Chapter Three
Aelia
The chill of the approaching isle of Shadowmere clawed through my skin like icy fingertips, a cruel echo of the darkness I’d only just escaped.
A tremor raced up my spine at the memories or lack thereof.
For a terrible moment, I’d been gone, torn out of the warm bed I’d shared with Reign and lost in the thrall of Helroth’s control.
Sol had been attacked by the Night’s beasts of smoke, and I hadn’t been the wiser. I’d nearly killed Reign…
As the familiar turrets of Duskridge Manor coalesced along the cliffs, my skin already mourned Raysa’s golden touch to warm my icy bones beneath the gloom.
Soon, princess. We’ll have you back at the Conservatory before long. Reign’s deep voice zipped through our bond and excitement lit up my insides.
Curling my arms tighter around his waist as we zipped through the night aboard Phantom, my brows knitted. Luce? We’ll be returning to the academy? But how?
Have you forgotten the deal I struck with King Elian? His vow and his protection extend to the campus.
But that means all the students will discover who I really am…
What if they looked at me and only saw the monster Helroth made me? And worse, if we accepted my uncle’s protection, Reign would be forced to hand over his father to the Light King.
Only if you want them to. You can tell your fellow classmates as little or as much as you choose. Other than your closest friends, only Elian and Draven will be privy to the whole truth.
And yet, we still don’t know if we can trust either, especially my uncle.
No, we do not. Reign’s sigh reached all the way down to my core.
By the time Phantom began the descent toward the manor, our reinforcements had arrived. The sight of Rue, Symon, Ruhl and Gideon, along with Aidan, descending the steps of the manor had unexpected tears burning my eyes as I slid down her leg even before Reign moved.
But none had my heart clenching more than the sight of my dragon. Sol. He stood at the foot of the cliffs, golden scales gleaming like a beacon in the endless black.
Sol, you’re all right! I raced toward him, wrapping my arms around his thick front leg.
Of course, I am. Did you truly believe one of those creatures of smoke could subdue me for long?
When it came to the Night Fae, I didn’t know what to believe.
I’d gotten so close to losing all of them again because of my twisted grandsire.
Never happening again. Sol’s rumbling voice reverberated through my mind. We will never let Helroth or those Night Fae bastards have you. I swear to it, little Kin.
Thanks, Sol. As much as I knew he meant it, there were forces that were even beyond my dragon’s control. And my cuoré’s. Blinking back the tears, I trailed Reign’s form as he leapt off Phantom’s back and landed beside me, only a yard away from where our friends and family awaited.
Their wary glances told me everything. They knew about Helroth’s latest hijacking of my fragile mind. And none of them knew how to look at me.
Phantom and I will retreat to the caves along the Darkmania Falls, unless you need me. Sol’s voice momentarily distracted me from my friends’ curious gazes.
No, go rest. I’ll let you know what our next move is. As soon as we figured it out.
His massive wings unfolded, the golden scales shimmering beneath the full moon as he thrust high into the pitch night sky.
Growling her annoyance—at him or having to leave, I wasn’t sure—Phantom shot up after him, her sleek obsidian scales devouring the moonlight.
The sharp contrast of light and shadow lit up the darkness as the pair disappeared into the horizon.
Is everything okay between those two? I tossed the question to my cuoré as he moved into step beside me.
As okay as it can be for now. His warm hand captured mine, our fingers entwining as we walked toward the eagerly awaiting gathered crowd.
Do you think they’ll complete the dragon mate bond again?
I certainly hope so. Phantom has been impossible lately.
A rueful smile curled my lips as I jabbed my elbow into his side when we reached my family. “An infuriating mate will do that to you.”
“Eek, I still can’t believe you two are mated!
” Rue’s shriek of happiness as she hurtled toward us momentarily distracted me from the dire realities of our current situation.
Her arms swung around both Reign and me—a nearly impossible feat considering her petite size, but somehow, she managed it.
“Thank Raysa you completed the bond before… well, Helroth.”
Ruhl strode forward, arms pressed tightly across his chest. “Or maybe if they hadn’t completed it and we’d sought an alternative option, it never would have happened at all.”
“And what was that alternative, brother?” Reign’s voice dropped to a lethal rumble, his shadows plummeting the courtyard into a more oppressive night. “Her marrying you?”
His cheeks flamed, the tendon in his jaw flaring.
“Enough,” I hissed, slapping my hand across my cuoré’s chest. His shadows relented, and moonlight bathed the glistening stone yard once more.
You won. I’m yours. I threw the thoughts down our bond. There’s no need to rub Ruhl’s nose in it.
He started it.
Whirling on Reign, I shot him a dramatic eyeroll. Gods, how old are you?
Lips twisting, he huffed out a frustrated sigh. “We aren’t here to argue.” His dark gaze raked over our gathered friends. “Where is Kaelith?”
“I had him sequestered per your request,” Aidan replied.
For the first time since my return, I really looked at my adoptive father.
Dark circles lined his eyes, and utter exhaustion was carved into his features.
The past few months had really taken a toll on him.
I longed to reach for his hand, to assure him that we would all emerge from this unscathed.
But after all the things Helroth had forced me to become in the past months, a liar wouldn’t be one of them.
But that didn’t mean I couldn’t indulge in a quick hug with the man who’d raised me as his own.
“Good,” Reign replied, forcing me to release Aidan and return to the conversation at hand. “I will get the truth out of that Demon Fae if I have to carve it out with my shadows.”
“You truly believe he played a part in helping Helroth infiltrate my mind?” The question popped out before I could stop it.
Despite knowing full well that Kae served my grandsire, the idea of his betrayal cut deeper than I’d imagined.
In the months spent with my jailor-turned-trainer, I hated to admit it, but I’d grown almost fond of the bad-tempered Night Fae.
And a part of me hoped he hadn’t been responsible for the lives I stole.
The ones in which Helroth had forced my hand.
Guilt ravaged my insides as a carousel of gruesome images flooded my mind.
I still had yet to face the terrible truth that my grandsire had forced me to cut down dozens of Fae in battle.
It didn’t matter that it hadn’t been my choice, I’d still committed the acts.
Blinking quickly, I dismissed the reel of grisly corpses to deal with another day.
“I don’t know if he did or not, Aelia, but I will find out.” Reign pressed a quick kiss to my forehead before striding toward the entrance to the manor.
Ruhl quickly trailed after him. “I will accompany you to ensure Kaelith survives the inquisition. After all, he will be no good to us dead.”
Reign spun at his brother, coils of frenzied shadows slithering across his form. “Are you saying I won’t be able to control myself?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” He lifted his hand to the whirlwind of dark wraiths. “You haven’t even seen him yet and look at you.”
“I’m afraid Ruhl might be right,” Gideon interjected, slipping between the princes, a move he seemed to have mastered over the years. “Perhaps, I should go as well, so that the two of you don’t kill each other along the way.”
“Oh, for Fae’s sake,” I grumbled. Why did I ever believe that once Reign and I were mated things would be simpler?
As soon as the Shadow Fae contingency was gone, Symon zipped past Rue and moved beside me, curling an arm around my shoulders. “And while the boys are doing that, we can have a catch-up session.”
Rue’s head bounced up and down. “Yes, please! I’m afraid we’ll never get the chance again with all this talk of war on the horizon.”
“I’m afraid it isn’t just talk.” Aidan’s lips puckered, his entire expression souring as he regarded us. “We appear to be walking a dagger’s edge, only moments from plunging to our doom.”
“Then we definitely deserve a girls’ night.” Rue smirked up at me, not letting my adopted-father’s words dampen her mood. “You know, before we all die.”
I couldn’t help the completely inappropriate grin from settling across my lips.
“A girls’ night? How rude!” Sy whined.
Tucking my head into the crook of his neck, I tugged him closer. “Oh, stop it, Sy, you know you’re one of the girls.”
“Alas,” he groaned, lips pulling into a pout. “I’m doomed to spend my entire existence in the dreaded Fae friend zone.” His hand snaked out, reaching for my ear. “But do you know what would make me feel slightly better?”
“Give it a rest, Sy.” Rue swatted his hand away like a pesky insect. “You’ll have to find a new Kin’s ear to fondle. Our Aelia has the sharp, deadly points of a princess.”
And I’d never felt it to be more true than in that moment.
I would allow myself this moment of reprieve, the lighthearted banter with my friends, but tomorrow, the battle would begin, and I would never again be Aelia, the lowly Kin. I would be reborn as Princess Aelia of Ether.
Still, a dark, ominous voice in the darkest depths of my mind within the shadowed corners I preferred to avoid, hissed its objections. The part that craved the fury of battle, the cries of the weak, the blood of enemies spilled wondered if I was born to be Princess Aelia of Inferna instead.
And though I smiled and laughed, that dark part of me, buried deep where no one could see, feared that the throne that awaited me wasn’t made of gold at all but rather bone and shadow.