With a strangled curse, Fenn shambled out of the pool, warping to Lykor’s side just as the rift disintegrated. Water streamed from his hair and shoulders as he crouched next to Lykor, claws hovering above his back. “It’s Aesar. He’s hurt.”
Paralyzed by fear and indecision, Jassyn could only gape. The figure on the ground didn’t stir. His eyes snapped to Fenn. “How do you know it’s Aesar?”
Fenn didn’t look up, talons curling into the frozen fabric of Lykor’s tunic. “Lykor would never come here.” His voice held a brittle edge, worry cracking through.
Relieved, Jassyn unraveled his shield and rushed to Aesar’s side, his bare feet skidding on the slick rock. Aesar’s collapse had spared him from a private swim with Fenn, but a sting of guilt quickly followed. The scar on his brow tingled, an uncomfortable reminder that he might’ve been the one to drive Lykor to such reckless extremes.I was only trying to help.
Fenn turned Aesar over and they both drew in sharp breaths. Frostbite had crept across the tips of his ears, a jagged blackness etched stark against his bloodless skin. Ice clung to his tunic and trousers, the fabric frozen stiff. He wasn’t even shivering—a harrowing stillness that betrayed his dire condition.
Jassyn unleashed a wave of Essence, spiraling the magic outward to assess the extent of Aesar’s injuries. The first brush of power told him everything he needed to know. Aesar’s heartfluttered weakly, his skin perilously cold as he hovered near the brink of death.
“What the bleeding stars was he doing?” Jassyn muttered, more so to himself as he wove magic around Aesar’s motionless body. Encased in a sheath of ice, his boots wouldn’t be coming off until they thawed. Clumps of frost clung to his raven hair, the tangled strands long since ravaged by wind and snow. “Was he walking across the Wastes without a cloak?”
“Lykor might’ve been portal jumping,” Fenn offered. “He and my father quarrel endlessly over his plans.” The metallic click of his lip ring tapping against his teeth filled the silence as he chewed on it, eyes tracing Jassyn’s magic. “Aesar must’ve seized control and dragged them back.”
Jassyn hesitated, hands trembling as he reached for the ice-crusted gauntlet encasing Aesar’s claw. Mercilessly cold, the metal cage bit into his palms as he pried it loose. He winced as Aesar’s flesh peeled away with the movement, thin layers sticking to the armor. The talons within were blackened and splintered, some shattered completely. A few fingers jutted at unnatural angles, frozen solid.
Fenn shifted beside him. “Can you help him?”
The damage might be done.The thought came as an unwelcome intrusion that Jassyn shoved aside.
His gaze darted to the steaming pool, where heat beckoned, a doubled-edged salvation. He needed to thaw Aesar’s clothes before they leeched away the last slivers of life, but submerging him in water would be risky—he’d have to regulate Aesar’s heart and blood flow with Essence as he warmed.
“Yes, but we need to move him,” Jassyn said, making up his mind.
Spurred into action, Fenn hauled Aesar up, wedging himself beneath his shoulder. Jassyn slipped under the other side and together they rose, dragging Aesar to the pool. Straining underthe weight, Jassyn gritted his teeth, biting back any sound—especially with Fenn bearing most of the burden.
The water hissed as it consumed Aesar’s battered body, steam billowing in misty clouds. Fenn grabbed their towels, propping Aesar’s head on the rocky shelf.
Jassyn slid into the pool, the scalding water weighing down his trousers, singeing his skin. Pushing his discomfort aside, he knelt next to Aesar and cast out a wave of mending, ruby ribbons of Essence unraveling from his palms.
He started with the organs—coaxing life into systems teetering on collapse, whispering warmth into veins that had nearly surrendered to the cold. The intricate lattice of healing demanded every ounce of his knowledge. So absorbed in weaving his power over the injuries, Jassyn almost forgot about Fenn’s quiet presence until he spoke.
“I have no magics to assist, and my father will want to know that Aesar has returned.”
Jassyn nodded, focus locked on the strands of mending braiding into Aesar’s chest. Down the bond, he sensed the prince was still realms away. He tugged on the connection, knowing he’d want to be informed too. “I’ll let Vesryn know as soon as he’s back.”
Fenn’s claw touched his shoulder in silent acknowledgment before he vanished down the tunnel in a blur of shadows.
A rhythmic drip of water echoed somewhere deeper in the cavern, marking the slow passage of time. Heat seeped further into Jassyn’s bones, weighing his limbs with exhaustion as he worked. But he pressed on, moving to knit Aesar’s skin back together in seamless waves, leaving behind unblemished flesh as blackened flakes dissolved.
Jassyn exhaled in relief as warmth began returning to Aesar’s body, steam curling from his thawing hair. Tremors seizedAesar’s muscles, the violent shudders sending ripples through the water, each one a defiant beat of life.
Channeling another wave of Essence through him, Jassyn assessed his progress. An old injury kept drawing his attention—Aesar’s shoulders twisted unnaturally, his spine curved and splintered in ways that even magic couldn’t repair. Jassyn’s throat tightened at the sight of the mutilation, the sheer depth suggesting near-constant pain. He wondered if there was anything he could do. Maybe Thalaesyn—
Suddenly, a rattling breath escaped Aesar, the sound scraping against the cavern walls. His eyes fluttered open—still glassy, but it was progress.
Their gazes locked. Aesar flinched and recoiled, splashing in the water to sit up. His head whipped around, wild eyes racing around the chamber before pinning Jassyn with a ferocity that froze him in place.
Aesar bared his fangs.
Jassyn’s heart seized as fire flared to life in his irises.
Not Aesar.
CHAPTER 13
JASSYN
