Chapter 3
Ara
There wasn’tmuch space below deck, but it was enough for some practice space. We’d been down here for a while already and sweat rolled down my temple. Ryvin wasn’t even breathing hard.
“You can’t go easy on me if you want me to actually learn,” I reminded him.
“I’m not,” he assured me.
I gave him a skeptical look, knowing he was always thinking about how he could keep me safe. I knew that now. I trusted him. The thought sent a rush of something warm through my chest. I hadn’t truly realized how much I’d missed feeling that around him.
“You’re not even trying to get to me,” I pointed out.
“When you pose a threat, I’ll fight back,” he said playfully.
I’d been trying everything and all I’d done was kick up the dust on the floor. The boat pitched just enough that I had to brace myself, the rocking sending me a little closer to him. I moved with it, charging with my knife.
Ryvin dodged, spinning away from my attack with a fluid grace that was only possible for fae. With a scowl, I turned, then ducked, aiming lower in the hopes of throwing him off. He jumped back, avoiding my blade again.
Pushing a loose strand of hair from my face, I turned to him, annoyed by how easily he avoided me. Frustration was building. It was a reminder of how much slower I was than the fae I’d be fighting.
I slid the knife back into the sheath on my thigh and balled my hands into fists, studying the cocky expression on Ryvin’s smug face. He didn’t have to go easy on me when he wasn’t even trying to get to me. So far, I’d failed to even get close enough to use the weapon.
Annoyance and a desperation to prove that I could handle myself crept in, making my cheeks heat. I wanted to win. I wanted to best him. He wasn’t even fighting back and I couldn’t reach him. What was I going to do in a real battle? This was exactly why Vanth had to stay on my heels. All those years of training had been worthless.
Until I found my magic. Anxiety made my insides twist. I’d called on my own magic, summoning water and getting help from a sea serpent. I’d missed the connection from using it, but even if I could access it again, it wouldn’t help me here.
But something else could. Something darker.
I couldn’t hide the smirk as the idea crept in. I’d been so focused on defeating Ryvin on my own, I’d forgotten that I could use his magic. Pride had won over reason, making me want to prove myself as a fighter. But I wasn’t fighting other humans. I couldn’t win with human rules.
“What’s that look for?” Ryvin asked.
I could feel the darkness swirling, Ryvin’s magic coming to me as if it were my own. Shadows billowed around me, and I welcomed them.
“That’s what I wanted to see,” his voice was a purr, sending a chill down my spine.
He lifted his hands, sending his own shadows my way, but I deflected, creating a barrier of darkness that rose around me like a shield. Giving it all I had, I pushed the shadows forward with a grunt, sending them to him.
The ship rocked and I threw my arms out to catch myself, sending the shadows outward. When I regained my balance, dark clouds floated around my ankles, hovering over the floor like a haze of night.
Ryvin was picking himself up off the ground. “Well done.”
“Why didn’t you just say you wanted me to use magic? You said we were going to fight,” I pointed out.
“I want it to be instinct. Not reaction. I want you to use it with intention. Strategically. As a first option.” He wiped dust off his sleeves, then moved closer to me. “You can’t win against one of my father’s men with the skills you learned in Athos.”
I frowned, hating what I was hearing. Not because it wasn’t true. And not because the magic wasn’t intoxicating. I felt powerful when I called his shadows. I felt strong. It was addictive. But there was risk in using it.
He brushed his fingertips across my cheek, his brow furrowed as he studied me. “What is it?”
“What if I take too much?” I knew the consequences. “I can’t risk taking all your magic.”
“You won’t,” he assured me. “You’ll feel it. And the more you use it, the more you’ll notice it.”
“I almost did, though. When we were fighting in the throne room. I could have killed you. And you’d have let me. You wouldn’t stop me if I took too much. I can’t risk that.”
“What if I promise to tell you if you’re going too far?” He set his hand on my waist, the touch scalding. I could hardly concentrate on his words when all I could think about was the feel of his hand on my body.
I gritted my teeth and pushed away the increasing sense of need. “You have to. Or I won’t use it.”
“I will. I promise.”
I nodded, then tilted my chin, looking up into the swirling gray depths of his eyes. Since the moment we met, he’d captured me with those eyes. I should have known I’d be helpless against him.
He leaned down and my breath caught as I anticipated the kiss, but I felt a hand on my thigh a second before he grabbed me and spun me, turning me so my back was against his chest and my blade was at my throat.
“You tricked me,” I hissed. “Rude.”
“We’re still training, Asteri,” he whispered, his breath hot against my cheek. Shivers went straight to my core. He had a knife to my throat and all I could think about was getting his clothes off. It was a good thing I didn’t have to fight him. I’d never win.
For a moment, I imagined using that knife to cut apart his tunic until the torn fabric was in a puddle on the ground. I gritted my teeth and forced the image away. “You’re a distraction, you know that?”
“Teach me a lesson then,” he said, his voice husky enough that I knew the closeness was getting to him too.
The blade was near to my throat, but he wasn’t letting it touch me. I’d felt the bite of that blade more times than I’d like to admit, and I was sure those memories were what had him recreating the situation now.
My arms were by my side, pinned by his other arm. Like my past opponents, he was so much stronger than me that I couldn’t just push my way out.
Magic it was.
I felt for the shadows, then closed my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I visualized the dark tendrils traveling up my body, staying tight enough that they wouldn’t be as obvious. I could feel the coolness of them as they stretched forward, pushing their way around Ryvin. Tensing, I ordered the shadows to twist around my captor’s arms, then I demanded the shadows pull. I didn’t realize I was screaming until I was stumbling forward, free of Ryvin’s grip.
The knife clattered to the ground, and he was left with his arms wide open, extended on either side of his body. Tendrils of darkness twisted around them, keeping his arms in place.
Grunting, he struggled against his confinement. I stared, watching in awe at how I’d been able to control the shadows with such precision. It wasn’t the big emotional reaction I’d created in the past. This made me dangerous. It made me powerful.
I dropped down and grabbed the fallen knife before slowly approaching him. Blade pointed out, I paused in front of Ryvin. “I think I won.”
He winced, finally dropping one arm to his side, then the other. “You definitely won.”
I slid the knife back into its sheath, then helped him brush away the last few clinging shadows.
“You’re getting better,” he said.
“It’s not too much, is it? I don’t want to leave you with nothing.”
He smirked. “Do you remember what I did in Athos?”
I swallowed hard. I didn’t let myself recall that battle. No, not battle. Slaughter. He destroyed everyone with precision. He left me and his men standing while those trying to harm him were brutally eliminated. The power he’d used then was beyond anything I could comprehend.
“I could have continued to fight after that.” He rubbed his thumb against my wrist comfortingly. “I told you, I have more than enough power for both of us. Unless you’re actively draining it from me like you did in the throne room, we’re fine.”
I nodded, still feeling uneasy. “What about my magic?” We hadn’t discussed the fight in Athos yet, but I knew we had to address it.
“Try to use my magic and avoid tapping into yours,” he said.
“Do you think that’s what I did? Accessed mine though you?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. It could be that, or it could be going back to you. Magic doesn’t like to be forced to be somewhere it doesn’t want to be,” he replied.
“Alright.” I think we both knew it was going to be a problem. But all we could do was add it to the ever-growing list of things we needed to address. If we survived the Fae King and Nyx, we’d figure it out then. Right now, I needed a distraction. Anything to get my mind away from how dangerous things were for us.
Ryvin’s hand was on my waist again, his fingers under my tunic, brushing against my bare skin. I stepped closer, then slid my own hands under his tunic.
“So naughty,” he whispered. “I thought we were training.”
“We deserve a break, don’t we?” I asked playfully.
A creaking sound made me drop my hands and turn toward the light coming from the now open hatch.
“You two decent down there?” Laera called.
Ryvin let out a low, frustrated growl.
“From that sound, I’m glad I asked. You’ve got ten seconds till I come down.”
I sighed, then smoothed my tunic. “We were training, that’s all.”
“Right. I’m pretty sure even the shifter could have felt the sexual tension floating up from down here.” She climbed down the ladder, then walked to where we were standing in the center of the open cargo hold.
“You likely won’t ever hear me admit this again, so pay attention.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she turned toward Ryvin. “You were right. Selena’s been in touch with my mother this whole time. And I have news of Drakous.”
Her nostrils flared, giving away her anger despite her attempt to keep her expression neutral. “Our father has already taken the city. He killed the officials they left behind and he’s holding the princess hostage.”
I covered my mouth with my hand. “No.”
“What about the youngest prince?” Ryvin asked.
She shook her head. “I have no idea. Maybe he ran.”
“How did the city fall so quickly?” Ryvin asked. “They’ve never been breached.”
“Remember those strange dragons we saw in Athos?”
My mind filled with the creatures that charged our allies in the sky. They’d seemed easy to defeat, but there weren’t that many of them. I could already anticipate where this was going. Athos had been a decoy, which meant there were likely a lot more for the real battle.
“I don’t know where they came from, or how he had access to magic like that, but there were thousands of them. They blotted out the sun. The dragons who were left to defend the city were so busy fighting those creatures that they didn’t defend their walls.” Laera shook her head. “It’s over.”
I dropped my hand. “It’s not over. We can’t let him win. We have to find out what those monsters were and how he’s so strong. There has to be an explanation.”
“Even if there’s an explanation, it doesn’t mean there’s a way to defeat him. Sometimes you just lose,” Laera snapped.
“What happened to killing him yourself?” I demanded. “What happened to the angry woman who demanded justice?”
“She’s also realistic,” Laera said. “I will risk my life, but I will not commit suicide.”
“It’s only suicide if we aren’t smart about it,” Ryvin said. “He’ll expect us to charge in. He’ll expect a glorious battle. It’s why he has those dragons. He’s preparing for doing things the way they’ve always been done.”
“Does the Dragon King know this information?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” Laera admitted.
“Is this where the party is?” Vanth called.
We all turned to watch the shifter making his way down the ladder. When he turned to face us, his expression hardened and his posture tensed. He was instantly back on the battlefield. “Who do we need to kill?”
Laera rolled her eyes. “Shifters.”
“Drakous fell.” I explained what Laera discovered. With each word, I could see Vanth tensing more.
When I was finished, we were all silent for so long I started to contemplate clearing my throat just to hear a sound other than the waves against the ship.
“We have to get to Drakous,” Vanth said. “The dragons will be outside the city. They won’t be stupid enough to try to charge in. They’ll be planning.”
“They’re probably already there and our soldiers are on their way,” I said.
“I’ll send a message to find their location. We can join. We can help.” Vanth glanced at Ryvin and I watched as he inclined his head, giving the shifter unspoken permission.
As soon as Vanth was gone, I looked at Laera and Ryvin. “We haven’t lost yet.”
Laera sighed. “Fine. Maybe those dragons have an idea. It’s their city. I suppose there are worse things than taking out as many of our father’s men as we can before we meet Hades.”
Ryvin lifted a brow. “Willingness to work with the dragons? Who even are you?”
She gave him a rude gesture, then turned and walked toward the ladder.