Loren raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t realized he was still on the verge of death. He could hear the guard shifting from foot to foot, no doubt preparing to turn them away again?—
“Jaxon has meetings with the Arcanum all day. I’m here in his stead—I’m very sorry, Aeron. He should have sent you a message. Here, my key.”
Araya. The shadows hissed, stirring at the edges of his cell.
Loren had known she was there from her footsteps, but hearing her voice stoked the dull ache in his chest to a sharp pain, stealing his breath away. He sank down on the cot she’d insisted he have, despair flooding him as the keys grated in the lock.
She wasn’t supposed to be here—she should be securing her own safety. Not checking on him. But he couldn’t stop himself from raking his eyes over her as the Healer kindled the aetherlamp, taking in everything from the neat bandage on her head to the wrap supporting her wrist, knowing there were a myriad of bruises he couldn’t see hidden beneath her cloak and dress.
“I told you to stay away,ael’sura,” he said wearily.
She frowned at him, but the Healer’s face softened at the term. She did know then—but she hadn’t told Jaxon. Or Araya.
“And you still don’t have the authority to give me orders.” Araya glared at him as her friend traced a silencing rune on the back of the door, her silver eyes blazing. “The two of you owe me an explanation.”
Loren’s lips twitched into a faint smile despite himself. In another life, this female would have made a fearsome queen.
“You’re better off not knowing,” he said softly. “You know I wouldn’t be able to say it if it wasn’t true.”
“All that means isyoubelieve that.” Araya didn’t flinch. “If you know something that could put me in danger, I want to know. That’smydecision to make—not yours.”
“He thinks he’s doing the right thing,” Serafina interrupted quietly, resting a gentle hand on Araya’s shoulder. “Let me talk to him—I’ll explain.”
Araya bit her lip, her eyes still fixed on him as she nodded.
Serafina stepped forward and knelt beside Loren’s cot, her hands light but practiced as she examined the remnants of his wounds—almost fully healed now, under her care. If she hadn’t been escorted by Jaxon Shaw and drugging him, Loren might have thanked her.
“Vira’thal,” she greeted him, continuing in flawless Valenya. “We haven’t had a chance to speak, Your Majesty, but we have friends in common. My name is Serafina.”
Araya’s head whipped towards them, and she took a step forward. “Are you speakingValenya?”
“My father taught me,” the Healer said in the common tongue, but her eyes didn’t waver from Loren. Switching back to Valenya she added, “She’s smart. She’s going to get suspicious fast.”
Loren stared at her, still shaken from hearing his title roll effortlessly off her tongue.“You know.”
“I figured it out.” Serafina said. “I understand you haven’t told her because you want to keep her safe, but that won’t protect her once Jaxon figures it out.”
Loren’s jaw tightened, his emerald gaze flicking to Araya before locking back on Serafina. “Then he can’t figure it out.”
“She can’t stop him,” Serafina said softly. “It’s only a matter of time.” She leaned back on her heels, her green eyes unreadable. “My father told me mates are always stronger together—would claiming her make you powerful enough?”
“Powerful enough to do what?” Loren growled, something cold and ugly twisting in his gut. To claim a mate without their knowledge or consent…it was the kind of violation the Arcanum had built an empire on.
“To escape,” Serafina said calmly, as if she hadn’t just suggested something unspeakable.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m in iron,” he ground out, his voice raw. “And I would never do that to her.”
“If you don’t, the Arcanum will put her in a cell like this.” Serafina stared at him, her accusing stare ripping into his resistance. “If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to hear her screaming when Hale does to her what he did to you. She’ll never be safe here, Your Majesty.”
Loren inhaled deeply, Serafina’s truth weighing heavily on his conscience. He wanted to argue, to find another way—but the idea of Araya locked in a cell, her screams echoing in the darkness? That was an image pulled straight from his nightmares.
Loren breathed out, his shoulders stiff. “I’ll need the collar off.”
Serafina didn’t hesitate, rising smoothly to her feet as she turned to Araya. “I want to treat the abrasions under the collar,” she said in the common tongue. “Can you take it off?”
Araya hesitated, her gaze flicking warily between him and her friend. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said, her voice as guarded as her eyes. But she stepped closer anyway, drawn forward by the bond even if the rest of her mind hadn’t caught up.
Her scent surrounded him as she leaned in to study the collar, filling his lungs with the smell of rain and wildflowers despite the stink Jaxon had left on her skin. It took every drop of Loren’s willpower not to reach out for her as her eyebrows drew together, her gaze lingering on the damage to his flesh beneath the iron.
