Serenna couldn’t tell if he meant Lykor or Fenn. “When I portaled here, Lykor and I had a…misunderstanding.” She forced herself to hold his eyes. “In a way, we worked it out, but he took my power when—”
“Hewhat?” Vesryn snarled.
His fury lashed through the bond, the sudden drop of his mental wall a thunderous clap that rattled through Serenna’s skull. She stiffened as the overwhelming force of his presence flooded her mind.
In an instant, the prince closed the distance, his rough hands cupping her face. “He’s the reason your eyes are ringed with red?” His voice wavered, trembling with rage, fingers shaking as he brushed back a strand of her hair. “I should have known that beast was the one who began turning you into a wraith.”
Serenna placed her hands gently over his, wading through the onslaught of his outburst. “The coercion—” She stopped herself. Lykor had initially pilfered her power on his own. “He did what he thought was necessary. To protect his people.”
“There’s no excuse for this.” Vesryn’s grip flexed before he released her and stepped back, as though distance might temper his rage. “I’ll make him return your talent. Or I’ll talk to Aesar and have him do it.” His jaw tightened while his frustration bled into the silence. “My mother explained…” Face falling, he shook his head and trailed off.
Serenna let the subject drop, knowing Vesryn wouldn’t change Lykor’s mind. She bit back the impulse to steer the conversation to why she’d portaled to Lykor in the first place. Now wasn’t the time.
Fingers twitching at his sides, Vesryn scanned the cavern as more wraith warriors filtered in, the volume of their conversations increasing around the tables. “We should talk somewhere else.” The command left no room for refusal.
A portal spiraled open, rippling like a midnight sky as it carved through the air. Serenna blinked when the prince extended his hand instead of charging through with his usual expectation of her to follow. Clasping his palm, she stepped into the black veil, heading into the unknown.
Before she could collect her bearings, another rift gaped open, dragging her through darkness. Realm after realm blurred past until they emerged into stillness.
Serenna’s breath caught as her eyes drank in the sky, streaks of crimson and gold painting the clouds. The sun dipped behind jagged limestone bluffs, casting molten light across a tranquil bay.
Vesryn’s voice carried a faint note of hesitation when he spoke. “This is where I wanted to bring you. The night of the Solstice.”
“What is this place?” Serenna asked, her voice floating with awe. Fragrant with salt and gardenia, a balmy breeze tugged at her hair. She slipped off her boots, the cool ivory sand spilling between her toes, the grains sparkling like starlight.
“It’s where I was the night I first sensed you.” Vesryn jerked his head toward the dense canopy framing the cove. “I was hunting a group of wraith in that jungle.”
The prince slumped to the sand, leaning against a rock that was softened by the embrace of creeping vines. Joining him, Serenna folded her legs to her chest and studied the curve of the coastline, a maze of verdant cliffs rising from the surf.
Vesryn plucked a white flower from a slender tendril, its satin petals catching the last rays of sun. “The moons rose right over those waters,” he said, nodding toward the center of the horizon, where the sea and sky merged. “In that moment, I knew I’d rather watch the lunar eclipse here than suffer through another affair in the capital. I just didn’t expect I’d want someone to join me.”
Serenna curled her fingers around her knees, fighting the ache swelling in her throat. The quiet admission was one she’d waited so long to hear—he remembered that he’d invited her. “I thought…” Her voice faltered as she glanced up at him. “I thought you invited me to the palace.”
“I invited you to the Summer Lunar Solstice,” Vesryn corrected, turning a petal absently between his fingers. “I had no intention of making an appearance in Kyansari—unless you had your heart set on going.”
Serenna couldn’t hold back the question that had gnawed at her for weeks, sharper than a persistent thorn. “So why did Aylastill think you were taking her to yourengagementannouncement?”
Vesryn frowned before slowly facing her. “You’re upset.”
“Of course I’m upset,” Serenna snapped, her ire and humiliation rising. “Ayla made it abundantly clear that you wereexpectingher. You told me you were late. Late for what?Her?”
“Yes. I was late for her.” Vesryn bit out the words, crushing the flower in his palm. “But I never planned to take her to that engagement dinner myself. I intended to spin an illusion around one of my rangers, who then would’ve gone in my place. But after you and I captured those wraith…”
He uncurled his fingers, releasing the petals into the breeze, the remnants tumbling down the shore. “I needed my officers to stay where they were—I couldn’t risk word getting out and there wasn’t time to think of anything else.” He shook his head, gaze fixed on the horizon. “So I did my duty and endured that wretched dinner. But then I sensed you were gone. First from Centarya and then from the bond.”
Serenna drew an unsteady breath, struggling to anchor her churning frustration after weeks spent drowning in unanswered doubts. She knew now that the engagement had dissolved, but that didn’t lessen her festering anger.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she whispered, fighting to keep a level tone—and a level head. “If I had known…” The rest of the thought disintegrated as quickly as it had formed. If she hadn’t left, she never would’ve discovered the wraith stronghold and the truth behind it. And she never would have met Fenn.
“That duty changed nothing between us.” Vesryn shrugged. “I didn’t think it mattered.”
“You didn’t…” Serenna gaped at him, disbelief extending far beyond the boundaries of her mind. “You didn’tthinkabout how I’d feel seeing your betrothed prancing up to your chambers minutes after you…after we—” Her voice broke, catching on the words.
Vesryn sighed, raking his fingers through his hair. “That wasn’t how I intended our first time to happen.”
Serenna stared out at the bay, at a loss for words.
“But the engagement wasn’t important to me,” he insisted. “I told you that.”
