54. Ryker #3
“I’ve got her,” he says, coming around the corner with Raea in his arms. Her dress is torn across the chest, and the slit up her thigh is ripped as well. They’re both soaked. Riven passes her off to me as Kellan moves around the corner, gasping for air.
Raea’s makeup is smeared down her face from her tears and the rain. “I’m okay,” she says softly, wrapping her arms around my neck. Her body shudders against me. From the cold or from shock, I’m not sure.
Guilt like I’ve never known settles on my chest. I should have told the king to fuck off. If it had started a war, then a war I would have gladly fought. They will all pay for this. The males who took her down there, the guards who failed to keep her safe, even the king.
“I’ve got you,” I whisper. “I’m so sorry, love. I should have left sooner. I—”
“No—” she says, shaking her head as she trembles against me. “Not your fault. Please just take me home, Ry.”
When I look up at Riven, he looks pissed. “I’m assuming you’d like to have a word with the five males?” he asks me.
My jaw ticks as I hold Raea closer. I nod, and I assume he knows exactly how I plan for the conversation to go because he says he’ll come find me in the morning.
Before he disappears back to deal with the Fae, he tells us to find Carys.
She’s the only one, aside from the king, who can summon a gateway in the courtyard.
Others can only be opened beyond the city gates.
I set Raea down for a moment as Riven leaves. Trysten and Kellan both turn around to give her some privacy. I remove my coat, offering it to her.
“My back,” she whispers. “It burns.”
I turn her around, but don’t see anything.
I peel back the ruined fabric, and the air leaves my lungs.
It isn’t a bruise or a brand. It is a rune, etched in shimmering, ethereal light into the small of her back.
It pulses with the same rhythm as her heart.
The first trial, I realize with a sinking dread.
We haven't been tested by a priestess or the council. We’ve been tested by the darkness of this court.
“The rune,” I say.
“Show me?” I project the image in my mind down the bridge, unsure how it works. She grins, turning toward me and throwing her arms around me. “It’s working.”
“What’s working?” Kellan asks, turning around.
His eyes go wide as saucers as he takes in her back and then quickly averts them when a growl tumbles out of me.
I don’t even mean to, but the idea of him seeing my mate’s exposed back really ticks me off.
With her dress open, you can see the top of her ass, and she’s not wearing anything underneath.
I fight with the fabric, then give up when it refuses to budge. Instead, I wrap her in my coat, Kellan offering his to cover her lap as we make our way back toward the hall. Trysten goes ahead to find Carys while Kellan checks on the rest of our party.
It takes only minutes before Carys returns with them all in tow. Aolyn is drunk, Ciara looks halfway there herself, and Tate is slurring his words. Kamden says something about finding them passed out on the sofa in the sitting room.
Carys pulls us down a hall, quickly checking to make sure we weren’t followed before showing us a shortcut through hidden panels in the palace walls.
“I used to sneak around when I was younger. These passages haven’t been used by anyone else as long as my family has ruled.
I’d appreciate it if you don’t mention it to anyone, especially my sister. ”
“Why’s it so dark?” Tate’s voice echoes down the pitch-black passage.
With my Fae sight, I can see just fine, but their human eyesight won’t be able to see shit.
Everyone shushes Tate. Soraea surprises me when she lights up the passage with a glowing ember that hovers above us. She snuggles back into my chest as she murmurs, “Finn taught me today.”
Carys replies without looking back. “The Elven call it the Heatless Flame, or Dra’kayen. It burns without heat. It’s one of the smaller magics of the Elven. Even though we both share the ability to see in the dark, the Elven like their flames.”
“Cool trick,” Ciara slurs.
The passageway narrows as we descend to what I can only assume is the courtyard. The walls become cooler, and the moisture clings to the stone.
“Reminds me of Ista,” Raea mumbles sleepily, her body still trembling in my arms.
Without having to ask, Carys says, “She’ll be okay.
She’s probably in shock. I'll send for a healer when we return. Your friends will need to see one anyway.” She asks us to be quiet as she pushes against the wall.
Slowly, it pops open, and she glances back only long enough to put out Raea’s flame.
She looks around before opening it all the way, ushering us out.
The door seals behind us, and it blends in with the stonework so well that I can’t even be sure where we came from.
Carys twists her hands quickly, opening the gateway.
Guards on rotation round the corner. They pause, shocked to see us, but Carys waves them off.
Overhead, sentries stationed on the wall all look down upon us, watching.
As soon as I step through behind everyone else, it closes.