Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Antony
Istrike as fast as I can.
I won’t let Maxim endanger Thyra.
In a blur, my fist collides with Maxim’s chest, my razor-sharp fingernails gouging as deeply as claws, tearing strips off his chest.
If I had thought I could have sliced through his neck, I would have, but he’s already throwing himself backward along the mountain ridge.
I’ll only have a minute—if that—before his fire returns and with it, his full strength.
To my advantage, his pupils are enormous. Without his fire, I’m certain he’s struggling to see properly.
I launch myself after him, using my full speed to aim for his throat, preparing to rip his head off, as I’m sure he wants to rip off mine.
But he’s backpedaling so fast that he throws himself off the side of the ridge and out of sight before I can reach him.
I overshoot.
Glance down. Can’t locate him.
The damn black ooze he must have layered across his body gives him a few seconds’ head start before I spot him.
He’s already halfway down the ravine and much farther to my right.
He must be headed to the tunnel.
The opening is situated in the middle of the cliff face that blocks the end of this valley.
The light within the tunnel may not be visible from the outside, but if he draws me into that bright glow, I’ll be the one with vision problems.
Just as I’m about to speed after him, I jolt to a stop again.
Whereas before, the tunnel was completely concealed from the outside, now a silvery glow gleams softly from it.
Unwanted dread builds within my chest.
When did the light grow stronger?
Why is it reaching out through the darkness like that?
My extended delay gives Maxim even more time to get farther ahead of me.
Mentally shouting at myself to move, I soar after him.
He’s fast, leaping from outcrop to outcrop along the side of the valley and within seconds, he launches off a final outcrop, out into thin air, and toward the tunnel’s entrance.
I’m faster.
I reach the tunnel’s mouth just as he does.
My hands close around his shoulders. I’m ready to wrench him back out into the air, but flames explode across his torso, shredding through my fingers and palms.
Before I can heal, he disappears into the tunnel.
Regaining my strength, my hands quickly reforming, I fly after him, preparing myself for the strike of the scorching light now swallowing his form ahead of me.
I tell myself I can fly through it. This light can’t stop me.
Thyra is more important than any pain the light could cause me.
But I was too fucking unprepared.
As I soar into the deepest glow, the light rips through my consciousness, a brutal strike that knocks me to the ground where I land on my hands and knees.
Fuck!
Shouting at myself to move, I attempt to push back to my feet, only to be beaten down again.
A new fear grows.
Can any light burn me now?
Before the vampyric poison took full control of me, I could walk freely in sunlight and starlight. Indeed, I flew through these very beams before and all I experienced was a sting.
But now…
If I can’t return to the Iron Kingdom, then my new purpose is worth fucking nothing.
My lips draw back from my teeth as I hunch in the glow, faced with the choice to invite more pain or to retreat.
Then I catch sight of my arms.
I’m…unharmed.
My flesh hasn’t been stripped from my bones.
The light fucking hurts, but the pain is…
I press my hand to my chest.
This pain is deeper than my flesh and bones. It’s hitting my heart where the thread extended between Thyra and me and the wound remains.
I force myself back to my feet, reminding myself: pain is life.
With renewed determination, I take a step. Then another. I’m preparing to take five more when Maxim’s silhouette appears within the intensifying glow.
I brace for him to charge at me, but he moves slowly, bringing himself to a stop five paces away from me.
“King of Iron,” he calls. “I want to make a new deal with you.”
I squint at him, unable to focus clearly. “What deal?”
“I will give you the amulet and the knife’s hilt.”
Just like that?
“I’ll also find every piece of that tree that might exist in my kingdom, gather them together, and bury them where no other fae can find them. I won’t carry a piece on my person.”
If my eyes weren’t already narrow slits, I’d scowl at him with all the suspicion his offer warrants. “In exchange for what?”
He glances backward before he says, “You will let me take the light that shines in this tunnel.”
My suspicion builds.
Why does he want it? What value could it have?
I can’t ignore that he’s offering me what I need: the wooden weapons that are being used to blind Thyra to the actions of those who mean her harm. Fae like the assassin who came after her. Fae like my brother. A whole fucking network of fae working for a man named Stanimir.
It’s not as if I can take possession of whatever object is causing this light. I can’t get close to it without extreme pain.
Maxim must take my silence for disagreement because he mutters, “Fuck it.” Then, more loudly, he says, “You spoke of a man named Stanimir. I’ve seen him.”
I jolt forward, only to wince.
Throwing my arm across my eyes, I ask, “Where?”
“At the southern edge of my kingdom. He has a distinctive patch of dark skin, like a birthmark, on the left side of his neck. He leads a group of fae who call themselves travelers. They all carry knives with handles made of the same ashen-brown wood. If he’s trying to hurt Thyra, then he’s my enemy, too.
” Maxim pauses before he continues. “We have a common enemy, Antony. And it isn’t Stellen. ”
It seems we do, but I don’t give any ground yet.
Maxim takes a step toward me. “If Stanimir has remained in my kingdom, I will have him hunted down and killed. By my warriors, if not by my own hand.”
Maxim now stands within easy striking distance of me, his features discernible in the light. “That is my full offer, Antony. What is your answer?”
How can I weigh my response when I don’t know what’s casting this powerful light?
“Why do you want it?” I ask, unable to keep the sarcasm from my voice. “Is there not enough light in your kingdom already?”
Maxim scoffs. “I would have thought you’d know.”
“Know what?”
His forehead creases. “About the darkness.”
“What darkness?” But even as I ask the question, the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
When Thyra flew into the bloodlands, she carried a darkness with her that even Galla Vividari’s starlight couldn’t overcome.
It was thick enough for vampyrs to travel along.
Ultimately, that darkness didn’t threaten the Iron Kingdom because Thyra seemed to pull it with her.
The farther away she flew, the farther the darkness receded from the Iron Kingdom.
But another memory flashes back to me from within the haze of my vampyric frenzy. Right before I fought Stellen, the vampyr swarm that came after Thyra had rushed away, heading south toward the Ember Kingdom.
“A column of night now stretches into my land,” Maxim grinds out. “Vampyrs have already swarmed past our towers and killed my people.”
Not only his people.
Iron Towers are built near Ember Towers.
My people. My warriors. Fighters I trained.
Not just any fighters. Rohan’s younger brother, Riven, is stationed at one of those towers. After what happened to Rohan, I deliberately placed Riven as far from Galla Vividari as I could.
I lurch backward, ready to fly south, but Azul is suddenly there, soaring into the mouth of the tunnel and landing right where he blocks my path. As if the fucking bird knew I’d react this way.
“They’re already dead.” Maxim’s declaration is cold. “Of all the Iron Fae and Ember Fae who guarded those towers, only one Iron Fae survived. He’s now my prisoner.”
My whole body vibrates with rage.
There’s no point in trying to push past Azul to go see for myself. I know liars, and Maxim isn’t lying about this.
All I’ll find is dead bodies.
“Whomever you’ve taken prisoner, keep them alive and unharmed,” I snarl. “Agree to this as well as everything else you’ve already promised, and we’ll have a deal.”
“We have a deal,” Maxim says.
He strides toward me, then pauses for a moment. “For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have harmed your warrior either way. In case this matters, he has a scar across his chin. Unusual for a highborn.”
Riven.
He cut up his face so he wouldn’t catch Galla’s eye, going to great lengths to keep the wound open and counteract his natural healing. He ensured he was left with a ropey scar she’d find repulsive.
I force my expression to remain unchanged. Not difficult since my expression is fixed in a twisted position.
“My things are hidden on the other side of that ridge,” Maxim says, pointing in that direction. “I’ll get the amulet and knife’s hilt and give them to you first so you know I won’t renege on my promises.”
I follow him to the tunnel’s mouth, keeping at a distance, both of us squeezing past Azul on opposite sides of the tunnel. The eagle ruffles his feathers and doesn’t try to make it easier for us—even though he should probably be mindful of Maxim’s fire.
As soon as Maxim slips past Azul, he breaks into a run, building up speed before he leaps from the tunnel’s mouth and toward the mountain ridge to the left of the valley.
My vision is full of bright spots, but I’m facing away from the light now, so it’s a little easier to see.
I smirk when Maxim sails powerfully across the air, only to miss landing on the nearest outcrop.
He falls short, giving a shout before he latches on to the next outcrop down by the mere tips of his fingers. The sudden stop smacks him against the side of the cliff, but he holds on, heaving himself up to the top of the ridge moments later.
In fairness, it was an impressive jump, one I never would have been able to make if I were still wearing my armor and without my new levitation power.
He lands at a crouch and shakes himself off before disappearing on the other side of the ridge.
My eyes narrow.
Maybe I should have followed him, after all…
A moment later, Maxim reappears holding a bundle. This time, he takes a longer run up before leaping from the mountain ridge and landing at the very edge of the tunnel’s mouth, teetering there.
I grab his shoulder and pull him inside before he can fall backward.
He scowls at me as he wobbles past. “I had it.”
I may prefer to lie, but in this instance, the truth gives me joy. “You didn’t.”
Maxim glares back at me before he begins unfolding the bundle in his arms.
I blink at it. “Is that a—?”
But it can’t be…a fucking dragon’s hide.
He pulls it closer to himself, guarding it.
Only one is rumored to exist.
Whispered to have been hidden by the Tol-Dakri, a fierce fae tribe renowned for their part in the long-ago Battle of Fire Dragons.
As the story goes, on winning that battle, they killed and skinned the last fire dragon. They’ve remained a fearsome people and have had uneasy truces with each Ember King.
I can’t see them giving up this dragon’s hide easily, not even to Maxim.
“Keep your distance,” Maxim warns me, hunching over the hide. “I went to great lengths to obtain this, and it isn’t part of our deal.”
It explains why he was reluctant to hand over the amulet and the knife’s hilt. He didn’t want me to see what they were hidden in.
Although…it’s now curious to me that he didn’t simply pull the wooden objects out of the hide and bring them to me. He could have left the hide on the mountain ridge and I never would have known about it.
Still, I step away from him, my hands purposefully raised. “I only want what’s dangerous to Thyra.”
Maxim keeps his eyes on me as he reaches between the folds of the heavy material and pulls out two objects: a wooden medallion strung onto a strip of leather and a wooden hilt, its shape and size identical to that of the knife I carried with me.
Placing both items on the ground, Maxim tucks the bulky hide under his arm, draws himself upright, and steps away from the wooden objects. “They’re yours.”
I scoop them up and grip them tightly as I, too, now maintain my distance.
Before Maxim can turn toward the light again, I say, “The hide is how you intend to protect Thyra from your fire.”
He gives me a nod.
As reluctant as I am to admit it, I say, “You’ve obviously gone to great lengths to ensure she’ll be safe with you.”
Maxim squares his shoulders, eye to eye with me. “You have your pain, Antony. I have mine.”
He strides back along the tunnel and this time, Azul steps aside for him.
I try to follow Maxim’s path, squinting into the light, before I turn away from it.
A moment later, the light vanishes.
Darkness falls around us, so suddenly oppressive that my eyes burn.
Damn.
Now my chest hurts again, fresh blood wetting my palm when I press my hand to my heart. I swallow my groan of pain. I’ll get past it. This wound will heal.
It’s time for me to go. I have what I needed from Maxim, and I have my purpose. The sooner I start hunting Hadrian and his followers, the better.
Just as I take a step toward the tunnel’s mouth, Azul makes a nuisance of himself again, stretching his wing and blocking my path.
As I veer to the side, Maxim’s footfalls sound behind me. From the corner of my eye, I catch sight of the new bundle he’s carrying, wrapped fully in the dragon’s hide.
It’s a much larger bundle than I was expecting, and it’s shaped like a—
I stumble backward, knocking into the tunnel wall with a thump.
One end of the dragon’s hide is slightly open and from that spot, light flashes, cutting across my chest. Lighting up the bright blood and the painful wound.
Except now there is a gentleness in that narrow beam that I never expected. Never thought I’d feel again…
I try to breathe as a flood of boyhood memories rushes over me.
Starlight playing across a kind smile.
A gentle hand holding mine, picking me up when I fall, brushing the dirt off my knees.
Warm arms hugging me…
I can’t move because I know this light.
This light that has been growing more ferocious since my fight with Maxim began, maybe even before my fight with Stellen began, and has now become as clear as the memory of the hand that once held mine.
“No.” My denial is strangled. “It can’t be.”
My mother.