“And what?” She hardly ever saw Lykor in the evenings. Usually Aesar spent his time with Kal. But Serenna didn’t voice her observation. “You’re blessing me with your presence tonight?” She sniffed. “I’d rather be alone.”

Lykor’s lip curled, the tips of his fangs capturing the final shards of sunlight. Serenna considered throwing a mushroom at his head, annoyed with him for being as irritating as he was attractive. At least he looks different enough from Vesryn. I couldn’t live with him if he looked like the prince and… Serenna let the reflection die. That’s terrible for me to think of considering what happened to him.

Lykor scratched Aiko behind her fluffy ears, drawing out a purr. Her eyes glittered in Serenna’s direction. Like she'd defend her roost if Serenna so much as dreamed of staking a claim on Lykor.

On the same end table as Serenna’s mushrooms, Lykor’s attention hooked on the Heart of Stars she’d been listening to earlier. His gaze flicked back to study the shimmering fungus. Serenna didn’t need to be untethered to sense him reaching conclusions about where her collection had come from.

“Fenn’s making progress with his ability,” Lykor commented. Conversationally.

“You’re chatty this evening.” Serenna’s voice dripped with false sweetness. “Shall I make tea while you tell me about your day?”

“Aesar was out today,” Lykor muttered. Elaborating.

As easy as it would’ve been for Serenna to despise her captor, something inside of her still softened. Fenn had mentioned that Aesar and Lykor were attempting to divide their time. I can’t imagine sharing my life with another like they do.

Serenna decided against being snide, carrying on with Lykor’s previous comment. “Fenn is…” How do I describe him? She grabbed a mushroom, twirling it by the stem. “Fenn has made a habit of using force for everything.”

A more accurate way to define how he wielded Essence would be “annoying.” That afternoon, he was the one to launch a snow drift on her head before she could summon the elements to halt the freezing tide of flakes. Though Serenna assumed Fenn would figure out maddening ways to utilize even an innocent talent such as mending.

It wasn’t fair how he’d manifested his magic so fast. “I’m almost regretting giving him that power now,” Serenna mumbled, staring out the window as the tranquil stars blossomed across the sky.

Lykor’s eyes thinned in Serenna’s direction. Assessing. “Why did you?” he asked, unbinding his hair, shaking the fringes away from his face. Aiko batted at a stray strand like a cat pawing a string.

Guilt from deceiving Fenn still clung to Serenna like the hoarfrost on the windows. She shrugged, withholding the truth. “It seemed like a better use for Essence since…” She waved her golden shackle between them.

Lykor’s jaw clenched, the ticking in his cheek suggesting she’d struck a nerve. He barked and bit out every word. “Do you want to take the tether off?”

“No.” Serenna lifted her chin, despite feeling like it was practically an offer, rather than a challenge. She set the fungus back on the table, crossing her arms. “I don’t want you in my head.”

Lykor made a show of rolling his eyes.

And wouldn’t it be fitting if he forced me to ditch the gold and Vesryn finally appeared? Serenna reached for an easy escape, picking up the Heart of Stars. She hoped it was enough to keep Lykor away from contemplating her power and the tether. For all of his browbeating to find another relic, he’d all but abandoned this one on the dining table like it was nothing more than a decoration.

“What are you doing fiddling with that trinket?” Lykor asked, right on cue.

The topic change had the tension in Serenna’s arms dissolving. “You’ve been away in that jungle while Fenn and I have been searching the fortress for weeks.” She relaxed into the couch. “If there are any clues about where the other artifacts might be, couldn’t the Heart tell us?”

“And has it blessed you with some miraculous insight?” Lykor sarcastically asked. Aiko stretched, flapping her wings before winding down the front of Lykor’s chest to curl up on his lap. “Or have you picked up the habit of prattling like your lieutenant companion?”

Serenna scowled. “You’re the one who asked.”

“What is it saying then?“ Lykor prompted, apparently lowering himself to engaging.

Sighing as if he’d demanded a tedious favor, Serenna held the relic to her ear. She frowned, acting like she heard something aside from the poem.

Lykor leaned closer, burning her with his stare. “What is it saying?” he repeated with increasing interest.

Serenna shushed him, eyes darting, like she was absorbing every word. Letting her jaw go slack, she met Lykor’s gaze with awe.

“It says you’re a prick.”

Lykor barked out an explosive laugh. Serenna glared at him, slouching into the sofa. I should’ve known he’d be amused.

Attention wholly on scratching Aiko under the chin, Lykor asked, “Have you tried asking the Heart where the others are?”

“Of course I’ve tried,” Serenna snapped. A blatant lie. And Lykor knew it, judging by his arching brow, the action pinching her chest as it reminded her of Vesryn. “What would you ask the dragons?” she volleyed back.

“Ask it, specifically, if there are Hearts hidden in the ancient druid capitals.” Lykor cracked his neck. “Start with the jungle and the volcano.”

Serenna studied the artifact, chewing on her lip as the repeating verses droned on in her head. “How would I do that?”

“I don’t know,” Lykor growled. “That’s a voice I’m not privileged to hear inside of my skull.” He waved his gauntlet. “Send a thought into it. Surely you can manage that.”

Serenna pursed her lips, focusing on the crystal’s depths. The riddle floated over her like snowflakes on the wind.

Greetings, young draka, hear our plight,

New hatchlings from earth and starlight.

Feeling absolutely ridiculous, Serenna interrupted the words. Greetings great dragon, master of skies… She faltered, having no clever rhyme.

Serenna sucked in a breath when the Heart ceased its chanting. Whispers lingered at the corners of her mind, giving her the impression of a silent beast rearing its head at a whiff of prey.

Scalp prickling, Serenna hurried on with Lykor’s questions. Do you know what happened to the Hearts? You spoke of the galaxy whelps hiding the relics after binding your power. Did the druids steal any back in the war?

An unfamiliar voice uncoiled in her thoughts, a snake stretching in the sun. The lilt was higher, but no less guttural than the one that had been intoning before. Pulse thundering, Serenna went rigid, fingers blanching from clenching the artifact.

Hatchling of earth and starlight, we do not know what has passed while chained to dreams, blind to the events of time’s tapestry.

Serenna ripped her eyes away from the depths of the crystal as a shadow formed and shimmered into an outline—a great serpent unfolding its wings. She glanced at Lykor, receiving his expectant stare. Turning her attention back to the relic, she asked, Would the druids have hidden the Hearts in the volcano or jungle cities?

Ifthe druid tribes subdued the whelps from the stars, it is possible they concealed the Hearts in their domains. A shadow darted in Serenna’s mind, a reflection of a reflection, almost giving her the impression of a dragon’s form as it spoke. Search in tempest’s eye, where fury reigns; nature’s roots, the shade of a glade; or volcano’s core, where flames cascade.

The presence dimmed, like one returning to the soft embrace of sleep.

Do you have more information? Where can we find you? Serenna hurried to ask.

Our places of slumber are scattered like the stars. Young draka, return the Hearts—unbind…

Hands shaking, Serenna blew out a held breath as the voice faded. Bracing herself, she turned to Lykor, repeating what she’d heard.

“That fucking glade,” Lykor muttered to himself along with a string of entertaining words that Serenna tucked away for later use. Aiko crawled up his armor, settling on the rim of the sofa. Watching her. “You’re going to search the Slag,” he ordered, rubbing his temples.

“Right now?” She and Fenn hadn’t ventured there. For obvious reasons, not feeling the need to explore the volcano’s magma chambers.

“Yes, right now.” Lykor sat up, suddenly stern. “What else are you doing? Staring at your thumbs?”

Glaring since she didn’t have a rebuttal, Serenna flung a finger in the gesture she’d learned from him.