Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
LYVIA
High Priest Helmar demands more data from the Sky Scholars on the Noctilux. His obsession leaves them weary.
Lyvia – The Arx, Votruvia
Acloud of cotton wrapped itself around me as I shifted, and my consciousness called me from a night of peaceful oblivion.
I snuggled into the crook of Kellan’s warm, hard arm and curled closer to him.
A wave of cedar and leather washed over me as he turned into me, twining his fingers over my scalp and sliding them through the long strands of my hair.
I sighed, the soft massage enough for sleep’s calm to beckon me back.
Kellan’s lips left a cooling kiss on my forehead, and I nuzzled closer, shifting beneath something smooth and warm.
I blinked my eyes open and lifted my head, finding Kellan’s dark gaze tracing my face. He tugged his sea blue coat higher over my shoulders. The corners of his lips slid up into a soft smile as he drew his hand back and ran it through my hair.
Gods, that felt good.
I propped my elbow up and blinked as it sank into a soft, downy mattress. I jerked upright and stilled, Kellan’s coat sliding to my hips as my eyes darted around the soft top of the altar.
What the hell?
Kellan smirked, and he clasped his hands behind his head as he leaned back into the altar-turned-bed.
I scanned the rest of the large chamber, noting the sheer, silver drapery that now hung between the bordering marble columns, creating a heavenly canopy around our impromptu campsite.
The crystals shifted from a soft pink to a smoldering orange, shining through the gaps like a sunrise.
“How…” I trailed off. My eyes settled on Kellan’s relaxed form.
He shrugged, and he leaned his head to the side, scanning my face.
“You, of course,” he murmured. “I awoke to some wild golden lights swirling around us in the night. Apparently, the Transcindiel thought you weren’t comfortable enough. Please thank it for me.”
Kellan arched a dark brow, and the lilting tune of the transformational power rose from my depths, practically purring as Kellan spoke to it.
I did this?
The Transcindiel spun to my palms, lightening the matching eight-pointed stars in confirmation. Kellan propped himself up on his elbow.
I blinked, scanning his chest and noting the deep bruises that lined the sides of his torso, and my mouth fell open.
“You’re healing, Kellan,” I gasped, sliding my hands tenderly to the purple and yellow smudges that had replaced the gashes. He nodded his head, his brows rising.
“Yes,” he confirmed, looking over my shoulder in wonder at the pools glistening at the bottom of the stairs. “The water? This place? I’m not sure.”
He shifted and straightened. “There weren’t any blankets, so I pulled this from my pack.” He pulled his sea blue coat over my shoulders, his hand lingering as he ran a thumb over my skin.
My breasts peaked at his touch, but he kept his eyes up, sliding them along the line of my collarbone.
“It looks rather good on you,” he added, his voice rough. He dragged his gaze to my face, and a rare vulnerability softened the corners of his eyes as he sat up and pulled me to his lap.
I straddled his waist, resting one hand on the scars lining his chest and placing the other on the side of his face, my thumb running over the soft prickles of his short beard. My shoulder peeked out and his coat slid down as we adjusted ourselves.
Kellan kept his eyes on mine despite the position, despite the promise of perfect pleasure our bodies were desperate for.
“Yesterday was the happiest day of my life,” he confessed quietly, wrapping an arm around my waist.
A quiet realization hit me.
Happy.
When was the last time I’d been truly happy? The feeling spread through my body, washing away the lingering pain and hurt like a wave over the sand.
“And I will do everything in my power to keep that smile on your face,” he continued.
“I’ll follow you anywhere, Bonscaíh.” He leaned in, sliding his hand to the side of my neck and through my hair.
His lips pressed against mine in soft connection as his thumb brushed a delicate line below my cheekbone.
“And I you. To Hell and back,” I confirmed against his lips.
He broke into a smile as he huffed a laugh and shook his head against mine.
“To Hell and back.” He nodded.
Warmth swelled in my chest, my powers reacting to the overwhelming force filling my entire being. The force that bound them… The force that allowed them to coexist, to thrive as one.
Love.
Light filtered in through the entrance of the mountain as we made our way through the final tunnel leading back to the jungle of the Arx. We’d washed what remained of our clothes, and Kellan resigned to leaving his shredded shirt behind before we gathered our things and trekked out of the mountain.
I glanced over my shoulder and gawked at the pirate lord as he strode down the dark tunnel in his blue coat. My eyes slid to the sharp fuck-me lines cutting into his black leathers.
My gaze snapped up to his, and I bit my lower lip as he threw me a cocky grin, arching a dark brow.
Fuck, I loved him.
I turned, giddy and high off that feeling, before hurrying through the remainder of the tunnel.
A wave of relief and love washed over me as Tiberius’s hulking form clomped from the thick jungle brush. I rushed forward and wrapped my arms around his thick neck, his massive head bobbing as I squeezed.
Missed you, buddy, I murmured.
Sure, you did, he snarked, turning his attention to Kellan as he exited the tunnel.
I gave him a halfhearted smack on the neck as I pulled away, and he nudged me with his wide nose.
Aeriden slammed into me from behind, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into a tight hug. I turned into him and squeezed before pulling back and scanning him. A few scrapes and bruises lined his face, but otherwise, he seemed fine.
His Cantor-blue eyes were wide as they scanned the air around me.
What the hell—
Isla popped to her feet and stood near their fire, crossing her arms as her eyes darted between Kellan and me. She arched an ebony brow and tapped her foot.
“About time,” she murmured through a growing smile.
I released Aeriden and wrapped my arms around my friend. She winced, a tight hiss escaping her lips as I pulled away.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” I asked, scanning her for injuries.
“I’m fine,” she said. “Just sore from a nasty little trap set by whoever hid this.” She held up her hand, and a smile blossomed on her face as my eyes landed on the leather scroll.
“You found it,” I said through a grin, reaching for the scroll as she snapped it to her chest. She shook her head, her smile growing.
“I don’t think so,” she said, raising her brows. “Not until you get those shadows under control first. You’ll obliterate this old thing.”
I blinked and turned to find Aeriden continuing to stare at the air around me. My eyes flitted to Kellan, and a beautiful, genuine smile graced his lips, replacing the cocky grin from moments before.
A shadow the shape of a wolf darted in front of my vision, little whisps of golden light trailing in its wake.
I jerked my head around, noting the shadow hawk flying after it, trailed by a horse and dune runner.
The Obscura and Transcindiel danced around me in playful delight, merging and creating on their own.
A warmth filled my chest at the sight, and my powers surged, creating more creatures that danced around the small camp, jumping over Tiberius’s back and flying in circles around the others.
Several figures lingered around Kellan, darting over his shoulder. He lifted a hand, and a strange creature with horns and fins raced down his sleeve before hopping off his hand and leaping back to me.
I’m happy for you, Tiberius murmured into my mind, a smile riding his voice.
I sent a wave of love down our connection and swallowed. Thank you.
I gently called my powers back into their chasm, the small figures turning their little heads before leaping through the air and into the eight-pointed stars on my palms.
Isla threw me a knowing smile. Her brows pinched upward as her gaze cut to Kellan, and she handed me the scroll.
I swallowed, reining in my elation and forcing my analytical mind to focus on the ancient document.
“The parchment is strange,” Isla commented, leaning over my shoulder as I gently unrolled the scroll.
Brown wrinkles bent as I straightened it on the dirt ground. Long markings of a lighter shade of brown rose in varying angles as they cut across the parchment in random directions.
“It doesn’t make any sense,” she continued, looking up as Kellan and Aeriden approached. “I’m not even sure it’s a language. It looks too random.”
I shook my head, baffled at the strange markings scattered across the scroll. This is what Tynan sent us after? This is what will defeat Sintarrak?
My thoughts drifted to Drystan. He should be here for this. He’d see something we would miss…
I ran my hand over the wrinkled brown leather and slipped my fingers over the raised markings. Why did these feel so familiar?
My fingers froze as a gut-churning realization washed over me, and I jerked my hand away.
“This isn’t parchment,” I breathed, snapping my gaze to Kellan’s bare torso and the lines of scars stretching down his chest. “This is skin.”
Color drained from Isla’s bronze face, but she leaned closer, examining the large patch of dried, ancient skin.
“Fuck that,” Aeriden blurted out, standing and distancing himself. He brushed his hands against his leathers, despite not having touched it.
“Let’s take it back to the Hydra, and we can examine it in better lighting,” Kellan cut in, offering me a hand.
I let him pull me up, his thumb running a line over the top of my hand.
“And then we can figure out what the hell this is for,” he continued, raising the strange, crystal decanter and striding past the Itherian sculpture.
My eyes snagged on the Itherian woman, her empty hands reaching up toward the basin still holding our dark sacrifice.
Slow ripples spread through the blood as Tiberius clomped closer.
“Kellan,” I murmured. “A key…”
He paused and turned toward me, following my line of sight and cocking his head.
“A key to a map helps translate it,” Isla said. “And we can’t read this language.”
I nodded as Kellan knelt beside me next to the little statue. He slid the U-shaped crystal decanter into the petite hands of the winged Itherian, sliding the wider of the two openings just beneath the center of the bottom of the basin.
A click sounded, and a dark crimson line streamed into the decanter, filling it with our thick, combined blood and emptying the basin.
I blew out a breath as Kellan pulled it free.
“What do we do with it?” Aeriden asked as he leaned over my shoulder.
“You’ll find answers when new life waters ancient hide…” I mused, recalling Tynan’s cryptic instructions. My stomach pitched as his phantom shadows licked along my spine.
Kellan’s body shifted closer to mine, his knee sliding to the edge of my thigh.
“New life…” Isla’s black braid slipped over her shoulder as she examined the decanter. “New life is our blood, the blood of the living. And the ancient hide—”
“The scroll,” I finished for her. My eyes skipped to the sheet of scarred skin. “Let’s get back to Borva so we can really look at this.”