Chapter 20 Blood Between Realms #2
He staggered back, head snapping to the side as a spray of the creature’s dark ichor splashed across his mouth.
“No!” Ella’s voice tore free, panic raw.
What if a Veil Leach’s blood is poisonous?
His body locked, spine arched. His eyes rolled white, then burned black, veins threading with silver light that flickered like molten rivers beneath his skin.
And then he moved, and he was not Jakobav at all.
His movements cut through the clearing with the same unnerving jerking as the Leach, each step too stiff, too fast. And then his gaze snapped to her. Black fire burned in his eyes, silver veins flaring under his skin as though they would tear him apart from the inside.
The sight rooted her where she stood, terror climbing up her spine.
What if he’d just been devoured and remade right in front of her? What if he didn’t come back? The thought hit like a blow to her chest, raw and unrelenting.
She shouldn’t care this much about him, the Dravaryn warlord who had forced her to come here, yet devastation rose, fierce and choking, a desperate urge to drag him back from whatever that demonic creature’s tainted blood had done to him.
But then, slowly, the silver bled away. His body sagged, color rushing back into his skin. Jakobav collapsed to one knee, dragging in ragged breaths as the remains of the Leach dissolved into smoke around him, its ichor hissing into nothing on the ground.
A scream cracked the air. Definitely human this time.
Maeren.
She was down, her leg twisted at a wrong angle that made Ella’s stomach pitch. Blood slicked the earth beneath her where she had landed, her face pale but her grip still locked tight around her blades as if she would rise and fight again by sheer will alone.
Savina staggered a few feet away, one hand pressed hard against her side where the creature’s thrashing limb had cut deep on its way down. Blood seeped between her fingers, but she stayed on her feet, teeth bared, eyes flashing like she dared the world to try and put her down.
Ella had found herself among a group of people whose stubbornness rivaled her own.
Thane was bleeding too, a fresh gash running down his arm where one of the Leach’s claws had raked him in the chaos. He swore under his breath, flexing his fingers around the haft of his axe.
Soren crouched beside Maeren, his knives dripping with ichor that hissed as it burned into the soil.
“Shit,” Soren muttered. “Her leg. We need Bryn.”
Jakobav was already on his feet, staggering toward them, still unsteady but commanding all the same. “Thane. Take Maeren. Now.”
Thane crouched and gathered Maeren up with surprising care, his usual grin gone, jaw tight. She hissed but did not protest, only drew her blades closer to her chest, as if she refused to let even her weapons leave the fight.
Soren rose smoothly at his side, eyes like knives themselves.
Jakobav turned to Savina. “Do you need to be carried?”
Her head snapped toward him, eyes blazing. “Touch me and die.”
Even bloodied, she stood tall, defiance burning through every line of her body.
Thane’s grin flickered back, crooked despite the blood running down his arm. “Gods, Sav, I almost believe you’d kill me before the Leach could.”
She shot him a look. “Almost?”
“Get them to Bryn,” Jakobav said, his voice leaving no room for argument. “There’s something else needing my attention, I’ll be back at the castle as soon as it’s handled.”
Thane shifted Maeren’s weight and turned his head toward Ella. “You coming with us, little fox?”
Ella took stock of the minor scrapes and bruises on her body from fighting off the Leach, realizing with a small sense of pride that for once she wasn’t the one in dire need of medical attention.
She wouldn’t mind paying Bryn a visit, maybe she could interrogate him and obtain something useful to uncover the relic.
But before she could tell Thane she would return with them to the castle, she was interrupted.
“She stays,” Jakobav answered, his tone cold enough to silence even Thane.
Thane’s brow rose and he turned to her. “You sure?”
“I said she stays.”
Ella’s spine stiffened. “Excuse me?”
“You’ll be safer with me,” Jakobav added.
Thane gave a lopsided grin, his gaze bouncing between them. “Oh, come on. You don’t trust me with the little fox? I’d keep her warm. Real warm. Give her a proper Dravaryn welcome. Slow. Intense. Memorable.”
Jakobav turned his head, and the look he gave him could have frozen fire.
Thane coughed. “Right. Not the time.”
Maeren chimed in, looking more annoyed with Thane than her injured leg, “Set me down first before Jake chooses violence over patience.”
Ella rolled her eyes. “Thane, you’re insufferable.”
Thane chuckled, still cradling Maeren. “You wound me, Princess.”
Ella’s stomach dropped.
Jakobav’s jaw flexed.
The air went still.
Thane’s face paled slightly. “I mean, not princess like Princess, obviously. I just meant, like, regal. You know. Elegant. Mysterious. Secretive. Not that we…uh…”
He trailed off.
Jakobav raised a brow, slow and lethal.
“…shit,” Thane muttered. “We’re not supposed to say that, are we?”
Ella’s eyes snapped to Jakobav. “You told them?!”
Jakobav didn’t answer.
Thane, flustered now, adjusted Maeren in his arms again like he could hide behind her.
“Shit. Look, I didn’t mean to blow it, alright? We won’t tell anyone. I swear. No one will know about your…your little secret. Not a soul. We’ll keep you secure. Hidden. No one will—” He glanced at Jakobav’s expression. “Fuck.”
“Thane,” Jakobav said, voice like steel drawn bare, “For once in your life, shut your godsdamned mouth.”
“Shutting,” Thane said, nodding fast. “Mouth? Closed. Sealed. Buried in the woods.”
Ella’s pulse hammered, every beat hot with betrayal.
The damage was done.
She looked between them. Jakobav, stone-faced and unreadable. Thane, visibly sweating.
The lie unraveled in the dirt between them.
Jakobav’s head turned slowly. His eyes locked on hers.
Her last tether of calm broke. Something inside her snapped, cold fury spilling free.
“You promised,” she hissed, voice rising. “You said—”
“I said I hadn’t told anyone yet,” Jakobav said evenly. “I never said I’d keep secrets from my inner circle.”
“Gods, you arrogant…” She stalked toward him, fury blazing hotter with every step. “Do you know what you’ve done? I’ve hidden who I am for years. I’ve bled and run and clawed my way to survive, all to protect Orchid. And in one fucking week, you’ve blown everything I gave up the crown for!”
Jakobav didn’t flinch. “My circle has never betrayed me.”
“Good for you,” she spat. “Must be nice not to feel betrayed.”
His voice was so calm that it was almost cruel. “I told them you were some princess from another kingdom. That I was unsure of your purpose. You just confirmed you’re the heir to Orchid’s throne.”
Ella went ice-cold. Gods, a moment ago she had cared whether this man lived or died, had felt devastation at the thought of losing him. Now?
Fuck. Him.