiver.

  His eyes snapped up.

  He didn’t know how he appeared to her right then, but there was a crackling awareness between Eli and himself when they locked eyes.

  “Run,” he growled.

  She needed to get away from him, or he would do something just as reckless as she had been worried he would be moments before, and he would never let that happen.

  “What do you need?” Eli asked quietly, though there was a glint in her eyes that suggested she already knew.

  That understanding from Eli could have been a trick from Tam’s desperate mind needing to hold on to the most solid anchor he had to the world.

  “Get away from me, Eli,” Tam’s volume increased, and while her eyes rounded in surprise, she didn’t budge. “If you stay it’s a yes.”

  Tam gave her two breaths.

  Two breaths to realize she needed to leave him the hell alone or be a part of whatever coping method he chose.

  Her shoulders relaxed.

  The subtle consent was given.

  Tam roughly grabbed her around the back of her neck and kissed her.

  The feel of her warm mouth against his settled his heart for an instant, but then another trickle of power came from Kat. His mind flitted to the image of the thick maple trunk just behind Eli he had seen before.

  He had barely thought of it when he had the sense of shifting through his void, only when he had exited the void he had Eli pinned against the tree, his knee between her legs.

  He was still kissing her, and the intensity of the kiss was battling back the magic.

  As though sensing he was regaining control, another surge of power came.

  Tam hoisted Eli up, her legs wrapping around his waist as he tore off her tunic.

  A strange sensation started to take over then.

  The sensation of the power filling him starting to leak over.

  Whereas before this would’ve brought Tam to a state of unconsciousness, the power seemed to leave and find its way down the intangible connection he held with Eli.

  An animalistic noise sounded out of her, and her thighs clenched Tam more tightly.

  He felt a maddening half smile pull at the corner of his mouth.

  “Void,” Eli gasped insistently before she sank her mouth back onto Tam’s, one hand gripping his tunic in a bunched fist and the other clutching his hair.

  Tam gave a low, dark chuckle, then fell backward, Eli on top of him as he pulled her into the void with him where they proceeded to manage their way through the deluge of overwhelming power.

  Tam happily shared with Eli this surplus for what felt like an eternity in the void. Thoughts nor self-restraint were activities they indulged in during that time, but neither of them could be brought to care as they lost themselves in the flood of absolutely everything, in a place of absolutely nothing.

  *

  They did not leave the void for the rest of the afternoon.

  Or the early evening for that matter.

  It wasn’t until dinner time that Tam and Eli came out of the woods to return to the dragon’s lair.

  Both carried an energy about them that crackled with power, and a healthy glow to their faces.

  Harris took one look at them from his place by the fire with his dinner and decided it was one of the rare times to not ask any questions or make any comments.

  The dragon, Wixim, who lay curled by side, emitted a low stuttering grumble that sounded suspiciously like laughter, but otherwise, he didn’t react to the state of Tam and Eli either.

  Sometimes that was simply the best way to go about things.