34. Maxim
Chapter Thirty-Four
Maxim
Thyra’s scream makes my blood run cold.
My focus snaps to the sky just as an explosion of dark energy knocks me off course only three hundred paces from where Aeliana sleeps on a raised pallet.
In a fiery blaze, I tumble across the ground, coming up in a crouch, seeking Thyra’s position in the sky.
She’s now ahead of me, and she’s falling. Thrown somehow from my serpent’s back and plummeting at a sharp angle that defies gravity.
My serpent flies between me and her, trying to dive back to her, but the dark energy that exploded into me must have knocked him around too.
A shout tears from my chest. “Thyra!”
She’s seven seconds from hitting the rocky ground.
I’m already sprinting again, telling myself I can somehow reach my serpent, strip the dragon’s hide saddle from his back, use his body as a springboard to leap sideways, and catch Thyra before she hits the ground. All without burning her.
I’m fucking lying to myself.
If my serpent can’t reach her in time, neither can I. Let alone hoping to catch her just right so my fire doesn’t destroy her.
Her body is stiff, her right arm outstretched, her hair flying up around her head and her armor streaming off her form.
She turns midair, her arm still stretching, but now I can make out the blood bind on her arm.
Dark light flashes all the way down the bind, reaching her fingertips, where it ripples out like lightning.
Jagged, dark light strikes across the distance toward Aeliana’s sleeping form.
I’m a hundred paces away and the shove of the dark energy threatens to push me off course again.
Aeliana wrenches up off the pallet, her white gown thrashing around her body as she becomes upright but clearly not awake.
What the fuck?
“Riven!” I shout for the Iron Fae, but a second later, I make out his crumpled form lying next to the pallet. Probably knocked out by the first explosion of dark light. I promised Antony I’d keep Riven alive. The young Iron Fae had better not be dead.
I’m fifty paces away from the spot it appears Thyra will crash, ready to leap up to my serpent and snap through the straps keeping the dragon’s hide on his back.
Thyra’s two seconds from colliding with the ground.
A surge of panic strikes me. And then fury because panic is useless right now. And then helplessness as the rocky earth rears up at her—
All at once, four threads of energy shoot from Thyra’s body.
One crimson-red, one icy-blue, and one fiery amber, stretching from her heart and across the air. A fourth thread, inky black, snaps from her spine.
All four threads pull instantly taut.
The amber thread hits my heart. The other three strike across the air, each one eastward but at different angles.
I’m wrenched to the ground, jarred mid-leap.
Thyra yanks to a stop, halting midair just in time before her body would have smashed against the rocks.
The threads jolt her upright, and me with her.
But while I remain with my feet on the ground, her now-bare toes are inches above the soil where she floats, her faded black hair swirling about her head and covering her face, the yellow ribbon she was wearing wafting at her cheek.
Opposite her, Aeliana gravitates forward, her left hand stretching for Thyra’s right hand, the two women reaching for each other across a distance of twenty paces and closing, despite appearing unaware of their actions.
Dark light swirls along their arms. Far more intensely across Thyra’s forearm.
Until now, Aeliana had lain, curled up on her side, her arms pressed tightly to her chest. Her body had been so locked in that position that my aunt couldn’t change Aeliana’s clothing or bathe her properly.
But now I can see a black rune inked into Aeliana’s left forearm.
The same style as the blood bind’s runes. And it’s moving. Slowly gliding along Aeliana’s skin, nearly to her wrist.
I push through the energy suddenly sparking between the two women, the same hard struggle I experienced when I was in one of Thyra’s blade visions, trying to use the amber thread to pull myself toward her.
Above me, my serpent circles frantically, hissing wildly, Aeliana’s starlight bouncing off his scales while he, too, appears to struggle to get closer.
“Bring me the dragon’s hide!” I roar. My serpent pushes toward the ground at my back, buffeted within the energy rippling around us but managing to land behind me.
Swiftly, with one hand locked around the amber thread, I unbuckle the straps keeping the hide in place, praying my fire doesn’t flare and hurt my serpent.
The hide slides off his back and I pull the thick leather to my chest.
As I turn to push forward once again toward Thyra, a droplet of liquid hits my cheek.
What…?
Awkwardly, I swipe at it.
The back of my hand comes away red.
Blood? But from where?
Another droplet trails toward me and this time, I follow it clearly to its source: Thyra.
The curtain of her hair parts, revealing blood trickling from her nose, two more droplets floating across the air and all the way past me.
With a grunt, I make it another three steps, now only five paces away from Thyra, the same distance between her and Aeliana, although the gap between them is closing faster now.
I pick up my pace, groaning with effort. One, two, three—
Starlight flares around Aeliana, a harsh blast that threatens to undo my progress.
I catch my breath as her eyes fly open. Bright green, the same emerald as Antony’s eyes.
Blinking, she fixates on Thyra floating opposite her. And then on Thyra’s outstretched arm. Then on her own arm.
Aeliana’s chest compresses before she screams.
“No!” Then, more fiercely, her brow furrowed, she whispers, “No.”
Her wild gaze snaps to me, but she doesn’t seem to care that I’m buck naked. Well, at least the dragon’s hide is draped in front of me, but the satchel containing my spare pants fell off to my right. For now, clothing has to wait.
Aeliana gives a cry. “If you’re Maxim, you will obey me without question or your future will be destroyed.”
If I’m Maxim.
I shouldn’t be surprised she isn’t certain about my identity. As far as I know, she’s been asleep for seventeen years. She may have glimpsed me briefly when I was an eight-year-old boy, but she’d be forgiven for not recognizing me now.
“I’m Maxim.”
“Then take my hand.” Her biceps strain as she attempts to reach for me with her left hand. The hand toward which her dark rune is moving. “Quickly!”
“I can’t.” The words tear from my mouth as I try to keep Thyra in my sights. “I could burn you.”
Aeliana pins me with her gaze. “Burn you must.”
She can’t be fucking serious.
I back away from her, letting the amber thread slide through my fingers, keeping the dragon’s hide close to my torso, only to be stopped short when there’s no slack left in the thread.
“Maxim!” Aeliana snaps, her fingers splaying as she thrashes toward me. “Take. My. Hand.”
Then she glares at me. “Or I will burn you.”
Her starlight glows brighter. Sharp. Prickling. A cutting edge that strikes across my face and neck with a mere flick of her fingers.
Fuck, is this how a vampyr feels?
If Aeliana burns me into unconsciousness, I won’t be able to act at all. Against my wishes, I jolt toward her, trying to avoid brushing Thyra, whose progress has slowed but not stopped.
“You were warned.” I snarl at Aeliana as I wrap my right hand around her palm.
To my shock, my fire doesn’t flare. But then, if I think about it, my flames haven’t burned across my right hand for some time.
As soon as I touch Aeliana, the rune on her wrist stops moving.
“Now let go of that dragon’s skin,” she says, “and take Thyra’s hand.”
“What? No.”
Thyra’s so close to me that I’d only need to lift my arm to touch her. The four threads remain taut, while the amber thread between her and me has shortened dangerously. The dragon’s hide is her protection from me.
“You can’t hurt her if you take her right hand.” Aeliana’s voice is urgent but soft. “The Dragonstone Blade will protect itself.”
I’m startled. “You can see the blade?”
“I can see the blood bind. She wouldn’t have the bind if she didn’t have the blade.”
I shake my head, refusing to reach for Thyra. And I sure as hell won’t let go of this dragon’s skin. “What the fuck is happening right now?”
“Maxim.” Aeliana’s green eyes are wide and imploring as words tumble from her lips.
“I’ve been asleep for what must have been more than a decade.
I’ve woken to find myself exactly where I feared I might one day be.
I don’t know what has happened while I was sleeping.
I’m confused and terrified, and oh, how to explain? ”
She squeezes her eyes shut. Exhales. Opens them.
“The rune on my wrist was once part of the blood bind now on Thyra’s arm.
All of the runes were on the hammer my people guarded.
But while the other runes had always been there, one day, I discovered they’d been altered and worse: an additional rune was added. I don’t know when.
“I used my starlight to sever this rune from the others and force it onto my body. I thought my starlight could destroy it, only to discover its purpose was a deathless sleep that overpowered my light.
“And I know, I know none of that might make sense to you right now, but what you need to understand is this: the blood bind wants to complete itself. This rune wants to get to Thyra and if it does, our hope will end.”
Aeliana gasps for breath, pulling deeply at the air before she rushes on. “You must hold Thyra’s hand so the rune believes it can get to her by continuing through you.”
“Why would I take the risk of burning her?”
“Because only your fire is hot enough to burn a blood bind rune to ash. Once it’s on your body, you can step away and end it.”
Just as I burned the dark blood that had encompassed Thyra’s hand. But I don’t like the way Aeliana paused before answering me, even if she appeared in need of breath.
“Please, Maxim. This rune has been triggered and now it won’t stop until it reaches her. I’m asking you to save her!”
My fear burns hotter than my fire.
Thyra is already too close for her own safety.
Her hair, flammable strands, floats around her shoulders. Her Lethian armor ripples and shimmers, the threads retreating from the heat pouring off me, leaving her breasts and pelvis barely covered.
I tell myself I have the dragon’s skin, if I can wrap it around my body, then I’ll keep my fire contained.
As soon as I pull at the hide, attempting to wedge it beneath my underarms and keep it around my chest, Aeliana shouts. “You cannot use the hide. The rune could transfer to it. It was designed to survive on anything.”
“You’re telling me to give up the hope of protecting Thyra at all?”
“I’m sorry.”
I shudder as I throw the hide onto the ground away from my feet.
My left hand shakes, a soul-crushing rattle as I reach for Thyra.
I’m afraid of touching her.
Deeply fearful.
I tell myself I’ll test the contact carefully, no matter how urgently Aeliana spoke. I will take whatever time I need to breathe, exhale, and to—
Thyra’s hand locks around my wrist.
Full contact.
My heart stops, suddenly beatless in my chest.
A second later, a painful burn scorches across my other hand, wrenching my focus back to Aeliana.
She was right. The rune has rushed from her wrist up and across the back of my hand.
A chill spears down my spine as the darkness in this rune hits me.
Poison. Endless sleep. A dark pit sucking at my mind. An intense dragging sensation pulling at my legs, threatening to send me to the ground.
Aeliana trembles, uttering a deep groan of clear relief as she wrenches her hand from mine so that now I’m only touching Thyra.
“You have the rune! Now let Thyra go. Step away. I’ll use the hide to protect us from your fire.”
But I can’t let go.
I’m not holding Thyra.
She’s holding me. With an impossible strength. Her hand acting like an unbreakable chain.
Pushing down my panic, I tug sharply in the direction that should force my arm through the gap where her fingers don’t quite close around my limb.
She moves with me, her grip unbelievably strong.
“Fuck.” If I pull her in the wrong direction, I could smash her against my chest, where my fire could consume her.
The rune has reached my right shoulder and it’s moving fast, cutting a trail across my pectoral muscles on its way to my left shoulder.
“Maxim!” Aeliana cries. “Let Thyra go before the rune reaches her!”
I wrench harder on my arm, but Thyra retains her balance. “Thyra!”
Pure panic fills me as the rune reaches my left shoulder.
Aeliana launches herself at me with a scream, her starlight cutting across the rune, slicing the flesh on my upper arm as neatly as a fucking knife. Goddess, damn it!
The rune remains untouched.
Aeliana stumbles back from me, scooping up the dragon’s hide, rocking on the balls of her feet as if she could just as easily throw herself toward Thyra as away from us.
Her voice is strained. “The blood bind must be controlling her actions. She won’t let go. You have to burn the rune, even though she’s holding you.”
“No.”
“The Dragonstone Blade will—”
“No.”
I try again to free myself. One last time.
Jolting forward and wrenching hard and sharp, I end up on my knees, but Thyra comes with me, dropping to the sand beside me, her shoulders hunched, her hair swaying across her face. And her hand still gripping me.
“Thyra.” I’m out of time. The rune has reached my forearm.
My other palm hovers in the air beside her head. I’m unable to brush away the strands of her hair to know if there’s pain in her eyes. Or terror. Or nothing at all.
Her faded black tresses curl in my heat waves, the clump of her hair nearest to my palm shriveling like a leaf.
“You have no choice,” Aeliana says, rapidly backing away.
I only have her word for it.
The word of my enemy’s mother.
But I can’t deny my own senses. The darkness in this rune is as tainted as the blood I burned. An evil, venomous intent. I can’t let it reach Thyra.
“Thyra—” I start again, but I stop before I ask her to forgive me.
There is no forgiveness in my world.
I focus with all my might to control the release of my flames, to pinpoint the fire on the rune, to destroy nothing more, but my fucking power…
Like a hungry beast, my flames burst out of my control.