“The healer said he only needs to stay one more day before he’s released. He’s almost fully regenerated his magic. Fucker can’t die.” Tristen’s smirk tries to erase the worry in his eyes, but I know better.
We came so close to losing Ryker during the last battle. A poisoned fae arrow struck him. He pulled it out and fought on, but the poisoned tip stayed inside, spreading the venom. He was less than an hour from the point of no return. He underwent surgery to remove the arrow and received a blood transfusion.A vampire’s magic takes weeks to regenerate after such an experience.
“I’m going to lose everything, Tris. I have to push them all away. Ember, Ryker, Cyrus, and Nero. You, too. I can’t grasp the magic Everett forced upon me. I can’t control it.”
“You will,” he attempts to reassure me.
“It’s different from my vampire magic.” My fire magic was like a puppy: eager to come out and play, but if scolded, it obeyed me.
Everett’s magic is like… a behemoth lurking in the shadows. I never fully see it,only flashes as it reaches out and grabs a hold of me. It feels so enormous and infinite, I can’t wrap my hands around it. I feel likeI’mthe dog being trained, not the other way around.
It has no leash to grab and hold, nothing to tug it back. It runs wild and free, like time itself.
“I would presume.” Tristen takes the bottle from my hand and drinks half of it.
I can’t help but roll my eyes. “How do you sound so chill?”
“I have an idea,” he announces as he scratches his scalp. We had to cut it short before the battle. Tristen detests his short hair; he says it makes his scalp itch. “But first, light the fire. My toes are getting chilly.” He wiggles his boots and offers me a goofy grin.
I gently slap the back of his head. “Chilly?” I push my magic out. The hot wood crackles as it catches flame again.
“There are no women to warm my bed, so yeah, I’m cold.” He sticks his hands out near the fire, then he uses his magic to encase us in his shadows. “I agree that you have to find a way to control Everett’s magic,” Tristen starts. “So let’s find a way.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“We find a fae to help us.” He flexes his fingers, pushing the warmth between them.
“Find a fae? They’re still our enemy.”
He looks at me. “Wereour enemies.”
“What are you saying?”
“Mages portaled in a signed letter from King Galen. The war is officially over, brother. King Galen is marrying Princess Selene. That means we can return to Blackthorn at some point.”
Over… it’s finally done. Peace between vampires and fae has come!
Why do Everett’s words feel like the start of a new war?
I shake my head, but Tristen grins. “Princess Selene will be our new queen, who also happens to be Everett’s sister. Did you know that Everett had two sisters? Twins, I’ve been told. And guess who is coming to join our new queen? The twin. Everett’s sisters must know how to decipher the crazy fucked-up things he told you. For starters, what the fuck is the Vitalis?
“We need to find that as soon as possible because once we do, you will be free of his magic. Things can go back to normal, Titus. That’s the silver lining, right? Think of this as a battle; we just have to survive it. Whatever Everett did to you will end.”
“That’s…” I look into the flames, seeing the light. Mentally, I’m standing in the shadow of a mountain Prince Everett has forced me to climb. I can’t flee, for the shadow stretches far and wide. Sunlight will never kiss my cheeks until I start to climb my way out of this mess. Tristen’s helping plot the path. He thinks that’s what is stressing me. It’s not the trek up or the heights I must overcome. I fear the descent once I’m done.
“A fantastic idea,” Tristen says with a fool’s enthusiasm. “It’s either that or sneak into enemy land, kidnap a fae, who hopefully is knowledgeable in time-weaving, then we must force them to teach you how to control it.”
He raises a firm finger in the air. “I vote for option one. If anyone knows about his time-weaving magic, it’s got to be one of his sisters.”
Ryker leans against the bed while Ember is seated between his legs. He holds her so close it’s hard to tell where one stops and the other begins. A perfect fit, but it’s platonic.
Against her dark skin, his pale face and silver hair look like death, and the freezing river that leads to the next life.
My grip on the letter tightens so much that the edges tear under my fingertips, yet the words remain unaltered. Leaning on one another, Nero and Cyrus use each other’s backs for support. Tristen sinks his fang into his lip as he reads Nero’s letter again, and the other letters remain tossed in the middle of the dirt floor.
We’re being separated. Tristen and I have orders to go to the capital, Blackthorn Castle, where I will receive my new title.
I am no longer a commander like Cyrus and Ryker. Each commander is given three hundred soldiers. Ember falls under Ryker’s command, Nero under Cyrus’s, and Tristen is one of my soldiers, but my duties as general are now requiring me to step away.
