“You should save us both the trouble and infuse me with a thimbleful of your power,” Serenna snipped through her chattering teeth. “It seemed easy enough when you dragged my magic out through the bond. You wouldn’t even notice,” she railed on, joining Lykor at the ledge. “I’ve never felt anyone—”
“And how do you expect to expand your Well if you don’t do it yourself?” Lykor snarled, his irritation snapping through their link like a whip. “Maybe if you had to fight for your survival, you’d be able to hold more Essence than a fucking spoon.”
Serenna’s teeth clicked shut, barricading any retort as her frozen muscles convulsed. Pinching her lips, she turned her back, gazing out across the frozen expanse.
Something heavy crashed onto her shoulders. Stumbling forward, Serenna caught herself on the balcony’s icy balustrade. Stunned by bewilderment, she drew Lykor’s fur-lined cloak under her chin, stomach turning over from the lingering heat. She risked a glance at her captor, wondering if Aesar had anything to do with her comfort.
“Will you fucking regenerate?” Lykor’s patience cracked like ice, the frigid breeze thrashing his unbound hair. “Dawn is approaching.”
The mist from Serenna’s annoyed huff coiled above her head. Conceding, she acknowledged that the only way to return indoors was to comply. Letting her awareness drift to the galaxies, a foreign array of constellations winked down on their mountainous perch.
Serenna searched for the blue spiral galaxy that Vesryn had pointed out weeks ago, claiming it was the Aelfyn homeworld. Unable to locate that particular celestial light, Serenna focused on the unfamiliar blanket of stars. A strange loneliness from the empty expanse encompassed her like the quiet light from the moons.
“I don’t see why I need to restore my magic if you’re keeping me tethered,” Serenna said, testing the waters as she fished for his intentions.
Lykor clenched his fist, the metal in his gauntlet squealing. Serenna eyed the armor in the corner of her vision, ensuring he wasn’t about to lunge for her throat. “I won’t squander any advantage—no matter how meager.” Seemingly unaffected by the freezing temperature, Lykor rolled his shoulders, the spikes on his black leathers glinting in the moonlight. “Even if your puddle of power is next to useless.”
Serenna’s cheeks reddened further, the flush rising without the aid of the breeze slapping her face. “So you’re simply going to snatch my magic for yourself whenever it suits you?” A new thought wandered through the darkness of night as she curled Lykor’s cloak further under her chin. “Why don’t you just take my elemental power while you’re at it?”
“I can’t use that magic. Those abilities are bound to your human blood.” He grunted an unamused noise, eyes fixed on the jagged horizon. “But would that I could, and I’d free myself from this shackle to you.”
You’d be doing us both a favor, Serenna nearly told him, rubbing her bare wrist. Her heart screeched to a halt and then rallied into a gallop.
I’m untethered. Does Vesryn sense me? Frantic and desperate, Serenna launched her awareness down the dim silver cord. The prince was somewhere to the east, half the world away. If he realizes where I am, he can come get me!
Serenna’s breath snagged at the sudden realization. I can’t have Vesryn travel here—the coercion would force Lykor to kill him. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, freezing to her lashes. Rapidly blinking, Serenna battled the emotions swirling in her chest.
I’m on my own then. How am I going to get out of this? Serenna swallowed her despair, now hoping Vesryn was asleep and didn’t notice her abrupt appearance. Another noxious notion rooted like a weed. And I hope that flame-haired vixen isn’t in his bed. He owes me an explanation.
Serenna hurried to enter a shallow meditative state, somehow replenishing her power with Lykor breathing down her neck. She shoved her wrist at him, anxious to block her location from the prince.
Lykor’s eyes suspiciously probed hers. A shard of fear lodged in Serenna’s spine—she appeared too compliant. And now he’d probably detected her panic through the bond. Drawing her arm back, she searched for a diversion.
Serenna sensed the agony in the burn she’d given him, even more agitated by his armor. “Will you allow me to mend you yet?” She cleared her throat, hoping that Lykor would interpret the offer as the source of her unease. “It’ll be easier to heal your palm before an infection sets in.”
Lykor’s lip curled around his fangs. His shoulders twitched, a horse irritably dislodging a fly. Muttering under his breath, he removed his gauntlet.
Serenna shoved her shock away, thinking better about making a comment. Her fingers trembled as she hesitantly cupped his claw, the frosty air nearly crystalizing her bones. She flinched when her power leaped in response, slithering through her veins.
At the same time, Lykor’s talons snapped closed, digging into the blistered flesh. With an exasperated sigh that bordered a growl, he allowed her to pry his fingers open to inspect the ghastly wound.
Serenna ignited her power. Lykor stiffened. His magic roared to life, shadows rearing behind him, likely ready to strike if she so much as breathed in the wrong direction. Serenna rolled her eyes, weaving a ruby healing lattice around his palm.
Lykor yanked his claw out of her hands as soon as the sores smoothed back to mended skin. He released his magic well after she’d let go of hers.
Serenna speared a sarcastic thought in his direction. You’re welcome.
Get the fuck out of my mind, Lykor snarled, cramming his gauntlet back on.
Not expecting to hear his voice blasting in her head, Serenna recoiled, rapidly assembling her mental barricades. “Neither of us have telepathy. How could…” Her stomach rolled like a snowball, icing into alarm. We can communicate through the accepted bond.
Lykor snatched the manacle out of his cloak—that she was still wearing—and roughly clamped the metal back around her wrist, severing their connection. Serenna rushed indoors and retreated to the far end of the sitting room, away from Lykor and the cold.
Slamming the door shut, Lykor’s indiscernible grumble could’ve been words of gratitude. It sounded more like someone stabbed him in the gut.
Serenna shed the enormous coat, placing the furs on a couch. Pursing her lips, she nearly thanked Lykor for the cloak before deciding to not say anything to him at all. Eager to warm up with a bath and find a bed after, Serenna hurried to the staircase winding up the center of the chamber.
Before she lifted a foot to the first step, something small and dark flew down the stairs straight at her head. Serenna shrieked, tossing her arms up before stumbling backward into a sofa. She spun around as the furry mass sailed over her shoulder.
The creature landed in the middle of Lykor’s chest, vocalizing with a strange chirping mewl. The fluffy animal furiously rubbed its fox-like face under Lykor’s chin, apparently beyond excited to see him. Leathery wings flapped and rustled frantically as Lykor stroked from the nape of its neck down to its puffy black tail.
Tiny fangs similar to Lykor’s peeked out from its long snout while the rumble of its unexpected purr vibrated across the room. With a sneaking suspicion, Serenna shook her head and scoffed. “That’s a vulpintera, isn’t it?” Fenn was fooling with me!
“Aiko comes and goes as she pleases,” Lykor muttered, prying the fuzzy-eared bundle off of his chest, perching the vulpintera on his shoulder. The creature contentedly curled behind his neck like a scarf, tail draping to coil around one of his arms. Lykor dropped to a couch, his full attention on scratching Aiko’s tufted ears.
Serenna fought back a sad smile as she returned to the staircase. Even though Lykor didn’t consider himself Vesryn’s twin, they still shared a peculiar similarity when it came to their beasts.
What if I can somehow reunite the prince and Aesar? She’d withheld from informing Aesar of her bond with his brother. If Lykor had awareness of that connection, she couldn’t predict what the compulsion would force him to do.
Both anger and fear for the future warred in Serenna’s thoughts. If she could somehow unify the elven-blooded and Lykor’s exiled people… We could end this fighting before more innocent lives are lost.
Hand hovering over the banister, Serenna hesitated before ascending the stairs. “I hope there’s a way we can come to an understanding,” she said, contemplating how to navigate the precarious ridge she stood on with Lykor and cobble together some type of trust. She skimmed her fingers over the iron railing, thinking of the prince. “I know my people will also want to make the king answer for his crimes once they know the truth about the wraith.”
A spark of rage combusted in Lykor’s eyes. Serenna rushed on before he cut her off. “Now that the king has an endless supply of magic to drain from the elven-blooded, I’m not sure what will happen to the realms. Don’t we—as wraith and elven-blooded—owe it to our people to stop him?”
A sneer razored across Lykor’s face. “The wraith ‘owe’ no one.” Hand pausing midway through petting Aiko, he clenched his fist. “And the fate of your realms is of no concern to me. There isn’t room for my people in this world. Not anymore.” Lykor bit off his words like ripping meat from a bone. “We’re going where the elves can’t reach us.” Leaning his head back against the sofa, Lykor closed his eyes and dismissively waved her off like a nuisance.
Knowing that he intended to take her with him, Serenna’s despair accumulated. And the truth will disappear with me unless I find a way out.
CHAPTER 31
SERENNA
Serenna nestled further into the downy blankets, tossing a cover over her face to thwart the sunlight streaming across her eyelids. Didn’t I close the blinds? she groggily wondered, rolling away from the streak of brightness.
This bed chamber had been one of six in the rounded upper level of the Aerie, carved into the mountain’s peak. Evidently, Lykor wasn’t concerned with her poking around. Serenna had wandered into a bedroom with a tiny portal permanently opened on a windowsill—a rift she assumed could only be for Aiko. She quickly located different sleeping quarters, selecting one as far away as possible from her captor’s.
The edge of Serenna’s bed sank before something nudged her shoulder. “She-elf,” a low voice crooned.
Flooded with alarm, Serenna’s heart exploded against her ribs. Twisted in the blanket wrapped over her head, she yelped, flailing to untangle her limbs. Arms swinging to free herself, Serenna threw the covers off. She slammed her back against the headboard, meeting the gaze of the offending wraith.
“What are you doing in here?” she hissed at Fenn, yanking the sheet up to her chin.
“I feared you’d slumber all day.” He glanced out the window that he most certainly had opened.
Serenna rubbed her eyes against the blinding intervention. “That was the idea!” She scowled as he sat there, settled in more comfortably than he had any right to be on her bed.
“That’s a shame, considering you’re more radiant than the sunrise.” Pausing for what had to be a dramatic effect, the points of Fenn’s fangs flashed in a mischievous grin.
