Chapter 17
“You cannot do this,” Hamish murmured as he came to a stop on the checkered black-and-white tiles, Aedric’s arm slung heavily over his shoulder.
Aedric could walk when forced, but there was nothing of him left in the movement. He followed without resistance, without intent, as though trapped in a waking dream. I couldn’t bear to look at him, and yet I couldn’t look away.
Heat burned behind my eyes as the weight bore down on me—what I’d done, what I’d taken from him.
Veylan leaned against the wall, arms crossed as his shadows dragged a massive curved door aside. The hinges groaned, and a pitch-black tunnel yawned open.
“The tunnel will lead you to the bay. There’s a boat there waiting.” His smile was gruesome. “I hope Flamelords don’t mind water. I'd hate for the sea to put him out.”
Hamish didn't acknowledge Veylan's taunts. His attention remained fixed on me instead, the battle waging beneath his solemn exterior plain enough for me to see.
I swallowed and stepped closer. Rising onto my toes, I lifted the edge of my robe and gently wiped the blood from Hamish's face.
We should have left. We should have gone straight through the hearth and skelded back to Dheren. I tried to remember Levinica’s prophecy—the exact words of the vision she’d had, the one thing we’d risked everything for. Three gates sealed in ages old…
Nothing. The rest slipped through my grasp like water through my fingers.
“I’ll get you out,” Hamish promised gruffly. “I’ll find a way. When we return to Dheren—”
“You can’t go back to Dheren.” My hand stilled against his skin. “Sairus can’t know about this.”
His face darkened at the mention of his father. He understood the truth of it as well as I did. If Sairus saw Aedric like this—if he knew what had been done to him—the temptation to challenge him in this state would be impossible to resist.
Hamish’s mouth set into a grim line. “There’s not much time.”
I understood. Soon the Court of Flame would come looking for him, and when they did, they'd discover what had happened. And what if Aedric never recovered?
No. I crushed the thought before it could fully form.
Aedric was not gone. He would walk back into his Court as though he’d never left—an arrogant smirk curving his mouth, that effortless, infuriating swagger still intact. His uncle would never know.
Fear cinched painfully around my ribs. “Where else can you take him?” I whispered.
Off to the side, Veylan lingered in studied disinterest, looking thoroughly bored and paying us no mind.
Hamish hesitated only a moment before inclining his head. “I have a place. Somewhere not even the Fae will dare go.”
“Good.” I stepped back, still gripping the bloodied hem of my robe.
“Elowen.” My name left him roughened, as though it had caught somewhere deep in his chest.
When I met his gaze, there was something desperate there, as though he might reach for me, close the distance between us and hold on. But he didn’t.
“Don’t worry about me.” I stepped back, offering him a weak smile. “Keep him safe.”
I lifted my hand and cupped his face, his beard rough against my palm. He leaned into my touch, almost imperceptibly, drawing in a slow, steady breath. His eyes closed for a fleeting moment. Then he pulled away.
I turned to Aedric, and the sight of him tore through me all over again. I moved closer and pressed my lips to his. His mouth didn’t respond, slack and still beneath mine, but he was warm. His breath remained steady, his body warm with the unmistakable heat that marked him as the Lord of Flame.
I wrapped my arms around him and held tight, memorizing the feel of him. I pressed my cheek to his chest, breathing in his familiar scent, his steady heartbeat thudding beneath my ear.
“I’ll save you,” I whispered, low enough that my promise belonged only to him. “I’ll break the bond. I swear it.”
“How touching,” Veylan drawled from the corner. “Truly. Sweet, even—if you hadn’t utterly destroyed his mind.”
I pulled away, already mourning the warmth of his body. His blue eyes—once bright as the heart of a flame—were dull, blank, fixed on nothing at all.
Hamish shifted Aedric's weight and drew his arm more securely over his shoulder before limping toward the entrance. Aedric followed, his movements slow and unseeing.
Hamish looked back once before Veylan’s shadows swept forward, pushing the heavy door shut before the latch fell into place with a final, echoing clang.
I was alone. Alone, and surrounded by enemies.
“What an interesting evening,” Veylan said lightly, gesturing ahead with an elegant hand. “Shall we?”
I didn't trust my voice. I fought to hold back my grief, to keep from breaking in front of him.
“I admit—you’re remarkably resourceful when cornered,” he continued thoughtfully. “I will give you that.”
His shadows slid along my shoulders, cold and invasive, skimming the back of my neck almost curiously. I flinched and brushed them away.
“Don’t speak to me.”
“Sore?” he chuckled. “How amusing. I was the one unceremoniously shackled in iron, and yet you see yourself as the victim. Aedric has you thoroughly twisted around his finger, doesn’t he?”
“Says the dog trailing at his master’s heels.”
He flashed his teeth in an animal grin as we began to climb the narrow stairs.
“You’re deluded if you think siding with the Dark Prince was anything but a mistake,” I spat.
“It fascinates me,” he said, almost pleasantly, “how people will argue to the death over things they refuse to question. Tell me—does ignorance feel safe to you?”
“There’s no argument between good and evil.”
A crowing laugh escaped him. “Too bad you can't tell which is which.”
“Don’t play with me, Veylan. I’m not in the mood.” The words nearly broke.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance but said nothing as we neared the upper corridors.
“Aren’t you going to lock me in a cell?” I asked at last.
“What for?” he replied with a faint shrug. “You won't risk your own life while Aedric's hangs in the balance. An unfortunate weakness—but a useful one.”
“You wanted to be caught, didn’t you? That was part of his plan all along.” I’d known it the moment he stepped forward in the receiving chamber.
Something in his expression shifted, not quite a smile, not quite anything human.
“He said he would summon you when you were needed. I was that summons.”
Nausea curled in the pit of my stomach. “So you risked yourself—risked your life—just to make sure I ended up here?”
“It was hardly a risk,” Veylan dismissed with a casual wave.
“Aedric is so thoroughly consumed by you that there was never any real question of how he would act. He would’ve done anything to break that bond, anything to keep you from being taken by his worst enemy.
” His mouth curled, amused. “His unhealthy obsession with you was enough to blind him completely.”
He pushed open the door to my room—our room—and stepped aside.
I stopped at the threshold. For a moment, I couldn’t move.
The breath left me in an unsteady rush. The bed was still unmade, sheets tangled where we’d left them. Clothes were strewn carelessly across the floor, as though we’d only just stepped out and might return at any moment. The air still held him, faint and lingering.
Except I was alone. And he was…
I felt Veylan’s attention settle on me, his colorless stare boring into the side of my face. “He’s done a remarkable job of unraveling you, hasn’t he? You were already out of sorts in Thistra, but now…”
“He’s my mate, Veylan.” I turned on him, holding his gaze despite the burn climbing my throat. “I’d die for him without hesitation. Do not mistake that for weakness.”
His lips pressed together, considering me. “I cannot imagine why you would choose such a fate.” His tone remained mild, almost curious. “If anything, you should be on your knees thanking the Dark Prince for correcting a rather disastrous situation.”
I moved to shut the door in his face, but his shadows slipped forward, catching it before it could close.
“After all,” he went on, unbothered, “mate or no mate, I would think what he has done to you would be… difficult to forgive.”
He lifted a finger and tapped his own cheek, a silent indication of where Aedric had struck me. Had his shadows been watching us?
Rage flared in an instant. “Everything that happened,” I said, my voice shaking with it, “is because your Dark Prince has been playing with us like pieces on a board.”
“Your disillusionment is not Rìan’s doing,” Veylan replied coolly. “Nor is your tendency toward poor decisions. You, especially, are prone to impressive mistakes.”
He stepped back at last, his shadows peeling away from the door and curling lazily around his shoulders.
“When the bond is broken,” he said softly, “Rìan might kill you, you know.”
I held his gaze and said nothing.
“Because the alternative,” he went on, “is allowing something far more dangerous than him to exist—you, with power like that and so little control over it. Alas…” He tutted softly. “That may prove to be a risk even he won't take.”
“So be it,” I lifted my chin.
He scoffed softly, but there was something like approval in it. “As much as I dislike you, I had forgotten how entertaining you can be. You present yourself as harmless—almost naive—but there is a surprising edge beneath it all. It is… unexpected.”
“You’ve always brought out the best in me, Veylan,” I said evenly.
That earned a quiet laugh. He clasped his hands neatly behind his back and turned away.
“Sweet dreams, Eidra.”