“You’re a terrible liar.” The confident voice I’d hoped for came out cracked and weary.
I pulled his hand from where it clutched his side, just long enough to assess the size and depth of the wound. Thankfully, he hadn’t been lying this time. It was a brutal gash, but nowhere near fatal. “Where is all the blood from?”
He smiled. “Would you believe it if I said it wasn’t all mine?”
The light in the room vanished with a crack, leaving behind only the faint illumination from Jyuri’s icy flames. Where once there had been a shimmering mirror of silvery-blue liquid magic was now nothing more than dark stone. He kept the small orb balanced in his palm as he approached the two of us.
“I can’t take you both back at once.”
“Take him first,” I said. “See that a healer is alerted, and then come back for me.”
Alandris winced, shifting his weight. “No. Take her back first. I don’t want her alone here.”
Jyuri groaned. “You two are so adorable. It’s disgusting.”
Against all odds, Jyuri obliged my request. With a snap of his fingers, the two males were gone in a blink, leaving me behind in the darkness.
Not wanting to wander too far, and unable to see more than an arm’s length in front of myself, I resigned to plopping down on the ground and waiting patiently. As patiently as I could, knowing that Alandris was hurt, and something or someone had been the cause. His request for the destruction of the portal spelled far more disaster than just a flesh wound.
And you let it happen.
I closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the wall, willing the voice to leave me. How lovely it would have been if it were that easy to dismiss him.
When will you realize your own weakness?
I scrunched my eyes shut tighter. The headache blooming in my skull was offset only by the sensation of my nails digging into my palms.
Give in to me, and we can become so much more. We would have power unlike anything you’ve experienced.
“There is no ‘we’,’” I spit back, fumbling for the satchel on my hip that held the only thing capable of shutting him up. My hands shook from both pain and eagerness as I uncorked the tiny vial and downed the remaining liquid in one go.
You will not silence me, Saintess.
The pain flared brighter, and I gasped, reaching into my bag once more. Only one vial remained.
Looks like your time has run out.
He knew. Of course, he knew. “Not yet,” I said, then drained the entirety of the final vial.
His laughter echoed in my ears long after it’d vanished from my mind. It persisted still when Jyuri finally returned to collect me, and it only faded to a hum in the background when I was in front of Alandris, assured of his safety, though fully aware that the worst of the news was yet to come.
“There is a spy amongst us,” Alandris explained. “The Divine Council is well aware of Nairu’s presence on Nil’Faerith, and naturally, they didn’t take kindly to my negligence in discovering her. I feigned ignorance through their… questioning. I took the chance to escape when I had it.”
I clenched my teeth. “Their questioning?”
“Nairu, it is—”
“Jyuri, leave us.”
To his credit, he spared me the tongue lashing I deserved for ordering him around. Now was not the time. He knew that well enough. “I will let the others know to be cautious.”
I waited for him to leave before pulling Alandris into my arms.
“I thought I was in trouble.”
“For being a reckless liar and failing to mention that there were Fae portals nestled beneath the Consortium? You are very much in trouble,” I assured him. “As soon as I’m done.”
He relaxed into my touch, running a hand down the back of my hair and nestling his chin over the top of my head. Words weren’t necessary yet.I’m so sorry. I’m so glad you’re back. You’re safe. I only needed to hold him to let him know.
