Chapter 27 Nox
Nox
Ihadn’t felt fear like that in years. One moment, I was riding ahead to clear space for the carriage, and the next, Devora’s scream tore through the air.
I bolted back for them as quickly as I could, my wings already ripping free from my back. By the time I reached the cliff, the carriage was suspended on a cloud of shadows as if it weighed nothing. Relief hit so hard my knees nearly gave out.
Half-shifted, I wrenched the carriage to safety and tore the door off its hinges.
Devora was barely conscious before she went limp in my arms again.
Arowyn took a nasty bump to the head, and the driver had some bruises, but nobody was gravely injured.
I sent the driver ahead to fetch help while we collected our supplies.
Arowyn took Devora’s limp body as Everett and I loaded our bags onto the two remaining horses, but all my senses were tuned to the rhythm of Devora’s breaths.
I didn’t know what exerting that much power in such a short amount of time would do to her, and until she woke up, I was on high alert, my nerves frayed and temper short.
Everett started to lift Devora onto the back of his horse with him, and I snarled, “No. Take Arowyn.” I jerked my head to the Strider. “Devora’s coming with me.”
He raised an eyebrow, but I turned away before he could respond.
I held Devora to my body with one arm as I mounted Tempest, leaning her against my chest and making sure she was fully in the saddle before grasping the reins in one hand.
Her steady heartbeat and warm puffs of air on my arm eased my anxiety by a fraction, and the four of us set off down the last incline.
I didn’t want to look too closely at the way my Shifter half purred in my chest when Devora stirred, her head nestling further into me.
I was glad she was sleeping, even if it took being knocked unconscious to succumb.
She’d been working too hard. Hardly letting herself rest while we were in Tenebra, and always ready for more training, no matter how big the circles under her eyes grew.
A stab of guilt pierced me. Again, that was probably my fault. I’d pushed her too far, put too much pressure on her role in this mission. Made her think success was the only path to her answers and her redemption. Assigned her worth to what she could do for me.
Wasn’t that part of why I despised Scarven so much? Viewing my dragon as a weapon, ready to wield at any given turn. How was what I was doing any better than that?
Devora shifted in her sleep, and I tightened my hold. The end of her tunic rose when she curled her arms around my waist. My fingers accidentally pressed into bare skin, gliding above the waistband of her leggings.
She had complained about being cold this entire journey, but she felt like fire.
Heat spread up my arm, and when she let out a soft sigh, my dragon rumbled.
I had to hold on to her, or else she’d fall off. That was what the rational part of my brain said, anyway. I didn’t want to be near her. I didn’t want my skin to tingle everywhere her body touched mine.
The horse’s trot pushed her deeper into the saddle, her side pressing and shifting against me with every motion. I tried to think of anything else. Anything other than her scent, or the way the top of her head brushed my neck, or how her fingers clenched my shirt in her sleep.
I didn’t have to try for long. A moment later, she gave a shuddering gasp and jolted awake. I hastily loosened my hold. She jerked her arm away and looked up at me with confusion.
“Where—what happened?” she rasped, glancing around at the cluster of rocks and pine trees as we passed. The sun was beginning to set behind us. Its dark orange and golden rays cast the tips of the trees in shadows.
I cleared my throat. “Your carriage malfunctioned, and you nearly went off the side of a cliff, but your shadows stopped it. You passed out after using so much power.”
“What about Arowyn? Is she alright?”
“She’s fine. Everett is too. They’re behind us on the other horse. We’ll need to stop and make camp soon.”
She blinked and looked down, seeming to just then realize we were sharing a horse. A hint of pink spread from her chest and up her neck. She tried to scramble away to put space between us, but my arm held her firmly in place. “Sorry, I—I didn’t mean to sleep for so long—”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” I said gruffly. “You saved them. You were—” I stopped myself and swallowed. “You deserved to rest.”
“I didn’t know what to do,” she said, voice quiet. “I saw we were falling, and I just…reacted. I threw out my hands. It was like my shadows were trying to protect me.”
I nodded. “Our magic knows what we need sometimes before we know ourselves. You’re strong, Devora. Your magic is powerful.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Careful. That almost sounded like a compliment.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it, darling,” I drawled.
Twisting at the waist, she grabbed the pommel and swung her leg around so she was no longer riding sidesaddle. The movement made her back press further into me, and I let out a grunt, instinctively tightening my grip on her waist.
She froze, back arched, hair spooling down one shoulder. My Shifter senses homed in on the sound of her heart picking up speed.
Something shifted between us, the air suddenly charged. My eyes fell shut for a moment as I strained to keep my hands away from her.
Fates, what was wrong with me? Not three weeks ago, I hated this woman. Now here I was, smelling her hair and anxiously awaiting the moment we could get off this horse so I could forget the way her skin felt against mine.
I let out a breath, forcing my muscles to relax. The strange tension snapped, and Devora scooted forward in the saddle.
“I’m just glad everyone’s okay,” she said breathlessly. “You know, we were talking about something before the accident.” Her voice was hesitant, guarded. “Everett mentioned you were once one of Scarven’s prisoners.”
My spine straightened. “And?”
“And…” She cleared her throat nervously. “Well, I guess I wondered if it was true.”
“Yes, it’s true. It’s not a secret, Devora—I’m not going to rip your head off for talking about it.”
A small scoff left her. “You haven’t exactly been forthcoming about your past.”
I shrugged. “You never asked.”
She twisted her neck. “Would you have told me anything if I did?”
“Probably not.”
A smile stretched across the half of her face I could see before she turned to the front again. “Glad to see some things haven’t changed. Well, maybe I’ve upgraded slightly. Now I’m a useful pawn.”
My hands tightened around the reins, causing my arms to push her closer to me. “You’re not a pawn, Devora.”
“Then what am I?”
“You…” I trailed off, my jaw clenching as I sifted through the myriad of confusing thoughts rushing in my mind. “You’re a Shadow Wielder,” I finally said.
That seemed to be good enough for her. She let out a soft hum, and in that moment, I wished for nothing but to see her face. Was she happy? Did having an identity make her blue-green eyes soften, her lips curve, her shoulders relax?
“I’m sorry,” she said after a moment. “About what you went through with Scarven. I can’t even imagine.”
We fell into silence again, but I could tell she wanted to ask more. Devora wasn’t the kind to fall back when her curiosity took over. Her thighs clenched and unclenched around the saddle as her fingers played with the leather of the pommel.
She was always so quick to speak. Quick to try and make sense of the world around her. But now, she was quiet. A small part of me wondered if she was trying not to push too hard against the unspoken boundaries between us.
If she was trying, then I could too. Even if the thought of speaking about my past made my limbs lock.
“You can ask me, Devora,” I murmured. “I won’t bite.”
I couldn’t see it, but I could hear her swallow hard before she asked, “How did it happen? How were you…taken?”
A cold wind blew in, ruffling her hair against my neck. “I was fourteen. My father was the governor of Drakorum back then, but there was an uprising. People thought he and my mother had somehow illegally sired a dragon Shifter, which had been extinct up until I was born.”
I paused, knowing her well enough at this point to expect fifty questions flying through her head.
“Wait—your father was the governor? And what do you mean, dragons were extinct? Aren’t you a dragon?” She turned to face me in bewilderment.
“I’m the first dragon Shifter in two hundred and fifty years.
The dragon line was eradicated after the emperor back then became afraid the Shifters would form an army and take over.
Dragons were too powerful to let survive.
Nobody knows how the gene got passed to me, but everyone suspected my parents had experimented on me.
” I grunted. “Kane Scarven challenged my father for his position and won. My father died, and my mother, sister, and I were taken prisoner.”
“Fates, that’s…” She let out a breath. “And you were only fourteen?”
“Many of his prisoners are far younger,” I said, working to keep my voice even. “My sister was barely a year old.”
“And he wanted you because you’re the only one of your kind,” she guessed. “You told me before that your sister isn’t a dragon. But she must be powerful, if he’s kept her locked up her whole life.”
It wasn’t a question, but I responded anyway. “She has all six.”
“All six what?”
“Magics, Devora. My sister has all six magics of the Veridian Empire.”
“What?” Devora nearly fell out of the saddle with how quickly she twisted to gaze up at me. “I haven’t been here long, but I’m assuming that’s not normal.”
A snort escaped me. “No, that’s not normal. Some Veridians have two types, and there have been maybe four recorded cases in history that had three. But nobody has ever dreamed of wielding all six.”
I thought back to the first decade of Vera’s life, where she, Mother, and I were still allowed to see one another in Scarven’s manor. It was before her magic manifested, before Scarven knew what she possessed.
“When she was eleven, Vera showed signs of lightbending. We were all surprised, but it can happen—somewhere down the line, one of our ancestors could have been from Emberfell. But then she partially shifted. Scarven grew curious. Two years later, she created shadows.” I paused when Devora’s fingers started tapping anxiously against my thigh.
“When she was fifteen, she accidentally cast her first illusion on one of the guards. That was when Scarven took her away. For good. I haven’t seen her since, and it’s been five years.
He would give me reports on her every once in a while, so that’s how I found out she’d been able to cast spells and stride. ”
Devora’s hand flattened out on my leg, and her thumb dug into my pants before she pulled it away.
“I’m so sorry, Nox. Five years…” She shook her head.
“I know I’ve said this before, but I need you to believe me.
I’m going to do everything I can to help.
And this isn’t about what I can get out of it.
I want to help you because…because it’s the right thing.
Because nobody should have to suffer like that. And if we don’t help them, who will?”
I pressed my lips together, a lump forming in my throat. I wondered if she knew how many times I had the same exact thought.
I paused before quietly saying, “I believe you.”
She turned so her profile faced me again, and a smirk climbed its way onto her face. “Look at us. Working together. Who would’ve thought?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
She rolled her eyes, then stretched out her back with a sigh. I inhaled as more of her body moved against me, tension building in my core.
“It’s kind of nice, you know,” she said, and I froze. “Not being your prisoner.”
A snarl rumbled from my chest and up my throat. I slid my hand to her stomach and jerked her back so my lips grazed her ear.
“You know how much I hate that word.” Her breath hitched when my fingers elongated into talons and gently brushed her side. “Call yourself that one more time, darling, and I’ll show you what it means to be under a dragon’s control.”
When I released her, she lurched forward as if I’d burned her, the sound of her pulse pounding in my ears.
She was silent for the rest of the ride.