Page 5 of The Last Bell
“Halt!” River’s commanding voice shackles the entire courtyard in place.”Take a knee. Every damn one of you.”
Heart slamming against my ribs, I spin to see the male himself striding from the library’s entrance into the courtyard, power trailing around him in a cape of sunlight. River, alive. Walking. As if the past few hours never happened. His sure steps toward the center of the courtyard betray nothing of his brush with death—though it is written all too clearly in Shade’s face. The healer walks a few steps behind, making no effort to conceal the predatory fury roaring in his yellow eyes.
Fury that’s directed as much at the gathering mob as at me. A trickle of blood snakes from the corner of Shade’s mouth where my fist had landed. The male wipes it with the back of his hand.
My chest clenches.
With his short dark hair brushed back, River’s pointed ears are exposed in all their immortal glory.If I ran outside without a single thought as to what my appearance would evoke in the Academy, River made his choice deliberately. I almost let out a sob of relief when I see them—proof that this is the real River,myRiver, which means he must have gotten his memories back when the quint joined. I wait for him to look at me, for some sign of love or recognition or union—any of the things I’ve longed for with my whole being for too many months.
But he keeps his eyes on the mob, no sign of his thoughts visible. Given how sharply the very air in the courtyard is vibrating with tension, holding his entire focus on the humans is probably a good thing—no matter how much I wish River to be holding me instead.
Still bare to the waist, with streaks of dried blood clinging to the taut skin of his ribs and muscled abdomen, he holds himself as if making entrance into a ballroom—the effect of which is lost on no one, least of all the royal families gathered outside. Yes, they see he is fae, but they feel the power of his throne as well—we all do—whether they know it or not.
“You?” Wheeling toward River, Thad raises the mallet in his hand. The blacksmith’s face is equal parts murderous and terrified, the thin light leaking through the clouds reflecting off his bald head in silver spots. “I knew you were—”
“In charge?” River asks coolly. “Yes. That I am.”
“Then I demand justice!” The Fothom queen’s keening voice rises to the sky, her finger pointing at me. “Set her aflame as she did us.”
“Burn her!” Thad shouts, picking up the idea. “Burn that—”
Thad’s words falter, and he grabs his own throat, falling to his knees as a band of Shade’s silver magic tightens around his neck.I’ve never seen Shade use his healing to hurt before, and the terror of it rushes through me just as it ripples through the crowd.
“Shade—”
The male’s furious gaze cuts to me, raking my soul with comprehension. He hates it. Hates cutting off a man’s air instead of helping him breathe—but he’s doing it anyway. Using viciousness to draw the mobs’ ire from me to himself. To dilute their calls to drag me to the gallows of justice.
River raises his hand, and the silver band disappears immediately, Shade’s obedience to his commander’s orders as powerful as the choke hold had been. “Does anyone else need assistance doing as I ask?” River demands.
As if in agreement, thunder suddenly claps overhead, eliciting muffled shrieks from some of the children in the courtyard.
The crowd lowers to their knees. Guards and servants first, then students. Then the royals themselves. I can see the many thoughts crossing their faces, especially those of Academy students and staff—processing that the deputy headmaster, who’s kept such a firm, orderly grip on the Academy all this time, is fae. From disbelief to betrayed anger to fear…to rare and slow flickers of comprehension.
River stands still, letting the humans work through their turmoil. To remember that he’d kept them safe for all these months. That he was hard but fair. Trustworthy.
Turning slowly, River squares off against where Coal, Tye, and I stand together, our weapons and magic at the ready.
“Are the three of you hard of hearing or slow of mind?” River asks.
Seriously?My brows rise.
“Looks like River found not only a way back to consciousness, but also a new stick to shove up his ass,” Tye mutters, lowering himself to one knee as instructed. A moment later, Coal does the same, squeezing my arm to urge my obedience.
My jaw tenses. With the amulet veil gone and memories returned, I’ve no intention of cowering before my mate as I did when I feigned being a student.I can’t. Lifting my chin, I meet River’s hard gray gaze. The wind has picked up, blowing ash into my eyes and whipping my hair across my face, but I don’t move to stop it. There’s a breathless tension in the courtyard as the kneeling humans watch our silent standoff.
Strong eyes meeting mine, River’s shoulders spread with the powerful majesty of an immortal king. His beautiful face, heartbreakingly gray and still only moments ago, yields nothing. He isn’t asking for obedience. He is expecting it.
A soft growl tingles the air, and it takes a moment for me to realize the warning tone isn’t coming from River but from Shade, kneeling beside the commander. The shifter’s nostrils flare in mirror of my own, the bruise I left on his jaw blossoming into a deep red-purple.
Quieting Shade with a glance, River walks toward me until he stands less than a pace away, the entire courtyard silent as the male’s hard gray gaze grips my own. His fresh woodsy scent washes over me, nearly making me dizzy, but I refuse to yield. Not now. Not after all these months.
“Leralynn.” River’s voice softens as he says my name. “Take a knee.”
I lift my chin, the breeze catching my hair. “I won’t kneel before my mate.”
Like a sparked brush fire, my words send a rush of whispers scurrying through the crowd, repeating and morphing as they jump between hundreds of roused humans.
“She called him mate. The arena murderer is his mate.”
