Serenna unconsciously retreated a few paces when one of the wraith split away from the gathered ranks. Her back collided with a wall of spongy lichen, knees locking when she recognized the hulking soldier who’d tethered her.
Aesar had assured her that she wouldn’t be harmed, but he wasn’t exactly present at every moment. Serenna reminded herself that Lykor’s wraith hadn’t hesitated when they’d attacked Centarya.
The torchlight carried away by the departing warriors flickered against Fenn’s sharp cheekbones, highlighting his indigo skin. Rings in his brows, ears, nose, and lower lip shimmered in the fading light, swinging as he swaggered toward her. Serenna cringed at the excessive jewelry, touching her face.
Unwilling to be pinned against the rocks, she swallowed her nervousness and stepped back to the center of the cavern. Serenna eyed the quiver of short arrows at his side and the bandolier of knives crossed over his spiked armor, wondering why he bothered with daggers when his talons were just as sharp.
Anxiously tracing the golden manacle latched around her wrist, Serenna clung to the hope that the prince would find her if she figured out how to unlock the tether. Stranded in the Wastes, she had no other option without portaling. Vesryn needs to know what happened to his brother and who the wraith really are.
The intermittent, thin braids woven through Fenn’s hair swayed when he halted in front of her. Crossing his arms, he planted his boots under his shoulders, dominating the space. Serenna’s gaze darted down the tunnel as the specks of illumination disappeared around a corner.
Clenching her jaw against his intimidating posture, Serenna lifted her chin, meeting his conflagrating gaze head on. I can deal with the likes of him.
As she hunted down a tactic, her stomach dropped instead as he continued to evaluate her with a disturbing intensity. Well, that is, if he’s not like Lykor. She’d already quickly discovered that she couldn’t press her captor in the same defiant ways she had with the prince. Lykor might actually kill me if I’m too much trouble.
The steady dripping of water from her soaked leathers was the only sound as Fenn regarded her, his eyes flaring like a flame consuming tinder. Serenna suppressed a shiver, the chill from her plastered clothing seeping into her skin.
As smooth as smoke, Fenn circled around her. Serenna whirled to face him, her boots scuffing against the rocky ground. Hardly able to see, the luminescent plants trailing from the stony walls offered less light than she preferred.
Failing to work up the indignation to endure his unblinking stare, Serenna snapped. “What are you doing?” she demanded, digging her nails into her palms.
“Do all she-elves have eyes the color of the Lagoon?” With a quirky tilt of his lips, Fenn cocked his head. “Or do you simply capture starlight and give it form?”
Serenna blinked, her question coming out breathless with her confusion. “What?” She searched for an answer in his crimson eyes. Am I missing wraith humor? “What’s the Lagoon?”
The sharp edges of Fenn’s fangs peeked out as his grin unfurled. A flash of fear had Serenna stepping backward.
“It would be more appropriate to begin with names before we go to the Lagoon,” he practically crooned. Interlocking his talons, Fenn made an unusual bob with his head that she assumed was some sort of bow. “My parents unfortunately upheld the elders’ tradition and gave me the elven name ‘Fennaeryn.’” His mouth thinned to a tight line before morphing to a smirk. “But, if we’re to become intimately acquainted, I’d prefer it if you’d call me Fenn.”
Pursing her lips, the knots in Serenna’s fingers loosened. She rapidly rearranged how she’d handle this wraith. Deflection would be best. “Why aren’t we following the others?”
“I’m escorting you to the Aerie.” Adjusting a strap running over his spiked armor that secured a holstered weapon on his back, Fenn surprisingly offered more before she could ask. “It’s where you’ll be staying with Lykor.”
Serenna blustered a scoff. “I don’t want to stay with Lykor.” I can’t even imagine where he spends his time. I’m sure he lives somewhere foul—like this cave.
The rings in Fenn’s ears clinked when he dipped his head again. “I’ll ensure your objection is passed along.”
Serenna ground her teeth at the sarcasm but ignored it. “Are we going to start moving?” she asked, tucking her hands under her arms to stave off a shiver. She thought better of foolishly risking her only chance at basic necessities if this Aerie possibly had a bath, food, and a bed. “Or do you have other wraith teleportation tricks up your sleeve?”
Frowning, Fenn blinked at his bare arms, each bicep adorned by a single silver band. “I have no sleeves.”
Too fatigued to respond, Serenna released a weary sigh.
Fenn pointed at one of the darkened tunnels in the tangle of cavern corridors. “I know a shortcut.”
Hesitant to leave the light, Serenna’s eyes darted between the luminescent plants, the maw of gaping black, and her wraith warden. Taking it upon himself to override her fear, Fenn condemned her by prodding her toward the entrance of the tunnel.
Spine tingling, Serenna glanced over her shoulder as her feet trudged forward, unsettled at having a stranger looming behind her—and a warrior at that. The last thing she saw was Fenn’s eyes, glowing like embers in the vestiges of light before darkness plundered her sight.
Hands outstretched, Serenna blindly stumbled through the dark. Away from the rushing underground stream, the compressed air in the tunnel pressed down with a suffocating weight. Every time she balked, Fenn goaded her with a push, steering her like a herded swine.
Serenna shuffled ahead, attempting to put herself out of his reach. After a few rounds of catching her when she tripped and then propelling her forward again, Fenn apparently had enough.
“File my fangs,” he swore beside her, holding her upright with a claw. “We’d be at Lykor’s tower by now if you weren’t dragging your feet.”
Bristling with annoyance, Serenna ripped her arm out of his unnervingly warm grasp. “I can’t see in the dark like you…” The remainder of the cruel jab she was about to unleash about his unnatural eyes died on her tongue. The reality of the wraith’s origins doused the fire in her gut. He’s not too different from me or any other elf—he just doesn’t have Essence.
“I didn’t realize you required sight to move your legs.” Fenn snatched her arm when she tripped again.
Before Serenna could retort, something scraped and rapidly clicked against the rocky floor, echoing from every direction.
“Stars, slay me,” Fenn all but groaned, fingers tensing against her. “I don’t care how much of the sky reflects in those pretty elf eyes of yours—after this, I’m pleading with Lykor for reassignment.” His voice sharpened, clipping out an order. “Get behind me.”
Fenn didn’t give Serenna an option, swinging her around him. The chittering bounced off the walls, traveling closer.
Scalp prickling, Serenna’s words were hushed while she blindly searched the dark. “What is it?”
“Cavern scorpion,” Fenn muttered. “I’d rather face an ice wolf with my talons shaved off—at least you can keep track of all their legs.”
Serenna’s heart leaped against her ribs at the sudden glitter of Fenn’s scarlet eyes, seeming to glow with their own faint light as he looked back at her.
“Can you see it?” she whispered, the darkness only escalating her fright. “I can’t tell—”
Serenna clamped her teeth shut upon hearing the whisper of leather, silently hoping Fenn was unsheathing one of his weapons. She jumped when there was a click and the noise of a pulley cranking, like a ship hoisting a sail.
The clacking of the cavern scorpion stilled, the tunnel devouring the sound. Heartbeat thumping in her ears, Serenna strained to hear the creature over her thundering pulse. Biting her cheek in the silence, her breath came fast through her nose. If I didn’t have this tether on, I wouldn’t be reliant on Fenn to protect me.
A burst of hissing split the air. There was a sound like dozens of legs abruptly skittering over stone. Serenna tensed, every muscle coiling. Imagining the creature charging at them in a wild dash had her a moment away from spinning around to flee.
