Page 8 of Vathia
“She was never supposed to be a part of this war,” I respond.
His head whips towards me. “You knew she was alive? All this time?” he hisses, his mismatched green eyes narrowing on me with unrefined anger.
I sigh; might as well get this over with. “It was the Queen’s plan. Her final wish. I couldn’t tell you or the others. Ravina needed to be kept safe—if anyone caught wind of who she was…” I shake my head. “It had to be that way. I’m so incredibly sorry, brother.”
His fist connects with my face and I grin, spitting blood onto the snow. “You know I’m right,” I state. “But if you want to fight, let’s do it.” I hold my arms open.
He goes to throw another punch but I block this one. I deserved the first one, but he’s going to have to work for the rest.
“You could have saidsomething! Killian hasn’t been the same since everything happened. Talyn is more closed off than ever. I was—” He bares his teeth as he whisper-shouts, not wanting our mate to overhear us. “You’re a fucking bastard,” he spits.
I shrug. He’s not wrong. I did what I needed to, even though the plan fell apart the moment she went to Phixmery. Not that I regret that it did. If she didn’t, I wouldn’t have known what was happening in that village. I cut those thoughts off, my fists clenching. “Are you done with your tantrum now? We need to talk about what we are going to do. I’m flying full speed back to Kraryn; I need to have her within the safety of the castle. Plus, my mother might have kept a few things from me herself.” I cross my arms, letting my gaze linger on Ravina as she talks to her friends. “She doesn’t remember us… She has vague memories of Maleen, it seems, but that’s it.”
Jesper sighs. “It’s not only that. There’s a block on her mind that’s stronger than dragonstone.” He nods towards the boulder of dragonstone that’s currently aflame. “I can’t access her head at all.”
I tilt my head, puzzled. All the more reason to get her back to safety. Something is amiss with our female, and until we know what, we need to do everything in our power to protect her. Maybe Talyn is right and we don’t tell her about the bond. It doesn’t mean I’m not going to act like she isn’t mine, though. She’s engraved in me now, and even shadowflame won’t burn her from my soul.
CHAPTER FIVE
THE FURTHER I FLY FROM Phixmery, the stronger the sinking feeling in my gut. The Lords are up to something, and I just left my brother-in-arms alone in a basilisk nest. I grip Voissor’s saddle tightly as I urge him to fly faster.
“We will catch up to them shortly. We left not long after them, and have already crossed the border into Vathia,” Voissor reminds me.
Vathia. My back burns with the terror of why we are abandoning our plan. The small female that Jesper is obsessed with is now a rider, bonded to none other than a purple dragon. Another reason why he and now Talyn believe she isher, but I can’t let myself believe that. But, like them, I am tied to this female whether I want it or not. Even if it is her… My heart pulses with hope that I quickly squander. I shake my head. She would never want a damaged male like me. My face is scarred beyond recognition and so is the rest of my body. It doesn’t help that I’m much larger than most other fae males that I’ve met besides my own father and one male on Evander’s crew.
Until I know more… I’m keeping my distance. My soul can’t take the damage of losing her again—if it even is her.
Deep purple flames glow in a distant field, shrouded in darkness, but it’s not hard to tell who those flames came from. Only white dragons and the royals of their kind can produce such a thing. Voissor takes notice and veers towards it.
As we land, I count four dragons settled in for the night, but the smaller of the beasts has its head raised, watching me carefully. Two gryphons are also nearby, watching everything with a mixture of distrust and curiosity.
“Kill!” A familiar voice calls out to me, and I see Jesper heading towards me, arms spread and face grinning. Nothing keeps that male down for long, although the smile fades as he searches the sky behind me, searching for the last of our group.
My muscles bunch as I hoist myself out of the saddle and climb down from Voissor. As I turn to face him, my voice comes out in a rumble. “Talyn stayed behind to cover. Our fathers forced me into pursuit.” I nod to Aemon as he makes his way over, and then to the female who’s surrounded by her friends as they watch us quietly. “Tal told me to stay with you, but I have a bad feeling…”
Aemon dips his head in greeting. “I’ll send my spies out once we reach my home. We will find him and keep tabs on him. You know I won’t let anything happen to any of you if I can help it.”
I jerk my head down in agreement. My eyes slowly slide over toher, my back tingling as some invisible tether threatens to pull me forward. Even with the dim lighting of the fire, I can see how beautiful she is. And I suppose she does have similarities to the female we grew up with, but maybe that’s just the hope screwing with my logic.
“Plan?” I mutter, tearing my gaze from hers.
Jesper scoffs. “Back to small words I see, huh, Kill? But let’s see what I can get you caught up on. Ravina will be riding with Aemon ahead of us to the capital of Vathia. We will all meetthem there, where we will hopefully get answers as to what the fates is actually going on in Damorleia.” His voice lowers in pitch and gets sharper as he practically throws eye daggers at Aemon. “Like how he knew Maeven—also known as Ravina—has been alive this entire time and hid it from us.”
His words are like a dragonfire blast to the chest. I stumble back as I feel the panic and anger surge through me like a war cry. The power in my limbs builds as I throw back my arm and aim for the bastard’s head. He dodges, my fist glancing off his cheek so he doesn’t take the full brunt of my magick. I growl, stalking forward and his shadows wrap around me like a vice.
The words leave me in a guttural sputter. “Let me go! I’ll fucking kill you for this, Zorn!” His betrayal is already seeping into my bones like a terminal disease.
“Let’s not do this here. Not in front of her,” he states calmly, gesturing in the direction I know she is. I can feel her eyes on me but I can’t force myself to look her way.
“What’s going on here?” her sweet yet firm voice snaps, and some of the anger leaks out of me as my gaze flies to hers without my permission.
My mouth stays locked shut, but my eyes are glued to her and I’m trapped in the watchful way she’s assessing me. Is this really happening? Is Ravina actually Maeven? Truly? My heart screams at the loss and the grief and everything I went through without her. But before I take it too far, I pull away.
“Perimeter check,” I grumble, climbing back on top of Voissor. I need to take to the air, to settle my thoughts and get myself back under control before I hurt someone. I’ll confer more with Jesper when that lying bastard isn’t anywhere near us.
A little voice inside my head whispers, “And he’s taking the only female you ever let yourself love, your mate, with him…”
I DECIDED TO stay away from camp last night. I couldn’t trust myself not to pummel Zorn into the ground. We searched for years for Maeven, and he knew all along that she was alive, living in a backwater village in Talyn’s province this whole time. My fists clench and Voissor sends soothing emotions down our bond trying to center me before I go on a rampage. I watch the valley below as Ravina—it’s safer for me mentally to continue to call her that—yells at Aemon and Jesper while pointing to her beast. A deep chuckle escapes me, shocking me. I may not know what she’s saying but I can very well guess. One thing that I suppose hasn’t changed is her temper when it comes to males trying to stop her from doing what she wants.
