Chapter 23
RYNETH
Ryneth woke to a sharp knock on the door.
He checked his multi-slate, only to find a message from Daven.
Went for an early run. Needed to get my mind clear.
That asshole Vandor will pick you up to take you to breakfast at Archer’s house. I can’t be there, but you’ll be safe with him.
Ryneth thought of the conversation they’d had in the bath the night before. Of the flower. Of Daven’s quiet promise in the dark. And of the fear that still hadn’t quite left him.
Sometimes I wonder what I love. I guess I’ve never really given it much thought.
He replayed Daven’s words in his head. They made his chest flutter.
I’m going to find out what I love. With you.
Ryneth wanted that very much. An arrogant, possessive Daven was hot. But a smiling, talking Daven?
Yes, he wanted inside. Into Daven’s head. Into whatever he kept buried under the swagger and control. He wanted to understand what sat underneath the Dariux, the upbringing, the need to always perform.
Ryneth read the message again.
Was that why he needed to go for a run? To clear his head?
And why the hell had Daven brought up Archer?
Then he remembered Cyprian’s invitation to breakfast at his friend’s house and groaned. He hadn’t expected Daven to let him go by himself.
A second knock followed, sharper this time, making Ryneth jump out of his thoughts.
“Coming!”
Pulling on his bathrobe, he hurried through the penthouse, swearing when he nearly knocked over a plant that stood by the front door. He swung open the door, suddenly feeling self-conscious under the stare of the uniformed guard.
“Sorry, I—Five minutes?”
Vandor’s smile was professional and distant as usual. “Of course.”
Ryneth rushed back to the bedroom. Great. Now he couldn’t concentrate. They had classes today, so he needed to wear his uniform. But then he had this… breakfast.
Blindly grabbing a shirt and jacket from the closet, he stopped mid-motion. Wait, was he supposed to get changed after he’d had breakfast? Was he supposed to bring any gifts to this breakfast?
He glanced through the door that stood ajar, taking in Vandor’s demeanor. The other man wore his school uniform with the golden brooch pinned neatly to his chest.
Ryneth let his gaze linger a second too long, measuring the cut of the jacket and the collar, wondering if he should match it, then caught Vandor looking straight back at him.
Heat flooded his face. He jerked his head away, his heart kicking hard.
Light, I wasn’t staring. I was just checking the uniform.
Footsteps approached. “Is everything okay here?”
“Yes. Yeah. I just…” Ryneth let out a long breath, then started to get dressed.
“You just?” Vandor asked from the other side of the door.
“I wasn’t sure what to wear, is all,” Ryneth snapped, and pulled his pants up.
There was a beat of silence. Then—
“You have classes today?”
“Yeah.”
“So why don’t you know—”
Ryneth pulled open the door. “Because I’ve never been invited to someone’s house before, all right? Now cut it out and never mention the subject again.” He bared his teeth when Vandor’s lips twitched, huffing when the other man let out a laugh. “Let’s go.”
The ride through Zephyr never grew old. Ryneth leaned back in the seat and let the city move around him. Towers caught the morning light. Glass reflected sky. People streamed along the walkways below, rushing to work or class, while students already sprawled across Umbral Park in the early sun.
He could have driven like this for hours. Watching Helion wake up still felt unreal.
Ryneth’s stomach grumbled, reminding him he hadn’t eaten since last night.
“He told me you’d be looking for him,” Vandor said. “Eat first.”
Ryneth just nodded. He was not in the mood to talk, his eyes scanning the streets for any sign of Daven despite Vandor’s warning. Where had he gone for a run?
Just thinking about him made Ryneth’s palm tingle.
He felt the lack of Daven beside him more sharply than he expected.
Maybe it was the bond. Maybe it was just missing him already.
They stopped by an apartment block across from the park, where Cyprian and Mirel, and a Luminary guard smoking nearby, stood waiting.
“Good morning. I’m glad you could make it,” Cyprian said as Ryneth stepped out.
The other man’s expression was genuinely warm, and Ryneth couldn’t quite bring himself to make a snide comment about how this hadn’t been his choice, but just another order from the man who owned him. “Yeah.”
“Well, follow me. Up we go.”
They took the elevator up to the sixth floor, where Archer was already waiting for them. The smell drifting from his open door made Ryneth’s stomach grumble again.
“That’s a good sign.” Archer’s eyes lit up as he grabbed Ryneth’s hand. The others laughed. “I’m glad you could make it. Come on. Let’s get everyone fed. I’ve been up since six to make the dough.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?” Cyprian rolled his eyes but gestured for Ryneth to come inside with a smile.
The apartment was cozy. The kitchen was warm, the oven filled with buns and a first batch of bread already cooling on a flour-dusted counter.
“Shoo, Helianth. You can’t eat those.” Archer patted away a fat white cat that sat sniffing the bread under the foil.
“Helianth?” Ryneth blinked.
“Don’t ask.” Cyprian winked before he took a big bite.
Archer blushed. “Yeah. My… cat.”
Ryneth accepted the tigano Mirel held out for him and sat down on one of the stools.
“A regal name for a regal cat,” Cyprian commented after swallowing his first bite. “Right, Arch?”
“Right.” Archer didn’t look up, just stood in front of his stove, flipping tiganos with careful concentration. The boy’s tongue stuck slightly between his teeth as he worked.
“Anyway, how are classes going? I heard Daven enrolled you in Governance.” Cyprian shivered at the thought.
“Yeah, he did.”
“I-interesting?” Mirel asked carefully.
Ryneth thought about the question. He’d never considered college an option for him, so in that respect the classes were interesting. It was better than nothing. But he shook his head. “It’s not really my subject, but it’s a privilege to be in college.”
Ignoring the second part of his answer, Cyprian asked, “What would you have studied if you had the chance?”
“Civil engineering. What do you do?”
“Art.”
“I study science with a minor in art,” Archer added.
“Nice. Is that how you met?”
Archer and Cyprian stared at each other, then chuckled.
“Nope. When I came to Helion, I moved in here as his housemate.”
“And he got moved out the next day.”
“Really?”
“Oh, yes. I had caught Moargan’s eye, and well… the rest is history. You know what it’s like.”
“Yeah.” Ryneth shivered at the thought of Daven and pressed his hands together under the bar. The thrumming had grown more insistent.
“It will get b-better.” Mirel pointed at his hands with a smile. “Your h-hands.”
“Oh, yeah. I hope it does.” He took in the blond man. He was also wearing a school uniform. “And what do you study?”
“S-school.” Mirel smiled shyly. Light, he was adorable.
“School?”
“My brother didn’t go to school, so he is still catching up. He’ll most likely enroll in Governance in a few years’ time. He already helps Kylix at the Luminary sometimes.”
“Ah, okay.”
“Helianth, no. Stop it. Damn cat. Sorry, Ryneth.” Archer picked up the cat before he could reach Ryneth’s breakfast.
“Did you name the cat after the prince?” Ryneth couldn’t help but ask.
Cyprian and Mirel both snickered.
“Um…” Archer scratched the back of his head, turning bright red. “I… may have?”
The snickers turned to full-blown laughter. Ryneth’s own lips twitched. It had been such a long time since he’d laughed.
He couldn’t help but think of his foster siblings, Tavi and the other three younger boys. Good Light, they would chuckle and play for hours.
“Hey. Where did you go?” Cyprian waved a hand in front of him.
Ryneth looked up. “I’m sorry. I just thought of my foster brothers.”
“Ah.” Cyprian smiled understandingly. “I used to have them too. Were yours nice?”
“Yeah. My foster mother was too. Mara. They were family.”
And I miss them.
“I made you something. Perhaps it will make you feel better.” Cyprian rummaged through his bag and pulled out a sheet of paper.
Ryneth watched Archer laugh at something Mirel said. His eyes widened when Kylix’s shy partner used his hands to turn water into cubes. “What the—”
“Here.”
Ryneth shook himself out of it and looked at the drawing Cyprian held out. “Is that for me? You drew something for me?”
Cyprian’s smile was a little self-conscious. “I did. Though I’m not sure what it is, to be honest. I woke up last night with this vision in my head, and I just had to draw it.”
Ryneth’s eyes narrowed as he took in the charcoal smudges on the white paper. The moment he turned the paper, the static in his veins flickered.
“I don’t understand much, but I know it was for you,” Cyprian whispered. “Do you recognize it?”
“Good Light.” Ryneth’s throat felt dry. His eyes burned from the lack of blinking. “It’s…” The Ward. “A place in Düren. A place I guarded many nights.”
“From what?” Archer asked.
“You’re really precise,” Ryneth said instead of answering. His finger traced the wall that stretched across the paper in stark charcoal strokes. “And you saw this? In a vision?”
“I see things,” Cyprian explained. “They come to me. I draw them, and somehow, they make sense.”
“And that is your Dariux gift? That’s amazing.”
“Thank you,” Cyprian mumbled, but Ryneth barely heard him, barely heard anything. He could only watch the drawing while his body filled with the familiar current he craved so much when his mind felt fragile.
On one side of the wall, figures stood in guard formation.
With a sad smile, he traced their shapes. How often had he stood there with nothing but a wooden stick and a promise of coin if he made it to morning?
Of course there was something beyond the Ward.
Raiders. Creatures. Something hungry in the dark.
The wall existed for a reason.