Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The vision was as clear as day. I need your help. I’ll do anything.
Asliver of morning sun crested over the horizon like an orange rind as we approached Ayla. I peeled my cheek off Tiberius’s warm neck as he banked and blinked against the frigid air. I suppressed a shudder and leaned into Ti’s warmth. Gods, he had to be exhausted.
The peel of orange gradually cast a net of coral and gold along the powdery clouds that met us on our descent.
I’m going to miss this, Ti murmured.
My stomach dipped at his words and the impending separation we faced. I’d be leaving in a couple hours.
I’m going to miss you, too.
A blossom of warmth spread down the bond that echoed the unsaid words in Ti’s responding nicker. We dipped into the clouds, a warm fog enveloping us in the dim light of morning.
Maybe we could just follow the clouds, I murmured, closing my eyes and breathing in the sweet mist that floated up from the Juniper Sea. How long do you think we could stay hidden?
Ti’s head stretched out in front, and he heaved a breath, as if tasting the air.
We’d get bored. Saving the realm is a more exciting existence, don’t you think? I also won’t mind fucking with the queen.
I choked out a laugh, playfully landing a smack on his neck. I’m serious! You need to be careful. Stick close to Bayne.
Warmth bloomed in my chest in anticipation of telling Bayne what I saw. Ti snorted and tucked his wings, hovering midair for a moment, before he dove. My heart leaped from my chest, and I clung to his neck as his body went vertical and began a tight spiral.
Level out, asshole!
We broke through the clouds, and a blanket of green yawned open in front of us.
Great black wings flared to the side with a gust of wind as we soared over the canopy, barely clearing its uppermost branches.
In the distance, an emerald bay stretched, slowly morphing to turquoise as the morning sun finally ripped through the sheet of clouds. A dark ship stood out among the golden Lotrennian fleet.
Hope snuffed out the lurking dread that had arrived with the revelations of the last day. It would all be alright.
My heart hammered as we crossed the Evecta’s shield, and the smell of sickly-sweet honeysuckle shoved into my nostrils. I swung off Ti’s back into a running dismount as his hooves thundered down the main deck.
Marian aimed for me as I hurtled toward the captain’s quarters. Without thinking, I probed at the thread tethering me to Bayne and was met with a solid wall. I bristled as I swung open the cabin door and stopped mid-stride.
In nothing but a thin night shift that left little to the imagination, Queen Antares stood in front of Bayne’s desk, bent over a map of Lotrennia. Bayne straightened as I entered, shock replacing a look of concern.
“What’s going on?” I asked, stepping up to the desk, becoming keenly aware of how thin the queen’s nightgown was.
A muscle in his jaw feathered, and I caught his eyes drifting to the thick scar on my neck before snapping back to my face.
“You were right, Lyv. A plague is spreading.”
My stomach pitched.
“I came here as soon as news reached my doors,” Queen Antares continued. “The Awakening is a sacred celebration of light and life, and nearly eighty elves ended up dead.”
“From a plague?” I asked, turning to Bayne.
“Not all of them bore signs of an illness, but most of them did. The fire pox, as you suggested. But there were unexplained injuries as well, similar to your findings on the remains of the Lady of Tomorrow,” Bayne answered.
“But what could cause that? Did a fight break out?” I shook my head as I turned to the queen, whose eyes narrowed in annoyance.
“We don’t know. The menders are conducting a detailed examination now.”
The pink hue of morning light crept in through the far window beyond the curtain, where I noticed Bayne’s bed sat undisturbed. He hadn’t slept. A twinge of guilt raked at my chest. The queen’s eyes followed mine.
“Your ship departs soon, Bonder. I’ll see you at the top of the hour.”
That twisting scent followed Queen Antares as she sauntered from the room, slivers of skin peeking out as her hips swayed beneath her shift.
Marian followed her out, closing the door behind her.
I turned back to Bayne and gripped his hand, my lips kicking up in a smile despite the unease this news brought.
“I saw the threads, Bayne. My threads. Our threads,” I finally said, leaning in close after I relayed everything that transpired, my heart beating rapidly in hopeful triumph. “We are bound by more than Bellator powers. A soulbinding thread was there. I saw it.”
I squeezed his hands as my heart threatened to combust. Bayne quietly listened, his emerald eyes never leaving mine. His calloused thumb brushed strokes over the top of my hand as his brows pinched upward.
“Lyv,” he began, eyes softening. “Only mystics have ever had threadsight. You have yet to whisper with the wind or water,” he continued gently, eyes drifting to my lips as he cupped my face with his other hand.
I reined in the twisting in my gut, my own inadequacy sinking into the darkness that smothered my soul. He didn’t believe me. Bayne’s brows tilted ever so slightly in regret, an apology forming on his lips. I quickly shook my head, squashing the self-pity.
“I’m so sorry,” he continued, a pained look crossing his features. “But it’s impossible. Elves and humans cannot be soulbound. They say the Waters of Ascendiel show you what you need to see, not what you want to see.”
Blood rushed from my face as I wilted before him, devastated at his disbelief. I was so certain what I’d seen… Had I imagined it? Had I simply seen what I wanted to see?
“But—” I began, as I tried tapping against our connection once more, running into a solid wall. “Why won’t you let me in?” I whispered, the minutes suddenly turning into seconds.
He held my gaze for a moment before he swallowed.
“I can’t,” he said, voice cracking. His throat bobbed as he shook his head.
The air sucked from my lungs as his next words sank in.
“There is a thread linking the queen and me. I can feel it. And I’m sorry, Lyv, but it is different from what I feel with you.
I must keep myself cut off from my connection with you all, or I fear she will use this bond with me to get to you.
I’m so sorry.” His thumb brushed against my lips as he planted a kiss on my forehead.
I blinked away tears. “But you won’t do it, right? You won’t bind yourself. You can’t.”
Bayne dropped his hand to mine, his eyes again shooting to my neck before he began shaking his head.
“You are my anchor, Lyv. My home. The night that brings the stars.”
He reached toward the door, and I grabbed his hand.
“Bayne—”
“Say you’ll remember this,” he murmured, lips inches from my ears.
“I’ll remember,” I breathed.
“I would do anything for my kingdom. I would do anything for you,” he said, thumb and forefinger gripping my chin as he leaned in. “Anything.”
The kiss he planted on my lips was hard but brief, bringing an air of finality with it. My heart cracked as he pulled away, a strange mixture of grief and self-doubt colliding in my chest and replacing the spark of hope that had ignited at the Waters of Ascendiel.