She flinched and slapped a hand to her neck before she reached him, a sharp sting spreading beneath her palm. Her stomach clenched when her fingers collided against something thin and soft.
Bracing herself to face whatever insect had decided to make a meal of her, she plucked the offending culprit free. She frowned at the silky mass of bright feathers shimmering with iridescence.
But it was the needle nestled between the delicate plumes that made her heart lurch. Her eyes whipped around the oasis, scanning for any sign of movement.
Serenna turned back to Fenn as a violent chill struck her. Ice slithered down her spine, sinking in its teeth. Her ribs seized around her lungs as a web of frost wove through her blood, numbness twining tight. Mind turning sluggish, her thoughts oozed away, the dart tumbling from her fingertips.
Fenn’s eyes burned with a feral fire. His mouth was moving, but his words never reached her ears. A ringing hum swallowed everything, her heartbeat slowing to a steady drumming in her skull.
The world tilted. Or she did.
Weighted by an invisible force, Serenna sagged into Fenn’s arms. Another dart struck her chest, but she barely registered the thud.
Fenn’s claws wrapped around her, his radiating warmth losing the battle against the encroaching cold.
Falling, flying—she felt like she was doing both at once. Serenna struggled to keep her focus on Fenn with the oasis bending, the palms spinning around the hidden pool.
Scanning the trees, Fenn’s fangs extended. He gently lowered her to the grass, but she was too busy floating to feel the earth.
Beyond Fenn’s shoulder, something moved. As tall as him, a figure emerged from the dappled light, its silhouette a dark smear against the harsh glare of the sun.
And then another.
Serenna’s heart staggered, each beat slower than the last. She tried to call out—to warn Fenn as he rose to his feet—but her tongue was thick and useless, bound to the roof of her mouth.
The cold sank deeper, curling around her chest. Stubborn and heavy, Serenna’s eyelids drooped as she fought to stay awake.
Her head lolled to the side, the grass cushioning her cheek. Somewhere, metal rattled and Fenn snarled.
A shadow loomed above her, reaching. Warm fingers snapped something around her neck—a trap sealing shut.
Her link to Fenn vanished.
Serenna’s pulse shuddered, a weak flutter against her ribs. Darkness crashed over her like a tidal wave, dragging her under.
CHAPTER 44
LYKOR
“Fucking stars. Compose yourself,” Lykor snapped, cuffing the prince upside the head.
Vesryn spun to face him, boots skidding in the loose sand, rage flashing in his eyes. “Serenna has been tethered forhours,” he hissed, hands trembling as turquoise light fountained from his fingertips, the illusion blending them into the shifting dunes. “If the king’s forces are already here—”
“That’s why I need you to keep your wits about you,” Lykor snarled. He jabbed a gauntleted finger into the prince’s chest. “Charge out in the open like a gallivanting idiot and you’ll end up the same way.”
The sun, though sinking, still hammered down from a cloudless sky. Blistering heat pulsed from every direction, each breath searing fire through Lykor’s lungs. Sweat trickled down his brow, clinging like a second layer of irritation.
Squinting against the relentless assault of wind-borne sand, Lykor peered down from their perch atop the dunes. Below, a pool shimmered in an oasis, the water taunting his growing thirst.
A promise of relief that felt more like a lure.
Serenna had vanished from the prince’s perception before they’d prepared to leave the jungle. Vesryn had been so frantic—so star-bent on plunging ahead—that he’d nearly left Aesar and Jassyn behind.
Lykor had decided to intervene, but there’d been no time to gather reinforcements. No chance to rally a band of wraith or Essence-wielders who might’ve turned this feverish pursuit into something more organized. Instead, a handful of portals had dragged them along a shriveling ribbon of water, leading them here.
Whether to salvation or slaughter, he had yet to decide.
Despite the prince’s illusion, Lykor’s senses thrummed, every muscle taut beneath his armor. His instincts screamed that they were still somehow exposed. Vulnerable. He could feel it—eyes on them. Waiting. Lurking somewhere out of sight.
