Aurora might have mumbled an apology, but she was more focused on trying again. This time, the whole tunnel around them rattled and her hair rose up with the amount of electrical charge she funneled into the brick.

But still … nothing.

Aurora growled in frustration. “Goddess burn it. Why won’t it work?”

For a long moment, there was silence, then a voice came from the other side of the brick.

“Hello? Is someone there?”

Aurora knew immediately who it was. Relief surged through her so strong, she was nearly sick from it.

“Novaya? Is that you?”

There was no answer. Had there been a guard? Goddess, it was the dungeon—of course there was a guard. What if they’d just brought all the soldiers directly to them?

“Nova? Are you alone? Are you well? Please, please be well.”

This time the voice came back louder, and clearly shocked. “Aurora? It can’t be…”

“It is. Stand back. I’m getting you out.”

Aurora did not know how yet, but this wall would not stand between her and her friend. Nothing would.

“Maybe it’s not skyfire that unlocks it,” Jinx offered. “What other magic does your family have?”

Aurora frowned. “None that I can control.”

“Then it’s good that you’re not the only one on this crew with magic.”

Aurora gasped and spun around. The words hadn’t come from Jinx, and the two of them were no longer alone in the passageway. Leaning against the stone wall a few paces back was Sly, looking as though she’d been there all along.

“What are you doing here?” Aurora whispered.

“Following you,” Sly whispered back.

Jinx pierced the tense moment with a chuckle.

“How? You followed us the whole way, and only just now showed yourself? And we never noticed?”

Sly shrugged off the wall, her posture casual. “I might have lost track of you for a bit with that last secret passageway. But I figured it out eventually.” She clapped her hands together and continued, “Now, let’s see about getting past this wall.”

Man, unlike the gods, is limited in what he can see and know and understand. And so it came to be that those with magic began to hunger for more than the tremendous gifts they had already been given.

—An Examination of the Original Magics

10

Novaya had always feared this day would come. All the time alone in her cell, the enormous effort of keeping her magic in control, the devastating melancholy of having no end in sight, not to mention her long battle with anxiety—it was bound to catch up to her eventually.