Vesryn shook his head as Aesar and Jassyn disappeared, but the glint of challenge shone in his eyes. “If Aesar’s right about making it back to the jungle with so few portals, we should return in a few hours—provided we don’t need to regenerate.”
Serenna nodded as the prince lingered, his fingers drumming against his thigh. For a moment, she thought he might change his mind and forge ahead with them instead.
But whatever conflict he wrestled with, he buried swiftly. With a slow exhale, he rolled his shoulders as if shaking off the impulse.
His gaze flicked to Fenn before settling back on her. “Try not to make it too hard for us to find you.”
“We’ll be fine, Princeling,” Fenn said with a grin, though Vesryn’s concern hadn’t been for him.
With a curt nod, the prince pivoted toward the portal. After he vanished, the rift closed behind him, his presence now a far leap away in Serenna’s mind.
“Would you like the honors?” Fenn asked, the amusement in his voice pulling her attention back to what lay ahead.
Inhaling the dry air deeply, Serenna reached into Fenn’s side of their Well, igniting his portaling talent.
She flung out her arm, weaving a rift into the horizon, where heat shimmered, blurring the seam between land and sky. A stir of excitement breezed through her, carrying the undeniable sense that their journey was only just beginning.
CHAPTER 43
SERENNA
“Fenn!” Serenna shrieked, clutching his armor as he abandoned their packs and scooped her up. “Don’t you dare—”
The world twisted into shadow, ripping away the rest of her protest.
They plunged into turquoise depths with an explosive splash. For a heartbeat, everything dissolved into silence, a world suspended in liquid light. Bubbles spiraled like scattered gems, rising toward the sunlit veil above.
Following the golden rays, Serenna kicked upward and burst from the pool with a gasping breath. Surrounded by serenity, palms and ferns framed the spring as she drifted. Cool water kissed her skin, a balm against the desert’s unyielding sun.
A sudden thrashing shattered the surface. Claws churning wildly, Fenn’s limbs scrabbled in an uncoordinated frenzy, spraying water in every direction.
“Come here, you floundering leviathan,” Serenna scolded, snatching one of his flailing arms.
“Just…testing the depth,” he spluttered, frantically flapping to stay afloat.
Giggling at his graceless efforts only made Serenna choke on a mouthful of water as she tugged him toward the shore. His sheer height and miscalculated movements tangled them further. The more he struggled, the more ridiculous it became, until she was laughing too hard to swim properly.
It had only taken a handful of portals for the Wastes to melt into an ocean of sandy dunes. Weathered columns bristled intermittently across the desert, twisting skyward like petrified bones. The stream they had been following had withered to nothing, swallowed by the cracked earth. But Fenn’s sharp eyes had caught a glimmer on the horizon—a silver thread woven into the arid expanse.
He’d skipped opening another portal, transporting them to this oasis in one warp.
Cool water swirled around them as Serenna kicked forward, hauling Fenn closer to the slender reeds swaying along the shallows.
The moment his boots scraped the sandy bottom, he gave her a playful shove. “Looks like you’re finally getting that bath you’ve been grumbling about all week.”
Serenna swatted a splash right into his smug face. He wasn’t wrong, but she’d rather swallow sand than let him gloat. She freed her drenched braids from their bindings and dunked her head under again, letting the strands tumble loose.
“Yes, I appreciate that,” she said dryly when she resurfaced, wiping her eyes. “Though I would have preferred not to soak the only clothes I have.”
Fenn, already knee-deep in mischief, waded to where the water lapped at his waist. Loosening his hair, he raked his talons through the cascading length and shot her a wink over his shoulder. “Then take them off.”
Serenna blinked as he began unbuckling his weapons and armor. Boots and scabbards sailed through the air on wingsof force, landing neatly on the shore. Turning to face her, he reached over his shoulder and gripped his tunic at the nape of his neck. With a smirk, he dragged the fabric over his head in one fluid motion, the act sending her heart into a reckless flutter.
Serenna’s pulse kicked up when the muscles banding his torso flexed. Sunlight dappled along the ridges, glinting off the silver rings decorating his chest. Water slipped over every sculpted groove, darkness gleaming like midnight after rain.
She tried to look away—she really did—but her eyes refused to obey, tracing the shifting lines of his abdomen. And when Fenn stepped out of his trousers, Serenna ripped her gaze to his face, a desperate retreat.
The crystal clear spring was no ally. Its waters offered no veil, no mercy—baring every inch of him in the glittering pool.
