Chapter 17
Aeson
I STRIDE OUT OF THE chilled air of the tent, into a parched breeze that does nothing to alleviate the heat of my temper.
The sand riding the bothersome gust abrades my skin, as though I need any more layers of myself exposed right now.
The sun set hours ago, and millions of stars blanket the night sky.
Under other circumstances, the breathtaking sight would claim all my attention, but I can’t stop thinking about how my mistakes almost cost me Karis today.
Jori has repaired what the Thrasher’s natural healing couldn’t. Karis is resting now, and the Healer is watching over him, but the fear I felt when that barrier besieged him, the instant regret I had for not protecting my Wing better, lingers like a bad taste in my mouth and a warning in my gut.
I’m not thinking clearly. I’m not assessing things the way I should.
I’m so desperate to catch Ever, so determined to claw my way through her secrets and figure out what’s really going on, that I’m compromised.
I don’t do that. I don’t play fast and loose, especially not with my Wing.
I don’t run headfirst into dangerous situations without anticipating every possible outcome, and yet I’ve done exactly that.
With a weak growl, I run my fingers through my gritty hair, close my eyes, and breathe.
It’s the bond. I know it is. This slow slip into madness was riding me hard enough before, but it’s so much worse now that she’s close.
Close, and yet I still can’t get to her?. .?. because she doesn’t want me to.
I resume storming toward my tent, Farrow and Ogdan following somewhere behind me, careful to keep their distance.
My Wing has offered me their assurances: Karis is fine, we all agreed to this plan together, it’s no one’s fault, we’ll deal with the barrier tomorrow.
But I’m not letting myself off the hook that easily.
I shove my way inside my tent and make a beeline for the shower.
The air is already crisp inside my quarters, but I need additional relief from the press of my thoughts and the sweltering temps outside.
With the quick twist of a dial, the water turns on and then rapidly cools to the preset temperature I’ve programmed.
I step into the spray, absently scrub and rinse my scale armor clean, and then retract it so I can do the same to the rest of my body while my mind wanders.
Like a wound I can’t stop picking at, I focus on my dysfunctional bond.
The threads still feel constricted, the connection stifled, but earlier the force suddenly screaming through our connection would have knocked me on my ass if I hadn’t already been up in the air.
As soon as Karis was safe, Ever hurried to board everything up again.
But her work this time was shoddy, because a trickle of emotion now seeps through here and there, almost as though her defenses have sprung a leak.
I got a sample of anger earlier. Not a flash of fury or a passionate blaze of temper like I was feeling, not even close.
What Ever was sending through was a well-tended, simmering rage.
The kind that’s built slowly, kindled carefully, and nursed with unfailing devotion until it’s a roiling, steady wrath capable of withstanding anything that would dare stand in its way.
It startled me at first, but the secondary emotion that came through later in the night gave me even more pause. It was a profound?.?.?. radiating?.?.?. loneliness.
It’s not difficult to understand the simmering rage, not with everything Ever has been through.
However, the loneliness is throwing me completely.
Ever is, presumably, with other Syphons right now, protected by some mystery magic.
She’s not in danger or hurt in any way—as far as I can tell—yet the desolation trickling from her to me is unmistakable.
What I can’t decide is whether this drip feed is a manipulation, or is it a rare peek at the surreptitious inner workings of Ever Tenebrae?
Suspicion swirls around with my thoughts, but like oil and water, they won’t emulsify.
Even when I shake the facts up and study them from different angles, my misgivings and the truth won’t merge.
I want to prepare myself for the worst. Ever’s already proven to be dangerously deceitful, and I refuse to let her hurt me more than she already has.
But she opened the bond. She did it to save Karis, and I can’t find any duplicitousness in that, no matter how I pick through her actions in search of it.
I never thought hope could be terrifying, yet here I am nursing the fragile embers, knowing full well that Ever could extinguish them at any moment. I’m trying to trust someone who’s shown themselves to be untrustworthy, but despite how stupid I know that is, I can’t seem to stop myself.
I turn the water off, step out of the shower, and use my affinity to vaporize any lingering water until I’m completely dry.
I don’t bother donning my scale armor or grabbing anything else to sleep in as I fall back into bed.
My eyes study the subtle pattern of the tent’s ceiling, but when I close them, Ever waits for me, her image stamped on the insides of my eyelids.
The day catches up with me while I study my mate’s features and catalog everything that’s happened.
I need to bring in help to assess this barrier Ever is hiding within, but the nobles have spies everywhere.
If they get even the slightest whiff of what I’m really doing down here, it’ll be blood in the water to that group of sharks.
I need to get Ever out and safely back to Four Tiers, but how?
Ogdan is right—we’ve been underestimating the Syphon, to our detriment, and it’s time to stop.
A thought strikes me. Maybe I don’t need to get inside the barrier—maybe I just need to get Ever out.
I could try talking to her—assuming she can hear me through whatever magic is guarding her.
It’s clear she can see us?.?.?. could be watching us even now?. .?.
I jerk up with a start, confusion muddying my senses.
The light inside my tent is different, like it’s no longer the middle of the night.
Shit. I must have fallen asleep. Shouts outside demand my attention, and then I hear it, the steady scream of an alarm.
Scale armor crawls across my frame, and I tear out of my tent and slam right into Karis.
“Should you be up?” I question, looking around for Jori, who’s supposed to be monitoring the Thrasher.
It’s well after daybreak, but the sun hasn’t fully crossed the horizon to illuminate the surrounding hostile expanse of sand.
A blood-chilling boom pulses through the air, followed by another and then another.
Karis and I both duck, our eyes frantically searching the sky to identify who the fuck is attacking us.
The faint whine of an alarm once again breaks through the noise, and all at once, I register where the true danger is.
“It’s on fire!” Farrow bellows as he sprints toward me and Karis.
I spin, my stomach dropping into the sand when I see smoke billowing from the center of the three massive dunes.
“Ever!” I roar, terror and denial igniting like a backdraft in my veins until I feel like I’m the one that’s burning. I call for my dragon, but someone tackles me from behind, and suddenly I’m fighting to break free. “Ever!” I bellow again, battling for all I’m worth to get to her.
“Aeson!” Ogdan screams in my face. “She’s not burning! She’s running!”
His words breach my molten panic, and I stare up at the other Burner, lost and confounded.
Karis lifts me and sets me back on my feet.
Ogdan is pointing at something in the distance, and I follow his outstretched hand.
It takes me a second to see past my fury and home in on what my second is pointing out.
And then six speedy specks suddenly appear in my line of sight, and the picture painted before me becomes unmistakable.
I’m both relieved beyond measure and pissed. That scheming little Syphon. I swear, when I get my hands on her?.?.?.
“Gatlin! Take care of that,” I order, pointing to the triangle of dunes and the smoke pouring out of their center. “Farrow, go with him.”
A gigantic silver wyvern unexpectedly appears through the smoke and bugles a challenge before streaking toward the fleeing fliers.
The sight of the male has all kinds of warnings going off in my head.
He’s part of a wyvern contingent who, at a minimum, saved at least one Syphon and protected her to some degree all this time, but to what end?
As much as I would like to leap into the sky and get some answers, I know we can’t be out for blood.
Not yet, anyway. A fact that’s going to complicate how we run him and the others down.
“Herm and Sondar,” I call out. “Deal with that as gently as you can, unless given a reason otherwise.” I gesture toward the sky.
“We’re being baited,” I tack on, “so look alive. There’s probably more than that big fucker lurking around, and don’t forget the Syphons can make it an even playing field by stealing your affinity at will.
Be prepared for anything and everything. ”
“Do you want to pull Blay from the tunnel?” Ogdan asks, his eyes never leaving the runners growing farther away with each second we spend piecing together an action plan.
“No, tell him to stay where he is and to prepare for company. We don’t know how many there are, this could all be a diversion to help other targets escape through that tunnel. Everyone else, with me,” I bark. “Get to it.”
Pulse thudding, I race across the shifting black sand, feet sliding, arms pumping. I need to clear the tents so I can reveal. The energy building between me and my Wing is palpable. It’s a resounding buzz of expectation with a steady thrum of unwavering determination and duty.
“Jori,” I summon, and the Healer draws even with me. “I want you to hang back as much as you can. Only engage if you have to.” He nods, and I turn to Karis as Herm, Sondar, Farrow, and Gatlin reveal and start to fly off. “Are you up for this?” I ask the Thrasher, concerned.
“You know I live for this shit, Commander,” he replies.
“Just as long as you live ,” I counter, and his answering chuckle is deep and resonant.
“Who doesn’t love a good ambush?” Chastain interjects with a dreamy sigh.
Tove snorts out a laugh, and Ogdan shakes his head, but there’s no missing the vicious twinkle in his gray gaze, showing he’s in complete agreement.
“Just like before, Ever is our priority,” I declare pointedly, looking each of my Wing in their eager eyes. “If we can bring in the others with her, great, but we do not let Ever Tenebrae slip through our fucking claws. Not for anything. Got it?”
Their answering shouts are like a war drum counting off the distance between two charging armies. My blood sings with anticipation, and I sense Ever’s focused determination bleeding through the bond.
I tilt my head back and fill my lungs with desert air, determined that this is my last day in this Source-forsaken hellhole. This hide-and-seek shit ends today.
“It’s a good day to wrangle some Syphons,” I growl, letting it build until it’s a full-blown roar. “Now let’s HUNT!”
The ardent shouts of my Wing rapidly morph into guttural bellows as drakes transform into dragons.
Each of us takes to the air, seizing the sky with claws and wings and an undeniable need to pursue and capture.
We aim for the fliers just as the sun’s rays begin to dance across the black glittering sand below, like this pursuit has been ordained by the heavens above.
I reveal my dragon between one step and another, and then?. .?. the chase begins.