Chapter 18 #2
Solena sighs, frustrated. “Really? After everything? After almost losing our prince to the void, this is what you’re joking about?”
Her scorn is enough to strip the amusement from both of our faces.
“You need to clean yourself up,” she says, tone firm. “Then come above deck. We need to decide what happens next.”
No one argues. We only nod, as if this once-maid is the wisest among us.
Zyphoro and Reon leave as Solena turns to Orios, reaching for his hand. “Come,” she beckons.
“I’m right behind you,” Orios murmurs, leaning down to press a kiss to her forehead.
Their hands drift apart as she steps past me, sparing the briefest glance before she disappears through the door.
Orios lingers there in the corner, and I think nothing of it at first until I feel his eyes burning through me like flaming arrows.
I lift an eyebrow. “Is something wrong, Reaper?”
His fingers curl, knuckles cracking as he closes the space between us in a single stride.
“I am not a Reaper here,” he says, voice lower, rougher. “Here I am Orios. Fae. Male. No different from you.”
“Is that right?” I drawl, letting my legs spread a little wider on the edge of the table, watching him. “And why do you feel the need to remind me of this… Orios?”
He squares his shoulders. “Because I don’t want titles getting in the way of what I’m about to say.”
My canines lengthen again. I run my tongue over one, slow, letting my gaze narrow. “Then, by all means. Speak your mind.”
Orios bares his own teeth, his lip curling just enough to reveal the sharp tips of his fangs. Arms folding, he leans forward, voice quiet but unmistakably clear.
“Solena is mine. Bitten or not and I will not hesitate to cut through anyone who comes between us.”
“I have appreciated your service,” I say. “So I will forgive your puny threats and insolent fucking tone. But if this is you telling me to stay away from your female, you are wasting your breath. I have no interest in Solena.”
He straightens, shoulders broadening.
“We may be far from Baev’kalath, but never forget who you are talking to. Understand me?”
Orios’ jaw tightens, his breath heaving in his chest. “Yes, Your Highness,” he says, voice smooth but taut. “I understand.”
Then he leans in, his words a low rasp against my ear.
“But if you dare stare at her too long, if your hands wander too close, I will kill you.”
He straightens, brushes past me, shoving my shoulder in a way that’s nothing short of deliberate.
I grin as he reaches the door, a quiet chuckle slipping free. “For someone so concerned about who touches Solena, maybe you should’ve thought twice before taking my sister as a bedmate.”
His hand stills on the door, fingers curling against the wood. Then, slowly, he glances back over his shoulder. “Worry less about who shares my bed and more about finding your own female.”
The words hit their mark like a hammer. He doesn’t wait for a reply. The door slams behind him, rattling on its hinges, the final punctuation to his parting shot.
I exhale through clenched teeth, fury tight in my chest. Sliding off the table, I curl my fingers into a fist and drive it down.
Once, twice, again and again until the wood gives, splintering beneath my knuckles.
Pain blooms through my hand, grounding me, but it is nothing compared to the war raging inside me.
Because he’s right.
I have been lost, adrift in the chaos, tangled in distractions, drowning in the ghosts of my past and the weight of what hunts me. I have strayed too far from my path, too consumed by my own torment to see the truth. I must find my way back. Back to her.
I brace myself against the table, fingers pressed into the blood-slick wood, scattered with splinters and spilled ink. My head bows beneath the weight of it all as I struggle to steady my breath, to find calm.
In the hush that follows, I swear I hear her voice.
Good. I need to remember why I’m doing this. What I’ve lost.
At first, I tell myself it’s a dream. A longing twisted into sound. But then I hear her again, closer this time. So close, it’s as if she’s at my ear, calling my name.
My shoulders go rigid. My head whips around, searching the shadows.
What is this? Why does she should so close? Why does she sound afraid?
My breath snags, the truth clawing up my throat.
This isn’t memory. This isn’t madness.
It’s her.
“Amara!” I cry, my voice breaking as it rips free. “I hear you!”
She calls again. But from where?
I shove aside the table and lunge for the door, throwing it open as I bolt above deck. Sunlight slams into my eyes, and I lift a hand against the glare.
“Amara!” I shout, scanning the horizon, my heart a frantic drum in my ribs.
Zyphoro straightens from where she leans against the railing, her gaze tracking me. “Daedalus. What is it?”
“I can hear her!” The words claw out of me, desperate. I pace across the deck, searching. “She’s here!”
Reon and Solena exchange wary glances.
“What do you mean?” Reon asks, his voice cautious. “Who is here?”
“Amara!” I snap, my pulse roaring in my ears. I drag my fingers through my hair, gripping at the roots. “Can you not hear her? She’s calling my name.”
Zyphoro moves to follow, but when I turn back on my own path, searching the same stretch of deck again, she snatches my elbow.
“Brother, stop,” she says, voice firm, but I rip free.
“I can hear her!” I clutch at my skull, my fingers digging in. “She’s in here!” I slap the side of my head so hard that Zyphoro flinches.
The impact rings through me, and as the words leave my lips, their meaning takes hold.
In here.
Inside me.
Not on this ship. Not in the ocean.
She’s in the part of me that lingers just out of reach. The part that refuses to die despite the sigils burned into my back.
“Brother.” Zyphoro’s voice softens, wary now. “What is happening?”
My breath shudders. My heart races and yet feels still, suspended in time.
I lift my gaze to hers, twin mirrors of my own, filled with the same terrible realization.
“I’ve found her,” I whisper, dread like ice in my veins. “Amara is in the void.”
“You are exhausted and wounded,” Zyphoro says, gripping my shoulder. “She cannot be in the void. Why would she be in the void?”
“I know her voice.” My heart slams against my ribs, a drumbeat of certainty. “When she calls, I answer. Always.” I lift my hand, and smoke curls between my fingers, twisting with purpose. “I must go to her.”
Zyphoro tightens her hold, her nails digging into my skin. “Do you hear yourself? After everything we’ve been through, after we nearly lost you, do you truly mean to step into the void willingly?”
The alternatives claw at my mind, dark and unbearable. “This could be my only chance to bring her back before…” My throat tightens. “Before Gygarth finds her first.”
Reon, Solena, and Orios close in, their heads shaking in unison.
“This is madness,” Reon snaps. “We have spent all this time keeping you away from the void. Away from Gygarth.”
“And now fate drags me back into his shadow,” I say bitterly. “By dangling before me the one thing I cannot ignore.”
Solena's hand presses gently against my back, just as Orios' gaze hardens.
“You cannot do this,” she pleads.
I step away, shaking her off with careful resolve. “If the void is what stands between me and my love, then there is only one choice, and we have already wasted too much time.”