Chapter Eleven
Aelia
They say no one returns from the dead, but I’d never been one to follow the rules.
.. I stood beneath the shadows of the Hall of Luce, my gaze pinned on the mass of second years littering the training field.
Rais hummed in the air, the pleasant glow of luminescent shields and radiant blades bathing the lush clearing.
There was something serene and oddly beautiful about the sight.
A part of me wished to once again be that invisible Kin within the sea of blonde Light Fae, struggling to summon her reluctant rais, but that was not my fate.
Today, a ghost would rise.
But first, I needed a moment to steel myself for the dreaded homecoming.
Would Flare Team welcome me back, or would Belmore and Ariadne keep sneering down their perfect noses like I was still something scraped off the bottom of their boots?
As the infamous child of the prophecy, I was surely as welcome as the Night King at the feast of the Winter Solstice.
Oh, gods, Aelia, what does that matter?
Being accepted by my team and classmates should have been the least of my worries. I leaned against the marble pillar, forcing a breath past the dread clawing up my throat.
The encounter with Draven had left me drained, recounting my destiny as the child of twilight never a pleasant task.
And yet, I forced myself to focus on the swirl of hope that had ignited at his promise to do what he could to unite the academies; Reign and his persuasive shadows hadn’t exactly given him a choice in the matter.
He’d also insisted Draven speak to Malakar at his earliest opportunity.
In only a few days, both campuses could begin training together to battle a new foe.
Assuming Draven was successful in convincing Malakar to disobey King Tenebris’s rule.
My hopes weren’t high on that front, but before Reign darted off to speak to Professor Lumen before class, he assured me that the volatile headmaster of Arcanum played by his own rules, and anything was possible.
Cocking my head over my shoulder, I glanced across the river at the spiraling ebony turrets of Arcanum Citadel. Was Ruhl there now? Was he still upset, or had he found solace in another female?
A part of my heart ached for the Shadow Prince.
I hated to see him in pain after everything we’d been through.
I tried consoling myself with the thought that what he felt for me wasn’t real.
It was only a trick of the cuorem. Somehow, the lie rang hollow though.
Ruhl had developed real feelings for me, just as I had for him.
Whatever tether the cuorem had forged between us had twisted into something more.
Ruhl had cared for me, maybe even loved me.
And a part of me had wanted to believe it.
In the end, though, I’d chosen my heart’s true desire: Reign, the male I loved more than anything.
That still didn’t mean I wanted to see Ruhl hurt.
I resolved to mend the rift between us as soon as I could. After all, with Reign and me destined to be together forever, as his brother, Ruhl, too, would always be in our lives.
The air shifted and my instincts sparked like flint, turning my attention over my shoulder toward the Hall of Glory.
Reign and Liora treaded down the marble steps, the Light Fae female staring up adoringly at my professor.
Despite having heard how Reign’s other acquisition had aided in retrieving me from Helroth’s clutches, I still sided with Rue on the Liora issue.
I did not trust the female.
My thoughts soared back in time to one of the occasions Helroth had infiltrated my mind and dragged me unwittingly into the middle of battle.
I glanced across the battlefield, through the glittering veil, and a familiar form took shape, cutting across a line of Light Fae. Liora? Blinking quickly, my vision cleared, and a lavender-haired female stood in her place, launching hellfire across the troop of Royal Guardians.
I could have sworn I saw her that day, the day I’d seen Heaton, right alongside the other Night Fae. He had been real; I was certain of it. What if she was too?
With my thoughts shifting to Heaton, a suffocating weight settled across my shoulders. I’d vowed to return to the Wilds to find him, and yet, days passed without action. I must keep my word to Rue. Every day he was out there only strengthened Helroth’s grip on my friend.
Gods, I had to find a way to get to him.
“I’m so thrilled to see you back on campus, Aelia.
” A cheery voice tore me from my dark musings.
Blinking quickly, I focused on Liora, standing a few inches too close to my cuoré.
As if Reign had sensed the flare of jealousy, he stepped away from his other acquisition to stand at my side.
“And I suppose congratulations are in order. I hear you and Reign are fated mates? What an honor to be chosen by the gods for such a blessed pairing.” Her smile showed too many teeth, bordering on a sneer.
Polite, pretty, and possibly laced with poison.
“Well, then, I guess Ruhl did share some secrets during your tawdry little encounter. Nothing like taking advantage of a male who is two sheets to the wind.”
“That’s not—” Liora’s cheeks flared a deep crimson. “I didn’t think it would matter—”
“It doesn’t,” I cut her off, raising my hand.
“And in any case,” she continued, “it wasn’t the other night in bed that Ruhl told me of the cuorem. He mentioned it in passing one day, when he was perfectly sober.”
“The evening Aelia was taken by King Helroth?” Reign asked.
She shrugged. “How should I know? I can’t keep track with all the chaos.”
Could that have been why Helroth took you? He discovered we were bound and hoped to steal you away before the cuorem grew stronger? Reign’s questions zipped through my mind.
Maybe… but how could he have known? Besides Ruhl, only Rue, Sy, Gideon and Aidan knew. Not even Kaelith had been privy to our bonding until after we’d returned to Shadowmere.
If Ruhl told Liora… His words fell away, and I could feel the coils of unease sweeping through our bond.
Reign had been the first one to defend her, since the beginning.
The unease morphed into something darker, something truly terrifying. What if Ruhl told Helroth in some twisted attempt at revenge at us for completing the bond? His question was nothing more than a serrated growl.
“No. He wouldn’t.” I blurted the inconceivable words aloud. “Ruhl would never betray me like that.”
And yet… I found my mind spinning to the past, to the ball after the Umbral Trials when Ruhl trapped me in the corner of the decadent chamber.
He lifted a hand, pressing his finger to my lips. “Do not worry, duskling. I have no intention of divulging the truth to my father. I only ask one small favor in return.”
“What is that?” I breathed.
“Simple, you refuse to complete the cuorem bond with Reign.”
I’d always meant to ask Ruhl why he’d asked that of me. A part of me foolishly assumed it was because of the so-called feelings he’d developed for me. But what if there was more?
Slamming down the glittering mental barrier Reign had taught me to conjure, I closed off my thoughts to my mate.
The bond resisted, like a blade dragged across bone.
Reign’s presence dimmed in my mind, and I hated the way the relief and guilt battled in my chest. If Reign ever received confirmation that Ruhl had done anything to jeopardize my safety, he would destroy him.
Without a second thought.
Reign’s frenzied shadows slid across my flesh, drawing me back to the sun-bathed field. I blinked to find his gaze heavy on me. Could he feel the wall I’d constructed between us?
“We’ll discuss this later in private.” I ticked my head toward the training field. “It’s time to announce my triumphant return to the academy.”
Reign nodded, his dark brows furrowed and a tendon feathering beneath the hard line of his jaw. Liora stepped forward first, leaving me beside him in a weighted silence.
Gods, I hoped I was wrong.
If Ruhl had conspired with the Night King, or if he was even aware of Tenebris scheming with Helroth…
Gods help them both if Reign found out. Because he wouldn’t just destroy them, he’d burn everything to ash.