16. Kian
KIAN
I was already plotting all the ways I’d torture Rhys Lockhart when we got our hands on him.
The Luminaries were the ones who were owed justice, but I deserved mine, too.
They’d stolen my best friend. And it seemed they’d erased her memory with some sort of dark magic because it was clear she didn’t remember any of us.
That killed.
My gaze moved to Ayden as he spoke some pithy retort about Rae’s betrothal. Her face went pale. Rage surged, blazing through my chest like I, too, harnessed fire. I didn’t, but for Rae, I’d find a way. Just like I’d also kill Ayden for distressing her.
Her berry-pink lips formed an O, the same way they always had when shock overtook her, and those haunting gray eyes went wide. She was the same yet so different. Grown. A woman. And I’d missed every step along the journey.
My chest ached at everything we’d lost. It was as if someone had carved a hole and had begun chipping away at a heart that no longer beat.
But I couldn’t stop staring. Even wearing some sort of ridiculous garb covered in plants and slippers that looked like that creature the humans called a unicorn, she was beautiful.
Her pale-blond hair shimmered in the firelight of the forest around her, and the apples of her cheeks were rosy despite the lack of blood in her face.
Just thinking the word blood had my gaze dropping to her slender neck.
I wanted to trace the curve with my tongue and teeth. I wanted to feel the pulse beneath my thumb as I measured her heartbeats. Even at this distance, I could hear it, as if her blood sang to me.
I was going to hades. Probably should’ve already been there for coveting the girl who’d been my best friend—and certainly for coveting my other best friend’s girl. No. More than his girl—his future wife. The future Queen of the Luminaries.
Rae let out a high-pitched squeak. “Did you say betrothed?” Her breaths started coming faster, the tiny pants making their way to my ear. “This is just a hallucination,” she mumbled. “It has to be. You got microdosed in the greenhouse by mistake. That’s all.”
Calloway shifted in his saddle, frowning. “What is she talking about?”
My lips twitched. I’d been to the human realm a number of times, occasionally on business for my family or the House of Starlight, but mostly in search of Rae.
During my time there, I’d learned some of their ways and couldn’t help the hint of a smile I fought against. “I think it’s what humans call drugs. Psychedelics, to be precise.”
Disgust swept over Cal’s expression. “She defiled her body with chemical toxins?”
Annoyance surged. We’d just gotten her back, and he was already finding imperfections?
“Psylocibins are all natural,” Rae muttered. “But that’s not helping me understand that I’m supposed to be the wife of someone I’ve never met.”
Calloway’s frown deepened. “My Queen, we’ve known each other since you were born.”
Rae’s breaths picked up speed, right along with her heartbeat. The rapid, tripping pace was familiar—the same as when she’d had panic attacks during childhood. When panic gripped her, it was nearly impossible for her to get herself out without help.
I slid off my horse on instinct. Shadow trailed behind me, sticking close should I need a means of escape.
“Kian,” Calloway warned.
I turned to look at him, truly disappointed in my friend for the first time. “She needs us.”
He looked between Rae and me, eyeing the barren barrier. “You cannot cross.”
Ayden, the replacement King, pulled his blade. “He’s right. You cannot.”
My back teeth gnashed. “This is no attack on your lands. I’m simply here to help my friend.”
Rae tugged at the sleeves of her shirt as though it was the most uncomfortable garment known to man. She bent as her breaths kept coming in shallow heaves.
“Rae?” the man next to her asked, worry in his voice.
It took me a second to recognize him. Paxton, Rhys’s right hand. He placed a hand on Rae’s back, and I had the sudden urge to rip his arm from its joint. Jealousy burned through me like a living, breathing thing.
What the hell was wrong with me?
It had to be simple protectiveness for a childhood friend. That was all. I didn’t even know the woman she was now.
And I’d be damned if the House of Firelight was going to keep me from knowing that person.
I crossed the barren ground, my boots crunching the charred ash beneath them. But the moment I reached the territory line, Ayden was there. He lifted his blade to my neck. “You will not pass.”
Fury blazed through me. I wouldn’t let this asshole believe he had instilled any fear in me. Instead, I called a small scythe to my hand and pressed it to his sternum. “Say that again.”
Ayden’s temper flared—always his weakest link. “You would bring war for the witch?”
I bit the inside of my cheek so hard the spiced copper taste of blood filled my mouth. “You will not disrespect her.”
Repulsion swept over Ayden’s face. “Of course you would defend her. How does it feel to sell your soul for the favor of witches?”
The urge to gut him like a fish was strong. To pull his heart from his body and feast on his life force. Our world would be better off without him.
“Can’t. Breathe,” Rae wheezed.
“Let me through,” I gritted out. “I can help her.”
Something that almost looked like panic flashed across Rhys’s face. “Let him pass, Brother.”
“The hell I will,” Ayden snarled.
A low, rumbling growl emanated from Rhys. A submission growl—the kind meant to show everyone just how strong he was.
The warrior Nocturnae stumbled, many dropping to their knees, all bowing their heads. Ayden tried to stay standing, to show his brother that he was just as strong, but he couldn’t. He was no match for Rhys.
Ayden staggered to the side, struggling to stay on his feet, even as his head ducked in forced deference.
It was all I needed. I stepped around him and strode straight for Rae.
Fear bloomed in those gray eyes I’d always loved, her focus moving to my weapon. I instantly sent it back into the ether. Which only made her breathing pick up speed.
“Rae, look at me,” I commanded, trying my best to keep my voice gentle.
“Who—are—you?” The words came out between pants as the terror and panic dug themselves deeper.
I moved in closer, taking one of her hands in mine as I curved the other around her delicate neck. Her blood pounded against my palm as she curled in on herself even more. The lack of oxygen was starving her muscles.
A buzz lit my hands the moment we made contact, spreading up my arms and toward my chest, where a tugging sensation had made its home. I’d never experienced anything like it. Not in all my years.
But I couldn’t puzzle it out now. There was no time. If I didn’t act quickly, she’d pass out. And I couldn’t bear to think what they would do with her then.
I began murmuring an incantation in our ancient tongue, whispering to her blood, telling it to slow. I may not have been able to allay her fears, but I could calm her body and, therefore, her mind.
My chanting continued, and her blood started to obey. Her heart rate slowed. Not immediately, but a little with each round of the incantation.
Rae’s muscles eased little by little, no longer in seized positions, and her body slowly began to uncurl, allowing her to straighten fully once more.
She was so much smaller than I was. And even though I knew she was tall by human standards, I still towered over her. And she was close. So damn close. And her scent…
Fuck.
She smelled like jasmine and black currant. Like coming home.
Rae stared into my eyes, and I couldn’t have moved if I’d tried. Those gray eyes glistened, filling with unshed tears. “I know you. How do I know you?”
There was so much confusion and pain in those words. It was as if what we had been to each other was just out of reach. A tear slipped free and slid down her cheek.
I couldn’t stop myself from reaching up and ghosting my thumb over the swell of her face to catch it. “You were my best friend.”