Chapter 54
Derian
In my unreasonably long life, there have been plenty of moments in which I’ve felt fear.
When my powers first erupted from me and I brought a hurricane raining down on Bridgemond was probably the first time I’d felt the icy stillness of it.
From there, there were countless times when I’d learned to control those powers in Amberhull, where fear had woven into my thoughts again.
Even after I’d long since felt immune to it, there were moments in the battlefield during the war when it had suddenly struck through me.
I've felt fear several times since meeting Huntyr Lachlan.
None of those experiences, though, come close to the sheer and utter terror that flowed through me as I watched Huntyr’s eyes go distant. As I watched her face pale, her breath quicken, her mouth tighten.
And then she was gone.
Running with the speed of a full-blooded Fae back towards the barracks as if her life depended on it.
My Huntress wouldn’t panic like that in the name of her own life, though.
She would do it for her sister.
I chase after her, shouting out to one of the guards to summon a healer.
We crash into the fortress, feet heavy as we sprint through the twisting halls, back towards the suite I’d placed her sister in. It’s a short distance, yet it feels impossibly long, each step sending another wave of panic over me so strongly that I can’t tell if that feeling belongs to me or her.
Huntyr’s legs are moving like the finely honed weapons they are.
She runs so quickly she almost looks as if she’s flying over the stone floor.
And despite the fact that I’m a highly trained, full-blooded Silverthorn warrior, and she’s a twenty-year-old half-Mortal girl, I hate to admit that I’m struggling to keep up with her.
She turns a corner and I push myself, ignoring the burning in my lungs.
Then she screams.
Thunder cracks outside just a moment afterwards at that sound, and dread echoes within it, punching through my gut.
I turn the corner, stopping short as I nearly barrel into her.
She’s frozen, one hand pressed to her mouth, eyes wide in horror, staring down at the body sprawled across the floor.
Hollow eyes, black spiraling veins, mouth open at an unnatural angle, arm outstretched down the hall towards Tyla’s room.
The wedding band on the fourth finger still gleams.
I don’t know how I overlooked that ring all night.
A tiny whimper escapes from deep within Huntyr’s throat as she looks down at the body of the Fae who had quite possibly been her first friend among us. It's the tiniest of sounds, one I probably wouldn’t have even heard if I was Mortal, but it reverberates through me like a thunderclap.
“Tyla,” I remind her gently.
Her gaze jerks up towards the hallway again, and she pulls the two blades from her hips as she bursts forward once more.
We skid to a halt in front of Tyla’s door, which dangles open ever so slightly, and are greeted by Kaia’s characteristic snarl.
“What is happening?” Huntyr screams, wide-eyed as she takes in the scene.
Tyla stands tall, her skin more flushed than I’ve ever seen it.
The dark veins have somehow retreated, leaving nothing behind other than what seems like a shadow passing under her moonlit skin.
Her hair hangs wild and loose down her back, tendrils of it hanging in the air as if suspended by static electricity.
She hardly glances at us as Huntyr barges into the room.
Her attention is focused entirely on the Eshari across from her, who now bares her fangs at Huntyr’s sister.
“Huntyr!” Tyla breathes happily, a smile growing on her face. “I’m glad you’re here. We should get going.”
Huntyr stares down at Kaia, a million emotions passing over her face as she shakes her head gently. “No. You’re wrong.”
I push past the women, moving to examine the rest of the suite for any intruders as I listen in to their conversation.
“Tyla, what happened?”
“I’ll tell you on the way.”
“On the way where?”
The bedroom seems to be clear, no one lingering in closets or under the bed. I cross the space, pushing into the bathing chamber, and freeze.
“To our Mother, Huntyr. She’s ready for us to come home. Hasn’t she talked to you?”
Water floods the floor, splashing under my boots as I step inside. The air has an unnatural chill, like even the heat was so frightened it chose to flee. I step in slowly, dread curling through me, and I feel my magic spark to life in my fingertips.
Marta is in the tub.
Head under the water.
Eyes black and hollow.
Huntyr.
My entire soul focuses on her and the fact that she is in the other room alone with Tyla.
Tyla, who is the only other person here.
Tyla, who walked to her room with Rhen.
Tyla, who Kaia now snarls at, despite how much Huntyr loves her.
Tyla, who suddenly seems healthier now that we’re here in Oxhurn… so close to the Wastelands
“Huntyr!” I yell, rushing back into the bedroom. Tyla lingers by the door now, body inclining to leave even as she extends a hand to her sister, begging Huntyr to go with her.
Huntyr’s blue eyes lock onto mine. They’re brighter than they’ve ever looked before.
Kaia places herself between the sisters.
“She’s a Velkai,” I breathe.
My Huntress stares at me, disbelief clouding her features.
“No,” she whispers, with a soft shake of her head.
But then the sound of a deep growl erupting from within Tyla splits between us, and Huntyr turns to her sister in horror. Tyla stares at me with narrowed eyes, looking like a picture of hatred and venom.
And I’m hit with the flash of a memory.
Of another dark-haired Velkai who looked at me that way. Their bitch of a queen had looked just like that when I led Geodric to her. She had stared at me with that same expression, the one that promised vengeance when he sacrificed himself to end her.
Only he hadn’t killed the Mother.
And now she was summoning Tyla right to her.
Tyla turns on her heels and flees. I don’t have a single second to try and stop Huntyr before she runs after her, screaming her name frantically. And her voice…
That voice, which is always so steady, even when she seems to be facing the most incredible of trials, is now filled with such pain that I feel my own heart breaking because her heart is breaking.
She knows it’s the truth.
She’s too smart not to know.
Tyla runs to the courtyard, where rain now falls in sheets from the sky, soaking us to the bone the second we step into the night air. Roaring wind tears against my skin.
This storm is natural, though, not at all brought to life by my magic. No, it seems that even the skies need to sob over what’s happening. If I was calmer, I might have the wherewithal to clear the weather, but I can only bring myself to focus on the lives that now hang in the balance.
While Huntyr worries for her sister, it’s my job to worry about every Fae living in this fortress. Fae who are now at risk by the Velkai in their midst.
Only a few souls linger outside this late in the evening, just those that are tending to their nightly chores.
“Run!” I command them, voice like a whip slicing through the air. “Get inside, all of you.”
The fools don’t react fast enough.
Tyla runs to the Fae male leading one of the horses back to the stable. He slows as she approaches, and before he can even process what’s happening, she wraps her tiny hands around his face, opens her mouth, and breathes him in.
Huntyr’s steps falter, and she makes a small choking sound.
For a moment, I even stumble as I watch Tyla kill him with my own eyes.
It all happens so fast.
I have to stomp down on the rush of power that flows through me demanding release as the scent of magic, of stolen Ether, fills the air and forces itself into my nose like a poison.
Then she’s throwing herself onto the horse with a strength she didn’t possess a few days ago as the hollowed-out husk of a corpse falls heavily to the ground.
“Huntyr, come!” she demands, more of an order than a request.
I step behind my Huntress, feeling her horror as potently as if it were my own, and I grasp onto her forearms.
“I’m not letting you put her in danger, Tyla,” I say softly, somehow knowing she’ll be able to hear me despite the booming thunder around us.
Tyla wipes a hand across her brow as she looks at me, and a sinister smile spreads across her face as her dark eyes trail up and down my frame.
“She has a message for you, prince.”
I don’t need to ask who she’s speaking of.
“I’m sure she does.”
“She looks forward to finishing what she started all those years ago.”
“I’m not going to let that happen either, Tyla.”
The girl just laughs as she shakes her head at me.
“You’ll be dead.” With her threat lingering between us, she turns to her sister. “You will be too, if you choose him.”
Huntyr remains in front of me, feet rooted to the ground even as she lifts a shaking hand to her mouth in disbelief.
“Tyla,” she whispers, a broken plea. “Please.”
Tyla’s features flash, and I’m not sure what I see in her eyes. Is it whatever fragment of love that she has for Huntyr? Or is it disgust? It’s gone within an instant before she lifts her gaze away from us, trailing her eyes over the turrets of the fortress.
For the second time tonight, reality crashes into me.
Fuck.
I brought her here. I showed her everything. Led her through all of our defenses.
And now she’ll tell the Mother all of it.
“Fine,” she growls.
She straightens, pulls at the reins of her horse, and kicks sharply into the steeds side, turning him around and running away from the fortress.
No, not away from us.
Towards the Wastelands.
“TYLA!” Huntyr screams after her sister and moves to take a single step, but her legs give out under her.
I wrap my arms around her waist before she can fall and pull her body to mine, twisting and wrapping her in my embrace as I finally manage to summon enough magic to send away the storm.
“Shh,” I whisper as I run a soothing hand down her head. Her fingers dig into my shirt, forming unbreakable fists against my chest, and sobs rip out of her tiny frame. “I’m here.”
That’s all I can offer her.
My presence.
I can’t tell her it will be okay. I can’t tell her we’ll save Tyla. Fuck, I can’t even tell her if she’ll ever see her sister again.
An hour ago we were all seated at a table laughing with one another. Huntyr was happy. She was planning our wedding, and for once, she didn’t look horrified by the idea of our marriage.
And now her heart is shattering, and there is absolutely nothing I can do for her.