Chapter 38
We step out of the shadows gathered at the top of the temple steps and into the warm light bleeding across Calista Temple’s marble. I’m still adjusting to the sudden brightness when he speaks, and what he says is the last thing I expect.
“You should find Peonica,” he says.
I blink at him, caught off guard. “Peonica?” My voice wavers before I can steady it.
“I was going to go to her… soon.” I drag out the last word as I search his face.
There are so many things we need to talk about.
So many questions I have for him—hard questions, about what the future possibly looks like for us.
And we’ve won. That alone is cause for celebration.
So why does he look so conflicted? He should be relieved we’re both alive and breathing. Instead, he looks as though his problems have only worsened.
“I would hate for you to make her wait,” he insists. “I’m sure she’s anxious to see that you’re okay.” One hand reaches for the large doors while the other nudges me forward.
I slip out of his touch. “What is happening right now?” My voice sharpens. “We just survived the unsurvivable, won the unwinnable, and you’re trying to send me away?” I fold my arms. “I don’t understand.”
“Your sister wanted to see you as soon as you returned, Raylane—”
I throw up my hands at his use of my actual name instead of that ridiculous nickname. “You think lunch is my top priority right now?”
He glares at me—actually glares—as if I’m the unreasonable one, as if my confusion is some trivial inconvenience.
The sight of it stings. I don’t even know what I expected from him. Comfort, maybe. A breath. A moment where we simply existed together after everything.
“Go eat yourself if you’re that hungry,” I snap. “I need a moment to breathe, and I have to check on Seraphina.”
I turn on my heel before he can reply, hurt and confused by his mercurial nature. After everything we’ve been through, I still don’t know how to read him. My footsteps ring against the marble as I head down the stairs toward the small chapel where I left the drunken Champion last night.
At the bottom, I glance back—half expecting, half hoping he’ll follow.
He doesn’t. The steps behind me are empty.
I push open the shrine’s door harshly, my thoughts still rattled by Kaelzar’s behavior. Cool, heavy air spills over me.
I stop at the threshold, glancing at the shadows now inked over my arm that he gave me when he tied his life to my safety.
I think of the moment he gifted me the most precious part of himself during the Challenge, something he can never get back.
He’s been my partner, my friend, and somewhere along the way, he became more than that.
But now, when a future finally seems possible, he hesitates. What if he chooses his secrets over what we could become? The thought sends a sharp, skittering chill down my spine.
For a moment, the worry threatens to root me in place.
I force myself to breathe, forcing my focus back to the task at hand.
I’m here to check on Seraphina and to help her dragon with whatever she needs.
After tonight, Calista will come into her full power, and I have to be ready.
I don’t know how to contain the conniving goddess, but any scrap of information could matter. I have to start somewhere.
I take two steps in, barely enough for my eyes to adjust, when something shifts.
A ripple cuts through the gloom. A dark line splits open in front of me, and Kaelzar steps through, dragging Peonica behind him.
Both of them wear the same grim, tight expressions.
My stomach tightens. I dart a glance at my sister. “Okay, what’s going on?” I ask, crossing my arms.
“We don’t have much time, Ray,” Peonica says, glancing at Kaelzar. The look they share drains the irritation from me in an instant. Her voice trembles. “I have to tell you something.”
“Wha—” I begin, but the word never finishes.
Peonica’s eyes roll back. Her body locks, every muscle gone rigid.
“Peonica!” I cry, lunging forward as panic surges through me.
But Kaelzar is faster. His arm clamps around my waist, hauling me back from her convulsing form. “Let me go!” I scream, thrashing. “Why are you pulling me away? Let go!”
Ten feet. That’s all the space he puts between us before he spins me to face him.
He seizes my hand, fingers digging into mine.
“It’s too late now. I’m sorry. She knew what would happen when she took that ring.
Remember that. She knew, and she did it anyway.
” His voice cracks. “She did it to save you, so you can save the world.”
I rip my hand free, breath heaving. “If you don’t let me go to her, Kaelzar, I swear to the gods, I’ll let my magic rot the marrow from your bones.”
“Magic…that isn’t yours,” Peonica hisses from behind me.
My head snaps toward her voice. She stands too still now. Her lips curl into a lopsided grin I’ve never seen on my sister’s face. And her eyes… they’re wrong. No longer warm honey-gold. They’re tarnished now, clouded with a rusted hue.
“The decay,” she says, her voice curling like smoke.
“It isn’t yours.” She lifts her hand, my ring gleaming on her finger like a brand.
Her smile widens. “Kaelzar left the door open, my Champion, and I walked right in.” She tilts her head, almost lovingly.
“But as I said, the magic is mine. And I’ll need it back.
” Her voice deepens. “You didn’t really think you could keep it, did you? ”
A cold horror spreads through me—not suddenly, but slow and steady, like frostbite. By the time it reaches my heart, I understand.
This isn’t Peonica.
It’s Calista.