Chapter 38
SERENNA
Serenna dropped into a canyon below the Aetherveil’s chain of floating islands, solid ground finally firm under her boots once more. They’d stripped the Starshard from the last glider, and it soared toward the crown island, its body briefly gilded by the setting sun.
Serenna shifted, her wings disappearing as Fenn and Vesryn landed beside her.
High above, a waterfall spilled from the rim of a drifting island and plunged a thousand feet into a basin farther down the canyon floor. Reeds and grass crowded the basin’s edge, bowing in the mist. Sheer cliffs climbed around them, tiered by narrow ledges that vanished into shadows.
Sunset smoldered along the canyon rim. By now, the dracovae would be roosting on the upper isles.
Zaeryn’s report had left Vesryn grim—the riders had failed to reach the peak where Veyrix might be chained.
Gales vicious enough to strip feathers had driven the dracovae into the lower currents.
At dawn, the rangers would climb on their own wings with the children of earth and starlight flying among them to bend the winds aside.
The day still clung to all three of them with the copper stink of blood and wet hide.
Serenna’s tunic stuck to her ribs where one glider had thrashed against her hold.
Vesryn had sealed the wounds in the gliders’ flesh with hurried mending before they released them, but each creature had fought.
Blood banded his forearms, packed beneath Fenn’s talons, and glazed Serenna’s palms until every flex pulled at her skin.
She needed it gone.
“Here,” Vesryn said, leading them across the canyon floor toward the basin. He pushed through the reeds and rounded a shoulder of stone that broke the worst of the spray. A shallow pool lay cupped in the recess, fed by a narrow stream slipping down the canyon walls.
Vesryn peeled off his vambraces. Fire kindled in his palms before he plunged both hands under the water. The pool hissed around his wrists, steam unfurling in ribbons as it warmed.
Fenn’s claws slipped twice at the knot of his bootlace before he untied it.
“File my fangs. One more minute with blood crusted under my talons and I’ll lose my mind.
” He rolled his trousers to the knees, waded in, and crouched in the shallows to gouge the residue from beneath his claws. “Still cold.”
“Maybe the chill will spare us from seeing you strip,” Vesryn muttered, rinsing blood from his skin.
Fenn swept a hotter flame through the pool. “Curious that’s where your mind went.”
Vesryn’s nostrils flared, the water nearly boiling around his skin.
Serenna knelt beside him and thrust her hands into the water. She scrubbed until the blood on her nails loosened into rust-red threads and the gliders’ shrieks faded from her skull.
The prismatic current had gone dark between them, but its rhythm still beat in her chest. Fenn’s restlessness prowled along one bond, the hunt alive in every taut muscle.
Vesryn’s satisfaction struck through the other—the Starshards claimed, every glider returned alive.
Beneath it, the strain of his near-depleted Well dragged at Serenna’s awareness as his fingers trembled in the water.
“Let me.”
Vesryn held her gaze, then turned his wrist over and offered his palm.
She worked the dark crust from his knuckles, then followed the lines of his hand, rubbing warmth into fingers stiff from hours in the sky.
He stilled beneath her touch, his pulse beating hard against her thumb.
From the water, Fenn caught one of his lip rings between his teeth and watched her trace the lines of Vesryn’s hand, his stare nearly feeling indecent.
Vesryn’s fingers closed around hers. He lifted his head and pinned Fenn with a glare.
“We’ve been tangled in each other’s magics for hours,” Fenn said, his eyes molten in the failing light. “My body still thinks I’m inside both of yours.”
Vesryn’s hand twitched. “Do you have to say it like that?”
“Would you rather I whisper it, princeling?”
“You’re assuming this is going anywhere.”
Fenn’s grin sharpened. “No. I’m watching you decide whether it does.”
Serenna’s heart kicked against her ribs. Or maybe she was sensing Vesryn’s. He withdrew his hand from hers and scoured the clean skin between his knuckles until it flushed raw.
The waterfall thundered in the lull.
Serenna rose on unsteady legs and crossed beyond the reeds, sinking into grass softened by mist. The earth yielded, a mercy after spending the day in the punishing wind.
But she couldn’t relax, her heartbeat refusing to slow, awareness of Vesryn and Fenn thrumming through her with every breath. The Starshard at her throat hummed warm against her skin, as if it hadn’t yet accepted that they’d stopped channeling together.
Fenn warped from the shallows and lowered himself beside her, his thigh brushing hers. Vesryn joined her on the other side more slowly, his palm closing over her knee.
Above them, the last light withdrew from the canyon rim, shadows climbing the cliffs.
Fenn’s claw curved around her lower back, his palm spanning the slope above her hip. His thumb followed her lowest rib, lingering where bone gave way to softness.
The grip on her leg tightened.
At the edge of her awareness, Fenn’s hunger paced, bright and feral. Vesryn’s want pulled taut beside it, trembling under the strain. Serenna’s ache threaded through both until the three moved through her veins as one tangled current.
Vesryn’s attention kept flicking to Fenn’s touch at her back, moving over her waist. Each time the prince’s gaze returned, it lingered longer.
“We should probably talk about this,” Fenn murmured, his thumb gliding another slow pass. “Or are we going to sit here pretending we don’t feel it?”
Vesryn’s jaw locked. “We should return to the upper islands.”
But he made no move to leave.
Fenn chuckled, low and knowing. “I can sense you don’t actually want that.”
“You don’t know what I want.”
Fenn studied him across Serenna. “Then tell us.”
Vesryn gave him no answer, the silence pressing closer than the canyon walls. His fingers flexed against Serenna’s leg, bunching the leather against her skin before easing again.
Heat gathered low in Serenna, sharpened by Fenn’s palm at her back and the tension held in Vesryn’s fingers against her knee. All day, she’d dismissed the pull between them as an aftereffect of shared magic, certain it would end when the Starshards went dark.
The current had faded, but the wanting had not.
She leaned into Fenn’s palm and covered Vesryn’s hand with her own. Vesryn’s eyes found hers, his grip easing under her touch.
“I want both of you,” Serenna said.
Vesryn’s shoulders locked, and Fenn’s palm stilled against her back.
She squeezed his fingers. “You can say no.”
His eyes flicked to Fenn over her shoulder and Fenn met him with a grin.
“I’m not saying no.”
Fenn uncoiled in a satisfied stretch. “So,” he said, flashing his fangs, “I fuck Serenna, and you fuck me?”
Vesryn scowled. “Absolutely not.”
Fenn tipped his head, interest sharpening. “I…fuck you, then?”
“Fenn!” Serenna scolded, flicking the point of his ear.
“What? Just checking where the lines are.”
“We focus on her,” Vesryn growled. “That’s the line.”
Fenn’s attention roved over him. “Do you have something against males?”
“Just you.”
Serenna choked on a laugh.
Vesryn held Fenn’s stare as he released the first buckle at his chest. “You take her first.”
Fenn’s eyes flared as he unlaced his trousers, shoving the leather down his thighs. “You’re certain?”
Vesryn’s armor came off in swift, exact motions, leather and steel dropping into the grass. “I need to see what I’m up against.” He yanked his tunic over his head, the cloth crushed in one fist. “Make her come. I’ll make her come harder.”
Heat climbed Serenna’s neck, edged with irritation. Somehow, they’d made a contest of pleasing her and left her out of it.
Fenn cast the rest of his clothing aside, naked and entirely unashamed. His fingers closed around his length, his forearm flexing through one slow, insolent stroke as he held Vesryn’s gaze.
“Careful, princeling. I already know what makes her scream my name.” His mouth curved. “Think you can bear hearing it?”
“Keep talking about me like I’m not here,” Serenna snapped, folding her arms across her chest, “and you’ll both get very acquainted with your own hands tonight.”
Fenn’s claw dropped to the grass. Both males went still, their attention whipping to her.
“Here’s what I want.” Serenna reached for the strap at her shoulder. She freed one guard, then the other, letting the leather fall before loosening the ties at her sides.
“Fenn goes first—and not because I want him more.” She stripped to the waist, evening air cooling her bare skin. “Choosing him first doesn’t mean I choose you less.”
The crumpled tunic Vesryn had been holding slipped from his fist into the grass.
Serenna shed her boots and worked her trousers down her legs, kicking free when the leather bunched at her ankles.
Fenn watched the clothing peel away before his eyes traveled upward over every inch she’d bared, his tongue circling the point of a fang.
Vesryn’s focus lingered on her breasts before descending to the crease between her thighs.
“Your terms, she-elf,” Fenn murmured against her ear. “We follow.”
His fingers closed over her shoulder and worked into a knot she’d carried for hours. The muscle softened under the pressure until a groan broke free. For one shameless instant, she considered demanding an hour of that before either male touched her anywhere else.
Vesryn’s palm landed on her thigh, sliding higher until his thumb rested just shy of where she ached.
Fenn’s mouth brushed her neck. One fang skimmed the tender hollow beneath her ear, sending pleasure low through her body. Serenna tipped her head back and let her eyes fall closed.
She felt her reaction cross through the bonds. Vesryn’s fingers tightened high on her thigh, holding her closer as Fenn’s lips lingered against her skin.
Vesryn’s jaw worked as his gaze fixed on Fenn. “Bite me.”
Fenn went wraith-still. “You’re serious?”
Vesryn rolled his eyes. “I’ve felt what too much venom does. I’ve yet to understand why she enjoys it.”
“As you wish.” Fenn’s mouth curved. “But we’re doing it my way.”
“What does that—”
“Lie down.” Fenn reached across Serenna and planted a palm against Vesryn’s shoulder. Vesryn held firm before he yielded, letting Fenn shove him back into the grass.
Fenn leaned over him, fangs flashing victoriously.
“I’ll show you my favorite spot.”