Chapter Twenty-Three
Aelia
Dread coiled in my gut, a living thing clawing to get out.
I forced myself to breathe, slow, controlled, as my blade cut through the air in measured arcs.
The training field was silent, save for the harsh rasp of my breath and the whisper of rais slicing the breeze.
When I’d awoken with a chill in my bones and an empty bed, I’d searched the chamber for Reign only to find a hastily written note scrawled on a parchment atop the nightstand.
He'd gone for the king…
I’d immediately sought him out through our bond, only to find a wall of pure obsidian blocking our connection.
Still, I could feel a trickle of fury and an occasional whisper of pain.
It had taken every ounce of restraint I possessed to keep from using my zar to rip through the mental barrier.
Instead, I’d come out here to burn some nervous energy and attempt to center myself.
I had to learn to trust my mate if I wished for him to do the same.
There was no denying that his abilities had grown more powerful—albeit, more out of control—since our bonding, but I had to believe he could handle his father. Please, Raysa, keep him safe.
The lethal tangle of powers that dwelled in my core were on edge, a battle of its own waging within my darkest depths. This had been the longest time and furthest distance we’d spent apart since my days at Helspire. The forced separation had me unsettled.
Which was odd since it had only been a few hours at most…
My rais seemed sluggish, the nox in an anxious frenzy, and the zar, ever more consuming.
Perhaps, the cuorem truly did ground me and tether my unruly powers.
Without Reign, would I lose control of my fragile restraint?
Would Helroth’s hold on me surge to the surface? My heart hammered at the mere thought.
No. I would never let him control me again. Gritting my teeth, I swung my sword, the trail of shimmering light arcing overhead.
Still, a dark voice echoed through the recesses of my mind.
Swear now, child of twilight, to bring down the Courts of Light and Shadow, until none but Night remains to rule the realm.
Shaking my head, I sought to loosen the lethal timbre stealing through my innermost thoughts. This time, it wasn’t my grandsire in my head. It was my own fear clawing at my nerves. With every day that passed, I couldn’t help but wonder if the twilight prophecy were coming true.
Hadn’t I already brought darkness into the realm?
Wind rattled through the ruined halls of the campus, raising the tiny hairs on my nape.
I’d already harmed, already annihilated.
Who knew how many Fae had been killed by my hand when Helroth had stolen into my mind and taken over my body?
As selfish as it sounded, a part of me was relieved I couldn’t remember.
Gods, it felt like no matter what we did, I was doomed to play the role of the dreaded child of twilight.
You are not doomed, little Kin. Sol’s voice streaked through my mind, the gentle caress drowning out some of the blossoming dread. Fate is merely a path others lay before you. It is not a prison, unless you choose to let it be.
Isn’t it though? Even in my head, I could hear the whiney twinge. It feels as if every step I take isn’t really my own, like all of this was decided long before I ever had a choice. My parents, the secrets, Helroth, the prophecy, even the cuorem bond…
The spiraling words fell away even as I thought them. The fated mate bond may have been preordained, but it was I who’d made the choice to tie myself to Reign—to link myself forever—for whatever remained of our chaotic lives. And it had been the best decision I’d ever made.
You see… Sol’s voice echoed through my mind, smug and self-righteous. You’ve always had control, Aelia. You must only exert it.
He was right, gods’ damn it. Thank you, Sol. I’m sorry if I don’t say that often enough. I don’t believe I ever would have survived any of this without you.
You are doing just fine, little Kin. Thanks to my tireless efforts.
Before I could come up with a colorful retort of my own, a roar ripped through the air, sending my thoughts scrambling and head tipping back to face the sun-drenched sky. The powerful pounding of wings reached my sensitive ears a second before Phantom’s sleek form appeared on the horizon.
Oh, thank the gods. I released a breath, allowing myself to let the relief settle.
Where in all the realms have you been? I shot the question through the cuorem, anger lacing my tone, the shimmering strands that connected us once again radiant.
You know where. Reign’s voice filtered through my mind, so dismal and dejected, it stole the fire from my veins.
Gods, are you all right?
No. But I will be.
As Phantom drew closer, Reign’s hunched form coalesced across the brilliant azure sky.
Lifting my finger, I summoned my rais, and radiant light glittered across the tip.
Tracing the air in the shape of the familiar celestial glyph, Raysa’s blessed powers skimmed over my flesh, then I focused my gaze, amplifying it until I could make out every detail of Reign’s haggard face.
I hissed out a breath as I took in the blood and gore streaking his face.
More than his physical state, it was the look of utter brokenness that had my stomach in knots.
My wings flared unbidden, light bursting across the field as they lifted me.
Every instinct screamed to fly to him, to reach him, to hold him, but I forced them down, my boots hitting the ground with a thud.
Instead, I paced, restless, the bond between us a live wire humming with his pain.
Phantom said he’s unharmed. Sol’s voice staunched some of the worry.
Good, because once I get my hands on him…
The rumble of the earth beneath my feet put an abrupt pause to my anger. Branches rattled and snapped as Phantom landed within the cover of the Lightwood Forest, just beyond the academy. My feet were moving before I’d made the conscious effort.
With Phantom’s frequent visits, the students had begun to question his dragon’s repeated appearances.
Stealing into their memories and erasing them every time had no longer been a viable option.
Nor was it something I particularly relished Reign doing.
Instead, Sol and Phantom had helped us come up with a lie based on a partial truth.
That the female had been wild, living on the barren Eryndral Isle, and had been drawn to Sol because of the dragon mate bond.
As a result, Reign had been able to tame the feral creature and claim her as his own.
The dragons insisted this would be the only believable scenario, so we’d heeded their advice. So far, the lie had been surprisingly well-received, and no one had batted a questioning eye. Then again, when the Night Fae were looming just beyond the gates, an additional dragon was more than welcome.
When I finally reached the edge of the forest, Phantom’s obsidian scales glistened in the sunlight, the iridescent shimmer poking through the dense canopy of green.
“Reign.” His name was a plea and a prayer.
His shadows curled around his back, lifting his sluggish form from Phantom’s back and depositing him on the earth in front of me. Relief slammed into me so hard it nearly knocked me to my knees. He was here. He was alive.
But the moment my eyes truly took him in, the momentary respite turned to horror.
What I had seen from afar was nothing compared to witnessing it up close.
Blood matted his hair, streaking down the side of his face and drying in dark rivulets along his jaw.
His leathers were torn, scorched, soaked through with crimson and something darker.
Shadows clung to him like smoke, curling sluggishly around his boots, flickering in and out as if even they struggled to hold form.
His eyes… Gods, his eyes. They were hollow, bruised with exhaustion, the light in them dimmed to a dying ember.
My heart lifted, only to drop again, the brief reprieve turning to ash as I saw him sway, as I noticed the way his hand shook when he reached to steady himself against Phantom’s side.
Alive. But broken.
A dozen unanswered questions streaked through my mind, and it only took one word from Reign to answer them.
“Tenebris,” he muttered, his voice hoarse.
“Is he…” I reached for him, but he took a step back and an unexpected pang lanced through my chest.
“Still alive.” He looked away, jaw clenching.
I wrapped my arms around my middle, a whisper of ice dousing my veins. “What happened?”
He eyed me, then the charred remains of the Hall of Enlightenment beside us, then beyond to the blackened ruins of the academy. “I underestimated the enemy. As apparently, I am now known to do.”
“Don’t say that,” I hissed.
His gaze dropped to the ground beneath our feet, to his blood-spattered boots. “I keep failing you, Aelia—”
“That’s not true.” My breath caught as I reached for him, fingers trembling, needing to touch him, to remind us both that we were still here, still together. Again, he winced, backing away another step. “Why are you acting like this?” I snapped.
“Because I failed!” he roared, shadows coming to life with his fury and billowing around his form like a storm unleashed. “My father knows about you, about us, about all of it. He’s been playing me for a fool all this time.”
Oh, gods.
He dragged his hands over his face, streaking sweat and blood across his skin.
“He nearly invoked the vow, Aelia. He almost forced me to kill you. I could feel his power surging beneath my flesh, and I couldn’t fight it.
I tried so damned hard, but gods, it was impossible.
I thought I could defeat him, overpower his influence, for you. But I failed…”
All the air caught in my throat, my vision tunneling. No. This couldn’t be. “But Elian…” I rasped. “He has him imprisoned, right?”
He nodded slowly, shadows shifting across his shoulders in agitation.
“So, all you have to do is stay away.”
“It’s not that simple, Aelia. There is no doubt in my mind that my father will find a way to escape. There is no cell, no runes powerful enough to keep him prisoner. And when he does…”
“No. I’ll speak to Elian, force him to ki—” Gods, what was I saying? Hadn’t I been the one wishing Reign wouldn’t be responsible for his father’s death? And now, here I was, condemning him.
Reign’s eyes finally lifted to mine, the depth of despair flashing across his midnight orbs gut-wrenching. “I can’t be near you. It’s not safe. All it would take is for one of my father’s shadows to slip free, to whisper the dreaded words, and I would not be able to stop myself, princess.”
“So what are you saying?” I hissed.
Reign dragged his hands across his face again, heaving out a breath. “I have to go.” His voice cracked, shadows curling around his boots like chains. “I can’t stay, Aelia.”