CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
VESPER
“You’re trying to convince me you’ve miraculously healed, and that I didn’t hear you coughing just ten minutes ago?” Vesper scolded, his arms crossed over his chest like his father used to do. Gods, when had he become such a buzzkill?
Vesper’s gaze flicked to the dragon skeletons which crowded much of the cavern. While he’d been tempted in the last few days to try and animate one, it seemed the riders were particularly protective of their mounts. Best not to piss them off already.
Nef gave him a sheepish smile then looked all around the cavern. Anywhere but his eyes. “I swear, I’m feeling better. Besides, Dimitri said he would take me flying and—”
He placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m not telling you to stay here. I’m saying be aware of how you’re feeling. Kyrith said if you push yourself too much, it can negate the draught she gave you. The higher the altitude, the worse the air quality.”
“I’ll be careful.” She huffed a laugh and a soft pink coloured her cheeks. “Would you stop fretting over me? It’s unnerving.”
He hadn't told her why. Hadn’t shared exactly why the guilt ate him alive each time he saw her. And after they’d both agreed to keep each other’s secrets: Nef’s bond and his family name, they’d decided to stay here until things were sorted. Besides, where else would they go?
Vesper rubbed the pactum scar atop his hand hidden by his glove; opposite the one with Destonne’s crest. He refused to think about that bargain. Instead, he focussed on the scarred dragon’s head and willed his past to stay behind him. This pactum with Thorrin meant a new future.
“You’ve been through too much these last weeks,” he said and tilted his head at her.
“I know we’ve only been here a few days, and we haven’t seen much of each other since I’ve been busy with all of this—” He gestured around the cavern as if it explained his training.
“But you’ve spent some time with Dimitri, huh? He seems like good company.”
Nef crossed her arms over her chest. “Mind your own business.”
A broad grin claimed his mouth and he bent at the waist to match her height. “Do you have a thing for him?”
Her face flushed a horrific scarlet.
Vesper chuckled. “I won’t tell a soul. It’s way more fun to tease you anyway.”
“Don’t you dare,” she snarled. Her finger prodded his chest as she blushed even harder. “And there’s nothing to tease about.” She smiled at him then and he noticed the shadows beneath her eyes. They seemed darker today.
A lump formed in his throat at the thought of this plague taking her away from this world.
And while this could have been awkward, given their past, he only wanted her to be happy now that she could choose who she wanted.
Dimitri seemed harmless; dull as they came, but that was likely the best for Nef.
She needed someone safe, and he might be good for her. But she might not have much time left.
“If you do care for him,” Vesper said, “don't hesitate, alright? Go for it.”
Her brows lifted in surprise, but Kyrith and Thorrin’s footsteps interrupted their conversation.
Kyrith cleared her throat. “Break it up, lovebirds. Your boy has work to do.” They both shot her a questioning look, but she directed at Nef, “You must be feeling better from all that colour in your cheeks.”
That only made Nef’s face grow redder. “I’ll leave you to your training. I’ll see you later, Ves.” She gave him a small smile before she practically ran from the cavern.
“Did you really need to scare her off?” Vesper snapped at Kyrith.
She grinned, a little too proud. “Didn’t have to. Also, wasn’t my intention.”
“You could try being nicer.” Vesper retrieved his mask from around his neck and slid it over his mouth. “Actually, I'm pretty sure it might kill you.”
“Maybe,” she sang. “But at least I know how to use my own magic.”
Thorrin cleared his throat. “Would you two break it up? I’m already exhausted listening to you.
” He strode across the cavern to his mount.
After he took a knife from his belt, he swiped it across his palm.
As the blood bloomed, he placed his hand on the skeleton’s snout and willed his magic forward.
His grey vestige pulsed like a deep, steady heartbeat.
Those threads, or tendrils, or whatever they bloody were, flowed from his fingers, then took hold of the bones.
Vesper had watched it a handful of times now, and it never ceased to amaze him. Flesh formed, as if Thorrin had created life itself. Muscle and tendon and flesh gathered and compressed as the dragon became. As it stood.
Completely fucking brilliant.
The dragon’s eyes, the same hue as Thorrin’s vestige, surveyed him, entirely at his command as if Vesper or Kyrith didn’t exist. Its black scales glittered in the cavern’s low light, the iridescence held within its hide nothing short of magical.
Vesper choked out a laugh. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that.”
“Stop kissing Thorrin’s ass,” Kyrith said.
“He can kiss it all he likes,” Thorrin replied. He winked at Vesper then climbed atop his mount with ease and slid his mask over his face.
Kyrith thrust something in Vesper’s line of vision, about a whisper from his nose, and said, “Here.”
He blinked, unable to believe what he saw.
The knife held similarities to Kyrith’s, but this one had Kaida’s draconic face carved into the handle, her peaked horns and eyes captured in pure perfection. The blade’s enchanting glow devoured light and shadow and everything in between. His breath caught as he looked it over.
“Is that—did you make that for me?” he asked.
“No, I made it for the other scrawny Shadowheart wielder." She shook the knife at him. “Take it before I change my mind.”
Hesitantly, he took it from her. The knife felt made for him, and as he held it, the blade seemed to hone in on his magic more than Kyrith’s did.
“Thank you,” he said, his voice thick. Because this gift, whether she wanted to acknowledge it or not, was special.
“No thanks needed,” she said, and almost smiled. A genuine smile, not one of her maniacal grins. Then she tugged her mask over it and shattered the moment. “What are you waiting for? Summon her already.”
“You could say please,” Vesper mumbled. He shucked off his glove and placed the knife over his hand anyway.
Better to comply than argue with her, especially since she’d agreed to help him out of a fragile sense of comradery.
He cut his hand and slid the knife into the empty spot in his belt that seemed like it had been waiting to hold the blade.
As if the knife he’d forgotten at Castle Dusk that day had been intentional.
As if the empty slot in his belt had known this new blade would fill it.
“Remember,” she started, “the more blood you offer, the less she feeds off your vestige.” He couldn’t believe he’d never thought of it before. If he bled profusely or became severely wounded, Kaida could protect him and use his blood rather than feed off his vestige and risk Collapse.
Vesper stepped back to put space between Thorrin, his mount, and Kyrith. He felt Kaida’s eyes flick open as he reached inside himself, into his soul, where the dragon resided. He leaned into her familiar fluttering and, as his back arched, Kaida clawed free.
He doubled over. “You don’t have to do that every time. You could … fuck,” he wheezed. Gods, his ribs ached like he’d been run over by a wagon stacked with lead. “You could behave for once.”
The dragon surveyed him with far too much intelligence to be unaware of the pain she put him through. Her tongue flicked across her lips as her voice echoed in his head in a typical one word response, “No.”
“Play nice,” he said, his voice rough. He straightened to stand. If she didn’t stop this bloody nonsense, his back would be shot. He was too old for this.
She shot him an irritated look that was all dagger-sharp teeth.
And like it always did, his blood lifted into the air, sucked towards Kaida like a syphon. Her eyes reddened, no longer pale like his, but a crimson blaze as power filled her. A low growl sounded in the back of her throat, almost a purr, as she nudged Vesper in the gut.
He took her long snout between his hands and placed a kiss between her nostrils. “See? You can be sweet if you want to.”
Thorrin shook his head in awe. “Such an incredible gift.”
Vesper snorted in response as he stroked the top of Kaida’s head. “Depends on who you ask.”
“I suppose you’re right. Many still fear the ability. Your kind are supposed to be extinct. It’s abnormal.”
Vesper gestured between his cavae and zvezda.
“There’s little about me I would consider normal.
” Between his burden of mimicry and mishmash of fucked up magic, he’d always been an outcast, even in his own family.
Izzy and his father had bonded so easily and it’d filled him with such longing, but now …
it was Thorrin who seemed to understand this. To understand him.
“Care to go for a ride?” Thorrin asked. He yanked up his mask, identical to Vesper’s, and winked at him. “It’s easier to target the bloodlace from above.”
“We can race,” Kyrith declared. She jogged over to Thorrin and he clasped her hand to yank her onto his mount. “Unless you’re too scared.” She settled in behind Thorrin and wrapped her arms around his waist. Something in Vesper’s chest twinged at the ease of the gesture.
He ignored it and aimed his attention at his Shadowheart.
The dragon stared back. The threat of his magic failing had always lingered in the back of his mind.
What if he hit Collapse while on her back?
But with the new knife, he could at least try to fly.
And he would have to. He had already given the impression he had before, although Kyrith saw right through him.