Finally, Aesar and Jassyn reached Kal and his warriors as the humans disappeared. Their retreat wouldn’t last. If those fromthe academy were closing in, they would soon drive the humans back into the fight.
Kal panted heavily, wiping away remnants of gore that clung to his brow.
Aesar sheathed his glaives and clasped Kal’s forearm. “Vesryn will need assistance in the jungle.” With the last dregs of their Essence, he opened a portal. “It sounds like my brother brought some old friends. Help keep the peace.”
Kal simply nodded. Of course he’d obey Aesar’s orders without a combative remark. His grip briefly tightened against their arm before releasing them, waving the battle-weary wraith through the rift.
Impatience roiled within Lykor, a tempest battering the walls of his restraint. He was done sitting idle. Ramming Aesar aside, he seized control, reclaiming his limbs. He didn’t hear Aesar’s protests because something—someone—collided with his chest.
Stunned, Lykor blinked as Serenna wrapped her arms around his middle.Hugginghim.WHAT THE—
Before he could process the absurdity of it, Fenn approached behind her. His eyes glowed, clearly intending to follow her lead.
Arms stiff at his sides, Lykor bared his fangs at the lieutenant. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“I knew you wouldn’t leave without us,” Serenna said with a laugh, squeezing the air out of his lungs.
He was certainly considering it now.
She stepped back with a grin that only widened when she caught Fenn’s eye. Triumphant. Whatever asinine exchange passed between them, Lykor didn’t care to decipher.
“But if you didn’t stealmyportaling talent,” she snipped, refocusing on him, “Icould have gotten us out of here.”
Lykor’s lip curled as he scruffed her by the back of her armor, propelling her unceremoniously through the portal.
Scowling and ensuring Fenn wasn’t going to embrace him in the same manner, Lykor tracked him until he disappeared through the void too. Only then did he study the darkened tunnel where the humans had fled, noticing the hum of Essence approaching. The invasion was far from over.
Time pressed heavily against him—he couldn’t afford any more delays, but one more task demanded his attention.
The last of the group filtered through the portal. Safe. Lykor’s eyes narrowed. All except one.
“Go with the others,” he ordered.
Arms crossed, Jassyn remained in place. His brow furrowed deeper until the scar slicing across it paled. “Are you going somewhere else?”
Reading Lykor’s intent, Aesar objected.Absolutely not. You are not risking—
“It doesn’t concern you,” Lykor clipped, addressing both of them before forcing Aesar away.
Jassyn’s gaze shifted upward, drawn to the thundering pulse of Essence reverberating through the keep. “Do we really have time to linger?”
Lykor rounded on Jassyn, jabbing a finger at him. “There is no ‘we.’”
“Weneed to get back to the others,” Jassyn insisted, pursing his lips.
Lykor’s shoulders twitched, irritation tightening his spine. He weighed his options—it would be easy to toss this stubborn male through the portal like Serenna. Rid himself of the constant insolence, this grating calmness.
“And if I refuse?” Lykor gritted out. “Are you going to stop me?”
The question hung between them, a guillotine poised to drop. A dare, to see if Jassyn would cross that line and bend him into compliance.
Jassyn didn’t look away, the amber in his stare unwavering, as searing as molten gold. Heat prickled up Lykor’s neck as that look wormed under his skin, burrowing around.
Jassyn’s might wasn’t in strength—it was control, the kind that could crush him with barely a thought. But restraint held him back. And that discipline mocked Lykor with everything he wasn’t.
Authority without fury.
Power without chaos.
