29. Vexxion
29
VEXXION
“ H ow close are you to acting?” I asked Zayde. “The timing needs to be perfect.”
After working with Tempest in our secret meadow, we returned to our suite, where I left her.
My half-brother and I flew our dragons to an isolated spot in the valley below the aerie. No place was safe to speak, but with my threads surrounding us and our mounts grazing nearby, their clawed feet digging into the grass and their sharp senses alert, the location would do for a short conversation.
Blackness cloaked the world without even the hint of the moon or a star in the sky, just the way I liked it. If I couldn’t be with my fury, I didn’t want the stars trying to outshine her light.
Creatures moved through the woods around us, though even they were wise enough not to come near.
I sensed we were alone—for now.
“I am ready.” Zayde paced to the outer reaches of my threads, gnawing on his lower lip, a habit he’d started when he was little and never shed. It was the only thing that gave away the tension coiling inside him. “She’s scared. She hates this. We both do.”
“I understand.”
“The situation is unbearable.”
If it wasn’t, would he be willing to join me in this or would he still waver? I feared the latter. There came a time in everyone’s life when they had to choose a side. I’d done so when I was five. His time was now. Did he finally see?
“Are you sure that we have to—”
I growled in frustration and raked my nails across the back of my neck. “Please don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts now.” At this point, if he didn’t follow through on his part of the plan, everything would fall to pieces.
“We don’t have to go through with it. We can handle it in another way.”
I slammed my eyes shut before opening them again. “I’ve spent months putting this into place. I need you.” I’d needed him for most of my life and while he’d often stepped back when he should’ve stood by my side, he was four years younger than me. I’d allowed him to choose his own path whenever possible, because I’d never been given that choice, and I’d wanted better for my half-brother.
But it was past time he grew up and faced what I’d been forced to see when I was still a child.
“If he finds out, he’s not going to just let you have her,” I said.
“And he won’t allow you to have her . ”
“I already do,” I drawled. No one was taking my fury from me. No one.
“He’ll claim her if he’s given the chance.”
“Which is why we must follow the plan I’ve laid out.”
Zayde stopped in front of me and scratched the back of his neck. “Do you truly think this will work? It’s been so long. We don’t even know if they’re still alive any longer.”
“Things have changed.” I shared the latest.
“Wow.” His eyes widened, and he smiled for the first time in . . . I didn’t know how long. “Really?”
“Really.”
“That’s amazing.”
It was.
“This gives me hope,” he said.
“Don’t tell anyone.”
“Oh, I won’t.” He started pacing again, but his steps held a spring they’d lacked before. “I can’t imagine being free of all this. Bledmire Court is a nightmare.”
“Change will take time.” Was he truly up for it?
“I’ll do what I can.”
“I’ll stand with you.” With them both if things fell into place as they should.
When had “as they should” been part of the game? Winning took strategy, a cutthroat plan that took no prisoners and laid waste to everything and everyone in its path. I’d always had the nerve and the will to do what I must. If I didn’t, I risked losing what I treasured most. My life was on the line—something I hadn’t valued before I met Tempest. She’d brought color to my world .
And hope. Its sweetness came with a bitter taint I couldn’t get rid of.
“I’ll be there,” he said. “Waiting. Ready to act.”
Finally.
I braced his shoulders. I wanted to tell him not to fail me, but I’d asked him that before— begged him before—and we both knew how that had turned out.
“Thank you,” I said instead.
There was so much more riding on this than me, and that should make a difference. With a personal stake in the outcome, he would try harder.
By the fates, I sure hoped he did.
We rode back to the aerie, but while he flitted to his suite immediately after, I remained to groom Glim. I usually roused a stable hand to do this, but since working with Fury at the fortress, I’d discovered I found comfort in the task. It soothed me in a way few other things did.
It reminded me of her.
Finished, I left Glim’s stall and strode down the silent hall that echoed only with my thoughts. As I passed Madrood’s pen, a subtle sound inside made me pause. I released the latch and eased open the top of his gate to peer inside, finding the beast lying on his side, asleep. He didn’t look up and nothing appeared out of place.
Securing the latch again, I leaned against the wall and waited longer than I needed to before flitting to my suite.
I removed my clothing and slipped into bed beside Tempest, gathering her into my arms. It felt good to hold her, to kiss her brow.
Best of all, she murmured my name in her sleep.