3. Kols
The ascension trialswere never straightforward. They tested more than just the source heir; they tested everyone linked to the heir as well.
Which made Aflora’s statement true.
I needed to trust Night to find me. I needed to trust that he’d survived. And I needed to trust that what Aflora and the others had done was enough to bring not only me back from death, but my familiar, too.
Her dark hair framed her beautiful face and fierce expression as she waited for my agreement. She knew this was the right path, and I needed to trust her instincts.
These trials were devised to trick us all. Only the strongest were meant to survive. I’d been more than strong enough, but I’d been tricked by the Elders—my own grandfather—and betrayed by my Council.
I would seek vengeance in my own way, starting by helping my mate ascend.
Constantine Nacht wanted Aflora to fail, to make a mockery of her ascension.
I’d ensure the opposite happened.
I’d help her become queen.
“Ahaminee,”I breathed, invoking the incantation for calling a familiar. “Ahaminee, Night.”
Aflora’s fingers curled into my chest, her blue eyes glistening with approval.
She had said I resembled a shadowy creature to her. How very odd. I had no trouble seeing her. But everything else was dark and covered by the power vines. It made me wonder if I’d even be able to see Night.
Assuming he was still alive.
I swallowed, the echo of his dying caw infiltrating my senses and eliciting a wince from deep within. He’d been a part of me, a being of my own creation. And I’d failed him.
Not by choice.
Not even on purpose.
But because of my grandfather’s greed for power.
I’d never anticipated him going to the extent of killing me to take back the throne. It had all happened so quickly, so unexpectedly, that I’d never even considered the potential outcome.
And now this—forcing the ascension onto Aflora. It made no sense.
What are you trying to prove?I wondered as a wave of power swirled around us.
An echo of cawing began, the darkness moving in flaps of wings as the vines melted into a series of crows. Aflora gasped, her grip on my hand tightening. I wrapped my arm around her lower back, holding her to me as the feathers beat over our heads.
It reminded me of the transportation yard back at the Academy with all the crows forming a vessel for students to travel to and from within.
But no keypad appeared here.
This whirlwind of energy wasn’t meant to help teleport Midnight Fae; it was meant to serve as a test. Another layer of trust. “We have to follow our instincts,” I realized out loud.
More than that—I had to follow mine, and Aflora had to trust me to choose. To pick a crow I thought might be Night and follow him to our freedom or our doom.
I explained the realization to Aflora, felt her stiffen against me, and understood how difficult this task would be for us both.
She had to trust me.
And I had to trust myself.
I wasn’t in a position to rely on my instincts. I’d nearly died yesterday. All my powers were convoluted and messy, strands of various magic helping to bolster my soul and keep me alive.
I was no longer an Elite Blood, but something significantly other.
An abomination.
Just like my mate.
I could feel Shade, Zakkai, and Zeph inside me. Aflora, too. A collection of strength that shouldn’t be possible, yet existed nonetheless.
“Kols?” Aflora whispered, the feathers closing in around us. “What are your instincts telling you? Because mine are saying to run.”
“Hold on,” I replied, closing my eyes to focus on the beating wings. Where are you, Night?
Rather than focus on the sounds around me, I searched for the familiar strand of life—my life. Both new and old. Former and current. But the essences swarming through the air all blended together, masking the one I sought.
Minutes passed as I chanted the spell under my breath, demanding my familiar find me.
Yet nothing happened beyond the whirl of feathers, some of them slicing my cheek and arms like charcoal blades. Not feathers, but metallic stone. Dangerous. Lethal. Cruel.
Come on…
Night had to be here somewhere. Aflora’s certainty washed over me, giving me the strength I needed to keep searching. She trusted me to find him. Which meant he was here somewhere, cloaked behind the mass of power created by the dark source.
Aflora’s palm wrapped around the back of my neck, her lips capturing mine.
It took me so off guard that I didn’t immediately return her embrace.
But as her tongue parted my lips, I realized her plan—blood. Her essence hit my senses, lighting my veins on fire with her power. I swallowed her heated kiss, her energy swarming inside me and grounding me in a field of existence beyond comprehension.
Mine, I thought. Aflora’s mine.
Some sort of barrier fizzled into ash between us, our connection smoldering to life. And in the next breath, she released me, my mind suddenly clear and focused on my task.
There!I yanked my mouth away from Aflora’s, my gaze locking on a crow just a few feet above my head. “Come here.” The bird cawed in response, clearly agitated over being called away from the swarming array of feathers, but as he dove down, I felt the rightness in our connection. Night.
Aflora hummed in agreement, a spell warming her breath as she weaved some sort of Quandary magic through the air. An invisible dagger sliced through my heart, stealing the air from my lungs, and on my next inhale, I felt rejuvenated with life.
Finally, she said into my mind. Constantine did something to our bonds. I figured out how to unfasten his hold on you, but the others are still quiet.
I frowned, attempting my link to Zeph and finding it closed off. I’d been so focused on Aflora before that I hadn’t thought to reach out to him. Having a mental link to him was still new, but so was my link to her. And yet, all my attention had been on finding her.
Odd.
A year ago, my first instinct would have been to reach out to him.
That didn’t necessarily mean I loved her more or him less, just that my priorities had changed. I supposed I’d also been consumed with the need to find her because of the ascension and my desire to help her.
Kols,Aflora said, drawing me back to the present. She looked up with her pretty blue eyes, a smile tugging at the edges of her mouth. I followed her gaze to find Night hovering above us, his wings spread wide as he soared in a circle around our heads.
I dropped my arm away from her back and grabbed her hand once more. “Lead the way,” I told him, confident in his ability to guide us out.
Night took off through the mess of feathers, creating a path for us to follow, and we sprinted after him into the sea of darkness.
A resounding hiss trailed behind us, the power vines sizzling and reforming into something new and dangerous. But I kept my gaze on Night, my hand firmly holding Aflora’s, as we ran… and ran… and ran.
Not once did she glance backward, no matter how much noise and chaos echoed through the air. Aflora was resolute in her choice, her faith in me a tangible kiss to my senses.
I’d known from our first meeting that she was an ideal mate. Royal. Beautiful. Strong. Feisty as hell. And now she was truly mine. For eternity.
She’d brought me back from certain death, claimed me with her power, and rooted herself so deep inside me that I would forever belong to her, and her to me.
I love you,I whispered, the words a stroke against my heart. I hadn’t said that to her before. I hadn’t really considered it entirely. But I knew with every fiber of my being that Aflora was always meant to be mine.
I love you, too,Aflora replied, her blue eyes momentarily meeting mine. But we’re escaping this place.
I know we are,I assured her. And when we do, I’ll confess my feelings out loud. Because I hadn’t said the words to her now out of fear; I knew we would make it out of here alive. The moment had just felt right.
I pushed those emotions to her now, the certainty of our fate underlined in the love I felt.
She didn’t outwardly smile, but I sensed her responding joy.
Just as I sensed her tingle of uncertainty as Night led us to a bright white light. It blanketed the world in white, chasing away the darkness and leaving nothing behind.
“Kols?” she asked.
“We jump,” I told her as Night disappeared into the horizon.
“Okay.” She didn’t falter. She merely kept running, our hands still linked.
And we leapt into the core of the dark source’s power, the light blinding us both. Her palm disappeared from mine, but we woke up in the bed beside one another in the next breath. I inhaled sharply, looking at her and meeting her gaze.
Then the mattress shook beneath us as power ripped through the air.
Zakkai and Zeph were both on their feet, their wands in their hands as they fought an attack from outside. Fuck, I thought, trying to sit up and join them. But my body refused the movement. Aflora appeared to be having the same struggle beside me, both of us weakened by her first ascension trial.
You passed, I assured her. Six more to go.
She groaned in response. Then she closed her eyes and began murmuring enchantments that had my eyes widening. They were advanced incantations, ones I hadn’t taught her.
But a glance at Zakkai told me where she’d learned them—through their mating link. His silver-blue gaze fell to her, pride momentarily lightening his expression before he growled at the incoming attack from the outside.
The foundation rocked around us, knocking me into Aflora. Power blasted out of her, hitting the sides of the paradigm with a fortification charm that had my heart stopping in unadulterated awe.
Energy rippled down her arms, the dark source’s mark marring her pale skin with inky lines.
She finished the incantation on an exhale, and the world fell silent.
Zakkai and Zeph immediately fell to the bed, their exhaustion evident.
Then Zakkai bit into his wrist and held it to Aflora’s mouth. “Drink,” he demanded.
Zeph followed suit, putting his wrist to my lips. “You, too, little prince.”
I tried to snort at the nickname, but I could barely form the sound. So I latched onto his vein instead, sinking my incisors deep into his skin and taking my fill of his blood.
It only took a few pulls for life to thrive through my being, reinvigorating my reserves and drawing me firmly back into the present. The dreamlike filter over my eyes dissolved, allowing me to truly see the damage around the room.
Although, I wouldn’t exactly call it a room anymore.
Because there was no roof.
And the bed?
It was a mound of dirt overlaid with dead flower petals.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked as I released Zeph’s wrist.
“War,” Zakkai replied flatly. “A damn war.”