We’re walking in circles.“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” I quirk a brow at Raelle as she scrunches her face up, looking down a narrow alleyway. We’ve been walking the dark city for maybe an hour now and every turn we take, Raelle whispers, ‘I think this is it.’ But it has yet to be the ‘it’ we are searching for. “You came out by yourself with no idea where you were going? Do you know how reckless that is?”
“Stop chastising me, Alaric. I told you half an hour ago, I don’t remember exactly how to get there. Dax was showing me the city before we—we were distracted. Then we were just interrupted by Seriah, and we were right there at the courtyard we needed to be at.”She pins me with a glare when I roll my eyes. I can't help but laugh at the stomp she does with her foot as she crosses her arms in frustration. “You know, now that I mention it, I never asked you about what you did to my memories from before…” Shit.
“How do you know it wasmewho took your memories?” I ask and she narrows her eyes on me, and I shrug.
“Your sister told me the day of the battle that she had a vision of you wiping my memories. That’s how she realized you were alive.” That makes sense. Fate is funny that way. The moment I decided that it was time to make myself known, my little sister had a vision of me being very… well, not dead.
“I’m sorry about that. I—I thought I was doing the right thing. I was trying to get you away from Cano. I was the reason you all were at that cabin that day. I didn't expect things to go south so quickly. I was planning on—well, there is really no good way to say this… I was planning on taking you. Kidnapping you. When I saw you drop down into the tunnel system, I followed. There was a wolf shifter on us, and I set you down in the shadows so I could take care of him. When I came back, you were gone. You must have woken up… Destiny had other plans, so it seems... Now that I know you bonded to Dax, it makes sense why I could have never kept you away from Cano. Not when Dax is so intertwined with him. I hope you can forgive me.” She is quiet for a moment as we continue to walk. Contemplating everything I just told her, and when she lifts her gaze to mine, it’s warm with understanding.
“I do. I forgive you. I understand why you would take drastic measures like that. You thought you were doing the right thing to bring my kingdom back to what it once was.” I don’t agree with that statement, but I don’t argue with her either. I give her a nod, then decide we need to keep on the task we setout on.
“Well, I’m pretty sure we’ve walked past this storefront at least three times. Fae are going to start waking up soon. If you don’t want to be realized, we should probably try another route and stop being fucking suspicious…”
“Right, well, thank you so much—for thatsupportivesuggestion.” She says sarcastically with a flat look of annoyance on her face. I decide to follow a hunch and grab Raelle’s wrist. I pull her down one of the alleys we hadn’t taken yet. She nearly trips at the sudden change in direction, and I stop to ensure she’s okay. She looks down at her feet and groans when she sees her boot unlaced. She turns, pressing her back against the wall and tips her head back, resting it on the stone wall behind her. Her face falls with exhaustion.
I drop to one knee in front of her and tap the side of her boot. She looks down at me, and her brows furrow further, creating a crease above her nose. “What—are you doing?” She whisper-shouts at me.
“What does it look like? Give me your foot.” I wrap my hand around her ankle and guide it to rest on my knee as I tie her boot, then place her foot back on the ground and stand in front of her. Her breath catches when I don’t step back. I’m crowding her, and she presses further into the wall. I rest my hand next to her head on the wall and lean in close to her before tilting my head and whispering, “I think it’s time to cut our losses, sweetheart. We should head back to the castle, and I will find this seer for you, then bring you out another day. Yea?”
Her breath fans my cheek as she scoffs. “How about…no. And if you call me sweetheart again, I’ll give you a foot, but it won’t be resting on your knee… I’ll kick you in the fucking dick.” A deep,rumbling laugh comes from me, but I don’t back up until I hear someone’s approach.
“Don’t stop on my account…” The woman says as Raelle pushes at my chest, and I turn to face her, but keep my body between the queen and the woman like a shield. “Raelle, are you making my alleyway a frequent place to bring handsome raven shifters?”
“Gods—No!” She flushes bright red, and it makes me curious. “It’s not like that, Seriah; this is Alaric.” I eye the newcomer closely as Raelle moves to step around me. “Wait, do you know each other? How did you know he was a raven shifter too?” The woman laughs at Raelle’s question and rests her hand on her upper back, guiding her deeper into the alley.
“I know much about Alaric Amarose. More than even he likely knows.” What the fuck is that supposed to mean? She glances over her shoulder at me, and I narrow my eyes. She only smiles in return. “Come, I was expecting you.”
“Of course you were,” I grumble under my breath. Fucking seers. My mom used to say shit like that all the time. Cryptic asses. Raelle whips her head in my direction, throwing daggers at me, and Seriah’s smile only widens. The dark alley opens up to a dimly lit courtyard with plant life all around; a fountain at the center pulses with magic, and I feel myself drawn toward it. Before I knew it, I'd wandered away from the two Fae women, and I’m inching toward its crystal-like waters.
“Careful Alaric. Sometimes you get answers to things you don’t seek when accepting guidance from the fountain.” Seriah says, and her words break the trance it has on me. I shake my head and walk away, back towards Raelle, and she waits for me at the entrance of one of the buildings. “Come in. I'm sure we have much to discuss.”
Raelletakes a seat on the old, patchy couch and is so tense that she sits ramrod straight with her hands twisting in her lap. She's a nervous wreck as she looks around the dimly lit space, at all of the odds and ends displayed on endless shelves. The plant life seems to have bled into the room. Greenery drips from every available space. I drop down next to her, splaying my arms wide along the back of the sette, and I knock my leg into hers mouthing ‘calm down.’ She rolls her eyes and neck, but does settle back into the couch just the slightest amount. She chews at her bottom lip before speaking, and Seriah waits patiently as she prepares tea for all of us using dainty teacups and plates with tiny sandwiches sit on the table between the two couches.
“I wanted to come see you for some answers.” She starts, the seers eyes flick over her, then settle on me. I shift a bit under her gaze. Fuck, this woman makes me nervous for some reason. It’s not an easy task. Probably because she reminds me of my mom.
“Dax—battled Cano in a duel not long ago.” Raelle says.
“So I’ve heard,” she replies, her eyes still zeroing in on me. I’m not one to back down from a challenge, and I keep her gaze, which makes her lips twitch.
“I’ve been…” Raelle’s eyes drift to me now too, and I find myself drawn to meet her gaze instead of Seriah’s. Raelle drops her eyes to her hands, twisting them in her lap.. “I’ve been having nightmares, and they feel so real. Dax once told me that he projected his shifts—to a raven—when he was cursed. We haven’t been able to find really much of anything on shift projection in the Loema library… Do you know if it’s possible that I am doing that in my sleep?” Seriah thinks on her question silently as she continues to prepare the tea. She pushes two cups toward Raelle and me andthen takes one for herself and takes a slow drink from the steaming cup before she leans back and looks between the two of us.
“Mmm…perhaps But, from what I know of royal bonds, it’s far more likely that you are seeing what is happeningthroughDax’s eyes.” A choked sob comes from Raelle, and she drops her teacup, the porcelain shattering and spilling the liquid all over the table in front of us. I move before I can even think.
“Hey…” I wrap her in my arms and wipe my hand over her tear-streaked face. “It’s okay,” I whisper into the top of her head. Seriah quirks an eyebrow as she questions my intentions with a look alone. Pushing Raelle back so I can see her face, I take her hand in mine, and magic pulses around us. I hardly hear Raelle suck in a sharp breath before we are thrust into a vision.
Flashes of moments in a dungeon that is underground, only lit by two sconces on either side of the entrance. Dax lies on a white marble altar bloody and drenched in sweat. His body shakes with pain under the blade of a soldier.
Another moment, he's sitting in a chair, fists flying into his face and stomach repeatedly. So many hits. Blood splatters and drips to the floor as sweat builds on his forehead and drips down his bare chest. They aren’t even asking questions; they are just torturing him… Raelle and I watch in disbelief as this plays out multiple times, and we are held there by the visions.
The next one blurs, and we watch as Dax limps through a dark underground passage, a small flame flickering to life in his palm. His skin is ashen, bruised, and bloody, and his feet and chest are bare. His free arm holds the shoulder of the arm with the flame. The passage he is in begins to narrow as he hurriedly shuffles forward, looking back over his shoulder only once he reaches a metal door. He lays his fire-wielding hand on the door, closing his eyes. The magicflares brighter, and he shakes with the effort it takes to wield, but the lock drips with molten iron as he melts it. He pushes the gate open with a wince. A high-pitched squeal echoes through the space as the metal creaks from years of being idle.
Beyond the gate, Dax’s shoulders slump as he finds himself standing on the edge of a cliffside. Defeat etched into the lines of his face. He scans the area around him, down to the thrashing sea below, and then tilts his head up at the moonlit sky. His eyes close slowly, and the vision ripples just as he toes the edge of the mountainside. “I’ll find another way, Raelle.”
Dax’s voice follows us as we are brought back into the present. Raelle holds onto my hand with an iron grip, her nails biting into the skin. When her tear-filled eyes meet mine, they are wide at the corners as she silently asks if I saw the vision she did. I strike a line across the back of her hand in answer.
“He lives.” She says this as she turns her head to Seriah.
“For now.” She answers, making me shift my gaze from Raelle to the seer. “You never doubted that he was alive, Raelle. Don’t doubt your decisions now. Take a moment of reflection and listen to your magic. It will always guide you on the path you are meant to take. Don’t mistake warnings for a message; it isn’t.” What the fuck does that mean? Seers and their bullshit riddles.
