Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
FINLEY
“What do you mean your king left last night?” Kassidy asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
Brenton leaned forward, his elbows against the dented wooden table we ate breakfast at, his body taut. But when his gaze moved to me, it still held that same quiet wonder I’d woken up to. As if I was the miracle in this realm instead of the dragons we fought to save.
“He had urgent matters back home he needed to attend to,” Brenton said.
Kassidy’s eyes narrowed before she turned to me. “Is this true?”
“I neither saw nor spoke to King Elias last night,” I said, angling my chin a fraction higher. My voice remained steady although heat stirred in my chest. “But you needn’t question Brenton. Our only hope here is to help the dragons. With or without our king, our motives haven’t changed.”
Kassidy pursed her lips. “Then you will go with Willow back to the cave. There are still many more that require your aid.”
“I can go after I train my magic this morning.” After what I’d accomplished with Willow, Zaicha’s promise echoed in my mind like a lure I couldn’t ignore. I couldn’t wait to meet with her again.
“Why train it when it’s already what we need?” Kassidy tilted her head, her lips set in an unyielding line. “You’ll go with Willow after breakfast.”
“Kassidy, I—”
“Finley is not yours to command,” Brenton said, smoke flickering from his fingertips, the low thrumming of his magic making the table tremble. “She will tend to the dragons once she finishes training.”
Kassidy surged to her feet, palms slamming flat on the table. Her siblings stood with her.
“I am the one in charge here,” she said, voice low with an undercurrent of violence.
Brenton’s smirk was sharp and defiant. “Then take charge of your people. But Finley—”
“I will see to the dragons when I finish training,” I interrupted, my words slicing through the tension. Anger burned deep inside me, threading with the frustration that rose.
Because while I appreciated Brenton’s instincts to shield me, I couldn’t let him become my voice. It had always been mine, and I wouldn’t permit him to take it from me. Not that taking it was his intention. He wanted to protect me, just as I sought to protect him.
I met Kassidy’s glare with one of my own. “Either you trust us,” I said, challenge ringing through each word, “or you don’t.”
The air between us trembled with the weight of what might come next, until the temperature suddenly dipped. Shadows seeped into the edges of the grass around us like spilled ink, crawling across the ground and curling up the legs of the table.
Kassidy stiffened but didn’t move while her siblings shifted uneasily.
My spine snapped straight. I didn’t know this kind of darkness. I didn’t recognize the way it seemed to breathe without intent. A sense of foreboding slid beneath my skin as if the air itself recoiled from whatever came.
“Oh, good.” Brenton stood, a genuine grin on his face. “Alastor’s here.”
I turned, my fingers brushing Brenton’s before I let my hand fall away and watched Alastor approach.
His shadows pressed long before him, slithering at his heels like loyal beasts.
Then the male himself emerged, tall and lean, his build all quiet strength and restrained grace.
Strands of pale blond cut through his black hair, catching the light like threads of silver.
His gray eyes held that unflinching calm that always made me want to stand straighter.
For a few beats, my breath caught before relief flooded me. I knew this male, knew the ways he helped Etienne when all hope seemed to disappear. His magic might be unique and dark like mine, but he had never turned it against me.
Alastor’s eyes shifted from Kassidy to her siblings, then to me, his shadows coiling higher like the threads tasted the air.
When he spoke, it came out sharp like a blade.
“Do not mistake us for your subjects. We’re here by choice.
Question that again, and perhaps we’ll leave the dragons and your people to whatever doom befalls them. ”
The words hung in the air, feral and unflinching. His shadows writhed, a living reminder of the threat Alastor carried.
Yet Brenton strode straight through them, unbothered, and clapped a hand against Alastor’s back. The mage returned the gesture easily, his smile friendly as it broke across his face before Brenton drew his attention to Javier.
The sight settled my remaining nerves. With Brenton’s ease and Alastor’s answering warmth, I let my own breath out slowly.
Brenton awed me. So unafraid and accepting, just as he’d always been with my magic.
Kassidy’s jaw tightened, her fingers flexing against the table as if she wished to argue but held herself back. The challenge in her eyes dimmed when she glanced at Alastor’s shadows that slowly curled back to him.
At last, she exhaled through her nose and eased back in her chair. “Very well. Train first if you must. Just do not keep the dragons waiting long.”
“Damn Alastor.” Javier gave Alastor a playful shove. “You just had to make your entrance dramatic. I wonder how many of these poor people won’t be able to finish their breakfast because of you.” He gazed around the square, taking in the many heads still angled toward us.
Alastor arched a brow, and the corners of his mouth twitched. “And deprive myself of the fun?”
Javier laughed. The ease between them braided through the air like something older than hate or war, but something rooted in family. It made sense with Alastor bound to Teddy by blood, and Javier bound to her by something similar.
I touched Brenton’s arm when he sat beside me again. “Will you go with me to train?” I asked, needing him to see Zaicha with me. I wanted him to meet her.
Hopefully, it would take away the sting from when I cut him off earlier, when all he’d wanted to do was be my protector.
He nodded, his lips curling up in a simple but breathtaking smile, forgiving me too easily as he always did.
Alastor turned from us to Kassidy, his shadows gathering tight at his feet before they disappeared. “Take me to see the sick dragas. I want to see if I sense what Finley did.”
A buzz spread across my mind before Alastor spoke in my head. “To see if my sister is the one behind this, as you believe.”
I held his gaze. “Whoever it is, I wish to help vanquish it.”
His eyes darkened to black orbs before he blinked and gave me a single nod.
Kassidy hesitated for only a breath before motioning Alastor and Callan forward.
We walked without following a path, but the hush of leaves guided us deeper into the forest.
I told him about Zaicha. Who she was, her promise to help me, and the bargain she’d offered. With every step toward the cliff, my excitement climbed higher, tight and bright beneath my ribs.
I was doing this. I was going to understand my magic. Master it. See what else it could become.
“She wants to help me, Brenton.” My words came out soft, almost breathless.
My fingers curled at my chest, where my magic stirred.
“Someone like her, a goddess, seeing me, understanding me, choosing me.” I let out a shaky laugh as my pulse spiked at the wonder of it.
“I could be free of this magic, or I could learn more about it. Can you imagine what else I might be able to do? Who else I could be if given the opportunity?”
His smile built slowly, his eyes holding mine like I already possessed everything he could hope for.
“I can imagine it,” he said, quietly, his thumb stroking the back of my hand.
“But, Lolli, you don’t need a goddess to make you more.
You already both inspire and terrify me in the most brilliant ways, just by being you.
If Zaicha can teach you things, good. Learn them.
Learn everything there is to know about your magic.
Every bit of power you’re reaching for is yours to wield by birthright.
You don’t have to give her any part of yourself or your magic that you don’t want to. ”
“But what if I don’t want to wield it?” I asked.
The words surprised me even as I spoke them aloud.
“What if understanding it only tells me how much damage I can cause?” My throat tightened. “Zaicha doesn’t fear it. She commands it. She doesn’t hesitate or fight against it. If she carried it instead . . .”
The thought reverberated against my skull. Heavy yet so terrifyingly fragile.
“Does that make me weak?”
He brushed his fingers over my knuckles.
“No. You think giving it away protects others. But the only thing more dangerous than your magic is a world without the person who refuses to use it carelessly.” His hand tightened around mine.
“I’ve never feared what you can do, Lolli.
Only what you’d give up to stop yourself. ”
We didn’t speak again as the trees thinned, the forest giving way to the cliff and sky. Wind rose from the edge, lifting the ends of my hair and carrying the distant rush of water far below.
Zaicha was already there, standing near the overlook. Tall and still against the horizon, dark hair spilling over one shoulder before she gathered it up and secured it with a loose clip. The motion was casual, almost fae-like.
She turned as we approached her, her smile warm and unguarded. Her attention flicked between our joined hands before settling on Brenton.
“I like him already,” she said softly. Almost shyly. “Anyone you trust this much must be worth meeting. I’m glad you thought to bring him.”
Some of the tension I carried in my shoulders left. “I want to do this with him. I want him to understand me and whatever decisions I make.”
“Shall we begin, then?” She gestured to a clearing far from the cliff’s edge.
Brenton stayed uncharacteristically quiet. His fingers tightened once more around mine before he offered her a polite smile. When he stepped forward with me, he angled his body slightly in front of mine. Not exactly blocking, but there.