CHAPTER FIVE
THE FURTHER I FLY FROM Phixmery, the stronger the sinking feeling in my gut. The Lords are up to something, and I just left my brother-in-arms alone in a basilisk nest. I grip Voissor’s saddle tightly as I urge him to fly faster.
“We will catch up to them shortly. We left not long after them, and have already crossed the border into Vathia,” Voissor reminds me.
Vathia. My back burns with the terror of why we are abandoning our plan.
The small female that Jesper is obsessed with is now a rider, bonded to none other than a purple dragon.
Another reason why he and now Talyn believe she is her, but I can’t let myself believe that.
But, like them, I am tied to this female whether I want it or not.
Even if it is her… My heart pulses with hope that I quickly squander.
I shake my head. She would never want a damaged male like me.
My face is scarred beyond recognition and so is the rest of my body.
It doesn’t help that I’m much larger than most other fae males that I’ve met besides my own father and one male on Evander’s crew.
Until I know more… I’m keeping my distance. My soul can’t take the damage of losing her again—if it even is her.
Deep purple flames glow in a distant field, shrouded in darkness, but it’s not hard to tell who those flames came from. Only white dragons and the royals of their kind can produce such a thing. Voissor takes notice and veers towards it.
As we land, I count four dragons settled in for the night, but the smaller of the beasts has its head raised, watching me carefully. Two gryphons are also nearby, watching everything with a mixture of distrust and curiosity.
“Kill!” A familiar voice calls out to me, and I see Jesper heading towards me, arms spread and face grinning. Nothing keeps that male down for long, although the smile fades as he searches the sky behind me, searching for the last of our group.
My muscles bunch as I hoist myself out of the saddle and climb down from Voissor.
As I turn to face him, my voice comes out in a rumble.
“Talyn stayed behind to cover. Our fathers forced me into pursuit.” I nod to Aemon as he makes his way over, and then to the female who’s surrounded by her friends as they watch us quietly.
“Tal told me to stay with you, but I have a bad feeling…”
Aemon dips his head in greeting. “I’ll send my spies out once we reach my home. We will find him and keep tabs on him. You know I won’t let anything happen to any of you if I can help it.”
I jerk my head down in agreement. My eyes slowly slide over to her, my back tingling as some invisible tether threatens to pull me forward.
Even with the dim lighting of the fire, I can see how beautiful she is.
And I suppose she does have similarities to the female we grew up with, but maybe that’s just the hope screwing with my logic.
“Plan?” I mutter, tearing my gaze from hers.
Jesper scoffs. “Back to small words I see, huh, Kill? But let’s see what I can get you caught up on.
Ravina will be riding with Aemon ahead of us to the capital of Vathia.
We will all meet them there, where we will hopefully get answers as to what the fates is actually going on in Damorleia.
” His voice lowers in pitch and gets sharper as he practically throws eye daggers at Aemon.
“Like how he knew Maeven—also known as Ravina—has been alive this entire time and hid it from us.”
His words are like a dragonfire blast to the chest. I stumble back as I feel the panic and anger surge through me like a war cry.
The power in my limbs builds as I throw back my arm and aim for the bastard’s head.
He dodges, my fist glancing off his cheek so he doesn’t take the full brunt of my magick.
I growl, stalking forward and his shadows wrap around me like a vice.
The words leave me in a guttural sputter. “Let me go! I’ll fucking kill you for this, Zorn!” His betrayal is already seeping into my bones like a terminal disease.
“Let’s not do this here. Not in front of her,” he states calmly, gesturing in the direction I know she is. I can feel her eyes on me but I can’t force myself to look her way.
“What’s going on here?” her sweet yet firm voice snaps, and some of the anger leaks out of me as my gaze flies to hers without my permission.
My mouth stays locked shut, but my eyes are glued to her and I’m trapped in the watchful way she’s assessing me.
Is this really happening? Is Ravina actually Maeven?
Truly? My heart screams at the loss and the grief and everything I went through without her.
But before I take it too far, I pull away.
“Perimeter check,” I grumble, climbing back on top of Voissor. I need to take to the air, to settle my thoughts and get myself back under control before I hurt someone. I’ll confer more with Jesper when that lying bastard isn’t anywhere near us.
A little voice inside my head whispers, “And he’s taking the only female you ever let yourself love, your mate, with him…”
I DECIDED TO stay away from camp last night.
I couldn’t trust myself not to pummel Zorn into the ground.
We searched for years for Maeven, and he knew all along that she was alive, living in a backwater village in Talyn’s province this whole time.
My fists clench and Voissor sends soothing emotions down our bond trying to center me before I go on a rampage.
I watch the valley below as Ravina—it’s safer for me mentally to continue to call her that—yells at Aemon and Jesper while pointing to her beast. A deep chuckle escapes me, shocking me.
I may not know what she’s saying but I can very well guess.
One thing that I suppose hasn’t changed is her temper when it comes to males trying to stop her from doing what she wants.
The black speck in the distance—her raven—flutters around her and the chaos that’s happening. My chest aches with all these emotions. It’s impossible to keep them from flicking from one feeling to another so rapidly it’s almost giving me whiplash.
A roar sounds and I jump to my feet, my gaze snapping up only to realize that Aemon and Ravina have taken off, their dragons’ forms quickly vanishing into the distance with their speed.
With a breath of relief and pain, I hop onto Voissor’s back and we soar down to meet the others as they get ready to leave for the day.
“About damn time you joined us. I thought Ravina was going to stab Aemon again,” Jesper mutters as he and his beast walk up beside me.
My brows raise at the thought of her stabbing him and I can’t help the little burst of pride I get. My shoulders rise and then fall. “We should get going,” I state, nodding in the direction they went, where I can feel the tether of the bond pulling me.
He nods. “Yup, just waiting on the newbies to get their bearings. They’re riding bareback and are a bit sore from our glorious escape yesterday, so we’re going to have to take it slow. That’s why the others went off ahead. I’d rather her be in the safety of the castle walls right now anyway.”
I don’t need to ask who ‘they’ are but nod again at the others. The pains of learning to ride after bonding with a beast were awful, and most fae tend to spend their evenings in a hot bath that the second years have access to, but these cadets won’t be so fortunate.
“How long are we flying for?” a male asks from below us, sitting on his deep grey gryphon’s back. I remember his name is Adair. He and his twin sister were two of the top cadets at Phixmery when it came to honing their magick.
“As long as it takes,” Jesper says with a smirk before addressing the others, making sure to project his voice so they all can hear.
“Stick close to us. We are going to avoid flying through the towns and cities. Do not fall—I don’t want to explain to Ravina why her friends are pancaked on the ground for scavengers. ”
With that he takes off. Following him is the blue dragon which Stoll and Yearwood are on, and then the two gryphons.
I take to the sky with them, making sure to stay behind, just in case they fall or are struggling.
These are the fae that she has chosen to call her friends.
I may not be able to give in to our bond, but I will make sure they all stay safe.
It’s what I was built for. To kill and protect, even though it didn’t exactly go the way my father wanted. I’m damaged and there’s no fixing me.
THE PAST TWO days I swear have been the longest ride of my life.
My mind is being pulled in every direction.
The betrayal by our oldest friend, and Talyn who stayed back to cover our asses while we come up with a plan to keep the Lords from suspecting our loyalty.
And of course, Ravina. The bond has been pulling me in her direction since she left that morning, screaming for her as the hook yanks on my heart to be closer to her. Jesper isn’t faring much better.
Last night while we stopped to set up camp Jesper filled me in on what happened when he caught up with them.
Her friends added some missing details as well.
We were very careful not to mention the bonding that happened, and as far as I’m aware they didn’t feel the burst of magick that formed said bonds.
The other thing we didn’t mention was our past with her—she can be the one to inform them once she’s ready.
But it’s not like they aren’t keeping some secrets of their own.
And that’s fine—I wouldn’t be impressed if they spilled everything they know about Ravina.
Her friends don’t seem bad. Young, inexperienced, and the one male—Rozen Stoll—I’d like to slap up the head occasionally.
He reminds me too much of Jesper, and we don’t need two of them.
Although he is much less violent and more carefree.
Ember is a Vopn Fo like myself. I can see the rage she keeps just beneath the skin like we were taught to do.
Her and Adair are the most manageable; I can see why Ravina is drawn to them.
This group is loyal to a fault, and I can tell that with how protective they are of her.
But that is our job now, whether they know it or not.
“Time to get your head out of the clouds, Killian. We are here,” Voissor rumbles into my head as he lands on the sea cliff next to the castle. Its pale coloring reminds me of the shells we used to find down at the beach as fledglings.
I take a deep breath in and the salty sea smell invades my nose.
The Vihar ocean has a fresher scent to it, whereas the Safir sea always seemed to smell more of seaweed.
I can’t explain it, but they’re different.
But being here in Kraryn at Aemon’s family castle brings back memories I’d rather keep locked away.
“You made it!” Ravina’s voice shouts as she runs through the front gates with an indifferent-looking Aemon on her heels, and I can’t help my mind’s eye flashing between this and a similar scene when she was younger.
This time though, she isn’t running towards me with her arms outstretched and that gorgeous smile on her face. It’s towards her friends. Stoll picks her up and swings her around.
The growl that leaves my throat could rival a dragon. “Put. Her. Down. Now!”
My feet carry me towards them and I snatch the male away from her by the back of his shirt, baring my teeth at him.
“Woah, woah. Just my friend. Not interested in her like that. How many times am I going to need to explain this?” Stoll stutters, his eyes going wide with fear; he doesn’t back down, but lowers his eyes to say he isn’t a threat.
Jesper’s voice sounds in my ear. “Just back up, Kill. They don’t want her like that—”
“What the hell is with you males?” Ravina snaps, narrowing her gaze on me and suddenly I can see it. I can see Maeven, with the twitch of her lip and the way she juts her chin at me when she’s mad.
I fall to my knees, winded, and stare at her as all the years finally catch up to me. “It’s you,” I breathe. “It’s really you.”