Page 40 of Trial of Three
They shift.
The ground shakes. Rocks fall, tumbling off River’s shield. My lungs seize, every muscle in my body painfully tight.
“Eyes on me, Leralynn,” River repeats. “Breathe. I will help you in a moment.”
I tremble as Coal and Tye swarm to River, Shade, and me, their hands connecting us together. I feel River’s presence at once, a stone pillar in the midst of madness. Like an experienced rider taking a stallion under rein, River gathers the errant power into himself, channeling it safely into the earth below. His body jerks but steadies a heartbeat later as, little by little, he grounds the wild magic.
When my heart slows and my lungs fill with clear, easy breaths, River slides his hands beneath me and lifts me against his chest. “There we go,” he says gently. “No more fighting. I don’t think Lunos can survive much more of you.”
I blink, beholding the crumbled ruins around us. “Did I—”
“I do believe you’ve got thepowerfulpart of being a weaver down pat, lass,” Tye says, tugging my hair. “No need to keep proving it, all right?”
“Let’s move while there is still a Blaze Court standing,” Coal adds darkly and leads the way into the Light.
.
27
Lera
“So, let me get this straight,” Autumn says, scribbling furiously on papers spread around our suite’s dining table. “At the end, it was one mortal girl who made the emperor of Mors and king of Slait scamper like cockroaches, leaving their entire conquered town behind?”
“There wasn’t much of a town left at that point.” Tye spreads himself out on the sunniest part of the couch, his right arm draping over the headrest behind me. “So it wasn’tthatmuch of a prized possession.”
Shade gives me a satisfied grin, the tip of his tongue absently grazing one of his canines. “I feel we should name you something, cub,” he says. “Something—”
“That includes the words ‘apocalypse’ and ‘harbinger,’” Coal says darkly. Arms crossed over his chest, the black-clad warrior leans against the wall, taking in everything with his gaze—especially the door.
Having risen first, River went to brief the elders on the situation in Karnish, leaving the rest of us trapped in the suite with Autumn. Denied access to Kora in the infirmary, the petite female has efficiently turned our common room into a cross between a library and interrogation chamber.
Tye’s arm drops from the headrest to my waist, and I squeak as he pulls me absently onto his lap. The arm around my waist tightens, keeping me still as tiny prickles of fire magic suddenly dance along my skin—right below the delicate cropped top that Autumn tussled me into.
“If you set Lera’shand-embroideredshirt on fire, I will disembowel you,” Autumn says, not looking up from her notes.
Tye’s fingers flick.
“Bastard!” Autumn jumps up, rubbing a spot behind her ear as she glares at Tye. “You’ve made me leave a stain.”
I bite my lip. Now that I know the amount of skill, training, and control it takes to flick a spark like that, Tye’s juvenile pranks have taken on a whole new light. A great many things about Tye have taken on a new light lately. I fidget, yelping as I feel a tiny nip on the top of my ear.
“Stay put, Lilac Girl,” Tye says, pressing me firmly back against his soft white tunic. Propping his legs up on the low coffee table, the male rubs his free hand over my neck and arms. “I think you’ve done quite enough for several lifetimes by now. Plus, you feel good just here and I’d like to enjoy having you in my lap in peace.”
“You’re insufferable,” Autumn mutters.
“Speaking of titles, what do you think we’re called now that we’ve passed the second and third trials but not the first?” Tye says cheerily. “Sparkle, you must have an answer for this, come on.”
“Hmm. Maybe ‘a pain in my ass’?” Autumn squints at the ceiling. “No, that’s your usual state of existence.”
I tune them out and glance out the window, the daylight still disorienting after last night’s nightmare. My body aches, though Shade healed my collection of bruises while I was drifting off to sleep last night. I barely recall making our way back through the Gloom, stumbling along until the males insisted on carrying me. “Where do you think Griorgi and Jawrar are now?” I ask, trying not to shiver at the memories.
Autumn bends her head over her notes again and I realize that research is the battlefield she feels most comfortable in. “Slait.” She makes a mark, dips her pen into the inkwell, and continues writing. “He is not going to admit that anything is out of the ordinary until he decides to.”
I jerk forward. “But he’s working with Jawrar—”
“Says who?” The lack of emotion in Autumn’s voice makes my chest tighten. The female chews on the tip of her pen, the temperature in the room dropping with each moment of silence. “You? Me? River? You don’t go through Slait Court spreadingrumorsabout King Griorgi. And you don’t attack him unless you are prepared to win.”
“So we’ll have to prepare for it, won’t we?” River says from the doorway.
