Chapter 38
“Your eyes,” Veses uttered in a hoarse but awed voice.
“Yeah?” Bele glanced to where Reaver lay unmoving in his mortal form and then to me. “What about them?”
“Don’t play coy, Bele. It was you who Ascended.” She gave Bele a bloody smile. “It must be my lucky day. There’s a bounty on your head.”
“By the look of your face, I would definitely say it’s not your lucky day.” Bele smirked. “And that bad day is going to continue when Nyktos returns.”
Taking shallow, too-short breaths, I pushed onto my knees. That was as far as I got for a moment. Pain radiated across my ribs and pelvis. Blinking until my blurred vision cleared, I saw my dagger lying between Reaver and me.
Veses lifted one shoulder. “Not as bad as the day you’re going to have when Kolis rips your heart from your chest and devours it.”
“There are far tastier parts of me, but whatever.” Bele inched farther into the chambers, watching the Primal closely as I forced myself toward Reaver. Each inch I half-crawled, half-slid across the floor felt as if daggers were jabbing my ribs. “If you’re here for me, you’ve found me.”
“I wasn’t here for you,” Veses said as I snatched the dagger from the floor. “You’re just a boon.”
Bele frowned. “Well, if you’re here for her, that sounds like a problem.”
“You think?” Veses snapped.
“For you,” Bele added as I reached Reaver’s side. “You do realize who she is, right?” Bele jerked her chin at me. “That’s Nyktos’s Consort. You have to know that. And that’s one of his draken—one of Nektas’s draken.”
“Do I look like I care about either of those things?”
Bele laughed softly as she circled the Primal. “You will.”
“What do you think you’re going to do with that sword?” Veses demanded, turning her back on me completely.
A deep, angry-red bruise had formed on Reaver’s chest. I ran a hand across his too-pale forehead, smoothing his hair back. His eyes were closed, and the embers…they throbbed, nearly as acutely as they had in the aftermath of paying the price Kolis had demanded. He wasn’t just injured.
“Reaver’s hurt.” I glanced over my shoulder, wiping the blood off my chin with the back of my tingling hand.
Bele’s gaze briefly met mine as she managed to get between Veses and us. “How bad?”
A knot of emotion lodged in my throat. “Bad.”
“He’ll be fine.” Veses rolled her eyes, but her voice wavered. “He’s a draken.”
“He’s a child!” I spat.
“So?” Veses lifted her chin. “He shouldn’t have come at me.”
“Veses.” Bele tsked softly. “Are you that weak that you saw a youngling as a threat?”
“Not a threat. A disrespect.” Veses sneered. “And you didn’t answer my question about the sword. You can’t attack me.”
“I can’t?” Bele continued edging toward Veses, forcing her farther away from me—and Reaver.
“You know the rules,” Veses said. “She’s not his Consort yet, and the draken, youngling or not, has no right to defend her against me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“Ah, yes, the rules. But as you said, there’s already a bounty on my head,” Bele said. “One I’m sure involves bringing me to Dalos, dead or alive. So what if I break a rule?”
“Reaver?” I touched his cheek. His skin was clammy. Wincing, I grabbed the soft blanket from the chaise and draped it over him. His chest barely moved. Concern grew rapidly. He hadn’t woken up, and he seemed to have unconsciously shifted forms. I’d seen draken do that when gravely injured.
My throat dried as I sent Bele and Veses a quick glance, knowing I was about to take another huge risk. Veses might only suspect that I was the source of the power she’d felt, but I had to do something. I couldn’t let Reaver die, and I feared the throbbing embers were warning me of that. They sensed that death was imminent.
I sensed that.
And whatever risk I was taking by confirming what embers were inside me was worth it. Reaver’s young life was worth it. Just as Thad’s had been.
The embers continued to buzz, pressing against my skin. My senses opened and stretched as I laid the dagger beside Reaver and placed my palm flat on his chest. It was almost like when I’d done it earlier with Thad, but that had been faster, even more instinctive, as if using the embers made them stronger and more responsive. As if the embers were truly mine as I called upon the eather, and it responded to my will.
Pure, ancient power poured out of my chest, flooding my veins for the second time that day. A hot, heady thrill flowed with my blood. The rush of energy felt different this time, like a reckoning. A…homecoming.
There was a gasp as I inhaled deeply, catching the scent of lilacs—freshly bloomed lilacs. Life. Eather hummed through me, sparking from my fingertips and off Reaver’s chest. The shimmering light swept over Reaver’s small frame in one rippling wave and then seeped through his skin, filling the veins beneath the pale, slightly ridged skin and bruised flesh.
The eather flared and pulsed, then receded slowly into a faint glow that lingered for only a few more moments. The bruise on his chest faded, and then the most beautiful thing happened.
Reaver’s chest swelled with a deep breath, and his eyes opened—eyes a shining, cobalt blue before returning to crimson. “Liessa,” he whispered. Tears filled his eyes, clinging to his lashes.
I shuddered, brushing his hair back from his cheek. “It’s okay.”
“The fuck it is,” Veses exploded as Reaver’s eyes closed. My head snapped toward her as I placed my hand on the hilt of the dagger. “I was actually right. It’s been you.” She took a step back, her eyes—the one I’d stabbed now healed—widening and filling with horror. “What has Nyktos done?”
“He hasn’t done anything,” I said.
Veses shook her head. “You’re what—?”
Bele lifted the sword.
The Primal struck like a pit viper, moving faster than I could even track. She caught Bele’s sword. The blade shattered in a flare of silver light. Veses slammed her hand into Bele’s chest, throwing her back several feet.
Bele hit the wall by the balcony and fell forward onto her knees. She lifted her head, shoving the dark strands of her hair back from her face. “Ouch.”
Veses brushed the shadowstone dust from her hands as she started toward Bele. I moved, sucking in a sharp breath of pain as I lifted my arm and threw the dagger at the back of Veses’ head. The Primal spun. Her head tilted. “Really?”
The dagger stopped in midair and then flung back toward me.
Gasping, I ducked. The blade whizzed over my head, embedding deeply into the wall behind me. “Shit.”
Bele rose, rushing Veses—
The Primal held up her hand, and Bele went flying. I didn’t take my eyes off Veses, but I heard Bele’s fall. It was hard. “If you were smart, Bele, you would stay down. If you do, you may live to see another day,” the Primal warned, turning her attention to me. “But you? You’re definitely going to die. Because you”—she inhaled sharply—“you’re an abomination.”
“That’s rude,” I wheezed.
Eather sparked along her flesh, charging the air as I positioned myself over Reaver, tensing.
“What if I don’t stay down?” Bele asked, rising to her knees.
Veses’ eyes turned into silver orbs. “Then you can die, too.”