Doubt wrests hold, and I struggle to beat it back. What if Yvan was killed and I’m picking up some echo of his power that he sent out to me before he was slain? Or...what if the sensation of Wyvernfire was some enchantment of Vogel’s—something he sent through the Sealing spell to lure me?

What if Lukas and Yvan are both truly dead, and Vogel is toying with me?

“I’m not sure,” I shakily admit, looking to my wand hand as I tell Trystan about the shadowy lines that briefly appeared there. “I think Vogel’s infiltrated my fasting.”

Trystan’s eyes take on a graver cast. “He’s likely found a way to send a tracking spell through it.”

I blanche, gripped by the sense that I’ve set myself against power that can easily best and manipulate me.

“There is one bright spot,” Trystan offers and I look to him in question. “If Vogel is using your wandfasting to track you, he has to keep Lukas alive and well to do it. And Ren,” he says, a pointed glint entering his gaze, “tracking spells can be accessed from either end.”

Realization ignites. “Which means I could track Lukas through it,” I breathe out.

Trystan’s lip ticks up and he nods. “You just need to get control of your power.”

My mind spins over this newfound, albeit slim, advantage. I’m suddenly quivering with possibility, not just to go after Lukas, but to locate Yvan, as well.

“Yvan told me that our Wyvernbond would enable him to sense when I’m in danger. If I could connect to his Wyvernfire long enough, I might be able to find him too.” My brow tenses with consternation. “I almost want to face down more kraken to trigger the connection.”

Thoughts of Vogel’s kraken send my hand sliding to find my Ash’rion blade.

It’s in the river, I realize.

“Stand back,” I caution Trystan before we both rise and I hold up my hand, pressing the glamour-hidden retrieval rune Valasca marked on my palm. After a moment, the Ash’rion hurtles through the cloud ceiling and down into our rocky crevasse, its hilt slapping against my palm. I meet my brother’s look of surprise as I resheathe the blade.

He cocks a brow. “You killed some kraken down there. Didn’t you.”

“I killed one. And I’m going to kill Marcus Vogel.”

Trystan studies me closely, as if considering me in a whole new light. “The Vu Trin might pose a bigger problem for you at the moment.”