Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-Three: Rhea
“Itfeelswrongbeingon this side of the Spell,” Xander says from where he rides next to Nox and I the next day, Daje flanking our other side.
“Speak for yourself. This ishome,” Daje responds, looking more lively now than the entire rest of the trip. When we woke this morning, Nox had lowered his shield before leaving to washup. I took the opportunity to talk with Daje. To apologize for how he had been attacked because people were trying to get to me. But though he insisted the apology wasn’t necessary, he dodged most of my other questions, giving answers that felt like half-truths. When Nox returned, the two shared a quick glance that made nerves stir in my chest.
I knew that look; it was one that spoke of secrets kept. I wasn’t naive enough to believe Nox had told meeverythingthat had happened while I was taken, but I hated feeling like something was being withheld from me that was important enough to concern Daje. But I wouldn’t push for answers right now, not when our priority was to get home first. So I brush my teeth and freshen up as best as I can, and then we all mount our horses and continue on the final stretch of our journey.
I watch as Xander takes in the closely knit trees and the way the canopies obscure the light from the sun above, and I wonder if he wishes he was seeing the Mage Kingdom for the first time under different circumstances. My fingers trail along Nox’s arm from where it is wrapped around my front, and the movement catches Xander’s gaze, his eyes lifting to meet mine with a quirk of his brow. “What?”
I shrug, trying to be nonchalant. “You’ll have to get used to crossing through the Spell, you know.”
Like he can sense the bait, Xander narrows his eyes at me, even as he asks, “Why?”
“How else will you visit Siyala?” At the mention of the fox shifter who had shared the tower with me for four years, Nox flexes his hand over my stomach. I had been restless last night, unable to sleep knowing Nox was lying awake to hold the shield that protected us, my mind too full of things that were better suited to speak about during daylight. All except for one. The knowledge that Siyala was alive unburied itself, and in my desperate attempt to keep those darker memories at bay, I toldNox. I expected the same shock that flitted through me to roll over his handsome face, but instead, he just smiled and leaned in to kiss my temple before telling me that he learned that Siyala and Bahira had met in the Shifter Kingdom.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Xander says, though a sweet shade of pink stains his cheeks. He clears his throat. “How much longer?”
“Galdr should only be another mile or two away,” Nox answers, kissing the shell of my ear. I bite down on my lip as I smile. “We’ll drop the horses off the stables and go to the palace on foot since I’m unsure of what we will encounter when we get there.” His words sober the moment quickly. With the council imprisoned, there is every reason to believe that our reception might be fraught with bitter tension.
“You know how to ruin a mood, I’ll give you that, Daxel,” Xander jokes, earning a snort from Daje. “Sorry, should I sayYour Majesty?”
“I don’t care what you call me,” he drawls, causing Xander’s expression to harden.
Small homes begin to trickle into view, some freestanding and others built into the trees. Again, I’m eager to watch Xander take it all in, and again, I’m caught staring at him, prompting him to frown.
“Do you guys hear that?” Daje asks, drawing my gaze to his furrowed brow as his eyes narrow down the road ahead of us, dappled sunlight creeping in through the trees.
I lean forward slightly, trying to listen past the sound of the horses’ hooves against the dirt and leaves. My hair stirs with the gentle wind that brushes against me, carrying within it the sound of…music. No, not just music but— “It sounds like singing.” A festival perhaps? Or celebration of some kind? I turn to ask Nox, only to find him rigid against my back. “Nox?” His gaze stays fixed forward as his hand leaves my hip to reach forthe reins. He kicks our horse’s side, and I lurch backwards as we launch into a gallop, Daje and Xander’s horses following suit on either side of us. “Nox!” Reaching over my shoulder, I grasp the side of his face and force his eyes to fall to mine. But they are glazed over, nothing warm or familiar within them. I look from Xander to Daje, calling out both of their names. But they keep their attention forward, the grip on their reins tight enough that their knuckles flare white, as if they are unable to let go. To stop. As if…
Oh gods.
This is siren magic.
I call my own power up quickly, circling it around the four of us. I don’t know if my magic can evenblocksound, and that doubt makes the glittering white surrounding us flicker in and out, disrupting my concentration. “Damn it!” I shout, throwing a leg over the horse as I twist in the saddle, struggling to keep my balance. “Nox, look at me!” My voice slices through the air with razor-edged terror, but it doesn’t clear Nox’s gaze. He’s pulled completely under their song. Looking back out to the road, I watch as the homes grow closer together and the trees begin to thin out. If the sirens are here, they must be looking for me. King Dolian and Queen Amarimusthave sent them knowing that no one would ever expect sirens to infiltrate the kingdom. But I have to dosomethingbefore we pass those trees because there have already been too many deaths in my name, and Irefuseto let them take Daje or Xander. Or Nox,again.
One hand gripping the pommel of the saddle, I stretch the other out towards the road as I call for my magic to build a wall dozens of feet ahead of us. The pull of my power is easy, and it flows from my hand in every direction, growing that wall wider and taller and thicker. My vision flashes white as my heart beats loudly in my ears, and I keep my intent on using my magic to drown out the sirens. The seconds pass slowly, but when thehooves of the horses sprinting grow louder than their song, I know that the magic is working. Holding the wall in place with my mind, I turn and look at Nox again, my hand reaching out to cup his cheek.
“Nox,” I say again, my thumb brushing over the high part of his cheek. “Come back to me.”
And he does. The silver flecks in his eyes grow bright as he blinks that magical film away, and he looks at me with recognition that relaxes my shoulders fully. I whimper in relief, looking to Xander and Daje and finding them in the same state.
“What the fuck was that?” Nox asks, cursing again when he takes in the speed that our horse is still running at. He tugs at the reins to slow us down, Xander and Daje following suit.
Xander shakes his head, his hand palming the dagger strapped to his thigh as his eyes find mine. “Sirens?” he asks, and I nod, dread heavy in my stomach.It’s because of me.
“Sothat’swhat it feels like to hear a siren sing,” Daje says sluggishly, rubbing a hand over his head. “I don’t recommend it.”
“Rhea, you can drop your magic,” Nox says, his lips brushing my temple.
“No, their song—”
He points to his ears and the dark purple magic that now covers it. I glance at Xander, and though he frowns as if he’d rathernothave Nox’s magic touching him, I’m grateful that it covers his as well. A quick look at Daje shows his own yellow magic glowing.
I sigh in relief and reach for those threads that tether me to my magic, snipping them in one swoop as Nox once instructed.
“It’s okay,” Nox says, keeping his voice soft. I melt against him, my shoulder digging into his chest as I cling to him. But with the wall gone,Ican hear the cacophony of noises that we approach, and any reprieve I had is short-lived as the roadbegins to curve towards the city center. My magic perks up again within me, alert to our surroundings as it floods the space between my bones, at the ready should I need it.
Movement draws my attention to the right, to a small clearing just beyond the road’s edge. It’s the only warning we get before the glint of metal flying through the air lodges a breath in my throat. White magic pours from me, my attempt to create a shield thwarted when gravity shifts and our horse goes down, crying out as he falls. Nox’s arm wraps more tightly around me, shadows rushing in to cushion our fall just in time. Daje and Xander wrestle to control their own spooked animals, but when their horses continue to buck, they bail, letting the scared animals bolt into the forest.
