Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
Ametrine
I swipe up my bag off the ground and slip my arms into the rope straps, tossing it onto my back. Graylen and Adrian follow suit, preparing to leave.
Turning to Leda, I jerk my chin behind me toward where Zephyr is lying in the grass. “Take care of my girl.” My voice cracks, and I clear my throat. “She’s stubborn as hell, and she’ll probably only let you ride her while I’m gone. Don’t let her get into too much trouble.”
Leda nods, her gaze flicking over my shoulder.
Behind me, a soft whine fills the air. The ground shakes beneath my feet, and Adrian takes a few wide steps back. A burst of air brushes against me, sending tendrils of my hair flying, followed by a quiet snort.
I turn around, nose to nose with my girl.
“Be good for her, okay?” I rest my forehead against her nose, her scales warm and smooth.
She whines again, nudging my face a little and rustling her wings. A flurry of emotions emanates from her—worry, frustration, annoyance.
“I’ll be back,” I promise. “I need you to keep Leda safe and for you to not give her too hard of a time.”
A tiny wave of defiance peeks through the dark emotions, letting me know she has zero intentions of being good for Leda. She’ll probably have her throwing up from corkscrews in the air.
I give her a quick squeeze around her neck, feeling her nuzzle against me instantly. Tears well in my eyes, and I release her, turning back toward the group before they start to fall.
“Let’s go,” I finally say.
Leda—not one for goodbyes—gives us a brisk nod and walks stiffly to Zeph, but not before I see her swat away a stray tear. I can’t help the small smile that pulls on my lips.
As much of a hard-ass as she is, I know she cares. I think she always has, just in her own way.
“Ready?” I whisper to Graylen.
He hesitates and turns to Leda to call out, “If you go back to the palace, watch over my sisters for me.”
Graylen’s voice is strained, his back rigid. His sisters must be so scared—their parents and their brother are all gone. By now, my mother and the rest of the council likely know what’s happened with Cyprian and Iris’s convoys, along with Leda and all of us.
While I’m certain they would shield Honora, Lolly, and Vallaria from the truth—that we still don’t know what happened to Cyprian and Iris—how long can they keep it that way?
We don’t know what happened to them; all we can hope is that they’re somewhere safe. But if they’re not… My mother and the council can’t lie to the girls forever.
Graylen turns to Adrian and gives him a short nod.
“Okay,” Adrian mumbles quietly, nodding and rubbing his hands together like he’s trying to convince himself he can do this.
“My uncle was very clear that whoever passes with me needs to be touching me, and then the next person touching them—like a chain. My blood will get us through, but if we break apart, then you may not make it to the other side.” His face grows paler with each word.
He looks over at us, his gaze briefly sweeping to where Leda stands beside Zeph. His jaw clenches, and he holds out a hand toward me.
“I need a knife to draw the blood,” Adrian explains. “Once I do it, you both need to grab on.”
Graylen and I exchange a look. I’m not giving Adrian a blade, but I will gladly make the cut for him. I slide my left hand into Graylen’s and unsheathe the dagger at my hip with my right, tugging him over to Adrian.
Adrian’s eyes widen when he realizes I’m not offering the blade, but holding the tip toward him. He gulps and holds his trembling hand up higher.
I make a quick swipe across his palm, and to his credit, he doesn’t flinch.
Adrian takes a deep breath and offers me his other hand, but he pauses at the sound of Zephyr’s soft cry rumbling behind us, the ground trembling as she leaps over to where we stand.
“Zeph—”
My words get lodged in my throat as she nuzzles not into me, but into Graylen’s chest. He barely had time to turn around before she shoved her nose into him, gently rubbing her face against him.
A burst of her sorrow mingles with the sadness swirling inside of me.
“She’s worried about you,” I whisper, translating the emotions she’s sending down our bond. Another small and whistling whine. “And she’s going to miss you.”
Graylen’s brows pull together, his arms dangling at his sides awkwardly as this beast of war snuggles up against him. But the hesitation doesn’t last long—mostly because Zeph won’t allow it—and his arms wrap around her neck.
“I’ll miss you, too,” he whispers. Then his voice dips lower, so quiet I almost miss him say, “I promise I’ll bring our girl back home.”
My lips part, and an overwhelming wave of love washes through me—so intense that I can’t tell if it’s coming from Zeph or me.
Graylen breaks away from her, and she pads back over to Leda, her golden gaze on me for a single fleeting moment. I give her a sad smile, my heart in my throat as I turn to Adrian.
“Not like I’m bleeding out over here,” Adrian mumbles.
Blessed Divine, he’s more dramatic than a child.
“I think you’ll survive a cut the size of my pinky on your hand,” I mutter. “Let’s get this over with.”
When I move to take his free hand, Graylen steps between us, his back to me. I shake my head and open my mouth to tease him for acting like he needs to protect me—from Adrian, nonetheless.
But when he slips his hand into mine and looks over his shoulder at me, I pause. He’s pale—his tanned skin dull and sweaty. His hand is clammy, his fingers trembling.
It’s then that I realize he needs us to hold onto.
Fuck.
My insides twist, and I squeeze his hand gently, scooting closer.
We need to get him somewhere to rest. The castle can wait a day or two—long enough for us to find an inn in Runnswick so Graylen can sleep.
“Take us through, Adrian.” The words are harsh, but my gaze remains soft and fixed on Graylen. Even as he turns to face Adrian, I don’t look away.
“Remember, stay connected until we’re all the way through.” Adrian grunts, his body dwarfed by Graylen’s.
He whispers a word I don’t understand, the sound of his hand slapping against the stone of the archway muffling the rest of what he says.
Immediately, I can feel the weight of the portal drawing us in. I start to turn toward Leda and Zephyr for one last goodbye, but the moment I blink, my vision shifts. Adrian yanks us through the archway, and a brief feeling of panic stabs at my chest.
Adrian could be lying—could be leading us right to the viper’s den.
It was our only option, but it doesn’t mean it was the right one.
But it’s too late to look back now.
Just like when going through Linnick’s lemon tree, the world around me turns into darkness. No Leda and Zeph, no forest with a bubbling stream behind us, and no Penyth.
I can feel Graylen’s hand in mine, but I can’t see him.
His fingers curl, the sensation of his grip tightening the only thing to let me know he’s still there.
It doesn’t feel like we’re moving; it’s as if we’re floating. Not walking through a portal, not making any progress from one side to the other. We’re simply…existing.
Any courage that I had before stepping through that archway begins to slip away, replaced by doubt. There’s no Leda or Brielle to rely on in Crea, no Zephyr to call on to fly me out.
It’s just me and Graylen here—Adrian, too, but…I can’t trust him. Not with our history. I would brave the world with Graylen by my side, though right now I need to make sure he’s ready to do that.
A blinding light bursts across my vision, and the next thing I know, I’m free-falling. My hair whips around my face, strands catching in my mouth and eyes, while Graylen’s fingertips dig painfully into the back of my hand.
The blinding light disappears as quickly as it came, snapping into darkness.
A soft tickling sensation starts at my neck, with my back pressed against something solid. Then the sound of crickets singing slowly begins to chirp around me, one by one, until there are dozens of them.
I blink open my eyes, realizing I’m no longer falling or floating.
A canopy of branches and oak leaves hangs over me, the evening sun setting just above them. There’s a chilly breeze flowing across my skin, bringing awareness back to my body.
I push myself up onto my elbows, finding Graylen and Adrian getting their bearings beside me.
We landed in a forest, not much different from the one we just left.
In fact—it looks exactly the same. Dense woods in front of us, the trees thinner and the ground covered with small rocks and pine needles instead of mossy grass.
Did the portal even work?
I bolt up off of the ground, shooting to my feet and spinning around in a circle. One thing is for certain: there’s not a castle in sight. No market or army camp. There are no signs of civilization at all.