Page 82 of Heart of Night
Shaelak bless Astorian, who knows how to deal with this particular female. Then, on second thought, Astorian isn’t so different. The two of them together must be explosive when turning on the same enemy.
Perhaps the gods have a bigger plan after all and this whole mating thing isn’t just random in our magical world.
By the time the moon peeks in through the windows, I have mastered to shape the beam of my magic with my palms. It’s harder than I care to admit, but it’s progress. Perhaps Ayna’s offer to stand in front of me so I’m forced to make my magic bend in order to avoid pushing her over and hurting her has something to do with it.
I’m far from satisfied with the semblance of control I have, but Royad and Silas are still in the dungeons, and I need to get them out alongside the fairy general who has proven more ally than the Crow I used to trust and is now setting the heavens and Hel’s realm into motion to destroy me.
“We should go,” I say to no one in particular, but my gaze is on Ayna. Always on Ayna, like she’s the axis around which my universe spins.
Clio steps to Ayna’s side as if that will tear my focus from her. “Can you pick up a blade and fight with it with your magic?” she challenges. “Because if you can’t, you’re not a help but a liability, and I can’t risk needing to look after a Crow King when I have a fairy general to save.” If I’ve learned anything about Cliophera de Pauvre of Askarea, it’s that she will always put the ones she loves first. She doesn’t need to refer to Astorian as her mate for me to remember what he is to her. Ayna is her friend; even Kaira has a weird connection to her. I am the only one she’d be willing to sacrifice if it comes to a choice of whom to leave behind.
Honing my focus on the sword sheathed at her hip, which Herinor left for her, I swipe it out of its sheath with a flick of my power—and blink in surprise when I hold it in my invisible grasp. Ayna grins at me, pride shining in her gray eyes as she draws up a string of water to block the blade from coming at Clio the moment I lose control.
I don’t. Instead, I wink at my mate, smirk at the fairy princess, and twist the sword into position at her throat while Ayna’s water wraps around it until the sharp edge is covered in a protective layer.
“Is that enough control?” I draw back the sword and shove it forward once more, allowing it to cut off a thin strand of her impossibly fiery hair, and Clio gasps with outrage.
“Be grateful your mate means something to me, or I’d freeze your heart over right now.” She picks up the strand with a swift motion before turning to Kaira. “I think we’re ready.”
Personally, I don’t think we are, but waiting will only get the prisoners killed, so it’s now or never.
“The night will give us enough cover to sneak back to the palace.” Without waiting for a group consensus, Kaira leaps right back into planning. She glances at Ayna with that slightly distant gaze I’ve noticed them exchange whenever they speak in their minds. It shouldn’t bother me that someone else is privy to Ayna’s thoughts when even I, as her mate, can’t reach that far into her. I stifle a grunt. Maybe it’s a connection between siblings that leads to blind understanding. Maybe it’s a Flame ability I haven’t yet heard about. Or maybe it’s plain cruelty of fate that I will never know all the nuances of thoughts flaring behind those beautiful gray eyes.
I have to admit, I was shocked there is blood relation between the two of them. Between Clio and the Flame, Ayna’s temper seems more similar to the princess’s.
“If we’re fast, we could make it in and out before sunrise,” Kaira continues. “Herinor will help us get into the palace. Will let me into the palace, more specifically,” she corrects. “Ephegos didn’t forbid him from helping me. So, I’ll be the one letting you into the palace right after he helps me get in.”
“Sounds complicated,” Ayna comments, and I couldn’t agree more, but—“Herinor made a bad call bargaining with Ephegos, but after everything he’s done to protect you and get all of us out, I’d rather he remain alive so I can get him out as well. If thinking of his aid in a specific way will save his life, I’m inclined to do just that.”
The three females nod, all of them aware of what it will cost Herinor if he helps Ayna directly. Shaelak help us if Ephegos figured out what’s been going on and punished the male for it.”
“Let’s get out of here while we’re still strong enough. If we wait any longer, we might become too weak from not eating or sleeping enough.” Of course, Ayna is the practical one. She would never have survived this long if she hadn’t learned to adapt fast and be pragmatic.
I hand Clio her blade, withdrawing my power as soon as she takes it from my grasp, and prowl to Ayna’s side. “I’m ready.” Or as ready as I’ll get without a week’s worth of rest.
Kaira claps her hands. “All right. Let’s get to the eastern gate. I’ll let Herinor know we’re coming.”
“How exactly does that work?” Clio prompts, sheathing her blade. “I’d like to be prepared in case your signal involves a dramatic uproar that will cause us to have to fight our way in rather than getting to the others in secret and only having to fight our way out.”
She has a point.
“It won’t cause anyone on our side to fight,” the Flame promises. Somehow, I’m not convinced.
Forty
Ayna
The city is a vast ocean of star-sized lights as we make our way toward the palace, Kaira leading the way, Clio bringing up the rear, and in between, Myron and me. I can sense his gaze on the side of my face as he stalks beside me through the night like he has invented it. A true creature of darkness with unfathomable power. The way he snatched Clio’s sword away was startling and brutal, and so fast even my new senses had a hard time following.
A part of me wonders if the colors and nuances I now perceive will wear off, if I’ll return to human Ayna soon, but if anything Ephegos said is true, my human part isn’t the one I need to be worried about; it’s the Crow buried deep within me that was set free in the torture chamber.
“Ready?” Clio asks, keeping to the shadows as we follow a wider street where a few people are packing up what seems to be the leftovers of a market, loading it onto a wagon.
“To face Ephegos?” I shake my head. I’m not even remotely ready to run into the Crow, but I’m pretty certain that by now he must have noticed my absence. That might explain the increased number of soldiers drifting through the streets this late at night.
I dive behind a barrel, pulling Myron with me as one of said patrols rounds the corner across the square, their heads turning as they scan the wide space between the houses. Apart from some forgotten vegetables that made it off a market stand and the occasional city dweller, they don’t find much. We’re too fast to get out of sight and too good at hiding. We need to be, or we’ll never make it close to the palace. Once there, staying hidden will become an entirely different challenge.
Shifting into our Crow forms is off the table since I haven’t managed to even pull on the power that made me turn in the dungeon, and Myron won’t change without me, not that his ability has fully returned. All he can do is make a few feathers appear on his arm. The way he won’t leave my side is both sweet and terrifying. If we get caught, I’ll need him to leave me behind and run.