“Sorry,what?” Cason said, gaping at the massive ribs surrounding him. Each bone was at least two times the size of his horse.
Brela chuckled as she reached out and ran a hand along some of the crystal lightning. “This is Ceirdephal. He was a clever little suxa.”
The sand sprite raised a brow, or at least that’s what it looked like. “Those were not the words you used after he escaped, nor when you and Emril bathed in his guts.”
She shrugged. “I can say it now because his jaw isn’t clamped around my waist.”
“Oh, gods,” Serill whispered, staring at Brela.
She only gestured around the Glass Wilds, as if that was yet another dull story. Crystal spikes and lightning-scarred vaarasuxa bones decorated the sandy roads, marking the boundaries of square and round pits. Both sand and crystal swirled in the air, some in rough shapes of bodies and others taking the forms of animals. Alive. The air was alive and thriving and rough. Even the grumbling sound echoing through the pits was like the wind was breathing raggedly.
Many stilled as their Crown Prince passed, some even appeared to recognize Brela, but no one seemed to care about the others.
Oni nodded to some of the extra bones as they walked down the main path. “Male and female vaarasuxa give off different noises when lightning strikes. The males repel while the females attract. It was important that Ceirdephal didn’t escape the Wilds.”
Why would they need to keep the male from escaping?
Four hells.
Cason tensed, and he didn’t care that Brela hissed when his finger dug into the wound on her back. He growled in her ear. “Please tell me there’s not a live female vaarasuxa in one of these pits.”
“No, that would be ridiculous, and incredibly dangerous,” Brela said. He was about to sag in relief when Brela added, “She’s chained in the arena.”
“What.”
“It’s much deeper and impossible to climb out of.” She scowled at Oni. “I would know, I tried.”
The sand sprite let out a grating laugh. “Ceirdephal was getting old, and our protection would not last. Emril and Brela lured Atuphe to the Wilds so the suxa could mate. Having only a female around would act like a beacon for other males, which would put us in danger. Since the females typically kill males after mating, we arranged a transfer for Ceirdephal to another pit until we could find another male if Atuphe didn’t produce one.”
“He tried to take advantage of the momentary freedom,” Brela continued for the crystal prince. “We caught him, killed him—much to Oni’s displeasure—and then I suggested arranging his bones and armor into a gate. Since he’s on higher ground, the lightning hits the repelling suxa more often than it hits Atuphe.” She winked at Oni. “Kria graczkiva. You’re welcome. Centuries of wisdom in this place and a sixteen-year-old solves all your problems in a few weeks.”
Oni snapped his fangs at her playfully as he dismounted and gestured to the giant pit in front of them.
They followed suit, Cason helping Brela down as she grimaced from her wounds. In a sly move, she held onto his shoulders and leaned her head close so only he could hear her. “No fire. No lightning. Trust me, okay?”
He frowned but nodded, even though every instinct told him not to agree blindly to not using any of his magic. If it came to protecting them, he’d use it.
Brela stood between Oni and the rest of them as they approached the railing, refusing to let go of Cason’s hand even though it was still covered in her blood. That’s when he realized the sound of the wind breathing wasn’t the wind.
“Atuphe,” Brela gasped.
The rest of them swore at the same time.
The vaarasuxa wasmassive. The male might have only been a third of the size of the female sleeping at the bottom of the pit, but she was decorated with only a quarter of the crystal lightning that had encased the dead beast at the gates. Curved teeth poked out of the jaw, stained red with pieces of meat still stuck between the gaps.
He didn’t want to know what fleshy thing Oni had fed it. Didn’t want to know how many fleshy things were required to feed a beast that size.
Oni shifted to his left, and before Cason could react, Brela had Night Carver pressed against the crystal jaw of the sand sprite. Even with her non-dominant hand wielding the dagger, her other still gripping Cason’s fingers, she didn’t falter.
“Don’t even think about it.” Her voice was a purr, but Cason could hear the promise of violence underneath. Farrah shifted closer to him, ice cracking along her fingers, while Elias created a barrier from behind to protect Serill. Four hells, they moved incredibly fast.
The sprite pouted. “Your mate is slow for someone with such strong perception magic. Is his lightning faster? Why did you tell him not to call on it?”
“Oni,” Brela warned. “I know what you’re trying to do.”
“Czaoza,ri aravkir,” he said, a glass hand resting over where a heart should be.
“If you’re not my enemy, stop doing stupid shit to piss me off.” Her pale gaze flicked to Cason as she smirked. “Or I will letov qigriturn you into a glass statue.”
