Chapter 25
I bolted upright, gasping and wiping at the water on my face.
Through the water dripping from my lashes, I looked at a wide, inked chest—briefly smiling at the sight of Carmine before raising my focus to his icy face. Tyran.
Two pools of blood. No bodies. Not much I could say to get out of this one.
“Not enough precautions, clearly,” he said.
He didn’t ask how because that would deprive him of a puzzle, and Tyran wouldn’t lower himself to asking for knowledge.
“What are we doing today?” I asked, using the wall to help me stand.
My ass was numb, but my heart was full after falling asleep in a dream in Carmine’s arms.
My head was forced up with a savage grip around my neck. I choked, but managed to summon a glare to aim at Tyran, who was almost nose to nose with me.
“You saw him in your dreams. What did he tell you?” he said tightly.
“All of your numerous insecurities,” I answered.
Tyran’s grip tightened. “Play games at your peril. I feel the hammering of your heart.”
“A game is all this has ever been,” I rasped. “You just used to like the game before I became your opponent.”
His grip loosened. “You are no opponent, young demon. You are but a blink in the thousands of years of my life.”
“Do you usually choke a blink?”
Tyran brought his face closer still. “What. Did. You. Discuss?”
“We can’t discuss anything,” I replied. “As you have surely guessed. Anything we say in the dream, you hear.”
“There are other means to communicate.”
“Like charades?”
I stared up at him with a bland expression, and Tyran eventually lowered his hand and stepped back.
He said, “I sense you don’t plan to be forthcoming to your king. I hope the two of you enjoyed the dream. That was the last one.”
I’d known as much. But why wasn’t he pushing harder to get his answers?
“Go clean yourself up,” he sneered, turning from me to cross the room. “You have an image to maintain.”
I narrowed my gaze as my confusion surged. Just a little choking? Tyran was well aware that Carmine and I must’ve plotted his violent demise.
This didn’t add up.
I followed him out of the room, then turned in the opposite direction toward my chamber. I searched for signs of Raes on the way, but there were none.
Tyran didn’t know about his involvement.
I showered, then changed into a hugging black gown. My tiara was on the bed, and I set the blackened iron on my head, using it to tuck in the awkward lengths of my regrowing hair.
Queen Syera.
I grimaced at my reflection in the mirror above the vanity. Black smudged under my gray eyes. My hair was at teen boy length. My arm muscles wanted to bulge out of the slim sleeves of the gown.
This wasn’t what queens looked like, which suited me just fine. A queen was the last thing I wanted to be if Tyran was to be my king.
There was a tiny hiss of smoke before an equally tiny portal opened. Athira.
I checked Tyran’s location in the war rooms, then released my ghosts. “It’s safe.”
Every one of the ghosts wore a crown. My silence circle was officially made up of past kings.
I liked to think they wanted revenge on Tyran for the way he'd used them. So maybe they were here to help take him down. If they were here to kill me, they were yet to make their move... I’d need to cross that bridge if I came to it—my to-do list was too long.
“It’s never safe. You’re in the demon realm.” She didn’t step through the portal. “I have an update for you.”
“Did you find Tsan?”
“He found me.”
I smirked at the irritation in her voice. “Wow, and he’s a yellow.”
Athira was silent.
Maybe I shouldn’t rub it in her face too much. “What’s his position?”
“His position is that he’s figured out that you plan to save Carmine, who apparently killed his mate many years ago. Tsan has hidden the gems and assured me that if he is killed, we will never find them.”
My stomach churned, and while the gems were a kick in the gut, imagining Tsan’s hurt was forefront in my mind. “Fuck. I didn’t think he would figure it out before I could fill him in.”
“You couldn’t have filled him in. His hate for my son is absolute.”
“His hate for Tyran is absolute,” I retorted. “If Tsan has figured out that Carmine is in there, then he must have guessed that Carmine is trapped like I was trapped.”
“Something I pointed out to him,” she said in a bored tone. “The yellow didn’t want to hear any of it. He has set his mind on its course. He will not be part of your plan, and he will prevent us from carrying out the plan by holding the gems ransom.”
Tsan must hate my guts.
I’d used him.
I closed my eyes. I’d used him and known I was doing so. I’d chosen betrayal, and that was becoming more frequent for me, not less. “Shit, I wish he hadn’t found out that way.”
“Your worst quality is that you want to understand how others feel,” Athira said with a sniff.
I blew out a breath. “The word is empathy.”
“I don’t care what the word is. I won’t be polluted with human terms.”
Sure. Whatever. I’d tried. “We need to find the gems.”
“Which is what I’m doing under the guise of searching for the yellow.”
Where would he have put them? Not in the house he’d shared with his mate. That was too obvious. “Search Owu’s old house. I doubt they’re there, but worth a try.”
“Already done. I’ve search his old workplace. The hideouts in the desert. I’ve tracked his movements, and traced his trail wherever possible. He has hidden his tracks well.”
Coming from the woman who hadn’t thought to look under the bed to find her grandson’s hiding spot.
The words must taste sour though. Tsan hated me, but pride spiked in me at his cunning. For his mate’s memory, he would utilize every bit of that intelligence. Everything he did was for her—in death—but I couldn’t imagine that had been different in life.
“Qer,” I murmured. “We need qer to find the gems again.” I leaned both fists on the vanity. “Which means we need to make contact through Neti.”
“Your tone is uncertain.”
For good reason. “Neti’s goal—the Istg’s goal—is to eradicate Ronj magic and Tyran from the realm for good. She heals me because I am a useful ally. I can’t be sure whether she knows I intend to save Carmine now, but I’m still useful. For now anyway.”
Athira said, “You aren’t sure that she won’t hurt Carmine to achieve her ends.”
“Exactly. Which is why I haven’t asked her for more help. If she senses a way to end this, I don’t know if she could resist. She’s been at this for as long as Tyran’s lived. What is one life and one sacrifice worth to finally see this end?”
Neither of us spoke for a full minute.
“You need help,” she said.
Understatement.
Athira continued, “You will be at her mercy in the end anyway. If you manage to overpower Tyran, then the Istg will still need to heal my son. Better to know the limits of alliance with her now instead of later, at the final battle.”
Moments like these, I couldn’t help but feel mind blown that Athira was giving me genuine advice, and that I may actually take it.
I spoke quickly, “Go to her. Ask for the help of the qer to find the gems. Ask her for whatever other help she can give. Specifically, I need a way to communicate with my sister. We need to stage an attack on Tyran.” I rubbed my temples.
“Except there’s no point doing that without the gems to heal Carmine.
Dammit, Tsan. I want the other supernaturals to attack before he learns that Tempest is alive. ”
I’d betrayed my only friend, and he was going to make me pay. I couldn’t let him keep the gems, but I understood his reaction too. Our agreement over shortening Carmine’s life had been the foundation of our friendship.
“I’m due at war council,” Athira said. “I will visit the desert afterward.”
I nodded. What I wouldn’t give to go find Tsan, then visit Neti myself.
“You should also know that Gratia divulged her suspicions about you and me to Tyran. You covered your tracks well enough, but she is on the hunt for the blue gems to bring to him as proof. Watch your back. She wants you out of the picture.”
“She wants to hurt me,” Athira replied. “She will not succeed.”
I blinked at the amusement in her voice, as if she was describing the playful disobedience of a toddler.
Whatever. Not my problem. Until I got caught in the crossfire.
The portal disappeared, and every trace of Athira with it. I’d kept an open line on Tyran’s location, and now I dropped my ghost circle and splashed water over my face.
I sighed, taking another look in the mirror.
Sorry, Tsan. I’d really screwed up. He’d done everything I’d asked to help me fight back.
Yes, he’d done so with his own motivations, but time and again, Tsan had placed himself in harm’s way at my bidding.
I’d known that keeping my true plan from him was an asshole move, and I’d done it anyway.
Look where that had left me: gemless and unable to use Tempest as a surprise advantage because of it.