Initiates faced expulsion for possessing the drug on campus. On more than one occasion, the prince had ordered General Elashor to escort recruits off the island to stars knew where—most likely the human’s war training camps. He could only imagine a magus like himself would face a harsher punishment. They were expected to set the example.

A zephyr of crisp air flowed through the sparse corridor, whirling Jassyn’s awareness back to Vesryn’s chambers. The furious breeze did nothing to alleviate his body’s determination to scorch him with another wave of heat. He wiped a trickle of perspiration from his brow. Undoubtedly, his entire being would continue to revolt, wearing him down until he yielded and provided it with more of that condemning drug. I still have some dust in my chambers. Just a pinch for relief—

A pulse of Essence scattered Jassyn’s thoughts. Servants scurried past him, rushing to close the arched windows with pulls of force before the thunderheads unleashed their fury above the floating island. Turning his attention back to Vesryn’s doors, Jassyn’s stomach churned alongside the brewing storm.

Why am I seeking Vesryn out as the person to help me? It would be more effective to receive aid from a child. Jassyn pivoted on the purple runner. Dodging the prince’s staff, who were now igniting globes of illumination in the empty ivory sconces, he sped back down the corridor. I can handle this on my own. I’ve already made it three days.

Before descending the stairs, something Jassyn couldn’t quite discern caught his attention outdoors. He halted by a window, focusing on the swaying willows below. Like the scattered leaves ripped away by the wind, he knew his actions were spiraling out of control.

Disappointment settled onto his shoulders, a bleak grief encompassing him like a cloak. The only person to blame was himself. His justifications for turning to the drug as an escape buried him under a mountain of guilt.

Farine Vallende purchasing one of the slots on his contracts had nearly broken him. Recalling his helplessness against the realm’s laws, binding him to couple with Elashor’s mother, bile surged in Jassyn’s throat. He miserably failed at warding off the sporadic memories. All those faceless people Farine had imposed upon him for her entertainment. I can’t pretend what she forced me to do was about preserving the elven race. Overwhelmed, he’d started obliterating his mind when summoned to her estate.

Vesryn had unexpectedly swooped in and intervened, exploiting a loophole by using his position on the council to claim exclusivity to Jassyn’s bloodline, granting him freedom from the realm instead. Despite his liberation from contractually siring children, Farine’s gluttonous hands still haunted Jassyn’s dreams. All of that is over, so why don’t I have the strength to stop indulging?

Remorse twisted Jassyn’s gut. In his stupor after Vesryn had telepathically woken him the night of the assault, the only person he’d manage to save was one of their enemies.

Jassyn still tried denying that he’d summoned a foreign power, manipulating roots to halt that warrior’s fall. He’d dared to hope that it was a hallucination, an effect of the drug. But he’d walked past the ruptured ground’s glaring reminder at the base of the Spire. Touching his throat, Jassyn traced the scabs left behind from that soldier’s gauntlet, providing more blatant evidence of the events.

Accompanying another bead of sweat, a residual fear slid down Jassyn’s spine from the hazy memory. He wasn’t entirely sure how that midnight-haired male with crimson eyes and flashing fangs looked more elf than wraith. More importantly, he wondered why that soldier was compelled and how he had Essence.

Tangling his fingers into his curls, Jassyn yanked his hair in frustration. If he’d had a clear head that night, he might’ve gotten answers. The king must be involved with the compulsion, but that doesn’t make any sense. Nothing about that encounter made sense and the only answer Jassyn had received from that warrior was a snarl when he’d asked.

If the wraith return, I need to be ready. Determined, Jassyn whirled around and marched himself back down the hallway to Vesryn’s rooms. He couldn’t fix this predicament on his own. I’ll pay the price.

Before changing his mind again, Jassyn knocked on the prince’s door.

Too late, he realized that the withdrawal suspended him over a precipice of stupidity. Jassyn blanched at his error. His symptoms were simply confusing him. He could wean himself off the drug. How hard could it be? Just a pinch would work… Seized by the idea, Jassyn promptly spun on his heel, fleeing down the hallway.

Vesryn’s voice boomed down the corridor, echoing a roll of thunder. “Jassyn!”

Jassyn skidded to a halt as a pounding agony lanced through his skull. He considered how far he could dash down the stairs before the prince could catch up to him.

Shoulders slumping at the inevitable, Jassyn blew out a defeated sigh before turning. Hairs lifting as if in warning, a crack of lightning flashed while rain began pinging against the windows.

Seeing double, two copies of his cousin prowled toward him. Jassyn rapidly blinked Vesryn back into focus. Gaze sweeping over the prince, he surveyed Vesryn’s sweaty bare chest and bootless feet. Jassyn pursed his lips. The prince’s rumpled shorts were in danger of slipping indecently low—well past his excessively toned abdominals.

Vesryn’s emerald eyes glittered with curiosity. “This is the first time you’ve ever come to my quarters, and you’re going to leave after knocking?”

“I was here when you were bleeding out,” Jassyn protested, clasping his hands behind his back to hide his quivering fingers. That might’ve been the only time, come to think of it.

As if reminded by Jassyn’s prior visit, the prince idly traced the cluster of scars embedded in the center of his chest. An unexpected encounter with a band of organized wraith had resulted in the injury. Serenna had stitched Vesryn together to the best of her abilities, saving his life.

Jassyn started to angle back toward the stairs. “I’ll…return later.”

“Did you need something?” Vesryn arched a brow. “Or do you want to come in?” He slanted his head at his quarters. “Since you came all this way?”

Nose wrinkling at Vesryn’s half-clad appearance, Jassyn studied his cousin’s disarrayed topknot, barely restraining his silvery hair. “I—I didn’t need anything.” My mind must still be affected if I thought coming to Vesryn was the solution. I’ll simply consume the rest of my Stardust to erase the evidence of having it and sleep off any further urges. I can start fresh in the morning. “I’d rather not interrupt…” Having no interest in the prince’s current activities, Jassyn flapped a hand at what little disheveled garb Vesryn was wearing. “Whatever you were in the middle of.”

Obviously humored, an irritating smirk tugged at Vesryn’s mouth. “Trust me, I wouldn’t answer the door—even for you—if you were interrupting anything carnal.”

“And I’m already regretting knocking.” Jassyn rubbed his temples, hoping that if the prince noticed the blown vessels webbed through his eyes, he’d assume it was from exhaustion.

Turning to his rooms, Vesryn beckoned over his shoulder. “Stars, I’ll put on a fucking tunic if that’ll make you stop twitching.”

Jassyn scowled at his cousin’s sculpted back. It’s not too late, I don’t have to do this.

But he knew his thoughts only disguised themselves as excuses. Guilt wrestled his reluctance into submission. Mustering his self-control, Jassyn resisted the impulse to sprint back to his quarters, his attention dancing around the box of Stardust waiting for his return. I should’ve tossed the container off the island. Deep down, he admitted that wouldn’t have helped. He knew where to retrieve more.

With a stabilizing breath, Jassyn followed Vesryn into his chambers, unable to predict how the prince would react. Apprehension nipped at his heels as he imagined the likelihood of Vesryn banishing him from campus—or worse.

I’m going to regret this.

CHAPTER 2

JASSYN

Rain pummeled the expansive wall of windows in the prince’s sitting room as Jassyn closed the door behind him. Much like quarters he’d expect at the palace, Vesryn’s chambers were lavish, decorated with rich leather sofas complemented by ebony tables. He doubted the prince had a hand in furnishing the apartment, considering the impressive collection of books flanking one side of the room.

Loitering inside the apartment’s threshold, Jassyn considered how to liven up the prince’s suite—if only to distract himself from the reason for his visit. I should bring Vesryn a plant. Though he assumed a helpless life form would only be an additional responsibility for the staff.

“How’s Serenna?” Vesryn asked before dropping to a padded exercise mat, extending his arms to brace himself. Unsurprisingly, the prince ignored his claim that he was going to cover himself up.

Jassyn tugged at the neck of his uniform, gripped by an insane notion to shed his leathers in the same fashion—anything to alleviate the heat erupting from his skin.

He fired back a response. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

The prince emitted a humorless scoff. “I’m asking you since you’re conveniently here in front of me.”

Jassyn irritably drove his fingers through his curls, assuming his current state frayed his tolerance toward his cousin even more than usual. Hands itching, he searched for something to occupy himself with before Vesryn noticed his fidgeting.

Allowing himself to relax into the familiarity of their usual verbal sparring, Jassyn prodded, “You can’t tell how she’s been through the bond?”

“Right, I didn’t think of that.” Vesryn planted himself stiffly on his knuckles and toes, pushing his body up and down like a working bellows. “The last time I saw her, she was with you.” He blew out a breath with his body’s descent. “Since you haven’t disclosed why you’re here, I didn’t think having a conversation in the meantime would kill you.”

Now that he mentions it… Vesryn’s punishment can’t possibly be that severe, can it?

Eyes widening, Jassyn hastily shoved one of his golden blades back into his leathers, the knife’s unintentional appearance splintering his composure. He warily inspected the pad of his thumb, not recalling his anxious fingers retrieving the dagger from his uniform’s hidden seams. I’m lucky I didn’t cut myself.

Jassyn’s gaze darted to his cousin, but Vesryn was too engaged in pulverizing his body to notice the weapon. I’m not going to stab him to stage my escape. Jassyn quickly banished the coalescing thought before the temptation solidified.

He cleared his throat, providing the prince with his participation. “Serenna is unsettled, but who isn’t?”

Legs becoming restless, Jassyn channeled his concentration into putting one foot in front of the other, walking a straight line as he veered to a wall of Vesryn’s windows.

His attention snagged on the waterfall cascading from the permanent portal opened above the Spire, rushing down to saturate streams below. Stomach pitching from the dizzying height, Jassyn ripped his eyes away from the ground. Instead, he focused on the glistening rain, tracing the fascinating patterns of the drops rolling down the glass.

Realizing he should elaborate so the prince wouldn’t detect anything unusual in the silence, Jassyn added over his shoulder, “Serenna has been helping move initiates into the other residence halls to make room for the capital’s soldiers. Elashor took it upon himself to keep the recruits busy since you’ve been…absent.”