“Cousin!” he shouts before raising to his lips the horn he carries at his waist and uses to communicate with our warriors.
With several short bursts of sound, he sends them a signal to stay where they are.
Kaiba is one of only two Ember Fae who are brave enough to approach me.
As Kaiba leaps to the ground, fire flickering around his hands and lighting up his form again, his serpent hurries back into the air, smartly removing himself from my presence.
Carefully, I place Aeliana on the ground, still fully wrapped.
“Cousin?” Kaiba’s footsteps slow, even more cautious now. “What is that?”
Rising to my feet, I back away from Aeliana, fighting the clench of my jaw.
It’s driving me fucking crazy that I’m a threat to both her and Kaiba, and yet my enemy—Antony—can stand in my presence without fear of death.
A cruel twist of fate.
“Douse your flames,” I say to Kaiba. “This woman must not be harmed.”
Kaiba bends carefully, his voice hushed, but the glow of starlight becomes stronger when his flames disappear. “This is a dragon’s hide.” His focus snaps up to me. “A Tol-Dakri legend. How did you get this?”
“It’s better I don’t tell you, cousin. Once you take hold of the fae concealed within this hide, place the hide back on the ground. I need to take it with me.”
As Kaiba reaches for the edge of the dragon’s hide, which is currently tucked beneath Aeliana’s back, the glow from her starlight casts across his face.
He blinks rapidly, his jaw dropping again. “This light…”
Slowly, he opens the hide.
Starlight streams from beneath the covering so bright that Kaiba flinches, then freezes, one hand gripping the hide, the other hovering within the light. “This is Aeliana Vividari.”
The fact that he recognizes her speaks volumes.
I wasn’t lying to Antony when I insisted I’d seen Aeliana meeting secretly with my aunt when I was a boy. The two women greeted each other like friends. Worried friends. Their expressions drawn and tense, their furtive glances andwhispered conversation telling me they feared being seen together. And overheard.
If I had more time, I would grill Kaiba on what he might know about Aeliana and why she met his mother in secret all those years ago.
Instead, all I reply is, “None other.”
Kaiba’s eyes are wide. “Where did you find her?”
“In the bloodlands,” I say. “Hidden in a tunnel deep in a mountain. I don’t know how long she was there, how she survived, or what caused this hibernation state she’s in.”
“She’s our salvation from this darkness.” Kaiba exhales heavily as he leans back on his heels, seeming to indulge in a moment of relief before he focuses again. “I have to get her to my mother as quickly as possible. Or bring my mother to Aeliana. Whatever might have caused Aeliana’s condition, we need her to survive.”
If I could safely rest my hand on my cousin’s shoulder, I would. He knows what to do, and I trust him to get it done.
But first, a new danger.
“Get her away from me as quickly as possible.” I back away as I speak, unwanted fire flickering around my fingertips, a rush of flames triggered by the scent of scorched vampyr blood.
Instead of obeying me, Kaiba slowly replaces the dragon’s skin over Aeliana.
I’m wary of his uncharacteristic rebellion. “Kaiba?”
“You’re going after the Oracle.”
Four days ago, when I first learned of Thyra’s whereabouts, I swore the warriors I took with me to secrecy. But her presence in the Iron Kingdom has undoubtedly become common knowledge.
