I called to her again, and this time she cawed softly, painfully. She was trying to move enough to greet me, but not succeeding.

“I’m so sorry,” I said once I was closer. “I didn’t know you were hurt this bad.” I lowered the sack of meat right in front of her, but after a sniff, she showed no interest in it. So I ran my fingers across her feathers the way she had seemed to enjoy it before. Once I reached her wing, I understood how bad things were.

The spear from the bestiarius had broken the wing. Either that, or it had injured the wing, and once I had forced her to fly us out of the amphitheater, that had finished breaking it. I would’ve apologized again, but it seemed senseless at this point.

I knelt beside her and removed the bulla from around my neck to place against her wing. It glowed brighter in the moonlight, and felt heavier too. I hoped if the bulla connected me to her, it would transfer the healing powers better. Because of the seriousness of Caela’s wound, I would have to rely even more upon the Divine Star, which Radulf could detect, and it made my heart pound. But this had to be done. All that mattered was Caela.

Pushing aside the nerves that were stirring inside me, I set the bulla directly over her wound. She flinched from the pressure, but had no strength to move away. I whispered another apology for the pain it caused, but I would likely have only one opportunity and I wanted every chance to do it right.

Just as I had done earlier that day, I focused on the magic to heal. It came easier this time, wrapping itself around both Caela and me, and I thought about Radulf’s words, that magic was a muscle and using it made it stronger. Having practiced all day in the vineyards, I definitely felt the added strength, and knew I would need it now. I concentrated on the flow of magic, letting it fill every pore in me, giving it more life with every breath I drew in, and pushing it deeper into my core with every exhale.

When it had built up inside me, I willed it to move from my hand, through the bulla, and into Caela’s wing. If it healed the infection in my arm, it could heal her as well. I only needed enough strength to outlast her injury.

Caela trilled nervously as she felt the magic, and even shuffled a bit, but my hand stayed in its place. With my other, I stroked her neck, hoping to keep her calm.

“This is too big for you, Nic.” There had never been any doubt that Radulf’s voice would come again, only how long it would take him to find me. It drizzled through my veins like ice, and I shivered.

“Go away,” I muttered. “Live while you can. I’ll come for you soon.”

He chuckled, which diverted my attention until Caela shifted again. I poured more of myself into her, not only magic, but my gratitude for having twice saved my life, and my sorrow that all I had done in return was endanger hers. For the first time, I began to understand the magic, not just use it. Magic itself was an emotion, and like the strongest emotions, it could build or destroy. Right now, it was doing both. Building her, destroying me.

My arm began shaking and I leaned my weight into her to support it. Even as she was gaining strength, I was losing it, and it was becoming harder to keep her wing from fluttering out of my hands.

“Not yet,” I whispered to her. “Not yet, Caela.”

“You save the beast that gave you the mark,” Radulf said in my head. “How interesting. I wasn’t so kind to the unicorn that scratched me.” He laughed. “Actually, it gave me the scratch while I was killing it. I don’t think it ever intended to share its magic.”

I tried to ignore that, tried to shut out from my mind the thought of how Radulf could possibly have harmed a creature of the gods.

My body was feeling heavier, as if my limbs had turned to lead. The magic continued stirring inside me, but I didn’t think I was generating anything new. Breathing was harder, thinking was slower. And I couldn’t feel the mark on my shoulder any longer. Actually, I couldn’t feel much of anything. I was a fading sunset.

Caela cawed, a stronger cry now, and this time when she fluttered her wing, she pushed my hand out of her way and rose up to her feet. Whether she intended it or not, she knocked me to the ground, and I was in no condition to get up again.

“Nic!”

Aurelia’s footsteps pounded across the cement, and then she grabbed me beneath my shoulders and dragged me farther from Caela. I wasn’t worried about that. Caela wouldn’t step on me, or at least, not deliberately.

Once we were clear, Aurelia knelt beside me and asked how I was. I heard her, but not really. It sounded like she was in another room. Without answering, I closed my eyes and tried to find myself again. It felt as if everything I was had vanished, like rainwater into a thirsty earth.

“Healing her cost too much,” Radulf said. “Your body can’t hold such powerful magic.”

“He’s shaking!” Aurelia brushed my hair back from my forehead. “Nic, look at me!”

“This girl is special to you,” Radulf said. “I feel the beat of your heart when she is near.”

“For the last time, get out of my head!” I yelled. Then I forced myself to sit up, to put some distance between Aurelia and me. Waves of dizziness enveloped me, but through that fog, I heard Caela eating the meat I had brought her. Whatever was happening to me didn’t matter. She would be all right.

“Those baths are some of the finest in all of Rome,” Radulf said. “You’ve done the empire a service by ridding them of a dangerous griffin. I will tell the emperor of your kindness.”

“Do that,” I muttered. “Then I’ll tell him about your plans for the empire.”

“What’s going on?” Aurelia asked. “It’s Radulf, isn’t it?”

“I do have great plans, after I get that bulla,” he said. “You took what was mine, Nic.”

“It was Caesar’s. Never yours!”

Crispus appeared in my line of sight and said something to Aurelia, but all I heard was Radulf saying, “I’ll trade for it right now. Go out to the gardens. Livia is there.”

I sat up even straighter and felt for the bulla around my neck. No, it wasn’t there. I had taken it off to heal Caela. I looked to Crispus, who seemed to understand what I wanted, even without words.

“Stay here with Caela,” I said to Aurelia. “Just stay here, please, where it’s safe.”

“Where are you going?”

“Livia is outside. She’s here.”

Aurelia grabbed my arm. “Radulf’s lying. You must know that.”

I pulled my arm away and turned to her. “Of course he is. But I still have to find out for sure, don’t I?”

Aurelia sighed. “Be safe, Nic. I’m not wrong about this.”

It took everything I had to get to my feet. There was little left in me but the desire to see my sister, and that would have to be enough. Crispus ran back with the bulla in his hands. He hung it around my neck, and it immediately began to supplement my energy.

“I’ll come with you.” Crispus’s offer was stupid, but brave. Two words that accurately described me at the moment as well.

“It won’t be safe,” I said. “Please don’t.”

“Better hurry,” Radulf said, for only me to hear. “I won’t allow Livia to remain there for long.”

I did hurry, leaving the same way I had come. Once I was outside, I wasn’t sure which way to go, but then saw a strange light, pulsing and floating midair, beckoning me out of the gardens and back to the road beyond the bath walls.

With every step, the bulla continued adding to my strength. I only hoped it would be enough for when I found Livia — if I found Livia. Radulf wouldn’t make it easy.