Page 109 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Tarly glowered. “Then what have you come to do with me? I’m hardly of use elsewhere.”

“That much we can agree on.”

“You’ll be watching us the whole time,” Tarly reasoned.

Callen considered. When next a key twisted in the lock of his cell, Tarly sagged with relief. He thought he might go insane,gaining hardly any sleep against the hard floor, without anything other than his cloak against the bitter night air.

“As you might have heard, I don’t spare a second for mercy. That’s your only warning,” Callen said, his smile jarring at these words.

Before he Transitioned, Callen had always carried an edge of playfulness and cunning, but he was also considerate and utterly enamored with his mate. Thinking of that, Tarly looked over the fallen prince with his first slice of deep sympathy for him. Perhaps losing her had been the thing to give his soul over to the unfeeling dark completely.

As he left his cell, Tarly couldn’t help but think of Nerida.Gods,all he did was think of her, both in torment and as the only thing that kept him wanting to wake up every day. She probably despised him for leaving, but she never would have let him go. He might have hurt her, but it would spare her from worse pain later.

Every movement had begun to ache in his poisoned side. He was rapidly running out of time.

Tarly followed Callen up the winding steps, back into the main body of the castle. He’d only been here once in his life. Rhyenelle was mostly unfamiliar to him, but he’d always admired the tales of the legendary kingdom that had birthed the Phoenix riders.

“Were you the only one to make it out when Dalrune was invaded?” Tarly couldn’t stop the curiosity that spilled out in their silence.

“No one made it out.”

“Your parents, your brother?—”

Being shoved against the wall shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did. The impact against his bad shoulder, even though not that hard, blackened the edges of his vision.

“I amnotthat prince. My name is Maverick Blackfair, and if you want to live, you’ll remember that.”

Tarly’s thoughts swam with the jolts of pain that were seizing through his chest, so he couldn’t respond, but he heard.

“What’s wrong with you?” Callen asked irritably.

Pushing off him, Tarly had to brace his hands on his thighs until he could breathe right again.

“A bite by your kind,Maverick,” he said resentfully. If that was who he wanted to be, Tarly had no problem with that.

When he found the strength to straighten against the wall, he found the dark fae studying him.

“When?”

“A few months ago. I’ve been told I shouldn’t really still be alive, but death is catching up.”

“How did it happen?”

“In Olmstone—from someone who was posing as a friend to Tauria.”

“Tauria.” Callen said her name as if he’d forgotten her after all this time. “When her kingdom fell, at least she had the sense to run to Nik—her mate, am I right? Or is that still a secret to no one but themselves?”

“I thought you weren’t Callen.”

He shrugged. “I can still be curious.”

“Yes, they mated. Until Marvellas broke their bond. Tauria’s in Valgard.”

He kept insisting he was Maverick, an uncaring dark fae, yet Tarly swore that news disturbed his expression.

“I guess they don’t tell you everything,” Tarly said.

“And where, dare I ask, is Nikalias?”

---