It was a miracle he had stayed conscious this long. Taryn began to wonder if he would even pass out at all.
He thought he heard yelling, perhaps a name. Footsteps came closer. Then, a voice. “You smell like shit,” said a voice, possibly Raiden. “Youlooklike shit too. What happened?” Raiden entered the room, a mix of blonde hair and brown eyes, expression taut.
Taryn looked at himself in the mirror. Dirt caked ontohis bronzedcomplexion, a common trait for Runean Fae. His light brown curls clung to the sides of his face and neck from sweat, the hair covering the scar that went from his temple and down the side of his cheek. Taryn creased his angled, dark brows as he attempted to muster control over his mind, trying everything he could to block out the darkness.
Only his glowing steel gaze stared back.
Taryn raised his shaking hand, showing Raiden the blackness that lay beneath his veins. “I was attacked by a Shadow Wielder.”
Raiden cursed, inspecting the black veins.
He relayed everything to his best friend, carefully excluding the contents of the Elven male’s words. Taryn still hadn’t had a moment to decipher them.
After Taryn was done, Raiden gave him a look of pity.
“What?”
“Eryx demanded to see you immediately. He wants to know why you took so long to return.”
“For fuck’s sake,” Taryn muttered. Resentment flared as he changed into fresh clothing. His limbs felt like jelly, and the muscles in his legs strained to hold him upright. The Shadow Magick had taken its toll, leaving him weak and disoriented. Raiden helped him walk to Eryx’s office, letting Taryn lean on him for support as he staggered from the Guild manor to the outbuilding where the Guildmaster resided.
Taryn entered the building alone, hand on the walls to prop himself upright as he crossed through the familiar stone hallways. His vision was blurred in and out of focus as he paused before the oak doors.
Calm. Collected. Controlled.
He recited the words internally as he pushed the door open.
Eryx sat behind his mahogany desk, frowning as he took in Taryn’s current state. Lilac eyes narrowed as he noticed the dark patch of ink on Taryn’s hand.
“Sit,” Eryx said calmly.
Taryn stumbled to the velvet chair and sat before Eryx, taking in his cropped salt and pepper colored hair. Before Eryx could say any more, Taryn grabbed the bundle of salaroses from his pocket, now wilted, and threw them onto the desk.
“As requested.”
Eryx grabbed the wine pitcher and began to pour, the silver ring on his finger glinting from the candlelight on his desk. “Wine?” Eryx asked. Taryn declined, grabbing a wine cup for himself. He lifted a hand sluggishly, desperately parched, and guided a stream of water through the air into his cup from a water basin nearby.
“And what of your hand?”
Taryn recited the incident for a second time, as best as he could, still trying to fight the murkiness in his mind. He again left out the Elven male’s word—that he knewwhoandwhathe was. That was something not even Eryx could know, and Taryn prayed to the Gods Eryx wouldn’t see past his lies. At the end of his recount, he confessed to wielding his lightning to get away.
Eryx closed his eyes and slammed his wine on the desk. “You didwhat?” He let out a bitter scoff. “We just convinced the monarchy our presence was annihilated, and you wieldlightningin thecity?”
Calm. Collected. Controlled.
Taryn breathed. “There weren’t any other options. I was one more hit away from going down. What would you have me do?”
Eryx abruptly rose from his chair and walked to the arched windows behind him, his back to Taryn. “I would have done anything to protect the integrity of this Guild, that's what I would have done. I trusted you, and you compromised us.”
The tattoo on Taryn’s bicep began to burn.
“I just sent two spies to enter the city for a task that needed to be delicately handled,” Eryx bit out. “Surely they will be singled out now, the Lucien's awareness of our presence now heightened, and executed for your irrational behavior.”
Taryn’s stomach sank. He had forgotten about the spies Eryx sent out. Taryn had helped prepare them to enter the city grounds for their next task. His head sank low in shame.
Eryx turned and strode back to his desk, throwing his ring at him. Taryn caught it, a questioning look on his face.
“Your irresponsibility has cost you,” Eryx said. “I’m ordering you to finish what was started.Youwill go back out to the capitol tomorrow and retrieve the girl we are looking for—”
