Ivenrail grunted, glancing her way. “It’s about time you returned to my court, Delaine.”
4
TEMPEST
Ilanded hard on the stone bridge spanning the gap between the aerie and the castle, toppling against the railing when my leg nearly gave way.
Only flit to a location you have solid in your mind.
A lesson learned from the betrayer, Vexxion. Heir to the Weldsbane Court and eldest son of the man I still intended to kill.
Should I murder his eldest son before or after I’d eliminated Ivenrail Levestan from this world forever?
Vexxion hadblinked.
This was the only reason I wasn’t screaming and ripping out my hair.
I slumped against the railing. Clung to it, actually. I wasn’t tired from the flit but my heart . . .
It’d be best not to examine my emotions too much at this moment.
Whenever Vexxion had flitted in the past, he’d appeared weak for a time afterward. But not when he flitted from the front door after we arrived here or when he took us to the throne room after that. What was different about those times? For all I knew, he’d found a way to tap Nullen power like his father, and that had restored his strength once more.
Or he’d taken it from me.
Had I misread everything? It couldn’t be true.
I hated myself for questioning whether he was deeply involved or not. He’d just proven he was a manipulative bastard. That he’d lied.
That he’dusedme.
I shored up the stone wall around my heart, added more thorns—an idea I got from the vines embedded in my neck—and added thick clouds.
No one would ever use me again.
A fae man started up the bridge from the castle, his lips slithering into a gruesome smile.
“Lost, little controlled Nullen?” he asked in a sultry voice as he came closer.
His eyes locked on mine, and I felt the tug of his will trying to exert control on my own.
Rage poured through me. How dare he try to lull me?
I snapped out with my power, lifting him off his feet and flinging him backward. He landed on his ass on the stone platform spanning the front of the castle and scrambled to his feet, gaping at me.
“You’re collared,” he snarled. “How could a Nullen—?”Whirling around, he raced toward the castle entrance, wrenching open the door and scurrying inside.
Vexxion had been right about one thing. I needed to learn how to control my power, not give it free rein. Although using it against a slimy fae lord had been fun.
Would the lord tell everyone what I’d done? If so, they might storm out here and grab me. Lock me in the dungeon, assuming there was one in the bowels of the castle. The king was too vile not to have a place to torture people somewhere. I would not wait here for them to find me and lock me up.
Gathering power again, I flitted, landing hard in the suite Vexxion and I were supposed to share. I hobbled to the closet and yanked out my bag still holding the few measly belongings Reyla and I had packed what felt like ages ago at the fortress.
Pawing through it, I tossed asideEmber’s Shadow, the romance book she was reading, and pulled out the blade that had belonged to Vexxion’s grandfather, hoping it came from his mother’s side, not his father’s.
Pain rocked through me once more, driving me to my knees. Dropping the bag, I cupped my face while shudders tore my heart to shreds. I was a fool for not seeing it. Vexxion had essentially told me. There was no denying he had a tortured soul; his scars gouged all the way through him. Vexxion told me numerous times that the king’s eldest son had been molded in Ivenrail’s image, that he was the king’s most devoted servant.
The king had taken that broken boy and turned him into a weapon that would now be used on me.
