Page 70 of Wings of Snow
Once we had the map in hand, we returned to the streets to find a quiet area to plan, and we ended up tucking into an alleyway between two shops that smelled faintly of lemons and thyme, making me wonder if an eating establishment was near.
Norivun spread the map wide, allowing us all to study the beautiful rendition of the Lochen cities within the depths of the Adriastic Sea.
“There’s so many,” Ryder commented, his eyes narrowing. “How many Lochen are there?”
“Tylen said there’s more Lochen than there are Solis,” I replied.
Nish scowled. “Ock, Tylen can go fuck his own arse.”
Sandus snorted, “I’ll be sure to tell him that if we see him again.”
“Please do,” Nish replied. “Then promptly connect your fist with his face.”
Haxil snickered, and even Norivun couldn’t suppress a smile. “I didn’t see Tylen in my scrying, so with any luck, he’s not there. If he is, it’s imperative that we avoid him. Our affinities will only mask our arrival and travels if that null doesn’t steal them again.”
“Not to mention, we’ll lose the ability to breathe underwater if your air affinity is stripped away,” Ryder commented.
Norivun nodded in agreement. “This needs to be quick and precise. We need to focus on entering the palace and finding Drachu promptly and immediately taking his necklace. Understood?”
We all nodded, and a tingle fluttered in my lower belly at how commanding his tone was. Norivun glanced in my direction, his nostrils flaring as his firm expression turned slightly heated.
Clearing my throat, I did my best to suppress the innate attraction to him that always bloomed through me. As if knowing exactly where my thoughts had turned, the crown prince leaned closer and whispered in my ear, “Tonight, after we’ve taken that necklace from Drachu, I’m going to fuck you till you scream.”
My toes curled, and Ryder elbow-bumped Haxil.
Heat bloomed in my cheeks, but I still pulled him in for a quick kiss before putting more distance between us and forcing my concentration back to our task. “I’ll keep air around me, Nish, and Sandus, and you keep air around yourself, Ryder, and Haxil. Got it?”
His lips curved alluringly. “Damn, I do love it when you try to give me orders.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Try?”
He chuckled. “You’re right. As my queen, you can order anyone in our kingdom.”
I suppressed a smirk. “Including you?”
He laughed devilishly. “Depends what the order is. If it’s in the bedroom, then?—”
“All right, you two,” Nish interrupted as he ran a hand over his shorn hair. “Enough of the mating talk. Let’s get that bastard. I’m spoiling for a fight.”
* * *
The mistphaseto Vemil Brasea was more intricate than any I’d ever attempted, which only solidified why the Lochen were so confident in their ability to keep other fae away from their underwater cities. If I found it challenging, a Solis female who now held five affinities and had thoroughly mastered the art of mistphasing, I could only imagine that such a feat was near impossible for other Solis fae.
We moved through the realm in mist and shadows, air and wind, but when we reached the water, everything changed. The magic that allowed me to morph into particles suddenly felt heavy and weighted. It took actual concentration to propel myself and the guards through the water, and it wasn’t instantaneous like it was on land.
The force of moving our bodies through the denser material made my magic throb, and the second the mistphase ended, I was so fatigued that I nearly gasped as cold water shocked my system. I stopped just in time when I realized my magic had transported us to the capital, but it hadn’t made us reappear with air bubbles around our heads.
Vemil Brasea stretched out around us, but I didn’t give myself a moment to study it. Sandus’s and Nish’s eyes were wide, their cheeks puffed out while they held their breath.
I pulled upon the air affinity in my gut to secure all three of us with a breathing ability. Norivun was in the process of doing the same to Haxil and Ryder, all of their cheeks puffed out too, which made me think that doing the mistphase and enacting our air magic within water simultaneously either wasn’t possible or was so difficult that it would take practice to achieve.
Whatever the case, by the time all six of us were treading in the water and able to breathe again, I literally exhaled in relief. We’d done it.
“Can anyone hear us?” I asked Norivun quietly.
He shook his head and began to swim slowly toward the palace’s front gate, being careful to avoid the Lochen fae also swimming within the sea. “We’re cloaked completely.”
Sighing again in relief, I finally allowed myself a moment to stare at the Lochen’s underwater capital as the cold ocean water seeped into my bones.