Page 33 of Oath-Maker

He bent down over me as he thrust fast. I wrapped my arms around him, holding myself to him as an anchor, but also so I could run my nails down his back. He groaned near helplessly with the pleasure, and with one final thrust, he held himself inside me as his release came.

We breathed heavily, holding on to each other for dear life, as we both came down from the high. Only once some semblance of regular breathing returned did Lucius draw back and hold my face in one hand.

“Have patience, Ayla,” he whispered as the world started to fade to black a bit. His voice continued even as I woke again in my chambers in Lightport. “We’re coming.”

Despite how amazing that experience had just been, despite how seeing Lucius again had instilled such hope in me, all I could think was:

I hope you act in time.

Because Merek was up to something. And I wasn’t sure waiting for three days was the right move.

“Have patience.”

I would try. Gods, I’d try. But patience had never been my strong suit.

CHAPTER14

Despite Lucius’s insistence onpatiencelast night, I had none for the world we both entered upon waking. I didn’t blame him, if only because said waking world was severely devoid ofhim.

No, he was back in Alastia, and I… had a lot of work to do very quickly. Three days was not a lot of time to get Isabel’s paladins together, armed, and coordinated enough to attack. Were they even all in the Order’s tower, or were they spread out around Lightport? Could we summon them to arms all at once?

These were the questions that plagued me the morning of day three in Lightport. Three days, but it’d seemed like an eternity without Lucius. Which was of course crazy, since I’d lived the majority of my life until very recently without him.

Still, the hole his lack of presence left in my heart squeezed my chest tightly. More so after last night, where just a short time with him—with Lucius healthy again—had instilled such strength in me.

It was hard to believe that two weeks ago, we’d been sworn enemies. It was just another reminder of how much everything had changed.

I decided not to wait for Commander Lumen today. I rose with the first signs of sunrise, changed into another matching set of clothes, and headed out the door. I half-expected to find the commander standing right in front of it, but what greeted me instead were two male guards I hadn’t seen before. Unlike Commander Lumen, these two weren’t in tactical armor, but instead rather unremarkable clothing as though they were walking around Lightport, not guarding the enemy. They wore celestial swords at their hips and must have been twins, given their near-identical brown eyes, blond hair, and small noses.

As soon as the door to my quarters was open, they moved in unison, pushing off of the wall they’d been resting against and closing in to make sure I didn’t go off alone.

“You were not called,” one said, and I studied him. His nose was crooked, like it’d been broken too many times, and he was just a hair taller than his brother. “You are to remain here until the Guardian requests your presence.”

I raised an eyebrow. I didn’t want to assume much, but I was pretty sure I could take these two in a fight. “And if I don’t? Are you really going to wrestle me back in there?” I tossed a thumb over my shoulder.

“Yes,” the taller guard said with great confidence. I appreciated that in him.

I studied them closely. I hadn’t recognized Isabel, either, so I wasn’t sure if they were paladins or not. The celestial swords at their hips would have suggest it, but we’d always been told the swords were gifts from the Light. And given the Light’s very real presence as an avatar on top of this tower…

These two didn’t looktrained, though. They carried themselves awkwardly, and the confidence in the taller twin seemed only skin-deep.

Where was the Commander? Why wasn’t he here to guard me himself?

“He doesn’tneedyou,” the taller twin spat. “It doesn’t matter if we end up having to hurt you.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Are you so sure about that?”

Merek had insinuated the same thing—that he didn’tneedme to wage this war—but between the prophecy and my new potentiality magic, me willingly working with Merek sure as hell would make his agenda a lot easier.

The shorter guard grabbed his brother’s arm. “Xavier, please. We’re just here to keep an eye on her.”

Xavier shrugged off his brother’s arm, but not before I caught sight of the bracelet on the shorter twin’s wrist. His sleeve had pulled up when he’d grabbed Xavier’s arm, and now I saw why he’d done so. His words had sounded genuine, but the movement had been planned.

A single bead lay on the necklace. Black and starry, like Isabel’s nail polish.

Thesewerepaladins. New ones, probably fresh off recruitment when all of this had happened. And at least one of them was still loyal to what we’d stood for.

“You are to stayhere,” Xavier demanded as he ignored his brother’s pleas. “That is the order we were given.”

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