Free Dead Magic by A.J. Maguire

Talented or not, all of Magnellum's fate rests on the Warding Pillars. Panic is exactly how the people should be reacting." Elsie scowled at him but didn't move, still poised to climb the ladder. "The Wild is coming, Dorian. It's coming and there's very little we can do about it."
    "The Wild has been 'coming' for eight years now, Elsie!" Exasperated, he let go of her and shoved his fingers through his hair. "By Fates! I've been listening to you for eight long years. I've watched you build this . . . this . . ." He waved at the side of the ark in frustration, "this insanity, using resources you shouldn't have. Don't try to deny it, either. Delgora was rich when you ascended to House Witch, but it wasn't this rich. You've been spending more money than we've got, insistent that the world is about to end, and for what?"
    Elsie blinked up at him, her caramel-colored eyes glimmering with an emotion he couldn't recognize.
    "The Warding Pillars haven't failed, Elsie. There's peace in Magnellum right now. You cannot overturn society on a whim." Self-conscious at his own rant, Dorian sighed and looked away from her.
    Deep jungle green cast dark shadows over the landscape, interrupted by bright pink and yellow flowers here and there. Vibrantly colored birds streaked past the horizon, calling out to each other in a beautiful and vociferous sort of way. It had taken Dorian a surprisingly small amount of time to acclimatize to the tropics. The lands of his youth were rugged and tall, dry during the summer and cold during the winter, an impressively stark contrast to the year-round humid press of Delgora.
    And yet, he loved it here. He loved Delgora almost as much as he loved the infuriating woman beside him.
    "My whim did not kill Magic, our god," Elsie said after a moment. "And Magic is dead. His human form is lost to us and our time is running out. Perhaps peace has lulled you into a sense of complacency, Dorian, but I would prefer to be broke and prepared than wealthy and dead."
    He turned back to her, clenching his fists and barely holding onto his temper. "Complacency? By Fates, Elsie, I haven't known a single day of peace since I met you. First there was the fight against Vicaress Reonne and her Dellidus creature, and then the fight against the Council . . ."
    "I fought the Council so that I could marry you. Are you wishing I hadn't?"
    "That's not what I'm saying."
    "Then what are you saying?"
    "I'm frightened, Elsie!" His voice raised more than he'd intended and he could hear a scuffle from high up on the wall. He ignored it. "You don't tell me anything. You keep repeating that the Wild is coming, you keep burning political bridges with other Houses. You send Winslow off to Fates knows where and spend nearly every waking moment confined to this damned ark. Now pardon me if I want some explanations."
    For a long moment neither of them moved. Dorian felt a trifle foolish at the things he'd confessed, but he could at least admit to himself that they were necessary. Marriage required a brutal honesty, the ability to see not only your spouse, but yourself as well. By his estimation, he'd been more than fair, more than patient, waiting for the moment when she would finally open up to him and share the burden. He hadn't wanted to push her, but Fates help him, he couldn't take it anymore.
    Slowly, quietly, Elsie turned to face him. She nodded slightly, as though deciding something for herself, and then started to remove her glove.
    "What are you doing?" he asked, focusing on the glittering tattoos.
    "I'm giving you an explanation." Elsie stripped the glove off completely and met his eyes.
    She held up the tattooed hand, fingers splayed, and waited. Dorian hesitated for a heartbeat, then reached out to weave his hand through hers. The tattoos zapped him, they always did, but the jolts subsided after a moment.
    " Opawa Ayaatee, " Elsie murmured the spell and the world around them shifted.
    It was a common incantation, the vision spell that