CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
I didn’t need to hear anymore. Brennan hadn’t returned and was facing off against the chimera.
I slipped back from the crowd as the shouts started. Nobles of House Bathiner yelling out for Jaron, accusing King Tirian of failing to keep him safe. Accusing him of sending him into danger, while others shouted that we had to find the prince at once, as well as the rest of the missing knights.
The knights who remained at the lodge for us, the ones who’d stayed behind to protect the king, split in half. Those who weren’t now surrounding their sovereign, took off into the night, heading in the direction Rowan pointed.
And then, when no one was looking at me, when the chaos and fear were at their peak, I shifted my shoes into boots, my skirts into black riding pants, and the bodice of my gown became a dark tunic, the same one I transformed into the last time I fought the chimera.
Finally, my riding cloak began unthreading and reshaping into a black cape with a long hood to further conceal me.
I pulled it over my head, hiding my hair, my face, my eyes, and then I ran into the night, vanishing into the shadows after the guards. Running toward Brennan.
My arms pumped at my sides as I made small adjustments to my body with every step. I thinned my waist and legs, thickened my calves, enlarged my eyes, and sent a wave of magic to enhance my hearing. I needed to run faster. I needed to see more, hear everything.
Find Brennan.
But as I raced down a hill, scrambling through brambles and branches, I realized that most of the magic I’d sent out through my body had been shallow.
My hearing was enhanced, but not enough, and I was running faster, but nowhere near what I knew I was capable of with more power.
I was going to have to rely as much as I could on my natural instincts.
As I tore down a hill, my vision not quite what I needed it to be, I threw out my hands in front of me, and I listened.
I could hear birds chittering and chirping back and forth.
And beyond that, a swoosh of air that belonged to the flight of a moonstag.
I stepped forward carefully, trying to still my breath and listen more closely.
There were soldiers running, the clink of their armor sounding in the distance, the heavy breaths of their exertion battling the buzzing of bugs.
Ahead there was a small river, the current moving slowly, and beyond it, if I ran far enough, there was another clearing. The clearing.
My heart thundered, my chest tightening the way it had when I’d passed through it with the Hermit. But I kept going, running faster, harder, searching in the dark and thinking only of Brennan, knowing I had to save him, had to reach him.
Within minutes, I lost all signs of the soldiers.
I wasn’t sure if they were running in the wrong direction, or if I was.
But something told me to head to the spot, to go to where my mother and I had been attacked.
The chimera had hunted there before, and it was likely they’d hunt there again.
I knew roughly the distance that the men would have crossed, based on the earlier reports of the boar’s movement.
The river was nearby. I just had to find a way to cross it without expending too much energy.
But then what? I wasn’t at full strength.
Not even close. How was I going to find enough power to fight two chimera, and save him?
My heart thundered furiously, but the sound of the river’s current was suddenly layered with the sound of water splashing.
Boots sloshed onto the ground, and I could hear the distinct sound of men stomping onto the bank.
Someone yelled out. “Come on, this way!”
Jaron.
Rowan had said that both Jaron and Brennan had stayed back to fight with their men.
Had they been successful? Were they on their way back? Was it possible that between all of them, the chimera was slain?
But any hope of that retreated as I got a glimpse of Jaron and felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Quickly, I dodged behind a tree trunk, pulling my cloak tight.
Jaron stomped through the trees, a torch in his hand. “Where the fuck did my moonstag get to?” He stopped, flaring his torch overhead, as he stared up into the night sky. “Fuck! Damn beast. I need to find Barron.”
I wanted to scream at him. The Godsdamned stag. Of course, he’d be more worried about his prized moonstag than his own cousin. I just prayed that Barron wasn’t nearby, or if he was, that he didn’t notice me. One sniff in my direction, and he’d give me away.
Careful to remain in my hiding spot, I searched the faces of every man with Jaron and counted six.
Brennan wasn’t among them. My gut knew. I’d have felt his presence by now.
But I still had to confirm it. Which meant only one thing: Brennan had been left behind.
Either he was injured somewhere and needed help, needed to be found, or he was once again trying to protect his people, bravely fighting the chimera with the men who survived, who hadn’t run away in fear.
He was fighting a monster that went far beyond his strength and skill.
And if he wasn’t that, then he might be … no. No. I wouldn’t even entertain the third possibility. He was alive. He had to be. And I was going to find him.
“Are you sure this will work?” one man asked in the dark. He looked anxiously behind him, rubbing a blood- and dirt-soaked face with his hand.
“Yes,” Jaron hissed. “There are two still. And he’s lost his guard. He won’t survive it.”
Another man laughed. “And you’ll be king.”
“Crown prince,” Jaron corrected. “But close enough.”
“Undefeated, unburied, we fucking burn!” yelled another soldier.
“Shhh,” said another knight.
“Celebrate when he’s dead,” Jaron said. “Now shut the fuck up. We’re almost there.”
By the fucking Gods. My stomach twisted painfully, fear and anger both battling within. Jaron and his men hadn’t just escaped the chimera. They’d left Brennan behind with it, on purpose. They were trying to get him killed.
I had to find him immediately. And I was out of time. Running through the woods and blindly searching was no longer an option. I needed to cover as much space as I could as quickly as possible. I was going to have to fly. But I didn’t have anywhere near the energy stores for that kind of thing.
Not yet, at least.
I closed my eyes, taking myself back two years.
Remembering meeting Jaron, remembering the way I used to brush my hair in the morning, the way the sunlight would hit the red locks with each stroke.
I remembered the picture Jaron had made, the one being circulated through Eskalon to find me. To box me.
If the bastard wanted to find Alyra, and had been hunting her for two years, then maybe it was time to give him what he wanted.
I pulled back my hood and stepped out from my hiding spot, swishing my hips for the first time in days. “Jaron?” I called out.
He froze, and his men, all walking behind him, stumbled forward, crashing into him. His brows furrowed, his mouth twisting as he pushed them off and turned his head, frantically looking around. But he couldn’t see me in the dark. And he wouldn’t. Not until I wanted him to.
“Jaron?” I called again. “Jarooonnn,” I sang, turning his name into a song. A taunt. A threat.
“What the fuck,” said another knight. They were growing uneasy, scared. The Azete stirred. It was almost enough for me to feed off of them. Several had unsheathed blades from their hips, while Jaron had pulled out his sword.
“Show yourself,” Jaron said. He swung his torch back and forth, the sound whipping through the air. “Where the fuck are you?” He was trying to sound brave. But I could hear his voice shaking.
“Come closer,” I teased. “I heard you were looking for me. Heard you’ve been looking for a long, long time.”
“What?” he asked. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Stay close to me,” he ordered his men.
I took another step, and then, thinking of the way Erys’s wings glowed, I added a glow to my skin, lighting myself up in the dark. After all, if I was going to scare them with my appearance, they had to see me.
Jaron’s eyes widened at once, and all six men with him, soldiers I’d seen in the tourney fighting for House Bathiner, froze. I recognized their faces from the jousts and balls and took them in one by one.
But my focus remained on Jaron.
“Alyra.” He sneered, his lip curling.
I laughed. “Is that all you have to say to me? After all the time spent looking for me? Looking in all the wrong places.” I licked my lips. “How does your bottom lip feel? The scar tissue you carry? Still hurt?”
His nostrils flared. “I fucking knew it,” he said, taking a step forward. “You are demonos. Azete.”
I stretched my arms over my head and took a long, deep breath. “I am,” I purred.
“Jaron,” one of his men whined. His name was Stephen. He was around our age, no older than his late twenties, but already he was completely bald. He stared back at me with rat-like eyes.
“Shut up,” Jaron hissed.
“Yes,” I said. “Shut up,” I mimicked his voice perfectly. Then I narrowed my brows, my hands on my hips. “You’re interrupting our reunion, Stephen.”
Stephen paled, stepping back.
“What do you want?” Jaron asked.
“What do I want?” I mocked. “I don’t know.” I tapped my chin. “But I think I want justice for Cecelia.”
“Justice? For what? Paying a whore to do her fucking job?”
“For raping her,” I shouted. And that was it. Something unleashed inside me. I rose onto my toes, and fangs protruded from my lips. My fingers extended into claws, and I floated into the air.
“Fuck!” One soldier ran. And then another followed, both who’d lost early in the tourney.
“Get the fuck down,” Jaron yelled. “Stop it!”
“Come on, Jaron, you know you like it,” I teased, and then I flung myself at him.