Cassius paused. “Feryena.”
A pang of sadness swept through her as she thought of her own stallion, Helios. She’d spent hours riding him before her whole world went to shit. And often Cassius would be riding right beside her.
That was before his betrayal.
Before he decided he wanted power instead of her.
Then it was just her and Helios as she tracked him across Agripa.
“Should I be worried about you riding alone?” Cassius’s voice broke through her thoughts.
Thalia met his stare, his blue eyes intent on hers. He must have seen the shift in her emotions, because he straightened as she said, “I’ve told you, this is my home now. To do something that would jeopardize the fragile treaty between our people would be foolish. I’m here to make the best of my circumstances.”
Cassius gave her another look before he gestured her forward. “Leg up.”
Thalia had barely lifted her leg when Cassius boosted her into the saddle. She squawked, not having expected him to lift her so high. She tangled with the reins, her body nearly pitching over the side before Cassius grabbed her waist, steadying her. His other hand was on her thigh, his palm searing into her skin below the fabric.
“What the hell was that?” Thalia hissed, heat rising to her face as Cassius stared up at her.
“It seems like someone wasn’t prepared,” he said matter-of-factly before going to his own gelding.
Thalia resisted the urge to flip him off. She had the feeling the prick had done it on purpose.
They didn’t speak as they rode through the inner courtyard, an area dotted with thick trees. They reminded her a lot of the trees in the Vampyrs’ sacred forest. A forest that was supposed to be their only protection for hunting during the day—
Thalia jerked, sickening realization dawning as she twisted in her saddle. “Why do you really need the water from our rivers?”
Cassius raised a brow as they passed through the gilded gates of the palace, entering a broad expanse of forest. “What?”
Thalia shook her head, focusing on guiding her horse as opposed to staring at Cassius, but her heart pounded. “You—we were told thatyou needed our river to feed your sacred forest. It’s the only place you can hunt safely during the day. But since being here, you all have been able to hunt because of the cloud cover—”
“Have you seen us hunt?” Cassius cut her off.
Thalia’s mouth opened and closed. No, she hadn’t. But the prick knew that. “How is it possible for it to be so overcast all the time? Wouldn’t you be … worried to be out if the clouds suddenly parted?”
Cassius ducked to avoid a branch. “A Mage cast a spell over this territory.”
“I thought Mages and Vampyrs didn’t like each other,” Thalia said, recalling the story Lord Damien had shared.
“They used to not, but this act was a way to atone for the wrong the Mages committed against our kind. Not every place in Vaccarium is like this. There are many that still face the consequences when they step into the light.”
“So the forest is, what? A lie to get our rivers? Why?”
“It wasn’t a lie. The treaty we made with your mother was true. Our forest is dying; there are streams and pools there that are sacred to us Vampyrs—it’s where the Mages first created us. It’s now used as the location when two Vampyrs are joined together; you’ll finish your vows there when the prince returns. Besides, what does it matter? You all needed our ore if you had any hope of surviving.”
Thalia’s mind whirled, too many questions on the tip of her tongue. Perhaps Cassius was partly telling the truth; if the forest was dying, it made sense that they needed the rivers to be diverted. However, that didn’t explain why they’d lied about being able to hunt during the day. Although, if they could live freely during the day without the wrath of the sun, it made sense that their habits had changed from being solely nocturnal. But they’d withheld mention of whatever sort of magic the Mages could use that allowed the sky to darken and fester like an old wound.
“Are there really pockets of magic here?”
Cassius pulled his horse to a stop, and her horse automatically stopped next to his. They stood on a leaf-strewn path. Sounds of the forest reached her, the twittering of birds in their nests, the scurry ofsquirrels along branches. This forest, at least, was alive, unlike the one that separated their two worlds, despite them appearing the same.
“Yes,” Cassius finally said after a moment, breaking through her thoughts. “At least a few are still left.”
“How are they used?”
Cassius paused, contemplating. “From what I was told, the Mages were able to use that raw magic and shape it into something solid.”
“Like the Vampyrs?”
