The fields and orchards were empty as they passed through, which was all wrong for the middle of a balmy spring day. He feared the worst.

House Phel still stood, seeming intact, white and graceful against the lush green lawn and blossoming orchards. Like the arcanium, the manse—at least in its current glory—hadn’t been part of his life for long, but it was more than simply a very large house. It was the historical home of his family, of the wizards who’d come before him. As the metaphorical house had fallen, eradicated from the Convocation, so had the literal manifestation of House Phel, sinking into the surrounding marshes, rotting away uncared for, largely forgotten except by children like himself who’d played in its bones. Now the manse was something he and Nic had created together, as much a triumph of their combined energies as the child she’d bear.

He wouldn’t cede any of it to the rapacious greed of their enemies.

Alise pulled her horse to a halt on the far side of the lake, just inside the bordering trees, holding up a hand. She was pale and drawn, her dusky skin, usually the same shade as Nic’s, had lost all its glow, more ashen than anything. Han galloped up from his rearguard position, holding out a hand to her. She waved him off, not because she didn’t need the magic, Gabriel knew, but because Han was nearly tapped out, too. Once they were closely grouped, Gabriel pulled reflective moon magic around them, hiding their presence. “Our father is here,” she told Nic, who nodded without surprise.

“Where is he?” she asked.

“I can’t tell, but he’s sent sentry spirits.”

“Can you get around them?” Gabriel asked. “It would be good to find out where everyone is.”

“Maybe,” she said, her voice weary. “I don’t have much magic left in me.”

“You can have mine,” Han insisted.

“If I take more from you, it could cause you harm,” she replied with regret.

“I don’t care,” he retorted with heat. “Iliana is in there somewhere. I’ll give anything to see that she survives.”

“Have some of my magic,” Nic said, nudging Salve forward and holding a hand out to Alise.

But Alise refused it. “You two have a battle ahead and will need everything you have if you’re going to win. Let me try this on my own.”

They waited while she concentrated, the silence only broken by the sound of the horses grabbing mouthfuls of the lush grass, taking advantage of the short opportunity to eat. Gabriel, needing the contact, held out a hand to Nic, and she sidled Salve closer, giving him a smile that had a tinge of sadness to it. “Can you feel the arcanium?” she asked quietly.

He could. And there was something wrong with it. The taint of other magic like a bitter taste in the back of his throat. “I hadn’t realized I was that connected to it.”

“We both are,” she returned softly, the green of her eyes sharpening with determination. “It’s a part of us now, and we’re getting it back.”