Gold & Fire & Blood Novel

by Austea E. Kette

Publishing Information

Copyright © 2023 Austea E. Kette

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or establishments is solely coincidental.

ISBN: 978-609-08-0276-2

Bibliographic information is available on the Lithuanian Integral Library Information System (LIBIS) portal ibiblioteka.lt

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author.

CONTENT GUIDANCE: This novel contains depictions of sexual assault and mentions of suicide. Please read with care.

Table of Contents

Front Cover

Publishing Information

Dedication

Map

Prologue

PART I: Notes of Chill & Seclusion

Chapter I

Chapter II

Chapter III

Chapter IV

Chapter V

Chapter VI

PART II: Notes of Reunions & Masks

Chapter VII

Chapter VIII

Chapter IX

Chapter X

Chapter XI

Chapter XII

Chapter XIII

Chapter XIV

Chapter XV

PART III: Notes of Loss & Mystery

Chapter XVI

Chapter XVII

Chapter XVIII

Chapter XIX

Chapter XX

Chapter XXI

Chapter XXII

Chapter XXIII

Chapter XXIV

Chapter XXV

Chapter XXVI

Chapter XXVII

Chapter XXVIII

Chapter XXIX

Chapter XXX

Chapter XXXI

Chapter XXXII

Chapter XXXIII

Chapter XXXIV

Chapter XXXV

Chapter XXXVI

Chapter XXXVII

PART IV: Notes of Epiphany & Truth

Chapter XXXVIII

Chapter XXXIX

Chapter XL

Chapter XLI

Chapter XLII

Chapter XLIII

Chapter XLIV

Chapter XLV

Chapter XLVI

Chapter XLVII

Chapter XLVIII

Chapter XLIX

Chapter L

Epilogue

Author’s Note

About the Author

Thanks & Appreciation

Dedication

To my followers.

Without you, Lullaby of the Lost Princess

wouldn’t have made it.

Map

Prologue

IT WAS THE DAWN of a new beginning. The snow was gradually melting, unveiling the long-awaited grass while buds began popping up on the naked trees. At last, Mother Nature was awakening from her three months of slumber.

The Spring Festival was held every year to celebrate a fresh start. Musicians were invited from all over the Mortal Region to play in our small town, but only a few actually made it. Mum, Dad, and my little sister encouraged me to take part in playing as well. Eventually, I gave in.

As I climbed up onto the stage in the town hall, everyone fell silent. It was an honour for a girl like me living outside the town to be taken seriously and treated with respect. It warmed my heart.

I wore a dress I’d sewn from one of my many sketches—a modest, long, short-sleeved yellow with white-rimmed sleeves.

I approached the grand white piano placed in the middle of the stage. The piano seemed as if it had fallen out of my dreams—with curved legs and gilded patterns on its edges. I carefully lifted my skirt to avoid creases and claimed a seat on the stool before I saw my family standing in the first row of the crowd.

Mum was clinging to the dark-haired man who had his hand on her arm to keep her close. Dad smiled at me, raising his thumb as if to say, You’ll do great, Champ.

Together, they looked as if they’d fallen straight from a painting. Although they had been together for a long time, it seemed like they’d fallen in love only yesterday.

My sister, standing on the right side of our mother, cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, “Lynn, you rock!”

I couldn’t help but chuckle and roll my eyes.

Kristian mustered a faint smile, pushing his glasses up to his nose.

It was time to play.

I faced the piano and placed my long fingers on the right keys. I inhaled deeply; playing in front of a big audience was a challenge compared to playing at home where only my family could hear me. It was completely normal to feel slightly nervous, but I was excited at the same time. Excitement to play the piano in front of the others was the little engine that propelled me to do so.

I always wanted to be acknowledged, and being on stage when all eyes were on me, and only me, meant everything to a girl from a small cottage in the woods.

My fingers pressed the tiles, and I began playing one of the most complicated sonatas I’d learned. I smiled as the music took over, teleporting me to a whole different dimension. It felt as if I was somewhere else as the townies admired me,  idolised as the queen on her throne and loved as the man I was meant to be with loved me.

I stood up, about to bow, as the crowd cheered and applauded my impeccable performance, but my eyes paused upon my family. Before playing, they’d been happy, and now … my father, my beloved dad, looked like he couldn’t breathe. A song that was quiet at first played somewhere nearby, but it was growing louder, nearing like an undulating wave. It reminded me of a lullaby. A sweet but deathly lullaby.

I tried to look around to find the source of the song, to see who was singing it, but I couldn’t move my neck at all.

Dad was gasping for air like a fish hauled onto the shore, trying desperately to survive. I wanted to go to him and help him, but my legs were rooted to the stage.

Mum started to cough. Crimson liquid gushed from her throat like a fountain. Blood. Lots and lots of blood besmirched her plum dress.

Genette … Claret-red bloomed on her chest, spreading over her white shirt while she stared at me with wide eyes.

Help! I wanted to shout, but I was mute. No sound came out of my vocal cords. It was as if my mouth was stitched up.

I looked at Kristian. I looked for him, but he wasn’t where I’d seen him standing. Instead, he was walking away through the parted crowd. His back was turned to me while our family tumbled on the ground like dead bees. I was left to stand and witness the deaths of my beloved ones. I couldn’t scream either. They were dying, and I could do nothing to save them.

And Kristian left as though he couldn’t care less.

Part I: Notes of Chill & Seclusion

I

I JOLTED AWAKE, breathing heavily.

As I placed my palm on my chest, I was about to convince myself that it wasn’t real, but that would be a lie.

It was real. My nightmare was real. Most of my family was dead, and Kristian had betrayed us.

I brushed the damp hair back from my forehead. I was soaked in sweat. My skin was hotter than normal, but I didn’t feel any pain in my body, even if the last thing I recalled was an arrow sticking out of my abdomen.

I quickly raised the blanket. The place where the arrow had been wasn’t bleeding. There was not even a trace of blood on the white shirt I was wearing, either. My legs were naked, but I didn’t remember changing.

I was sure I’d been attacked. I moved the shirt up, and indeed, the nasty scar above my navel confirmed the fact my former fiancé had tried to kill me.

Because I wasn’t a human anymore. I had never been. I was a descendent of two invincible and dangerous kinds—humans’ worst enemies. And the gold could have killed me, but it didn’t. I remained alive.

Alive in a strange room.

It wasn’t claustrophobic, but it was a small and austere one. A square, grated window above the wooden wardrobe let in a sufficient ray of light, and a desk was in the right corner.

I pushed myself off the bed, but once I stood on my feet, my head spun and my vision blackened. I grabbed for the bed knob. When I could see things again, I staggered towards the wooden door and opened it, taking a step forward, only to reel back immediately.

My feet were on the verge of a staircase leading down.

Supporting my hand on the balustrade, I carefully made it downstairs. My balance wasn’t in the best shape at the moment, and it was weird, considering that I was a lion—an animal whose balance was impeccable.

There was a small foyer with ridiculously tall walls and a dim hallway ahead of me. I proceeded towards it, finding two doors on opposite sides. I opened the one to my right first.

Inside was a basin and a bathtub. It wasn’t luxurious but a simple bathroom that could be compared to the one in the cottage.

The mere thought of home got my heart and throat stinging. I wanted to go back to bed and weep, mourn the family I’d lost. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t related to them. They were still my family, and I’d lost them all: my father, mother, sister … brother. Mum’s and sister’s deaths were the morphs’ doing. And I would never forgive them for that.

But I’d give in to grief after I found out where I was.

I closed the door and turned to the other. I laid my heavy hand on the handle and opened it.

The smell of coffee hit me instantly. I wrinkled my nose at such a bitter and pungent smell. It irritated my better senses.

There were two counters—one with a basin—and an oven in poor condition between them. A square table was amid what was clearly a kitchen with three chairs surrounding it, but one was missing, abandoned in the corner instead.

As I took a step inside, I closed the door behind me and leaned against it. My thoughts perturbed me. Many of them didn’t make sense. I didn’t understand where I was, why I was here, and who, three hells, had changed my outfit.

Perhaps I was in prison, or it was yet another nightmare. I sucked in a breath, poised to pinch my arm and confirm whether it was another bad dream or not, but the door across the room swung open. I stiffed.

In the doorway appeared the man who stepped straight out of my drawing. A well-built one with wings tucked behind him and horns poking the top of the door casing, holding a dead hog in his bare right hand. His burgundy hair was shorter than I remembered—shoulder-length instead of long like mine.

Once his gold eyes adorned with red specks locked with mine across the room, my heart had a mind of its own and skipped a beat.

Despite the traitorous reaction to his presence, I hadn’t forgotten what he’d done. He pretended to be my friend and then stabbed me in the back when least expected. He solved the riddle, learning that the answer to breaking the four-decade curse was sacrificing my sister, Genette. Morphs had killed her at the Winter Solstice. Her body was left to rot in the Mortal Region where she’d grown up. Drayard was the reason I didn’t have a family anymore. I was all alone in this world. An orphan and betrayed twice.

“Good morning,” he said with indifference. He entered the room, closing the door behind him. “You woke up right on time for lunch.”

There was no warmth emanating from him but pure coldness. And I didn’t think it was because it was cold here. He could manipulate temperature and make the room warmer if he wished, but he acted like a fire that was doused instead. It irked me, for it was I who was supposed to be resentful, not him for some inexplicable reason. He’d gotten what he’d wanted. The curse was lifted.

He dropped the dead hog on the countertop and pulled out a knife. A shiver coursed through me, but instead of using it as a weapon, he began skinning the hog. I looked away.

“Where am I?” I didn’t like how hoarse my words came out, but at least they carried a tinge of coldness, matching the aura in the room.

“On the Isle of Sage.”

I was glad to know the map, even if the place where I’d learned it in the first place was linked to awful memories. But when I called it to mind, at least I had an idea of where I was. The Isle of Sage was hanging over the Empire of Beasts like a small cloud.

“And what am I doing here?”

“Staying safe,” he said, matter-of-factly. “Everyone knows Tatyana and Aytigin had a child. Morphs want to spill your blood because they believe it’s rotten. This is the best place for you to be where no authority can find you.”

“How long was I unconscious?”

“Two days.”

Two days since my sister died. Two days had passed since my sixteen-year-old innocent sister was sacrificed in the Realm of Bones—the place I hated most of all.

My blood began to boil, but I didn’t feel the familiar burning of the bracelet against my wrist. Because it wasn’t there to restrict my magic anymore. I had all the magic within me now, regardless of having no inkling of how to summon it, let alone use it.

“And who changed me into this?”

Drayard stopped skinning the hog to spare a glance at me over his shoulder, his gaze shifting down to my bare thighs. His shirt barely covered my bottom. His shirt he’d put on me, as I didn’t remember doing that myself.

If I knew how to change into a lion or control any of my other abilities, I’d hurt him so badly right now.

He’d seen me naked without my permission. Did he know how many other men had scarred me by touching my body against my own will? Or with it, but how I hated every touch, enduring each one in silence? And Drayard had given himself permission. He’d touched me while I was unconscious. Seen me utterly naked while I was senseless. A monstrous bastard—that was who he’d been all along, regardless of how I used to overlook that part.

Creases appeared on his forehead as though he’d heard everything I was thinking. “If you think I looked where I wasn’t supposed to, I didn’t.”

I didn’t believe him.

“And I didn’t touch you the way you think I did. I swear to the Gods, I didn’t look where I shouldn’t and didn’t touch you the way I shouldn’t.”

But I continued to stare at him, sceptical.

“You think so low of me, Elynn.” He sighed, focusing again on peeling off the hog’s skin.

“But how can I not think lowly of you?” I took the furthest seat from him at the table. “You sucked the blood of your enemies, threatened Nadira and Nayden to give you sorceresses or otherwise you’d disclose their incestual relationship to the whole empire, killed my sister, and how could I forget … ?” I glared at his back. “You played me. You are the stranger. And you lied.”

As he didn’t confirm it or deny it, if there had been doubts before, now there were none.

“But why would you hide such a thing from me?”

His shoulders sagged, and he turned to me, a knife glistening in his hand. I went rigid. “Because, Elynn, you believed something that wasn’t there. You said it yourself, the stranger might be your one. Well, he … I am not your one. We are not meant to be. And with all the reasons you just named, you can tell yourself that you deserve so much more than me.”

His eyes were such a bundle of unsettling emotions that it was hard to maintain eye contact with him. But I forced myself to.

“When I …” I dampened my lips, but my mouth was too dry. “When I thought about you during … when I was with other men, did you—”

“Yes,” he interrupted me, and I was glad he did. “I felt everything you did.” He poured a glass of water from the flask. “And yet I had no clue the huntsman was abusing you.”

“He wasn’t. Not that way.”

I watched him warily as he walked over to me and offered me a glass of water. “Does that make it different?”

No, I guess it didn’t.

I took the glass but didn’t bother thanking him. He returned to the counter and resumed skinning the hog while I gulped the water. It was refreshing. When was the last time I’d had it? Before I’d gone to the Realm of Bones to face my inevitable defeat?

“I wish I’d killed him.”

Water almost made it to the wrong hole, and I’d have choked. I carefully swallowed the last gulp. “What do you mean, you wish? You didn’t kill him?”

He was silent.

My hand on the glass tightened.

“You would have died if I’d finished him,” he said at last.

Seething with rage, I wished his hand holding the knife would burn. And as if the Universe for the first time had listened to my wish, the sleeve of his shirt caught fire, but it didn’t affect him. He extinguished the fire with his own ability, treating it as if it was of no significance.

“Impressive,” he said, sounding impressed indeed.

I breathed out, letting the rage leave my system, at least a bit, or else I might break the glass I was holding.

Not taking any chances, I set it down. “She’s alive, isn’t she?”

He didn’t speak.

“Gen’s alive, and I don’t know how, but she must be because Kris would have reacted differently. He would never betray his own family. He might be reserved with his feelings and strike as someone who might not care about anyone other than himself, but he does. Besides, you said two hours. Two hours meant until she would wake up, didn’t it? I don’t know how, but—”

“Elynn …” he said, voice low. “I fooled him.”

I stared at him, confused.

“How else would I have gotten to your sister?” He went on. “I had to lie, to make Kristian believe the sacrifice was a part of the ritual Genette needed to go through in order to ascend.”

“Come again?”

He stared at me with the most serious look. “Your mortal family’s blood runs with magic. They are sorcerers.”

My lips parted, but then it all started making sense. When I’d been on my way to the Mortal Region, the Spell’s effects caught me, but as I’d gone the next time, I crossed the river with no problems because Gen helped me. Besides, Kristian had said himself that we wouldn’t leave the Spell without him.

Gen was a sorceress. And Kristian was a sorcerer.

“I tricked him into believing Gen would become an Ascended Sorceress,” he said. “I told them about the sacrifice, earned their trust, and your letter helped me. I had an enchanted necklace which I used to get to the Mortal Region unaffected.”

I could not believe him. All the crimes he’d done flooded back into my mind. Drayard was capable of anything, and this sounded exactly like what the Bloodsucker would do.

“You are such a manipulative devil. I can’t believe I …” I shut my mouth before I said too much. “You know what? Once you die, the three hells will spit you out because Gods below altogether cannot be compared to such an evil soul as yours.”

I sprang up and went for the exit. Once I opened the door, a gust of cold air blew into my face, but I didn’t care about it. I slammed the door behind me, strong enough for the entire house to shake.

II

IT WAS FREEZING.

I hugged myself as if my own hold could warm me while my teeth chattered from the winter’s chill.

I neared the wooden platform with pillars twice my height. As I climbed on it, I wrapped my hands around one, so I wouldn’t fall over by accident. I couldn’t even see the ground beneath that was shrouded by the mist. It was probable that the height stretching from the ground to here was fatal.

The house was somewhere high in the mountains. I’d never been in the mountains, let alone seen such high ones in my life before. What was this house even doing here? I would ask Drayard if I wasn’t feeling hostile towards him. Leaving my curiosity unsated was better than talking to him again. But even if I humbled myself to ask, I didn’t think he’d answer, especially if this house was associated with his past, which, of course, it was.

I heard the door opening behind me because of my sensitive hearing. I didn’t look to see who it was. It was only him and me here.

“Get back inside,” he said. “You’ll get cold.”

Indeed, my limbs were cooling from the icy breeze, but I wasn’t going to go back inside. I’d rather freeze to death than do anything the liar and backstabber told me. If I had wings, I’d fly away, but unfortunately, I didn’t.

Besides, I wasn’t going to catch a cold. I’d never been sick in my entire life because I wasn’t human. The cold couldn’t kill me. Only gold or iron could.

“Elynn,” he warned me. I was aware he was standing right behind me.

No answer came from me. He got onto the platform and stood beside me. I felt his penetrating stare as though he was trying to read me, but I didn’t let him. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking as he didn’t allow me either.

“I know you abhor me, but to give me the silent treatment right now isn’t the right time,” he said. “There are a lot of matters you need to know. So please, let’s go back inside and talk like two mature people.”

I continued to keep my mouth shut. I was officially done talking to him.

He tried to get inside my head and communicate with me there, but I shoved him out before he could say a word.

“All right.” He jumped off the platform. “If you’re into acting like a child, I’ll treat you like one.”

Before I could trace his movements, he wrapped his warm hand around my waist, pulling me in close to his body. I yelped at the unexpected touch. He lifted me, throwing me over his shoulder. He carried me like I was a sack of potatoes while I screamed, threatening to skin him alive as he had done with the hog and banged my fists against his back, but he didn’t put me down.

Drayard opened the door with his free hand and carried me inside. His warm hand was wrapped tightly around my bare legs, knocking the cold out of my bones. And yet, if I knew how to shapeshift into a lion at this moment, I would not hesitate to tear him into ribbons.

He deposited me on the table and rested his hands on either side of me. We were face-to-face, glaring at each other. I could sense his exasperation with me as much as I could feel my anger.

“Someday, I swear I’ll kill you,” I spat.

“I know,” he said, unaffected by my threat. “But first, I’ll put some sense in you before you attempt the impossible.”

I crossed my arms. “Step back. I will listen to whatever you say if you keep your distance from me.”

The smile that came across his face belonged to satan. “But your body craves my attention, Honeylove. Are you sure you want me to keep my distance?”

“Oh, you’ve read my body signals wrong, Firelight.” I leaned in. The tips of our noses were almost grazing as I looked right into his sparkling eyes and said, “My body wants to stab you in the heart uncountable times and see you bleeding on this same floor, not to screw me.”

From his unwavering smile, I could tell he didn’t believe anything I’d said. Neither did I. But he didn’t point it out. Instead, he pushed himself off the table to walk over to the counter. Once his sinister heat and the smell of smoke that was as much of a delight as before I’d received my powers were out of my orbit, I felt just a little relaxed.

My body was craving him like bees craved honey. It was undeniable, but it was also wrong. I hated him with all my heart and soul. I didn’t care to satiate my carnal desires with him because it was all nature’s doing. Drayard was my mate. Wanting him had been bound to happen. But I couldn’t succumb. My brain wasn’t as blind to Drayard’s crimes as my traitorous body was.

He leaned against the countertop, crossing his arms over his chest. I tried to ignore the patterns of ink on his forearms. All the flirt from his countenance was gone, dissolved into seriousness. A short period of innocent teasing was officially over. “Do you know why you’re here?”

I rolled my eyes. He’d already mentioned that before I’d stormed out. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Are you serious?”

His expression didn’t alter. He was like a teacher waiting for the right answer from his student.

I let out an exasperated sigh before proceeding to say monotonically, “Morphs want me dead because they know I’m Tatyana’s daughter, and you believe this is the safest place for me.”

I knew that and not because he’d told me. I had known from the stares the morphs gave me once I returned to my true form at the Winter Solstice. They were aware of who I was then.

“I don’t believe. I know,” he corrected me. I resisted another eye roll. “No one but me is aware of this place my ancestors built. Enchanters might also know you’re alive. And if two empires wish for your head, it’s dangerous for you to leave this island.”

I placed my hands on the table. “Are you saying I’m stuck here forever?”

As much as it was beautiful here and as much as it’d be beautiful in Spring and Summer, I would not make this island my eternal home. I had unfinished business in the Empire of Beasts—where all my enemies dwelled.

Well, one was right here, but it would take a while to plan on how to avenge Drayard. I’d take my sweet time with him since he was hard to fool, and I despised him the most.

“No. Sooner or later, somebody will find you here,” he said. “But until they do, you need to be prepared for anything that awaits you.” He eyed me. I tensed, looking down to make sure he couldn’t see through the shirt. “You’re weak for a half-breed. You’re in desperate need of training.”

I frowned but considered his words.

So far, what he told me was working to my advantage. If I trained, I’d become stronger. I’d learn how to control my powers and summon them whenever I needed them. Drayard was handing me an opportunity to stand a chance of defeating him on a silver platter.

“If you train me, I’ll need some clothes. I will not wear a single shirt forever,” I pointed out.

He looked me over from head to toe again, and my whole body’s muscles tensed. What differed from eyeing me earlier to now was that this time, he was shamelessly checking me out.

His eyes came back to mine eventually. “Why? In my opinion, you dressed in my shirt is the best thing I have ever seen you wear.” He smiled, and I recognised the same disarming smile he used to wear before the curse was broken on his new, unfairly attractive face.

I hopped off the table. “Cursed or not, your looks don’t help your personality shine better. You remain a perverted bastard and a monster.”

I pivoted on my heels and started for the door.

“My looks? And what are they like, according to you?”

I paused. I wasn’t planning to answer, but I looked over at him anyway. “Good looks or not, they reflect nothing when one is rotten from the inside. Good looks … they have never been the ones to capture my heart at the end of the day anyway.”

All the amusement drained from his face. I ignored the sting in my chest just as I ignored the emotion passing through his eyes since I’d seen it before. After failing to plunge the dagger into his chest, he’d said with a similar look in his eyes, “I wanted to trust you, Elynn.”

But he was the one who had broken the trust, not me. He had played me and had fooled me. Brilliantly. But I wasn’t going to let the same mistake happen again. I had learnt my lesson.

“I have something for you,” he said in hardly more than a whisper.

He approached me, drawing something out of his pocket. As he unclenched his fist, my breath got stuck in my throat.

In the centre of his broad but calloused and scarred palm was resting a bronze bracelet I knew by heart. The sun with a crescent engraved in it.

I could not mistake it, for it was the one I’d carried since birth, the one that had protected me from my powers until the dryad prince, Juniper, tore it off my wrist at my command.

But it wasn’t damaged, as I’d assumed.

As if he read my mind, he said, “I fixed the clasp. You can wear it; it won’t affect you. It holds no power anymore.”

I was tentative to take it, but I did it anyway. I had suspected the bracelet to be lost forever in the snow, in the realm I hated most of them all. But here it was, real and warm, as if warmed by Drayard’s touch.

I wasn’t sure what to say. A thank you would be proper. The bracelet must have belonged to Tatyana, serving as the only memento of my birth giver I’d never met, and Drayard had returned it to me. But after his misdeeds, I couldn’t make myself express my gratitude towards him. It wouldn’t feel right.

“Baby is going to bring you clothes tomorrow morning,” he said, not waiting for me to say something anymore, and I looked up at him. I could tell he wore a mask that concealed his emotions. I felt colder now than when I was outside. “And tomorrow, we are starting our training.”

Clenching the bracelet in my palm, I left the kitchen to escape the dreadful cold trying to seep into my heart.

I spent the rest of the day in the bedroom. There was nothing to do in this room, and I hadn’t eaten anything yet. Partly because I didn’t want to see Drayard again, but mostly because I wasn’t feeling hungry, though I hadn’t had food for two days.

I checked the wardrobe. It was filled with uniforms for men—clothes twice my size. But I found some old trousers I secured with a belt, turning them into decent bottoms, and tucked in the shirt. I didn’t want my legs to be bare if I encountered Drayard again.

There was a small round mirror attached to the inside of the wardrobe’s doors. Once I beheld my reflection, surprisingly, I didn’t startle at the sight, even if dried blood was in my hair. I didn’t know whether it was mine or Gen’s. Both probably. I had to wash it out, but I didn’t want to run into Drayard while making my way to the bathroom.

I was stinky and filthy. I had to take a shower, but if he was downstairs …

I released a groan in defeat and went to the door. I pulled it open and descended the stairs. As I reached the bathroom door, I put my hand on the handle, but before I opened it, I heard water splashing inside. I jerked my hand back as if electrified and was about to leave when the door opened, revealing a half-naked man covered in water.

I wasn’t ready for him. To see him like this. In most of his glory.

Drayard might make art, but what he might not know was that he was a work of art himself. Drops of water dripping from his wet burgundy hair ran down his copperish chest, disappearing in the black towel wrapped around his hips. Suddenly, I felt thirsty. My fingers itched to touch his every muscle and confirm they were as firm as they seemed. The intricate patterns inked on his arms rendered me stuck to the floor, and I was having a hard time keeping in mind that I had lungs to provide with air.

But how couldn’t I ogle at the sight of a go—devil. Devil! He was a devil, not a god.

A god, after all, wouldn’t tempt me to hook my fingers under the towel and—

“Elynn …” Drayard drawled, plucking me out of my reverie. I looked up at his face as if he hadn’t caught me eyeing his physique. A sneaky smile curled at the corner of his lips, and an image, which included his face and my thighs, manifested before my eyes.

He tilted his head to the side. “Is that drool?”

And the image was gone.

He was about to wipe the non-existent drool off my mouth with his fingers, but I smacked them away.

“Drayard, is that …” I glanced down at his covered area. “Is that a …?”

His smile fell, and he looked down, but before he realised it was a ploy, I pushed him out of my way with my elbow. As I slid inside, I heard his chuckle before I shut the door, searching for a lock.

But there was no lock.

Frustrated, I leaned against the wooden door and took a deep breath.

What was wrong with me? Did this have to do with the fact that he was a mate to my animal side, or was it a deeper, more messed up reason that involved my mind?

“Elynn,” his deep voice rang behind the door, and that alone got me pressing my thighs together firmly.

“What?”

“If it is a bath you want to take, you’ll need clean water for it.”

Of course. The water was used. By him. This wasn’t the house in the volcano where Baby and Blossom drew each and every one of my baths. This was a house located somewhere on the inhabitable island.

And here I thought I wouldn’t have to see his pretty face again.

Dammit.

III

I DIDN’T SLEEP that night. As soon as I closed my eyes, the picture of my dead sister appeared, making me feel more guilty as it again reminded me of what I couldn’t have prevented at the Winter Solstice.

I couldn’t save her.

I failed her.

During my restless night, I had a lot of things to think about. Gen’s death, its details I hadn’t seen at first. The curse …

Technically, she’d died because of me. Had I not given the power of bearing children to Mum by speaking in Dryad, Gen wouldn’t have died, and I wouldn’t have gone to the Empire of Beasts. But then, which one was better? My sister who had never existed or who got killed at sixteen? Both were equally horrible thoughts.

Once it got lighter outside, my sensitive ears caught the sounds downstairs. The voices followed, coming closer to the room.

“Are you sure nobody saw you?” Drayard asked, sounding concerned.

“Yes, I’m sure. I could escape in the middle of the day without anybody’s notice. Apparently, I have some other talent apart from pleasing men,” the voice of a girl mumbled.

Baby.

“Is our princessa upstairs?” she asked.

“Yes.”

I sprang off the bed and rushed to open the wardrobe. I started smoothing my hair in the mirror to make it as presentable as I could without a hairbrush.

The door opened, and I turned to see a glorious woman, dressed in an impeccable black coat, standing in the doorway. Her midnight blue hair was flowing down her shoulders, curling at the ends. Her skin was porcelain, eyes big and dark blue like the night sky on a full moon.

I was sure it was Baby because who else could it be? But it was hard to believe. She looked nothing like Baby in her cursed form. Cursed, she was tremendously unappealing, but now, she was far from hideous. Baby was perhaps the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

“Miss me, love?” She smiled, exposing her perfect pearly teeth. No sight of the sharp fangs I’d gotten used to.

I was too amazed to answer.

Our last time together wasn’t the nicest one. She’d accused me of turning into someone like Drayard after I’d threatened to attack her if she wasn’t going to show me the way to where the sacrifice was taking place. She hated me for even considering threatening her and Blossom.

Baby closed the door and threw a bag onto the bed. I was tense, being in the same room as her. I couldn’t tell or read how she felt about me without invading her privacy.

She put her hands on her curvy hips and surveyed the room.

“Not as luxurious as the room in the volcano, huh?” She cocked her brow at me.

Her friendly attempt to thaw the ice between us went for naught. I still couldn’t summon a single word.

She stared at me for a little while but then walked towards me and put her hands on my shoulders, looking right into my eyes.

“Whatever happened between us happened. Let’s forget about it. What do you say?”

But I was untrusting. She sighed and pulled me into her arms, squeezing me. I had to gasp for some air to fill the tiny gap left in my lungs from Baby’s suffocating hug.

“Yes, all right,” I gasped out. “You can let me go now.”

And she did. “I’m glad you’re alive and talking, love.” She neared the bed and unclasped the bag. “Blossom was the one who picked clothes, so if you don’t like what I brought, blame her,” she said. “But first …” She turned to me, a hairbrush in her hand. “That crow’s nest in your hair needs to be said bye-bye to.”

I smiled, taking the brush. Finally, I could comb my hair.

She began taking folded clothes out of the bag, one by one, while I was brushing out the knots. So far, there weren’t any dresses, but I didn’t expect to need one here. I was somewhere on the island, in the mountains during the wintertime. All I needed were the warm clothes that Blossom had indeed packed.

“How is Blossom doing?” I asked.

“She misses your new sketches,” Baby said, going over to the open wardrobe. She stopped and winced. “Oh my, how old are these clothes?”

I dropped the brush on the bed and began unpacking the rest. “But is Blossom all right?”

“Yes, she is.”

On the bottom, I found a sketchbook with more than a dozen colourful pencils. I smiled, happy that Blossom considered packing them.

While depositing them on the bed, something of burgundy colour within the bag snagged my gaze. I drew it out, and once I saw the piece of clothing in all its glory, I didn’t know what to think or feel.

In my hands was lacy lingerie that could only be used for special occasions.

Baby cracked up behind me. She must have noticed what was in my hands. I dropped the lingerie as if it was some filthy thing back on the bed and whirled to face Baby.

“Why?”

She didn’t stop laughing.

I stared at her, patiently waiting for her to collect herself.

She straightened herself, wiping the tears of laughter from her cheek. Then she noticed my annoyed stare. “Hey, don’t be cross with me. Blossom picked the clothes, not me.”

I believed her, but I still didn’t understand why Blossom would pack something like this. I was never sleeping with exposed underwear, let alone underwear made of lace. Not only wasn’t it my style of sleepwear, but it was uncomfortable.

But then again, it wasn’t made for sleeping.

“Why would Blossom pack it?”

Baby must have known Blossom’s motives. They were together, after all. I’d discovered their relationship over an accident, which was mortifying for all three of us.

She shrugged, removing the rest of the men’s uniforms off the hangers and dropping them onto the floor. “It must have been meant as a joke. Don’t take Blossom’s sense of humour to heart.” She went back to the bed, grabbed the clothes, and sorted them in the wardrobe.

I pushed everything involving the lingerie to the back of my mind.

“Since the curse is broken,” I changed the topic, “have morphs released humans from slavery?”

Baby stopped moving and didn’t look at me.

“Baby?”

“Didn’t Drayard tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

She turned to me, biting at her lower lip, eyebrows lowered. At last, she said, “They kill humans every day.”

IV

BABY TOLD ME what had been happening in the Empire of Beasts ever since my revelation.

Even if morphs weren’t cursed anymore, slavery remained. My friends in the Realm of Bones mansion were still following morphs’ orders. But one thing had changed.

When the emperor learnt who I was, he regarded me as a potential threat to his empire and released a law commanding each of the realms to kill one human every day until I showed up to save them.

Now humans were dying because of me. And Drayard failed to tell me this, the most fundamental thing. Instead, he’d emphasised how everybody wished for my death, and I should stay here, safe and sound, while humans were getting murdered because of me.

When Baby left, I changed into comfortable and more fitting clothes, put a coat on since it was cold here, and stormed downstairs. I searched for that bastard everywhere, but he was nowhere to be found.

I got outside and almost bumped into him. Stepping back, I craned my neck back to look at him.

“Good morn—”

“You, bastard!” I snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me that humans are slaughtered one by one every day because of me?”

“Ah.” Drayard tucked his hands in the pockets, assuming casualness. “Gossiper Baby told you.”

I clenched my teeth. “Why. Didn’t. You. Tell. Me.”

“Some things are better off as secrets.”

“Drayard,” I hissed in warning.

Raising his hand, he looked at the invisible watch on his wrist. “It’s our training time.” He tipped his head to the side. “Talk after?”

“Drayard.”

“Elynn.” He smiled, raising my rage level even further.

I curled my fingers into a fist and swung it at his face, but it didn’t reach him. Drayard caught it, pulling me to him. I tried to pry my fist away from his grasp, but he grabbed me around the waist and sprang into the air with me.

“Let go of me!”

“Are you sure?” His warm breath caressed my ear, making goosebumps rise over my body. “If I do, you’ll fall and smash on the ground.”

I looked down. He was right. I was so high up, I could barely see the porch I’d been on a moment ago.

I looked back at his unearthly eyes. “You’re a monster.”

“When am I not?”

During the flight, Drayard’s one hand was on my waist while the other was under my thigh. I hated his touch. Well, actually, my body didn’t mind such proximity at all, but I couldn’t let myself delight in any of his touches. It was wrong.

Yes, he was one good-looking man, but he was horrible on the inside. He’d sacrificed my sister. That was supposed to be an ultimate turn-off, and though I knew that mentally, my body betrayed me each time he was around.

His mouth close to my ear didn’t help shove all the wrong thoughts about him away either. If he attempted to seduce me instead of teasing me someday, I was sure my body would betray me. I could fight against teasing and harmless flirting, but if he lured me to bed, I didn’t think I’d have the inner strength to object. No matter how much I despised him, no matter how much I wanted him to pay for his crimes, my body was hungry for him.

What are you thinking about? His deep voice got through all the mental walls I’d built to keep him away from my mind.

Ways to kill you in your sleep.

He smiled, amused and unsurprised. It must be entertaining.

You have no idea.

We landed near a canyon covered with snow that crunched under my boots. As his hands slid off me, I backed away from the deep, fatal chasm.

“Since you despise me, hit me,” he said.

I looked at him as if he was out of his mind. Only now did I take in his outfit, which was an immaculate burgundy coat. I refrained from rolling my eyes at his obvious colour of choice.

“The moment is gone,” I said, indifferent. “I don’t feel like hitting you anymore.”

“Hit me. I need to assess your physical shape.”

I stared at him for a bit longer. Well, if he insisted …

Clenching my hand into a fist, I hurled my body towards him, wishing my fist would reach his handsome face. Drayard stepped aside, and I fell headlong into the snow, burying my face in it.

At least he didn’t laugh, though I’d expected him to.

Acting unaffected, I brushed the wet strands of hair away from my forehead and the remaining snow off my face. He extended his hand to help me stand up, but I didn’t take it. I hopped back to my feet on my own.

Drayard shoved his hand into the pocket, eyes appraising.

“And what do you think, Your Highness?” I asked with a biting tone.

“We’ll get there.”

In other words, I was already a failure.

He made me stretch before starting my training. His exercises were already exhausting, and when we came to the actual training, I was dying. He explained and showed me all the techniques of punching somebody in the face without getting blocked. I tried them, but I failed every bloody time. He avoided my punches as a professional.

But in fighting, he was a professional when I was a mere beginner.

“Why don’t you teach me how to use my powers instead?” I asked during the break, pouring the canteen of water he had brought into my throat. After swallowing tons, I dragged in a sharp breath. “You can tell I’m not the best fighter with fists.”

It was embarrassing how not half an hour of our training had passed, and I was already worn out. Drayard looked the same as before: his dashing coat untouched by snow, unlike mine. There wasn’t even a sign of perspiration on his face, whereas I was drenched in it. I knew, once I was back, I was taking one hell of a long bath.

“You shouldn’t depend on your powers in a fight,” he advised. “Someone could take them away from you. That’s why you need to know how to fight without them.”

“What do you mean, someone can take my powers away?”

“Morphs’ and enchanters’ powers can be detained. You know the first way.  Your bracelet that used to hold your powers was enchanted by a sorceress,” he explained. “Next one would be the herb called fade ivy. A slight amount of it makes powers disappear. For how long, it depends on the fade ivy’s quantity in the enchanter’s or morph’s system. And the last thing would be the detain stone. When either a morph or enchanter is close to it, it absorbs their powers. But the detain stone is mostly used in prisons.”

I wished I’d known this before. I might have had more chances of saving my sister. But it was too late now. Besides, I wasn’t sure how I could have obtained, let alone used, such things to stop the sacrifice.

I placed the empty canteen on the ground. “By what sorceress was my bracelet enchanted?”

A chuckle left his mouth. “I guess it’s time for that story.”

“What story?”

He leaned against the tree, arms crossed over his chest. I remained in a crouching position, trying not to appear affected by his absolutely attractive stance.

“Once upon a time …” I rolled my eyes, making him crack a smile before he continued. “… a sorceress fell in love with a morph and was enamoured by her. Landal already had a family, while Lucy was only fifteen. She was a heedless young sorceress. Some even mistook her for the witch because of the sorceress’s behaviour. Since she enjoyed stepping a foot in the Realm of Bones, she was bound to run into a morph eventually, and when she did, it was Landal, the first man who aroused brand new feelings in her.”

I didn’t expect to hear a love story during my break time, but I listened, appreciating that he was sharing something with me.

“They spent more and more time together, but Lucy’s sixteenth birthday and the day when she’d be killed in order to ascend was drawing nearer, complicating their relationship,” he said. “Landal wanted her to stay the way she was, not yet ascended, and be with him while Lucy coveted both power and love. Alas, she couldn’t have both.”

The story made me a bit uncomfortable as it triggered memories of my sister, but I pushed those aside for now, trying to pay attention.

“As Lucy became Ascended Sorceress, she changed. Not only was she more powerful, more feared, more cunning, but colder. Landal’s and Lucy’s love affair ebbed until there was nothing left of it.”

“Is that what happens to sorceresses when they ascend? Their personalities change?”

He made a pensive face. “When sorceresses ascend, they definitely go through a difficult time because it takes a while to get used to the powers they gain. They might all change, not all of them change drastically, but I haven’t met many sorceresses to evaluate their personalities before and after the ascension.”

I nodded unconsciously, gesturing him to continue with my hand.

He did. “Years later, when sorceresses convened to curse the empire and protect the Mortal Region from morphs, they had no clue what kind of sorceress they’d included in their scheme. Lucy was known as a mysterious sorceress of them all, the most independent one, and her motives were questionable, but none of them suspected her of anything, which was their mistake.

“Even if Lucy was a part of the cast of the curse and the Spell, her love for Landal never ceased to bloom. She didn’t want him to turn into a beast. Perhaps they were meeting in secret, keeping the romance alive despite Lucy’s change of character, which determined her treachery.”

“What treachery?”

“She tricked the sorceresses,” he said. “She convinced them that making a curse with no merciful terms to morphs would undermine their powers. Thanks to Lucy, morphs can convert into their true form twice a year. She was also the one who created a spell after a curse to manipulate morphs’ shape. Sorceresses had no clue what she’d done, especially when they proceeded to the Spell’s creation.

“The Spell was all Lucy’s idea. She manipulated other sorceresses by telling them how they could protect humans but with a small price to pay.”

“Their death,” I thought aloud.

“Indeed,” he assured. “They were all reluctant at first but agreed, eventually. But the Spell didn’t have to cost their lives. Lucy deceived them. She was the one who drained the lives out of them during the Spell to gain their power, making her stronger.”

Now it all made sense why humans didn’t know anything. Why they had no clue about the Spell or the curse. And it was all because of one devious witch.

“She betrayed her kind.” I stood up, my blood boiling. “And it was all because of what? Because she fell in love with this morph she couldn’t be with?”

“Her love for Landal changed Lucy’s opinion about morphs, but it wasn’t the sole reason. Lucy was a follower of the Universe. All Ascended Sorceresses are, but not all of them oblige to it. If they follow the Universe’s orders, they are exceedingly rewarded. If not, they’re stripped of their powers or punished, and Lucy has been its most faithful servant. She completed all of the Universe’s given tasks, and now, she’s the most powerful Ascended Sorceress in the world.”

“She’s still alive?”

He nodded.

“And she lives in the Mortal Region?”

“No.”

“Then where is she now?”

He shrugged.

“If she’s so powerful, why am I hearing about her only now? Humans haven’t heard about her, but you did. How?”

“Because I met her.”

Silence.

“How?”

“I’ve travelled all over the globe, Elynn. She was the one who’d found me and told me what I just relayed to you. Why she confided in me with all this, I don’t know.”

“So, she’s the sorceress who enchanted my bracelet?”

“Yes.”

I took some time to let that sink in. “But … but how did Tatyana know her? And why would the most powerful sorceress in the world create a bracelet for a creature whose entire kind she helped to curse? What good did she get from that?”

“I cannot answer that, Elynn.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t know,” he said, straightforward. “I’d met her before I learnt about Tatyana’s pregnancy.”

Inspecting his face, I searched for a lie.

“I’m not lying,” he said, as if he’d read my thoughts.

For a second, I got worried that he indeed did, but then he replied. “You get suspiciously silent and your eyes narrow every time you’re not sure if I’m telling the truth. If you think I read your mind, I didn’t. I respect your privacy.”

A laugh escaped me. “Respect my privacy? Yeah, right,” I fired. He opened his mouth, but I beat him to it. “I’ve rested. We can go back to training.”

I got into an attacking position. He shut his mouth. I could tell he wasn’t satisfied with changing the topic this fast, but he didn’t come back to it either. All he did was push off the trunk and stand, waiting for me to hit. I tried to kick him with my leg, but he captured it by my ankle and held it, giving me a pointed look. “When you learn to fight with fists, we’ll move on to kicking like horses, all right?”

I gritted my teeth. He let go of my ankle, and before he could grasp what was happening, I swung my fist into his abdomen, but he avoided that, too.

I was growing really annoyed by this.

As we kept training in silence—every now and then, my heavy breathing and grunts interrupting it—I was still failing at punching him. Was I that weak? It shouldn’t be that hard to hit someone, but when I thought more about it, perhaps it was. After all, it was the Bloodsucker I was trying to punch. I was naïve for even thinking I could do this.

“Would you believe me if I told you that at the beginning of my war training, I was the worst at pummelling in the camp?” he asked after a while.

I gave him a weird glance.

“Well, I was,” he admitted. “But despite how terrible I was at it or other types of fighting styles, I still trained. I could have gone to serve in the kitchen and prepare food for other soldiers for the rest of the war, but …”

He stopped talking, and I paused, not trying to punch him anymore.

I knew the reason why he’d stopped in the middle of the sentence without needing to get into his head. He was about to disclose a piece of his past, but he stopped himself before revealing too much. But I had an idea what he was about to say.

Once, I’d seen a memory in his head. And I’d heard his thoughts that belonged to little Drayard.

He’d wanted to make his father proud. To feel loved by the only member of the family he had. And serving in the kitchen during the war wouldn’t have made Arragon more appreciative of his son.

Feeling bad for him, I’d been ready to understand him, be there for him and hold him if he had one of the bad days again, but it was before I knew he was planning to sacrifice my sister. Before Dara’s dagger killed her. Then things took an irrevocable turn, and I didn’t feel any pity for him anymore. At least I didn’t allow myself to feel anything close to it.

As I again chased him with my fists, to save breath, I asked in his head, Why didn’t you tell me about humans in the empire?

My fist went straight to him, but he caught it and let go. I blew the strand of hair off my eye.

Because you’d have strode to the empire where they’d have killed you in a second.

True. He blocked my blows with his hands. I threw a covert glance at his unprotected lower spot, having an idea in mind. But now that I know, don’t you think I’m going to go there to save thousands of innocents?

I won’t let you. Even if it’s for a good cause, you’re more important than you think you are.

I didn’t hide my annoyance. Is it because I’m a threat to two empires? Because my parents were high blood?

Yes and no. I aimed at him again, not even trying at this point. You have a kind heart that most morphs can’t brag about. Nayden is a cold freak. He’s killing innocents to get to you, blinded by vengeance against his sister. And people with kind hearts are rare in this world. Especially now when the curse was broken only recently. In a way, morphs are more like unfettered wild animals than they’ve ever been.

Are you an unfettered, wild animal?

A half grin appeared at the corner of his mouth. Elynn … I’m way worse than that.

I flashed him a false smile before I went for the final blow. I struck my fist right towards his unprotected private part, but he grabbed my wrist before it reached it. Fury filtered through me. I tried to punch him with another, but he caught it mid-flight, too. He spun me around and pulled me closer so that my back was pressed against his chest.

I looked up at him, blowing a strand of my hair away again. We both glared at each other. Fervent and deadly.

But then his eyes moved down to my lips.

My breath hitched and my heart ran wild, but he let go of me, pulling back.

“We are done for today,” he said.

As I turned to him, he was avoiding my gaze. I smirked in my mind.

Oh, but we’re only getting started, Firelight.

That night, I was ready to leave.

I had no plan in mind. I didn’t scheme anything. All I did was wait until he went to sleep in his lair under the stairs.

Once I didn’t hear any sounds, I quietly opened the door and, on my tiptoes, descended the stairs, hoping that one of them wouldn’t creak and betray me. They didn’t.

I reached the floor, but as I was about to open the door to the kitchen, I sensed him behind me.

He didn’t say anything. Neither did I.

So, I flung open the door and made to run, but the candles flared in the kitchen, and his disturbingly warm hand closed around my wrist.

“Let go,” I gritted out.

I didn’t expect he would, but he did as soon as I’d said it. “Where are you headed?”

I turned to him and regretted it. Again, he was half-naked, but instead of a towel around his hips, it was his underwear keeping him somewhat dressed. I tried not to show how much his bareness affected me, forcing myself to focus on his concerned eyes and only them, unlike the last time.

“Do you remember when you said I could always leave?” I asked.

Some wrinkles appeared on his forehead. He’d known what I was going to do before he even asked, but he didn’t say anything, waiting for me to finish.

“Well, I’m leaving,” I declared.

“Are you aware there is no way for you to leave because this is an island, Elynn?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then how are you planning to get there?”

“You are going to fly me to Casidiarn Castle.”

I’d been expecting him to detain me all along because I knew nothing could ever slip away without his noticing. And now I was ready to negotiate with him.

He stared at me for a while, then he chuckled. “Right.”

“I’m serious, Drayard. One life for a thousand! Isn’t that what you stand for?”

“Yes, but …”

“But what?”

He sighed. “But I also stand for sacrificing thousands if it means keeping you alive.”

I was silent, waiting for him to say more, but as expected, he didn’t.

“I’m choosing to leave. You said I had a choice, so I’m taking it. Fly me to Casidiarn Castle.”

“No.”

“Then you are not a man of your word.”

“Was I ever?”

I scoffed. “I hate you.” I turned and strode towards the exit.

“Elynn, it’s your life we are talking about.”

I swivelled to face him. “Yes, but we are also talking about all humans’ lives! How can I live, and they don’t? It’s not fair. So let me save them!”

“I understand—”

I huffed, shaking my head.

A shadow fell over his face as he lowered his head along with his voice. “I do understand, Elynn, but there’s something you’re missing. Nayden is the one who came up with such an ultimatum. He despises humans, willing to go as far as spreading a plague where they live. Whether you go there or not, he will still kill them.”

“You don’t know that.”

“But I know him better than you do. He will get rid of all humans whether you show up or not. He just expects to kill two birds with one stone because you grew up with humans, which means you must have a warm place for them in your heart, and now he’s using it against you. You know yourself that what I’m saying is no lie. As determined as you can be, you can’t save everyone.”

His words stung in various ways. First, because he was right. Nayden had an innate urge to obliterate humans. He had made a deal with enchanters to spread the plague through animals around the Mortal Region. Whether or not I went there and let them kill me, humans were doomed.

And second, Drayard’s words reminded me of my sister. The heart-stabbing and haunting fact that I could not save her.

Hopeless fury kindled my nerves, and tears burned behind my eyes, but I suppressed them all. I went past him, and as I was halfway through the corridor, I heard him sigh.

Back in the bedroom, I cried for the first time after the Winter Solstice until the tears put me to sleep.

V

DRAYARD HAD BROUGHT a roast chicken out of nowhere.

He’d prepared pasta for me. As I was poking it with a fork, I stole a glance at the delicious-looking chicken settled on his plate now and then. I couldn’t help myself. We didn’t have much meat here, and the roast chicken was the first meaty food I’d seen in a while. It looked so juicy, so tasty, and the smell was a tease to my highly sensitive nostrils.

My stomach craved meat, not some food made of wheat. But there was no way I was going to ask him to share.

We hadn’t been talking ever since he’d thwarted me from leaving, and it’d been almost a week. I was proud of myself, as simmering in silence this long wasn’t something I could bear.

Training with him was challenging in various ways, but how terrible my body felt after every session defeated them. Though I wasn’t training every day, having spare days to rest, they weren’t any better when every muscle in my body was sore, and all I could see was the bed.

But despite the aches and discomfort, I kept going. I had to keep training. I had to become stronger, quicker, wittier. Even if I was slowly sinking in desolation, and with each day, it was getting harder to find my anchor. I was starting to miss everything I’d had a month ago. The chatters, the volcano house, the bat girls … him.

And I hated myself for it.

I did try to reach for the chicken to snatch at least a leg, but he noticed it. He went rigid, eyes snapping at me. Something about his stare forced me to quickly pull my hand back, taking it as a sign not to touch his chicken ever again.

Propping my chin on a fist, I emitted a dramatic sigh while staring sadly at my dish, but he continued gnawing on the chicken’s bone, impervious to my dramatics.

I let go of my fork, giving up. He didn’t even glance at it when it clattered to the plate. I put my arms on the table and inclined my head to Drayard, staring at him until he noticed.

It took him a while, but I figured he did it on purpose.

“What?” he asked.

I didn’t say anything. Just stared.

He frowned. “What?”

But I stared and stared and stared and—

“Oh, come on, Elynn,” he groaned. “It’s my chicken.”

I was silent, not turning my eyes from his.

Unable to hold eye contact any longer, he focused on his chicken, taking slow and less certain bites, twisting in his chair like he couldn’t get comfortable enough. After the second bite, he let out a sigh, setting down his fork in defeat. Keeping his gaze down, he began pushing his plate towards me. Slowly, tentative. As though unwilling to say goodbye. I stifled a triumphant smile.

Once he stopped, I shoved my plate with pasta towards him for him to take. I ripped off the chicken’s leg and bit into it. It tasted as I’d imagined. It was exactly what my famished stomach was craving all along.

Drayard was watching me the whole time. Jealous. But, eventually, he looked down at his plate and scowled. He inserted the fork into the pile of pasta and twisted it, getting strands around it.

“Once I was a trainer,” he said.

I couldn’t care less about what he had to say. The chicken was my sole focus here.

But it didn’t stop him from continuing. “After the Hundred Years’ War, I came back to Hellrock Castle but didn’t stay long. There was nothing for me there, and I was bored to the bone. I then travelled here, to the Isle of Sage, where I’d been trained for the war.

“I decided to give a try to training the kids as war is what I’m good at,” he said. “I’d been a commander for about half the war.”

I didn’t turn a deaf ear, though. I listened to him, hiding my amazement that he talked about his past, since he was reluctant even to graze it.

“I trained them for thirty years and—”

“Thirty years?!” I exclaimed and regretted it.

He smiled. “Here we go. I missed your voice.”

I rolled my eyes, and his smile widened. But his smile only lasted until he attempted to take a bite of the pasta. As one strand touched his tongue, crinkles formed on his forehead. I tried my best not to laugh.

“What did you do next? After finishing training others?” I took another bite of the chicken.

“I travelled,” he said, adding nothing else.

“Where?”

He slicked his hair back. “Around the world.”

I took a covert breath, trying not to get irritated by his evasiveness. “I already knew that, but can you be more specific?”

He pushed the chair back and stood up—a dismissal. I let out a laugh.

Of course. He had only started talking about himself in the first place to draw a sentence out of me. That was his plan all along—to hear my voice after a week of giving him the silent treatment. And when I’d begun to question him, he didn’t see a reason to keep going with his story. What a bastard.

“Good night, Elynn,” he said as he raised the plate with hardly touched pasta and put it on the counter. I was close to feeling bad for taking the chicken from him, but I pushed that feeling away, not allowing myself to feel guilty for having a delicious meal while his stomach would stay empty for the rest of the night.

“Good night, Drayard,” I muttered, and he walked out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with his roast chicken.

The bookshelves surrounded me. I spun around, hoping it wasn’t the same library I’d dreaded ever since the nightmarish day.

But even if I tried to convince myself otherwise, I knew where I was, and to my surprise, I couldn’t feel my heart beating faster.

The dark-brown wolf stepped out of the shadows, prowling towards me. I tensed, recognising those copper, suffused with lust eyes. The animal shapeshifted, and now in front of me stood a half-beast instead of a wolf.

The broad, crooked smile pulled at Lupin’s mouth as he gripped my wrist. I couldn’t escape his hands. I wasn’t able to control my body. Paralyzed.

“You’ll be at our service today,” he said, flicking a tongue over his mouth.

“Don’t be afraid.” Hands behind me brushed my hair aside. “You’ll enjoy it,” Fillan whispered into my ear.

They ripped the maid’s dress off me and eyed my bare body, delighted by what they beheld in front of them. I couldn’t even move my hands to cover myself from their thirsty eyes.

Fillan bent me over, and someone called me by my name, but I couldn’t tell who.

I looked over my shoulder. Two men were moving behind me, melding into one. Fillan and Chase.

“I love you,” both of them spoke in unison.

“You know I love you, Ely, right?” Chase smiled crookedly at me.

I wanted to scream, but no sound came.

Someone kept repeating my name, pleading for me to wake up. But it wasn’t another nightmare. It was real. However, the stranger’s voice said otherwise.

It’s not real. It’s not real.

Something touched my lips. Looking up, I saw Lupin smiling down at me. The tip of his length prodded my lips, but I kept my lips pressed together, not letting him in.

“Come on. Don’t be shy,” his poisonous voice drawled. “Open your mouth.”

Not real. Not real. Wake up! I’m here. I’m holding you. Please ... I feel you. I feel you, Elynn.

Two men behind me were moving. In and out. In and out. In and out.

“Open. Your. Mouth,” Lupin snarled.

Elynn, please wake up. I’m holding you. You’re safe. You’re safe with me.

“Open your mouth, you—”

My eyelids fluttered open. Somebody was rocking me gently as I was panting, nausea churning my stomach. There was still a lingering image of Lupin and his length before me, but it was faint.

I pushed whoever held me away and scrambled backward until my back hit something solid. I brought my knees to my chest.

Not real. Not real. Not real.

Chase wasn’t here to repeat those three words to me at the wrong time. Fillan wasn’t here to thrust his length inside me. Lupin wasn’t here to press the head of his prized possession against my lips.

Not real. Not real. Not real.

“I’m here,” a voice from my nightmare spoke mildly. “Honeylove … please.”

I looked up, coming eye-to-eye with the actual, real man kneeling in front of me. A man with puffy rose lips, big red-golden eyes, messy long burgundy hair with horns sticking out of it. I looked down at his upper exposed muscles, massive wings tucked in behind him, reminding me they were always there.

Drayard.

I flung my hands around his neck as a clingy child, pressing my chest to his. At first, he didn’t move; his body tensed. But in a few seconds, his hands landed on my lower back, pulling me even closer, and his muscles relaxed.

“You won’t hurt me, right?” I asked like a frightened animal.

“No,” he promised, his hand rubbing my back soothingly. “I won’t.”

Feeling safe for once, I closed my eyes and breathed in his comforting smoke scent. His smell and soothing rubs on my back calmed me. I wanted to stay like this forever. Safe in his firm but gentle arms.

“I’m here,” he whispered. “Holding you no matter what.”

And for that night, I’d forgotten that my sister was dead because of him.

VI

ONE HUNDRED AND TWELVE lives lost because of me.

I kept count of them in my sketchbook. The fact that humans were dying because of me hadn’t left me for peace of mind on any day. I couldn’t escape the island to get to the empire. I didn’t know this place, let alone have wings to cross the ocean. I was stuck here, and Drayard knew I could do nothing but stay and make peace with the horrible things happening to humankind in the empire.

My nightmares had been getting worse and worse. I couldn’t describe them well. I screamed, cried, or threw up after Drayard awakened me when the nightmare was getting out of control.

After every wake-up, I didn’t care that he was the reason why my sister wasn’t among the living anymore and that I should despise him with every fibre of my being. Because after a horrible nightmare, all I needed was not to be alone, someone to hold me and reassure me it wasn’t real. And he was always there. Holding me.

“I need you to show me your powers.”

He took me by surprise. Panting after a daily warm-up, I lowered the canteen of water from my lips. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“Try,” was his relentless answer.

I took the last gulp before closing the canteen. As I put it down, I adjusted my feet position and bent my knees slightly. I thrust my hands forward and crunched my forehead. I waited a moment. Drayard grew confused. Then I retreated to my former position. “Nothing.”

His eyebrows furrowed. “You call that trying?”

“Well, how am I supposed to summon powers if I don’t know where to start?” I asked. “I don’t even know what they are!”

“If that’s so—”he clasped his hands behind his back“—you’re pathetic.”

My eyes bulged. “What did you just say?”

“You’re pathetic,” he repeated with an emotionless face, and my hands clenched into fists. He began circling me, stopping from time to time as he said, “Not only pathetic but weak and a coward.” The ground began to tremble beneath our feet, but he didn’t pause, my blood continuing to boil. “Heartless, too. And very brash. A spoiled, selfish princess who only cares about—”

Before he could finish, he flew back straight into the snow. Speechless, he looked up, having the audacity to grin while I was panting with rage, fire surrounding my fists while water was dancing behind me. “—who only cares about saving others and not herself.”

My rage dampened. “What?”

He stood up. “Anger,” he said, wiping the snow off his coat. “It awakens your powers.”

The anger whooshed out of me immediately as I realised he’d been baiting me. Water plopped behind me, and the ground stopped shaking and the fire disappeared. “Does it mean you didn’t mean anything you said?” I hated how fragile and hopeful my voice came out.

“You’re not pathetic, Elynn,” he said. “And you’re not weak, nor a coward. You’re brave and strong.” He stepped closer to me. “But it’s all right to be scared sometimes, as long as you don’t let the fear get in your way.”

“And what about a heartless, brash, spoiled, selfish princess?”

The corner of his lips quirked up. “You have a big heart, but your mouth is capable of spitting poison.”

I rolled my eyes.

But what he said was a sugar-coated truth. My mouth wasn’t just spitting poison. It was deathly venomous.

“If you do something like that again, you won’t get out with just the snow on your coat,” I threatened.

He nodded, taking my threat seriously, as he should. “At least today, we’ve learned you can control four elements,” he said. “And the power of four elements does not stem from your father’s line, Honeylove.”

“But Tatyana’s a morph.”

“Indeed. This power doesn’t come from your mother either. If I didn’t know you could shapeshift into a lion and teleport, I’d believe your parents to be false. Your power to control four elements derives from something else, so is your ability to speak Dryad.”

I blinked, confused. “Speaking Dryad isn’t a part of my abilities as an enchantress?”

“Not that I know of.”

I plopped into the snow, brushing loose strands away from my forehead. “Then what does it mean?” I looked up at him, searching his face for answers. “Who am I?”

A beat of silence.

Two beats of silence.

His eyes were apologetic as he said, “I wish I knew, Elynn. I wish I knew.”

Training with my powers provided no reprieve from physical training, unlike I’d expected. It exhausted me mentally instead of physically. Because of their unknown origin, it was hard to summon them without letting anger drive them out. Only mind-reading and summoning fire were easier than the rest.

After we had worked on my shapeshifting, which was easier for Drayard to teach since he was a shapeshifter himself, we moved on to my teleportation skills. According to him, it could be useful if someone who wanted me dead found me here, and I had no choice but to flee.

But the thing was, I couldn’t teleport even an inch. No matter how hard I tried.

Drayard watched me with a guarded face. I couldn’t read anything that was on his mind during our training. Sometimes his apathetic disposition irritated me, but I was getting used to it.

This time, he was wearing a black coat. He was falling into the snow more often when I’d become stronger. He never actually fought me, but I believed if we got into a fight someday, I wouldn’t stand even a minute.

“Don’t overthink it,” he said after yet another one of my unsuccessful attempts to teleport. “And banish that expression from your face. It won’t help you.” I was frowning, so I got rid of the wrinkles. “You will get a chicken tonight if you teleport to that tree.” He inclined his head to the lone tree in the distance.

“I don’t need your chicken,” I spat. “I need your death.”

He wasn’t fazed. “At least you have a mission to accomplish. If my death is it... all I can say is good luck.” He grinned, confident that there was no way he’d die by my hand someday.

“I’m serious, Drayard. Those nights don’t mean that I’ve forgiven you for what you did.”

“I didn’t think so, either.” He kept smiling at me.

“Good. You won’t be surprised when I don’t fail to plunge a dagger through your hollow heart someday.”

“Focus on teleportation, Elynn,” he said, tired of listening to my threats that might never come true.

But I was determined that someday he’d pay for everything. Everyone would pay for what they had done to my family and me. Including the plague enchanters and morphs had spread throughout the Mortal Region.

I obeyed for my own good. I needed to learn how to teleport to go back to the empire and save humans, despite what Drayard said. Especially my friends, if they hadn’t died already.

I kept staring at the far away tree, contemplating it. Not the same as I’d thought about the memory related to home before I’d teleported my sister and Drayard but as close to it as I could.

As I felt something moving beneath my feet, I was gone. I appeared near the tree, almost bumping into its trunk.

Good job, Drayard praised. Now, teleport back.

Once I gathered my balance, I turned in the direction where I’d been standing before I teleported. I thought about the place near Drayard, and in a mere heartbeat, I was there. Not back where I’d stood before, but right on him, falling into the snow.

Our foreheads bumped against each other. I winced and opened my eyes, meeting his. He didn’t look away but didn’t speak either, caught off guard.

An addictive scent of smoke intruded my nostrils, and his lips had never looked so inviting. He was so close, I could just lean in until our lips collided. But I’d never let myself make that kind of move.

I forced myself to scowl at him. “Ew, get off me.” Acting disgusted, I stood, shaking off the feeling of being so close to him.

Chuckling, he arose and adjusted the lapels of his coat.

“Technically, you fell on me, Honeylove,” he said, flashing me that disarming smile of his that made my legs feel as light as a feather.

“It was an accident.” I brushed the strands away from my face and tacked on, “You bastard.”

He merely smiled at my remark.

Even if he didn’t believe me, I didn’t show my irritation. But then his wings spread behind him, and he sprang into the air without a warning. I craned my head at the sky, bewildered.

What the hells, Drayard?

He abandoned me in the middle of the canyon with no transportation back. He must have been trying to annoy me more. Drayard liked to play with my nerves as much as I liked to test his.

You can teleport back home, he said like it was no big deal.

I gritted my teeth and crossed my arms like an angry child.

As he disappeared from my sight, I didn’t hurry to return to the house. I took my sweet time to spend some time alone with fresh air and my thoughts that couldn’t reach Drayard by an accident.

I teleported back to the bedroom, exhausted as usual. Teleporting had sucked out the rest of the energy I’d had after an already intense training.

After taking a bath, I threw on a nightgown and hid it behind a crimson robe. Then I marched to the kitchen where the brand-new roast chicken was waiting for me. Drayard was nowhere to be seen.

Without giving much thought to where he could be, I sat down and began eating. I needed strength before going on a mission to save thousands of innocents.

The door opened, letting a chilly breeze into the room. Drayard took a seat across from me, putting his joined hands on the table.

“Tomorrow, I’m flying back home,” he announced.

I stopped chewing. Carefully, I swallowed the bite so I wouldn’t choke on it accidentally.

“For how long?” I asked, trying not to sound too affected by his unexpected announcement.

For some irrational reason, I didn’t want him to leave. I was supposed to feel on top of the world and like throwing a party after he’d be gone, but I felt the opposite. However, I didn’t show any emotion on my face that would give away how I felt about his departure.

“Two weeks at least,” he replied.

I took a sip of water, acting unbothered, but all I could think about was if my plan failed, who would hold me when I’d have those nightmares again?

“Why?”

I made sure to guard my escape plan in case Drayard heard it.

“The Winter Masquerade is in two days, and I have to show up there, or else they would be certain I’m hiding you somewhere. After the masquerade, I’ll stay in my realm to sort out some matters before I come back here,” he explained. “You won’t be alone. I’m going to send Baby to look after you. In case you plan to teleport to the empire.”

I didn’t react to his straight guess.

“I wasn’t planning to go back to the empire,” I lied.

Sometimes, I could be a good liar. But Drayard was impervious to my lies. To his eyes, I was a transparent ocean, even the depths of me he could see with a single glance at me.

“If you say so.” He stood up to leave.

“Hold on.” He stopped to look over at me. “What’s the Winter Masquerade?”

He sighed, placing his hands on the top of the chair. “It’s an event which used to be hosted once a year at Casidiarn Castle before the curse. Nayden decided to bring it back. The Winter Masquerade is meant for royal morphs to gather, put on masks, which represent their beast form, and have fun.”

“And why can’t I go?”

Drayard stared at me as though the question was ridiculous even to consider asking. “Because you’d be dead if you showed up there.”

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. “You said it yourself that everyone wears masks. With a mask, nobody would recognise me.” But he didn’t seem convinced. “Drayard, I can’t stay here forever and hide from life. Besides, I’m a princess. I have to get to know my people. I promise not to show off, do anything stupid and—”

“Elynn, no,” he said with finality.

“Do I have to beg you to take me out?”

“No, because it’ll still be a no. You have no idea what danger you’ll be in.” He dragged in a deep breath. “I’ll say this one last time. No.”

But I wasn’t going to give up.

“If you leave me here, I’ll burn this house down and teleport to the empire anyway. Baby won’t stop me.”

He glared at me. “If you go, you’ll have to act as my whore,” he said. “Do you want that?”

Sucking in my cheek, I lowered my gaze to the glass of water.

Was I really willing to pretend to be a whore just to get off the island?

Of course. I had to go. The event was being held at Casidiarn Castle. I had to glean more knowledge about the place, as it could be useful in the future. Needless to say, living with one person in a secluded area was frustrating. I desperately needed a night with people. Even with the ones I hated.

I looked up at Drayard. “If that’s what I’d have to do to be allowed to go, then I’m fine with it. Acting as your whore seems like a challenge I’m willing to take.”

He wasn’t one bit pleased by my answer, but at least he seemed to consider it. I waited patiently for his final verdict. Even if it was a negative one, I would make him change his mind. I couldn’t stay here any longer, or else I’d forget what it was like to be a human being.

At last, he spoke. “Do you promise to behave and not show your tantrums?”

I nodded.

“Do you promise not to talk with anyone there?”

Another nod.

“Do you promise to stay by Baby’s side and never go somewhere alone?”

I nodded again.

He sighed. “We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

And he stalked out of the room.

I felt a smile tugging my lips after realising what I’d just done. I’d gotten what I wanted. If I talked him into taking me along to the Winter Masquerade, I wondered what things I could convince him to do for me in the future.

The wicked smile didn’t leave my face for the rest of the dinner.

Part II: Notes of Reunions & Masks

VII

THE REALM OF EMBERS remained the same. I wasn’t sure why I’d expected to find something different. Perhaps the fact that I’d changed since the last time I’d been here had me assuming that the world had changed, too.

But life carried on as though nothing had happened.

Once we landed before the volcano, all memories of what had happened the last time I’d left this place assaulted my mind. I hugged myself as if my own arms could protect me from the horridness they’d brought to my soul and heart.

“Are you cold?” Drayard asked.

As I looked at him, I felt a sudden urge to rip his eyeballs out with my claws threatening to jut out of my fingers. I also wanted to cry, but I held back the tears and claws. I was seething with fury awakened by the memories I’d pushed to the back of my mind. The Isle of Sage was like a remote world where I didn’t think much of my sister’s lost life. But now, as I was back here, everything I’d chosen to forget was back like a strong rush of water. I was reminded of all shades of hate I was feeling towards Drayard, and not only for taking Gen away from me but for playing me in the first place.

I wasn’t going to attack him, despite how much I wanted to. I had no chance against the warrior of war. I was nothing more than a weak, naïve woman. I hated that. I hated the feeling of weakness and impotence when the person next to me was everything, including those aforementioned things I didn’t have.

A traitorous tear escaped my eye, and I turned my head to wipe it off surreptitiously, but of course, he saw that. He’d been observing me this whole time. He must have known the reason why I’d become this way out of the blue, perhaps wondering if I was going to try to pull something or not.

But what I did instead was march over to the volcano where the entrance was supposed to appear every time Drayard’s blood activated it before I did something I’d regret. I needed to get as far as I could away from him or else I wouldn’t be able to hold in all the emotions brimming within.

Drayard didn’t say a single word to me. He might be aware that if I heard his voice one more time, I’d explode. And he was wise to deal with my change of mood by keeping his mouth shut.

As he was next to me to activate the doors with his blood, he didn’t even dare look at me. When he activated the door and it opened, he went down the stairs first.

Surprisingly, I stayed quiet and collected when I traipsed behind him as we descended the stairs, walked down the passage, then passed the parted lava wall, and, at last, stepped into a familiar foyer. But the smell that enveloped me was not familiar. I hadn’t smelled it before. It was tough to name. I could only describe it as burning rocks.

Drayard went up the stairs first, and when he disappeared into the left side, I prepared to ascend, but a voice stopped me.

“Elynn?”

As I whipped my head back, I faced another beautiful woman standing at the threshold, gaping at me with her big violet eyes. Her lilac hair was divided into two long braids, and she wore a soft plumb dress that made her look like a living statue with her snowy skin. She was yet another pretty girl who had looked unpleasant during the curse time.

“Hello, Blossom,” I greeted her with a warm smile.

Blossom flung herself forward and pulled me into her mild arms. Unlike Baby’s suffocating hug, Blossom’s was pleasantly gentle.

“I missed you,” the girl mumbled against my shoulder. Her words sounded honest.

“I thought you missed my new sketches?”

Blossom raised her head, giving me a bewildered look. “What?”

I forced a smile and placed my hands on her arms. “Nothing. I missed you, too.”

The girl smiled at me, but the smile soon melted into concern. “What are you doing here? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“I came for the Winter Masquerade.”

“You must be joking.” Baby emerged from the living room. She had her hands propped on her hips as she stared at me.

“I’m most certainly not.”

Baby crossed her arms. “Does Drayard know about this?”

“He was the one who brought me here.”

Baby’s eyes shifted to Blossom and stayed there for about a second before returning to me.

“It’s not safe for you to be here, and attending the masquerade is absolute madness. I refuse to believe that Drayard approved such a thing unless you’ve done something to him to change his mind,” Baby stated.

I stayed silent.

“You did, didn’t you?”

“I did nothing,” I opposed. “I just talked him into it, that’s all. I was bored with being on the island with no civilization. I promised him to behave.”

But Baby didn’t seem to be convinced. I didn’t show my exasperation that she didn’t believe me. She had every right not to believe anything that left my mouth. After all, I was merely a woman without any rights in this cruel society. Only her King could confirm my truth.

“Ask him yourself, if you don’t believe me,” I said, stifling tartness in my tone.

“I will.”

“Great. He went to his chambers in case you’re wondering where he is.”

Her gaze travelled up to the forbidden part of the house, looking at it with alarm.

“Good luck,” I said before I turned on my heel and walked up the stairs with Blossom in tow.

Baby entered the bedroom when Blossom was brushing my hair, which was growing way quicker than before I’d gained my powers. The ends of it were almost reaching the end of my back.

“Well?” I spoke, not hiding the bitterness in my tone this time.

Baby closed the door behind her. “He told me you’re attending the Winter Masquerade with me tomorrow, and I’ll be looking after you,” she said and then added in annoyance, “I don’t want to be your babysitter.”

“Then don’t be.”

Blossom was done brushing my hair and started braiding them from my scalp. Her gentle fingers were soothing. She was so tender with my hair, unlike Baby, who liked to pull out a hair or two every time her hands were on my scalp.

“You wish,” Baby scoffed. “You’ll obey me and do exactly what I’ll tell you.” I huffed, and Baby looked at my reflection closely. “Why did you insist on attending the party where every single morph would want you executed?”

I didn’t hesitate to answer. “For fun?”

She snorted. I didn’t show any emotion, maintaining an unreadable mask.

“I know you enough to be sure that you don’t do anything for fun, love.”

Blossom’s fingers tightened on my hair. I glimpsed at her frowning face in the mirror.

“Then you don’t know me as well as you think you do,” I retorted.

“Dara will be there.”

I tried not to move or react to the sound of her name. I couldn’t make Baby any more suspicious than she already was.

Dara had killed my sister, making her name shine in bold letters on my blacklist. But she wasn’t the main reason why I’d demanded Drayard to bring me along to morphs’ party.

“Whatever you’re planning, listen to my advice and don’t act rash during such a huge event. Pick the other time to fulfil your vengeful plans,” Baby advised.

Blossom finished braiding my hair, and I thanked her.

“I’m not planning anything.” I arose, holding Baby’s dubious stare. “I’m serious. If I were planning something, Drayard would know. He happens to know I have something in mind every bloody time,” I murmured the last sentence more to myself than her.

I couldn’t express enough how much it galled me. He’d known about my plan when I’d tried to seduce him so that I could strike a dagger to his heart, but it turned out that he’d set it all up and had been toying with me like a cat with a mouse the whole time. Then he knew I was willing to escape the island and turn myself in to Nadira and Nayden. He was always one step ahead of others, and I was no exception. Always calculating, always conscious of everything …

“Because he’s a mind reader, Elynn,” Baby reminded me.

“I’m aware,” I said. “But he can’t read my thoughts if I don’t let him. He happens to always be aware of my plans, though. So you don’t have to worry about me doing something stupid at the masquerade when he’s around.”

Baby and Blossom exchanged glances. As Baby looked at me, she seemed to believe me.

“I still don’t understand why a princess would want to act as Drayard’s whore,” Baby mused.

“Why? It’s not like it’s hard.”

Baby let out a short laugh while Blossom hummed thoughtfully and slid towards the wardrobe to busy herself with whatever she was doing there.

“No, no, it’s not bad at all.” I could recognise sarcasm in her voice even if Baby didn’t use it very often.

But my sister used to love sarcasm.

The memory of her sent a pang to my heart; therefore, I tried not to think about her.

“I saw you acting as one on the twins’ birthday. It’s no more than an act, and I don’t think my acting skills are pathetic,” I reasoned.

I noticed Blossom looking over the dresses hanging in the wardrobe. Dresses that weren’t the same as before I’d left this place, with the yellow hues prevailing over the wardrobe. I guessed Blossom had decided to update it when I was away.

“I don’t doubt your acting skills,” Baby contradicted. “There’s more than acting in Drayard’s play. You have to be prepared to be treated wrong emotionally. It’s a challenge not to falter and expose your real feelings before others.”

“Baby’s right.” Blossom tossed me a glance over her shoulder. “You have to be prepared for anything. Do you really want to do it for some fun?”

They were both worried. But I wasn’t sure whether they were worried about me or that I’d expose Drayard’s secret during the masquerade. Either way, I chose not to care.

“Yes,” I assured. “Positive.”

Baby sighed resignedly. “Today, you are going to be taught how to act like a whore. Hopefully, you’ll learn fast.”

“If that’s sorted out—” I turned to Blossom, who was trailing her hand over the dresses. “—what am I going to wear to the masquerade?” I addressed Blossom, since she was the one responsible for my clothing. As my personal stylist I didn’t need to ask for.

“I believe you’ll be wearing the same dress as Baby.”

“Yes,” Baby confirmed. “And we will lighten your hair since you have Haroun’s name written all over you. We’ll also work on your accent and … Oh!” She put her finger up. “You’ll have to wear a bat mask that will cover most of your face. Hopefully, nobody will recognise you.”

“And what about my eyes?”

“Let’s hope you won’t run into anyone who would identify you by them.”

I approached the wardrobe and stood beside Blossom as I eyed the gowns curiously. I pulled one out and brushed my fingers over silk and chiffon. It looked familiar. I knew I’d seen it before, but where I couldn’t tell. Blossom was staring at me the whole time while I was inspecting the dress.

At last, it dawned on me why the dress looked so familiar.

I met Blossom’s eyes. “You brought my sketched dresses to life,” I said in wonder.

The corners of her lips lifted slightly, confirming my guess. Those dresses I’d sketched in this same room weren’t just a figment of my imagination anymore but hanging in the wardrobe, real and possible to touch.

“Are you angry?” she asked me cautiously.

I wasn’t sure what to say. I used to sew my own dresses, and sometimes Blossom helped me. My mum was the one who sewed my designs from time to time, but they were always of poor quality. And now, most of the dresses I’d drawn over a month ago were here, in this wardrobe, within hand’s reach. There were no remaining gowns I’d brought from Hellrock Castle.

It was mine. All mine in every essence.

I returned the dress to the wardrobe to bring out a gown made of far more expensive fabric. I stroked it to feel the satisfaction every time I interacted with high quality. The gown was golden. I hadn’t realised how much I liked the shades of yellow until now.

I emitted an unbelievable chuckle. “Yellow was the one dominating my sketches?”

Blossom nodded. “If you don’t like it, I can get rid of—”

“No!” I hung the dress back in its place. “I love them. I’m just a bit shocked to see … such an assortment of dresses when they were on the paper the last time I saw them. These gowns and dresses are wonderful, really,” I said with a faint but assured smile.

The smile that pulled Blossom’s lips reflected her eyes. “I’m glad you’re happy.”

I patted her arm and turned my head to Baby, who stayed uncharacteristically silent this whole time.

“So,” I exhaled, planting my one hand on my hip and with another pushing the braid over my shoulder, mimicking her, “it’s time to teach me how to be a harlot, loves.”

VIII

I WAS WHOLLY READY for whatever tonight had prepared for me.

Perhaps everything would go smoothly. Maybe nobody would recognise me, and I’d end up having the good time I was so eager to experience for once.

But I couldn’t ignore the inner voice telling me otherwise. Something at some point would go south. I knew it. I felt it in my bones. But I was ready for anything that might befall us.

At least I convinced myself I was when, in reality, I had nothing to protect myself with if a morph attacked me. I didn’t have a golden weapon that would help me stand a chance in a fight against them. All I would be able to trust was my shapeshifting and teleportation skills, as I hadn’t been the best at manipulating elements yet.

Blossom had put me in an onyx gown that matched Baby’s, just as she’d informed me. It was a gorgeous gown that revealed an abundance of the skin of arms and legs behind the chiffon, but it suited Baby better than me. Its sleekness emphasised her curvy hips, and the black brought out the darkness in her, somehow making her look more beguiling, whilst on me, it looked like a wicked thing that painted me as an evil queen.

If this gown was of another colour, I’d like it. The gown’s design was my taste, maybe not something I’d draw, but the colour … wasn’t for me.

But it didn’t matter. Nobody would heed some harlot’s style. What mattered the most was that nobody would recognise me as a long-lost princess. The bat mask covered more than half of my face; my hair was pale yellow; and my exposed parts had been powdered to match Babyʼs white complexion. All that was exposed were my lips and eyes. My identity was so well covered, I could barely recognise myself in the mirror.

Blossom was smoothing my skirt with her hand, and Baby was lounging in the armchair, admiring her long, polished nails when Drayard knocked on the ajar door. I met his eyes in the mirror’s reflection.

He smiled, shoving his hands into the pockets. “Very fetching, Honeylove.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at his compliment and, without acknowledging him, surveyed him.

Drayard wore a black shirt with a burgundy suit. His dark red hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and exposed his ears with two dents in the helixes. He looked dapper and neat as always—his stylish self. He’d never disappointed me with his choice of clothes yet.

Still, I despised him.

“Can’t say the same about you.” With that, I turned around once Blossom finished flattening the gown.

Drayard smiled. “Don’t I really look dashing, sweethearts?” He addressed the girls.

Both of them shook their heads in unison. “Yes, Your Highness.”

Drayard’s smile increased, satisfied with his workers’ answer. “Two against one. I suppose the majority is right?”

I showed not even one iota of emotion as I said, “Oh, but I meant your soul.”

Blossom looked away, all of a sudden finding the wall above the bed interesting to look at. Baby flashed me a warning look, as if telling me not to play with fire. Little did she know, I was already in too deep to get out of it now.

But I held Drayard’s eyes. His unreadable, unsurprised, and unsmiling eyes that I was sure were hiding so much more than he was willing to show.

I’d stepped into a flaming zone a long time ago. He was used to me not respecting him, and what left my mouth didn’t surprise him anymore.

Finally, he dropped his smile. “It’s time to go.”

Baby stood up and walked over to Drayard in an elegant gait. He offered her his arm, and she looped hers through it without hesitating. I lingered, staring at where their hands joined, feeling slightly irritated about what should be nothing for me.

“Elynn,” Baby prompted.

I quickly looked at her and gave her the falsest smile. Slowly, playing with everybody’s nerves, I neared them. Drayard had his other hand extended—meant for me. I wouldn’t have taken it, but I’d promised to obey.

As my fingers touched his scarred hand, a wave of electricity coursed through my veins until it struck my heart. My eyes met his for a mere second, but he was the one to look away first, leaving me disappointed. I’d expected a silent eye contact fight between us. What a pity.

“Good luck!” Blossom said behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder and smiled at her faintly before she disappeared from my sight.

We’d travelled through one of the portals hidden within the volcano. I had no idea how those portals had appeared there in the first place, since I hadn’t minded inquiring about them the day when Baby and Blossom had shown me them. I was too preoccupied with the mission to save my sister, even though it didn’t work out well.

“How do you have all these portals?” I asked as we appeared in the rainforest.

Drayard stuffed his hands into his pockets. “When morphs, humans, and enchanters lived together, enchanters created portals in every realm, including mine,” he explained while Baby was flicking the invisible dust off her gown as if passing the portal would have affected it. “My ancestors took them to the volcano and hid them so only the family could use them.”

“So enchanters have the power not only to enchant objects but create portals?”

“Apparently,” Baby mumbled and eyed me, checking if everything about my appearance was in place. I knew it was.

“Let’s revise the rules,” Drayard said.

Rules for me to obey.

“No talking with other guests or anyone else unless somebody asks something. If somebody does, give them a vague answer. Don’t go into details,” he warned. “If you try to teleport, manipulate some element, or risk getting into someone else’s head other than mine, they’ll know you’re here. Do you understand, Elynn?”

I rolled my eyes. “I understand.”

“Don’t dance with anybody if somebody requests,” he went on. “They need to get my permission first if somebody wants to dance with any of you. Don’t eat seafood. They’re usually spiced with a blue mint which is poisonous for enchanters.” My eyebrows rose in surprise. Drayard nodded to confirm that there was indeed such a thing that could poison me. “Don’t drink much. A glass of wine will suffice. And the rest, I believe Baby has taught you already. If not, do what she does.”

“I taught her yesterday,” Baby announced.

He looked at her. “And how did it go?”

“If I hadn’t known she has royal blood in her veins, I’d have taken her for a slut.”

Drayard snorted while I stared at Baby, who even had the nerve to smile at me.

“Thank you,” I almost gritted out. “That might be the first compliment you’ve ever said to me.” I placed my hand on my chest. “I’m beyond pleased.”

Baby bowed her head to me in an exaggerated way. “It’s my pleasure to please you, Princessa.”

She was in an exceptional mood tonight, and it was hard to get upset with her.

She hooked her arm through mine and looked at Drayard. “Shall we go?” she asked.

He pulled the gloves from the inner pocket of his suit jacket. “Yes,” he agreed, slipping them on, “we shall.”

But the smile that curled at the corner of his mouth screamed that trouble was about to step inside the emperor’s home.

IX

THE SYMPHONY WAS THE FIRST thing I noticed when we stepped into the castle. Not the gleaming, opulent interior of white and gold but the music growing louder with each step taken further to where it was streaming from. Baby was beside me while Drayard was walking two steps ahead of us. I had to control myself from hastening my pace to get into the room with music.

I couldn’t forget where I was. I must be aware of my surroundings and not get lost in a beautiful melody, despite its temptation.

When we reached the ballroom, the doors were already opened, and Drayard entered without hesitation. He didn’t even try to make a dramatic entrance, and yet he did. Morphs fell silent, and the music ceased as if his mere presence robbed the place of every sound. I didn’t mind the silence that stretched out all over the massive room, and the attention we’d received this fast pointed at our side, but most of the eyes were on Drayard and not his escorts anyway.

Morphs began falling to their knees, one row after another, like an undulating wave. They clutched their fists to their chests, saying ‘Saviour Drayard’ under their breaths.

I glanced at Baby, hoping she’d inform me why they were calling him that, but she didn’t acknowledge me. She was staring straight ahead with her head held high and chest thrust out, which reminded me of my act here. Promptly, I imitated her movements.

While morphs were on their knees, I could see the ballroom in all its grandeur. The wide ceiling was patterned in gold as the white walls, and the arched windows were looking out onto the garden. There was a dais at the end of the room, adjacent to other double doors, with two chairs substituting for thrones.

“Drayard, my friend, our saviour of the curse.”

I may have heard that voice only several times, but I knew its owner.

Nayden, in white accentuated with yellow embroidery and a lion mask with blonde hair neatly brushed to the sides, was walking towards us with his hands spread wide, while the woman followed him in a pale-yellow gown. It was his sister, Nadira.

The mere thought of their affair got my guts twisting in disgust.

Another woman was walking beside her. The brown-haired woman’s petite body was drowning in the enormous dark purple gown, and the panther mask she wore gave away her identity.

I clutched the material of my gown to battle the urge to tackle her and mark this glossy floor with her blood.

Once they halted before us, as if on cue, morphs rose, the brush of gowns against the floor pervading the ballroom.

“Your emperor.” Drayard gave a courteous nod to Nayden. “Your empress,” he greeted, not forgetting her.

Nayden clapped his hands before him and looked at Baby, then at me. I squared my shoulders.

“I see you’ve brought company.” Nayden maintained his pearly smile as his eyes shifted back to Drayard. “To entertain our males?”

Titters and whistles broke out, causing sickness to twist my stomach.

“To entertain me,” Drayard replied, unaffected by Nayden’s remark at all. “Sweethearts,” he called.

Baby stepped forward, and I followed. She placed her forearm on Drayard’s right shoulder. I had to swallow my pride to do the same.

As Drayard slid his hand around Baby’s waist and mine, I wanted to disappear. To be exposed like that in front of so many greedy-for-drama eyes was degrading. But Drayard had warned me about this, and I’d agreed if I’d wanted to come here. It was nobody’s fault other than my own.

“Marvellous,” Nayden said, but the tinge of his tone betrayed that he was disgusted with what he saw.

That made two of us.

Nayden and the rest pivoted on their heels. Drayard’s hand remained firm on my waist as we followed them. The abnormal warmth of his body against my side burned through his clothes, penetrating mine.

It was already warm in the room and his heat—or my nerves—made my back sweat.

As we neared the dais, the first notes of the music started, and morphs didn’t pay that much attention to us anymore, returning to the activities they had been engaged in before we made an appearance.

Nayden turned to us. “Drayard.” The waiter popped up nearby, and Nayden lifted two glasses off the tray before he scurried off. “The last time we saw each other was at the Winter Solstice. You’ve been gone since then, showing up after a month. You are suspected of having my niece.” Nayden extended a filled glass to Drayard, smiling amicably, even if he had just accused Drayard of a serious offence.

“I’m aware of such a suspicion.” Drayard released my waist along with Baby’s to take a glass. He swirled the wine in his hand instead of taking a sip right away. “But why would I have your niece?”

“You have a whole reason to hide Tatyana’s daughter,” Nayden said. “It’s no secret your father was in love with Tatyana, and you, as his son, might want to protect Tatyana’s offspring. You also knew about her existence way before we all did. You were the one who found an answer to the curse who was my niece’s mortal sister. And you disappeared with her after the curse’s removal. Isn’t that suspicious, sister darling?” he addressed Nadira, glancing at her over his shoulder.

“It is indeed suspicious, brother,” she said monotonically.

This was the first time I’d heard her speak besides screaming and moaning her brother’s name at the Autumn Equinox. I wished I could obliterate the memory, but thanks to Drayard, now their love affair was lodged in my head forever.

“What makes you think I didn’t kill her?”

Drayard’s lips didn’t touch the glass. I doubted he’d drink from it tonight. I knew I wouldn’t. It could be laced with poison. I didn’t trust anyone here, let alone the emperor.

“You don’t kill girls, Drayard,” he noted. “You may be a brutal killer, but I’ve never heard of you killing any girl. You have a soft place for them in your heart.”

“I may have,” Drayard said nonchalantly. “But your niece isn’t my concern. I left her in the Mortal Region where she’d teleported me. There’s a high chance the girl is dead.”

But Nayden didn’t seem to be bought by the lie. He’d seen with his own eyes how Drayard was imploring me to go. Drayard must have been aware of it, too, and I didn’t doubt he was prepared for anything that might happen during the Winter Masquerade, so I trusted him if there was going to be a turn of events.

“What are you trying to do, Drayard?” Nayden asked. “I’m well aware that you want me to lose my crown. You want a female to rule. Perhaps you plan to put my niece on the throne and marry her to become an emperor? Are you not happy about having your independent kingdom?”

Independent kingdom? He didn’t have one. Not really, as there was this archaic contract Drayard had once mentioned that kept his realm bound to the empire.

“It’s a woman, not female,” Drayard said in a matter-of-fact tone, but Nayden didn’t appear deflated by it, despite the spark of displeasure in his eyes ignited by Drayard’s comment. “And as to being an emperor, it’s not my wish to become one. You don’t need to concern yourself with something that cannot happen, Nayden.”

“Do not lie.” Nayden’s smile might not have faltered, but the pulsating vein on his neck seemed like it was about to pop. “My niece is a young woman with a strong bloodline running through her veins. You are the most feared but coveted bachelor and a handsome one. It would be effortless work for you to trick her into falling in love with you.”

I felt an abrupt urge to spit into Nayden’s face for assuming my feelings to be this low. I’d never fall in love with somebody like Drayard. I might have considered having affectionate feelings towards him, but not now, not when he was the main reason my sister was dead.

Suddenly, I felt someone’s eyes on me. As I looked, I caught a green gaze watching me.

The events of the Winter Solstice entered my mind. Dara had known who I was when I’d attacked her in my beast form. She may have known about me since my serving days in Asenah’s mansion. She made me tumble in front of morphs and was in the kitchen when I went to get myself a snack, watching me from the shadows.

What if she knew I was here right now, pretending to be a harlot like I’d been pretending to be Gen once?

Drayard snorted. “If you think that with a mere snap of my fingers I could make someone fall in love with me? You have never been more wrong, Nayden.”

I looked at him, forgetting all about Dara and her suspicious stares. His words were quite dismal but true.

No one could fall in love with someone like Drayard. He had a horrible soul. He was a manipulative, always calculating devil. Nobody had loved him, and I doubted if somebody ever would.

Nayden didn’t say anything. As the waiter passed, Drayard put the untouched glass on the tray. “It was nice talking to you.”

Nayden’s chin clenched as Drayard turned and walked away. Baby and I followed him after curtsying to the morphs who happened to be my uncle and aunt.

Drayard had come to earn the Saviour Drayard epithet for liberating the empire from the curse. As morphs came to express their gratitude to him, I had to restrain myself from screaming at their faces that he was no saviour but a murderer.

However, to morphs, he was their saviour. He’d freed them from the four-decade-old curse. In their place, I, too, would be thankful.

Within an hour, I’d learned that Drayard wasn’t fond of being among people. Every conversation he had with someone was succinct, and after he dismissed himself, he went to sit in the furthest chair in the ballroom—Baby and I following him—and drink until he was ready to be sociable again.

He wasn’t a social butterfly. He didn’t like the attention as I’d thought once. Too many people sucked the energy off the man, which was strange since he was the King, and being sociable was an inevitable factor for him.

I found out what, besides platinum, can kill you, I said.

I was settled on the floor with Baby near his feet while Drayard was sitting on the chair.

And what is it? he asked absent-mindedly.

Social gatherings.

Drayard snorted not only in my head but aloud. Baby looked up at him, assuming that her King may have had too many drinks, whereas I was smiling down at my skirt.

“Drayard Emyur.”

I lifted my head. A bulky man, whose half brown face was hidden beneath a well-styled panther mask, was standing like an ominous figure. The olive eyes gleamed beneath the mask, and I got uncomfortable, even if they weren’t fixed down on me but Drayard. Besides, he hadn’t come alone but with Dara by his side.

Drayard set an empty glass on the table and arose. “Ariel Fahedos.”

They both shook hands with Drayard. Since Drayard greeted the man as his equal and in a polite manner, I could figure out the rest about Ariel without needing to ask. Ariel Fahedos was Dara’s father and one of the five rulers. The King of Wilds.

“Excuse me for bothering you, but I have a proposal for you,” Ariel said. “It involves my daughter, Daraine Fahedos.”

Dara glanced at her father questioningly.

“What is the proposal?” Drayard asked.

He was surprisingly quite sober, considering the fact that he’d consumed ten glasses of wine. I counted, since I had nothing else better to do.

“I offer you my daughter’s hand in marriage.”

Irrational emotions surged through me, and I ignored them all. I couldn’t see Drayard’s face, but at this moment, I wished I could see his reaction.

“But, Father—”

It took Ariel a single glance at Dara for her to bite her tongue.

Drayard stuffed his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “Why?”

“Daraine, as you may be aware, is a bachelorette. She was going to be betrothed sooner or later. Since you are unwed, I figured it would be a good opportunity for you to join your forces with royal blood.”

I grasped the fabric of my dress, ignoring the growing claws.

“And what does Daraine think about it?” Drayard asked.

Dara opened her mouth to speak, but her father was faster. “It doesn’t matter what my lovely daughter thinks. It matters what you think, Your Majesty.”

Your Majesty?

“But I would like to hear her opinion first before making a decision that would forever affect both mine and your daughter’s life, Ariel.”

Ariel wasn’t satisfied, but he didn’t have another choice other than to relent. “You may speak, daughter.”

Dara glanced at her father as though seeking the words that would please him written on his face. At last, she craned her head and looked straight at Drayard. “I think our union would not only be a good match but strengthen your new kingdom, Your Majesty.”

There was something I didn’t know. I heard this kingdom thing for the second time tonight. Drayard was hiding something from me. Again.

“I meant your opinion, Daraine. How do you feel about our probable alliance through marriage?”

She smiled, showing her teeth, but it seemed forced. “Our alliance in marriage would make me the happiest woman in the Universe.”

Drayard was silent for a while, pondering. He wasn’t actually considering it, was he? “I see,” he said at last. “I will think about it.”

Incomprehensible fury rushed through me, and I was surprised that even if my bracelet wasn’t enchanted anymore, it didn’t burn my skin anyway.

“It’s been a pleasure talking to you, Drayard,” Ariel said, bowing his head.

As he turned to retire, his daughter didn’t follow suit. She waited until her father was out of sight before addressing Drayard. “So, uh … do you fancy a dance?”

“What is your real opinion on our probable marriage, Daraine?” He disregarded her question.

She released a puff of breath through her lips. “It’s not something you should concern yourself with.”

“If I accept your father’s proposal, then I should.”

“Would you like to dance with me or not?”

A beat of silence passed between them until Drayard gave in to it. “Yes, I would.” Dara smiled, pleased that he let go of the topic. She was ready to be taken to the dance floor, but Drayard extended his hands to Baby and me. I gave him my hand without hesitation, rising to my feet along with Baby. “Excuse me, Dara.” He went past her, leading us to the dance floor.

I would have smiled out of glee if the earlier conversation hadn’t taken place first, for more potent feelings were simmering inside me.

Drayard spun us around, and he let go of Baby while he pulled me in close to his body, startling me.

I turned my head to Baby, pleading with her not to leave us alone, and while smiling, she ignored my muted plea and disappeared within the dancing crowd. I looked back at Drayard. “What. The. Hells.”

He leaned closer to my ear, his breath tickling my skin. “Dara is watching,” he whispered. “And I don’t want to dance with her.”

His lips almost brushed my earlobe. One slippery move and … But I didn’t take any chances and turned my head, our gazes locking. “You don’t want to dance with your future wife?”

“You think I’ll accept Ariel’s proposal?”

I tried not to show my curiosity, pretending like this whole marriage proposal didn’t disturb me one bit. “You won’t?”

He shrugged. “Should I?”

“Why would you ask me that?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. Weren’t you repulsed once you learned she and I had slept together?”

When he’d confided in me with this the night on the bridge leading to the City of Fire, I was indeed repulsed by it, but I assumed I hadn’t shown it. Clearly, I thought wrong.

“First, I wasn’t repulsed but mildly bemused.” He smiled at that, not buying it, and it annoyed me, but at least he didn’t interrupt me. “Second, I don’t care about who you sleep with. And finally, why would you care about where I stand with this?”

“I don’t. I’m only asking what you think about it.”

“I don’t think anything about it.”

He didn’t push it anymore, leaving the topic alone, to my relief.

They call you Your Majesty, I said in his head, since I didn’t want to attract unwanted ears. But you aren’t one.

I am.

What changed?

He spun me around, and grey with a tinge of blue gleamed in my periphery. My heart pummelled, but when I looked, I didn’t see anything. I must have imagined Gen’s eyes.

Before the Winter Solstice, I made an unbreakable deal with Nayden, he said, drawing my absolute attention. If I find an answer to breaking the curse, he annuls the archaic contract signed between our ascendants.

I was so astounded, I didn’t catch myself speaking aloud next. “You are not a part of the empire now.”

He nodded.

So you did this not to come back to this body but to liberate your realm.

Another nod.

And you don’t regret it, do you?

No.

I clenched my teeth. “Let go of me. I don’t want to dance with you.”

“But I want to dance with you,” he said and then added in my mind. You promised to obey me tonight.

Bastard. Bloody bastard.

He spun me around again, and when I was back in his hold, I stared straight into his eyes with a hint of hate as we moved.

It was an awful idea to be close to him. He was a sin, tempting me to commit. But I had to obey and parry all temptations.

With all that glaring, I hadn’t realised I was dancing well. I moved in the rhythm without needing to look at my feet to watch my every step. Drayard’s lessons on our sleepless nights had come in useful.

What will happen to you if Nayden gets proof that you’re hiding me? I asked.

If you think he’ll sentence me to death, you’ll be disappointed.

I pouted. How unfortunate.

I earned a weak smile from him.

Then what would happen to you?

Nothing now that I’m not a part of this world. Unless he knows my weaknesses, but he doesn’t.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised. You have weaknesses?

Everyone has weaknesses and strengths. I’m no exception.

I looked at his covered face intently. I could guess that a reminder of his past and what his father had made him do was his weakness because there was a high chance that Drayard wasn’t aware of what I saw in his head the night the volcano trembled. I couldn’t ask him and risk him learning that I knew about his meaningful memory.

So I asked, not supposing anymore, What are your weaknesses?

You will figure it out sooner or later.

Will I?

The corner of his mouth quirked up. Or not.

We kept dancing, not talking in each other’s heads anymore or aloud, which lasted until our dance was interrupted by an unfamiliar man in a fox mask.

“May I talk to you, Your Highness?”

Drayard paused our dance. His one hand was still linked with mine, and I looked down at where our hands were intertwined. I was supposed to be at least disgusted by the touch of him, but I felt safe and cared for. And those kinds of emotions were all blinding my gullible heart.

“It’s Your Majesty now,” he said, transforming into the King I was familiar with and others had known by their hearts. Any amusement he had when he’d danced with me was gone like it had never existed before.

“My apologies, Your Majesty. Could I have a minute with you?”

“Why?”

“It’s personal.” He glimpsed at me. “Your girl shouldn’t hear this.”

My jaw tightened at the title. Drayard squeezed my hand to placate me. That didn’t help, but I didn’t show any of my real emotions.

Find Baby, he said, letting go of my hand.

When he walked off with the fox morph, I glanced around, searching for a midnight-blue head, but there were too many people to spot her. I started moving through the room, pushing through the crowd in search of her, but someone’s hand touched my wrist.

My blood ran cold.

It wasn’t Drayard.

“You are going with me, whore,” a deep voice said, and a stranger’s hand slid around my waist, dragging me out of the ballroom before I had a chance to protest.

X

I COULDN’T MOVE or speak. What I might experience in a matter of time caused me to go numb.

I had to fight, use my powers, or yell for help, but nothing came out.

Whoever the man was, I didn’t know him. He was a stranger. Not Lupin or Fillan, but he belonged in the same category. A horrible, horrible person who would use my body for his own entertainment. I could hear his repellent thoughts that made my stomach churn.

I wasn’t safe anymore. Drayard wasn’t here to chase away my demons and hold me. His voice wasn’t here to soothe me after my common nightmare. Because it wasn’t a nightmare anymore but reality.

But Drayard was somewhere nearby, and it gave me hope. Our minds were like one. I could contact him any time, any hour, and he would listen.

If I could contact him, that was. I couldn’t even reach his mind and ask him to come to my rescue.

The stranger shoved me into one of the rooms upstairs, and I tumbled on the floor on all fours. As he shut the door, he grabbed my wrist so roughly it hurt and turned me over. He was wearing a snake mask, and I had a bad feeling that he was Nathair, one of Drayard’s advisors.

“Come on.” His voice was unrecognisable. Perhaps not Nathair. “Do your whore thing. Entertain me.”

Where are you? Where are you? Where are you?!

“Do. Your. Whore. Thing,” he ordered, letting go of my wrist, which was pulsating after his rough touch.

Someone invaded my head, and I felt him. He could see through my eyes. And when he saw what was in front of me, a resolute promise came. I’m coming.

“Ugh.” He began undoing his trousers on his own. “If you don’t like taking charge, I will.”

He finished with the trousers and slid them down. I looked down at the floor.

“Go on,” he said. “Lick it, whore.”

I didn’t budge.

“Come. Here,” he hissed like an actual snake.

The door swung open, and before the stranger could grasp what was going on, he was pinned against the wall. Drayard’s hand was on his throat, his talons threatening to sink into that pervert’s skin.

Baby took my hand. “Let’s go, Elynn. There’s nothing to see here.”

She tried to haul me towards the exit, but I didn’t move. I wanted to see this piece of trash burn before my eyes.

Go, Elynn, Drayard prompted me, voice devoid of emotion. But his indifference in a situation like this didn’t disturb me.

I still didn’t move. Baby had to drag me out with force and shut the door behind us.

But I still heard Drayard’s apathetic voice when he drawled, “Oh, this is going to hurt.”

And a scream came from within.

I was still in a state of shock when Baby embraced me and whispered to me things that were supposed to comfort me but didn’t.

We were in the bathroom. Confident it was safe, and nobody would interrupt us, Baby removed her mask along with mine. I felt slightly better without it. I was the real me. Or as much as I knew myself.

The thing that could have happened but hadn’t continued playing before my eyes. I wished my brain would stop making up scenarios of what would have happened if Drayard hadn’t found me, but I didn’t have full control over my demons who gradually, day-by-day, were awaking, trying to overpower me.

But I didn’t let them. I had to continue fighting them as I didn’t want to learn what I would turn into if I didn’t.

The door of the bathroom swung open, revealing a man. He was stuffing a handkerchief soaked with blood into his inner pocket.

“Did you kill him?” Baby asked him what I couldn’t.

Drayard didn’t look at her, nor answered her, for that matter. He looked at me instead. He had no mask on. But even without a mask, I couldn’t read him, for he wore another, an invisible one. He didn’t need them to conceal his true feelings when he’d mastered the art of falseness. “Baby, could you leave me alone with Elynn?”

Baby looked at me as if to ask if I was fine with it. Since I still couldn’t emit any emotion, I didn’t give her any sign. Baby had no choice but to leave. Drayard stepped aside to give her the way, but before she left, she glanced at me unsurely over her shoulder. Then she was gone.

Drayard closed the door, and an immense amount of pain contorted his face that’d been unreadable in Baby’s presence. He didn’t want to show her what he allowed me to see—the emergence of his vulnerability.

He pressed his hands into prayer and stepped towards me. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” he said, sounding honest. Not false, as his face had been seconds ago. “I shouldn’t have left you. I’m so sorry. I should have protected you from anything like this happening ever again, but I didn’t. I’m sorry. I let you down.”

It seemed like he was about to go low and fall to his knees to beg for my forgiveness, but before he could, I received my ability to move. I got to him and cupped his face. The tears I was holding inside leaked through all the shields.

“But you saved me before it happened,” I said hoarsely, trying not to choke on the salty tears. “And you killed him without hesitating. You saved me.”

He shook his head, his hands closing over my wrists. “But I was late.”

“You were right on time. Nothing happened. I’m fine, Dray. I’m fine.”

But he kept shaking his head. “I let you down, Honeylove. I let you down.”

“No, you didn’t.”

He avoided my eyes, still shaking his head, dodging my words one by one. “You have no idea how I wanted him to scream out of pain as soon as I heard what was in his mind. I wanted to hurt him so badly, I didn’t realise he was already dead. That piece of…” He dragged in a long breath. “His thoughts … what he wanted to do to you, how he wanted—”

“I know, I know.” I paused, sighing. “I heard them, too.”

Dray looked at me, surprised. “You did?” I didn’t have to confirm, for he was quick to add, “Of course you did.” And he pulled me into his arms.

I didn’t push him away. I didn’t because I felt safe again.

I wasn’t sure how one person, especially a monster, could make my fears go away like it was an effortless thing. Not only did I feel safe, cared for every time I was with him, but I felt understood. Like he was the only person in this world who understood me.

Even if I despised him and created plans to hurt him in the future during my solitary time, I didn’t want to leave his arms. I wanted to remain like this forever, wrapped up in his embrace. He was holding me. Truly holding me.

I inhaled, and a tear trickled down my cheek.

He took my face into his rough hands and leaned in. For a second, I went numb, thinking he was about to kiss me, but he pressed his lips against my cheek instead, kissing the drop of my tear. His lips were hot but soothing against my damp face.

“I wish I could kiss away all the scars those men left in your head like I can kiss away your tears,” he said.

My heart seemed to shrink up from an unexpected kind of ache. His eyes that once locked mine were like windows in a drizzle. I had seen him this way twice, and both times when I shouldn’t have. And the words he’d said …

No, I couldn’t fall for his affectionate, and exactly what I needed to hear now, words. He was drunk. He wouldn’t have said anything like it if he was sober.

I caressed his cheek. “I wish you hadn’t drunk that much.”

He chuckled. “I’m absolutely sober.”

“You’re not.”

He stroked my wavy hair, pressing his lips to the top of my head. “All right,” he said, brushing my hair behind my ear, “I’m not.”

He earned a weak smile from me.

I rested my head against his chest, and we stayed like this, in each other’s arms, letting the thoughts settle down for a bit.

“Was the stranger Nathair?” I said after a while.

“No.”

I raised my eyes at him. “Then who was he?”

“I don’t know.”

He knew. He just didn’t want to share his name with me. But it didn’t matter who he was when he was already dead. The nightmare was over before it could begin.

As I looked down, I spotted something red on his shirt’s sleeve sticking out of his jacket. I gripped his hand to inspect the hem of his sleeve. It was blood.

“You can’t go back to the party like this. All bloody like you’ve just strangled an animal.”

“But … that’s exactly what I did.”

Ignoring his dark humour, I pulled him closer to the sink. “Sit down.”

“Where?”

I looked around, searching for something stable for a half-dragon with massive wings to sit on. As I found a place, I pointed at the bathtub. He snorted and sauntered to take a seat in the corner while I grabbed a towel and brought it below the tap to soak it under the running water.

“You can’t clean off blood, Elynn,” he noted.

I disregarded his remark. “Remove your jacket.”

“Shirt, too, maybe?”

I shot him a warning look, and he responded to it with an innocent smile. “All right, no shirt.”

He began removing his jacket while I shut the tap, wrung the towel, and perched across from him. I took his hand. The material of his shirt was so thin, I could make out the outlines of black patterns stretching over his arms.

“Through many years, you should have learned how to kill somebody without getting blood on your fancy suit,” I muttered as I rubbed the blood.

“It’s not fun otherwise.”

I glanced at him. “You enjoy killing?”

Unwillingly, I remembered the night when he’d had a rough time and what I’d experienced through the eyes of his child self. He killed an innocent mortal man against his will to make his father proud and love him …

“I enjoy killing those who deserve to die,” he said.

I kept scrubbing, intent on getting rid of the small dot of blood to get my focus off the ink on his sturdy arms.

“But you don’t always kill people who deserve it. You used to kill and still kill innocents, too.”

“No, I don’t.”

I didn’t believe him. I couldn’t, even if it was a high chance that he’d spoken the truth. “Are you proud of killing them?”

“Elynn,” he muttered, warning me not to step into that zone.

“Are you?” I scrubbed harder as anger started sizzling my blood.

He grasped my wrist, stopping me from scrubbing.

“How could I be proud of killing people who didn’t deserve to die?” he whispered with distress in his tone. “Do you think I don’t suffer from guilt? Do you think my heart is made of stone?”

I pursed my lips.

Drayard had demons, and he was fighting them. If not, he would be worse. He wouldn’t care about anything, but he did. He cared about his kingdom. He cared about its people. In some twisted way, he cared about me. So, if his heart was made of stone, he wouldn’t have saved me today. He wouldn’t have held me every night I had a nightmare. He had a heart, but it was tainted and damaged beyond repair. But it still beat. I could hear it and feel it.

“No,” I whispered, as if part of me didn’t want him to hear it, “I don’t think that, but sometimes I forget that you actually have a heart when you tend to hide it from the entire universe.”

I looked down at his arm, about to resume scrubbing, but his finger touched my chin and pushed it up, making me face his glossy gaze again.

“In the past, my main mistake was showing my heart, and it ruined me. It was a lesson I learned the hard way,” he said. “So, I might be most people’s worst nightmare, a devil to you, a monster, but it’s because I show them what I want them to see. Otherwise, if they saw what I’m trying so hard to hide from their judging and malicious eyes, they’d find a way to destroy me, once and for all.”

His words made goosebumps rise over my body.

“You should be careful with showing your heart as there will always be people who’d take advantage of your kindness and smash it, wounding your trust. Look at who I turned out to be. A cold-hearted, brutal, and manipulative freak with major trust issues. Nobody should be this way; it’s no life to live.”

He let go of my chin. I searched his face for some answer, but of course, it was mission impossible. “Who smashed your heart, Drayard?”

A feeble smile graced his lips, and he propped his head against the wall. “It all began with my mother, Elynn,” he said. “She planted a scar in my heart, and it grew bigger over time.”

I resumed scrubbing.

“Elynn … it’s blood,” he said. “You won’t clean blood with just water.”

I kept scrubbing.

“Elynn.”

I scrubbed harder.

He put his hand on mine, and I stopped.

“Why are you so eager to fix the unfixable?” he said.

The burning lump contracted my throat, but I tried … I tried my best not to let the tears win.

I glanced at his jacket lying on the bathroom floor, at the bloody hems. I’d known all along they were unfixable.

Just like Drayard was.

An unfixable broken vase.

“I won’t accept Ariel’s proposal,” he changed the topic, speaking lowly. “I wasn’t even planning to.”

I swallowed the knot. “You should.”

Silence stood between us. I couldn’t make myself look at his face. I couldn’t see whether he masked his emotions or not. It would stab me either way.

“Why?” he said quietly, his voice faltering.

I hated myself for the next words that came out of my mouth as I looked him in the eye. “Because you have an independent kingdom now, and a queen would be a great help for you.”

Unadulterated heartache. That was what shone in his eyes.

His fingers reached for my chin. His lips parted to say something, but no sound came. His mouth closed again, and he leaned back, his hand dropping on the edge of the bathtub.

Looking down, I hid the disappointment at his abstaining from touching me. “I never thanked you for saving me from Fillan the night in the forest.”

I wasn’t sure why I’d brought that up. To chase away the awkwardness that had settled in the room? To close the chasm of unspoken words between us? Just a little, at least?

“Saving you from Fillan?”

I faced his puzzled gaze. “Yes. You told me to run, and I found a tree. Then you set his fur on fire, so I would have time to climb it.”

He frowned. “You ran from Fillan? When did that happen?”

I stared at him, beyond baffled. He stared back at me, as equally confused as I was.

“Were you not—”

The door of the bathroom swung open. My heartbeat sped up as I realised my mask was on the sink countertop and my identity was exposed. But all worries vanished once I saw who had burst into the room. Baby had her hands planted above her knees, trying to catch her breath.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She looked up at me and rasped the words that made the entire world stop.

“Enchanters are here.”

XI

DRAYARD LIFTED HIS JACKET off the floor and threw it on while stalking out of the bathroom. Baby and I exchanged wary glances but, without lingering any longer, followed suit after I put the mask back on my face.

I leaned towards Baby. “What are enchanters doing here?”

“No idea. But if enchanters are where they’re not welcomed, they only come here seeking trouble.”

Shield your thoughts, Elynn, Drayard warned me. There could be mind readers.

I shut my thoughts from any intruders for my own sake, not because Drayard told me to.

As Baby and I stepped into a silent ballroom, Nayden’s cold as a pack of ice voice sounded, “What are you doing here?”

We blended into the morph crowd, but the view was restricted. All I could see was the emperor standing atop the dais, his stare focused on someone in the middle. The crowd must have consumed Drayard, for I couldn’t spot him from over here.

Then there came a man’s smooth as silk voice, speaking with a subtle but attractive accent I hadn’t heard before.

“Nayden Haroun, His Majesty Kalani Cresenbar sent us to remind you of your oath.”

Nayden smiled, but it came out forced. “I’m aware of the oath. You can return to your empire now.”

“What oath?” Nadira asked, earning a dismissive wave from Nayden. She dropped her gaze like an obedient sister of the emperor she was.

Or a lover. I didn’t know, and I certainly didn’t want to know how their relationship worked.

The same stranger, I believed, chuckled. “She doesn’t know? Well, don’t you think you should tell her now, Haroun?” I heard a clap. “My oh my, it couldn’t be more perfect! You can tell the entire empire since all the lords, ladies, kings and queens are here!”

“Who’s talking over there?” I whispered to Baby beside me.

She shrugged, so I reached out to Drayard. Who is he?

I didn’t expect him to reply, but he did. Reuel Themias, the second commander of Kalani Cresenbar, who is the Emperor of Skies.

What are his powers?

Common enchanter’s powers and teleportation. But I’m not sure about his guards. One of them might be an advanced telepath, so guard your thoughts.

“Get out of my empire, or else you’ll be dead within a second,” Nayden threatened.

Reuel let out a laugh. Such a sweet and alluring laugh that drew long and dreamy sighs out of women around me. “No, I like it here. The attention I receive is flattering,” he said, causing some women to giggle. “Plus, you know you can’t kill me, Haroun.”

Nayden wasn’t happy, knowing that his own threats were meaningless, as I didn’t think he could kill this Reuel when he was an important someone in the Empire of Skies. Wouldn’t it make things worse between the empires if the second-in-command died here?

“So, should I tell your people about the oath, or will you suck it up and do it yourself like a man, not a coward?”

Nayden controlled himself well and did nothing, even though the vein in his neck was close to exploding. I wondered if I’d be there to witness its explosion someday.

“How dare you insult me in my own—”

“Tell us what?”

My heart dropped.

Asenah.

I hadn’t spotted her in the masquerade. If she was here, it meant the twins must be here, too. I hadn’t considered the possibility of them attending the masquerade as well. But I didn’t look for them for my own sake.

Other kings also spoke up, intent on learning their emperor’s secret. In the end, I counted three monarchs who’d rebuked Nayden. One of them either hadn’t come or was silent like Drayard, but he didn’t count because he didn’t belong to the empire anymore.

As complaints ceased, Nayden spoke. “Half a year ago, I made a bargain with the Empire of Skies. Humans had to be obliterated a long time ago. They are a pestilence and a threat to us. Especially after those imbecile witches cursed us for over four decades.” He muttered the last sentence in contempt. “Much to our disappointment, it was impossible to decimate them all when the Spell was keeping them safe, but the Empire of Skies had a solution to our obstacle.

“They had invented a plague which could spread across the Mortal Region from the first infection of the animals within a year,” he said. “Since humans weren’t a threat to them as they are to us, they didn’t intend to use it, but the Council of Beasts and I conferred and concluded to make a bargain with them. They would infect the Mortal Region with a plague in exchange for our armies and supplies if a war between them and the north occurred.”

I already knew that, but the tide of murmur swiping over the room told me not all royals did.

“On top of that, I was forced into making a magical oath with their emperor,” he went on despite the murmurs. “A magical oath which meant I’d give up our empress’s freedom to them. If not, I shall die.”

Nadira raised her head at her brother. She didn’t hide the pain in her ocean eyes.

I had no sympathy for her. I doubted if anybody else did, even if it was their empress they might lose someday. At least they didn’t show it, since nobody stared at her. Nayden had their full attention, which wasn’t pleasant. He’d ensured their enemies to aid them in the future in exchange for some idle plague in the Mortal Region. The plague that had killed my mother.

A warm hand clasped over my wrist. I whipped my head to Drayard.

We need to go, he said.

But the woman’s voice rising above all the murmurs of dissatisfaction stopped us. “Drayard? Don’t you have anything to say?”

Drayard jerked his hand away as the crowd parted, revealing him to Asenah.

“Drayard Emyur,” Reuel said, “long time no see.”

When I saw this Reuel, I understood why the women were leering at him and bordering on swooning. The man’s attractiveness and charisma were radiating from over there. If I hadn’t met the one beside me, I’d have vouched for Reuel being the most handsome man alive.

He was dressed in azure, with a cloak and long brown boots. Reddish-brown, similar in length as Drayard’s hair, and russet skin told of his foreign roots. His electric eyes seemed to transfer electricity because I didn’t know how else to explain the rise of my body hair.

“No, Asenah,” Drayard said coolly, his voice snapping me out of my admiration of the stranger. “The emperor is your problem now.”

Morphs gasped. They didn’t expect that. Neither did I, to be honest.

As Drayard was about to go, Reuel spoke. “Wait a second, dragon boy.”

Drayard’s jaw tightened, and he exhaled, as if bracing himself before facing Reuel again.

“What, Themias?” Drayard said, somehow maintaining his serene tone.

“Before you go, I want to dance with one of your infamous harlots for three songs.”

Another murmuring swept over the room. I looked up at Drayard, whose shoulders tensed. His stare at Reuel was so intense, it sent me shivers. I felt the need to touch him, make him look at me to reduce the tension in him, but I couldn’t do such a thing in front of the audience of morphs.

Then Reuel said, “And the blonde would make me a perfect match.”

I stared at Drayard, pleading for him not to permit such a thing. I had a bad hunch about the man. And if he had chosen me in particular, maybe there was something to be worried about.

“So?” Reuel prompted. “Am I allowed?”

Say no. Say no.

But Drayard hesitated.

Why did he hesitate?

He looked at me. He was sorry. He didn’t have to voice it aloud, for it was crystal clear.

My heart pummelled.

Why? I wanted to ask him, but the question didn’t make it to his head.

“Yes.” Drayard threw a glance at Reuel before turning away. “You can have her.”

And he walked off.

I watched him until he disappeared. Shocked beyond words.

Was this some kind of joke? Was this another game of his I had yet to figure out?

Baby nudged me. Right, I wasn’t alone. My enemies were staring.

I got a grip on myself, plastered on a smile, and turned to Reuel. As I walked towards him, I heard morphs’ thoughts and whispers like, Why her? or A whore, seriously?

As he took my hand, there was an undeniable electric spark at the connection of our skin. But neither of us said a word as he led me to the dance floor, and the music sounded again. As we began dancing, I didn’t forget my act and the rules I needed to follow, even if they had been said by the one who was the cause of the anger flowing through my body. I didn’t talk unless Reuel asked me something, but he didn’t, and I didn’t understand why. Had he really chosen me only to gain the experience of dancing with a whore? Wasn’t it deemed low for the emperor’s second?

As Reuel and I travelled in dance steps across the dance floor, Drayard was downing his eleventh glass of wine tonight. Baby was standing two steps away from him, paying more attention to her sharp nails than her King, who was drinking himself silly.

Don’t drink that much, I said.

He deliberately chugged it all at once, saying nothing to me.

“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” Reuel asked after one song was over.

I met his electric stare. He definitely hadn’t requested to dance with me to discuss the starry night. He knew something.

Was it my real identity? If it was, why would Drayard allow him to confirm his suspicions?

“Yes, it certainly is,” I agreed.

Two songs were left, and I’d be free from his arms.

“I believe you’ve got questions,” he said. “Go ahead. Do your worst.” He smiled, and it was one charming smile, leaving me with a strange, uncomfortable feeling in my chest.

Why did you pick me for a dance? I wanted to ask, but I paraphrased the question instead. “Why does someone like you want to dance with a whore?” My voice was quiet as I didn’t want someone listening to what I had to say to the enemy of morphs.

“Someone like me?”

“Yes. A second-in-command of the Emperor of Skies.”

“How do you know I’m second-in-command?”

Everything within me came to a stop as I realised my mistake. I wasn’t supposed to know who he was. He’d never said it out loud. But I couldn’t tell him it was Drayard who had informed me about him. Whores weren’t supposed to learn such things from their masters.

He smirked, acutely aware something was off. If he knew who I was, he wasn’t going to expose me, was he? But enchanters had to wish for my death as well. I was a traitor’s progeny.

My heart started pumping blood more rapidly.

“I heard about you,” I said, trying not to expose my fear.

“From where?” he asked. “I don’t believe morphs talk about me often.”

“You’d be very surprised, then.”

I watched his face closely, but I couldn’t tell if Reuel believed me. I could only hope he did. At least the second song was coming to an end. One was left to endure before I’d be able to go home where the warm bed awaited me.

“Do you have any more questions?” he asked.

What is it you need from me?

But instead, I said, “No.”

He nodded, taking my lie as given. “May I ask your name?”

At first, I considered telling him Blossom’s name but resisted. However, I couldn’t stay silent for long. It’d make him more suspicious than he was already.

As we turned around, a vase of sunflowers streaked through my sight before it was gone. “Sunflower,” I said.

“Why Sunflower?”

“We bat whores don’t have normal names. We let the first man we spend the night with name us,” I recited what once Blossom and Baby had explained to me after I’d inquired about their weird names. “I happened to look like a sunflower to him.” I forced a smile.

His eyes flicked to my hair. “Interesting.”

My heart stuttered. My hair wasn’t back to being golden, was it? I wished I could check, but there was no mirror nearby, and even if the floor was shiny, it wasn’t shiny enough to cast a reflection.

As the musicians began playing the last symphony, my whole body went numb.

Why did they have to play this one out of thousands of created pieces?

“Not a fan of the tune?”

Reuel must have noted the alteration in my mood after they’d played the first note of a song I knew by heart.

I managed a smile. “No, not at all.”

As we spun across the dance floor, I peeked over Reuel’s shoulder at Drayard, who was gulping Gods-knew-what-number glass of wine. Our eyes locked, and he swallowed, pausing drinking.

He was learning to play this song when I found him awake in the living room in the middle of the night. I taught him how to play it properly. This particular sonata meant something to us. And I was dancing with another during it.

But it was his own fault. He’d handed me to Reuel of his own volition. If he wasn’t happy about it, the one he should blame was himself.

I looked back at my dance partner.

It was perfect, actually. The symphony alone. I’d only heard it played by the piano, and now, when more instruments joined to deliver this piece, it was like music landed straight from heaven. Divine.

“Can I talk to you in private, Sunflower?” Reuel asked.

I didn’t trust him, but also, I had an immense urge to hurt Drayard as much as he hurt me.

“Of course,” I said, smiling.

He escorted me from the ballroom, and we went outside on the veranda. As he released my hand, I walked over to the pillar and rested my hands on the railing, looking up at the sky studded with stars.

“I feel you too, stranger.”

For a moment, I was convinced my heart stopped beating, for I was as still as a statue. But I snapped out of it and slowly turned to him. “Excuse me?”

I must have misheard it, because there was no way …

He stepped closer and took my hand, gazing into my eyes. “I feel you too, stranger.”

“How … How do you …?”

“Because you are my soulmate, Elynn.”

Withdrawing my hand, I stepped back and hit the balustrade. I closed my eyes and breathed out. He knew my real name. My worries hadn’t been for nothing.

Reuel went on before I could process anything he’d said. “We are soulmates whose paths were destined to cross by the Universe. Like your parents’.”

My eyes snapped open. I had never been this confused in my entire life. It was surreal. Could this be true? What the stranger was saying? But it couldn’t be right. His voice was the opposite of what I’d heard in the trance. But then, how would he know these words?

“How can you be so sure?” I asked. “That I’m your soulmate?”

“Because I felt you, and you felt me.”

Could it be that he was playing with me? If he was, I didn’t get his game, but I would be a fool if I didn’t play along to find out its purpose.

“Felt how?”

“In your trance. In both our trances. When you played the piano? The song we’ve just danced along to in the ballroom?”

Was Drayard a part of this? But that would be ridiculous. Why would he? But then why wouldn’t he? He could have easily rejected Reuel’s request to dance with me, but he hadn’t. That sole step of his made him suspicious.

Although it didn’t make any sense. I felt Drayard in my trance, not Reuel.

But if I found the drawing of the man in Asenah’s mansion; it wouldn’t be exactly Drayard either. The man I’d drawn didn’t have any wings and horns, and his eye and hair colour differed. His hair was brown, and his eyes were electric.

Like Reuel’s.

Suddenly, I felt like I was about to swoon. My legs became lighter, and I tried to grasp for the nearest thing as my vision became blurry. It was Reuel’s shirt I caught. He held me until I was stable again. Then our eyes met, and he grinned down at me.

“You …” I breathed out, unable to finish my thought.

But I didn’t have to, for he did it for me. “Yes. We meet at last, soulmate.”

I’d been so certain it was Drayard I felt in my trance because of his scent of the bonfire that hit me right after I realised he’d saved me from Fillan’s maws, or so I’d thought. I was so certain Drayard was my soulmate when I beheld him in his true form for the first time. I brushed off the inaccuracies, like the colour of his hair and eyes, the absence of his wings and horns in my drawing, because it was just a sketch I’d drawn without seeing the man in the first place. Although everything else matched Drayard, there were details that suited Reuel, too.

I didn’t have just one soulmate. I had two.

Two of the most handsome men I’d ever seen were my soulmates. One was my mate; the other was my soulmate sent by the Universe. Could the girl get any luckier? This was an absolute dream. But then why did it feel like the most horrible nightmare instead?

But … but when I was in the hands of other men, I thought of the stranger. Drayard had admitted that he’d felt everything I’d experienced. If he’d felt that, it meant that Reuel must have felt it, too. I wasn’t, however, going to ask just to make sure.

I let go of Reuel and stepped back. I had to get to the bottom of this. Could it really be I’d inherited Tatyana’s fate? A dragon was her mate, whilst the enchanter was the one she was meant to be with?

“If we felt each other,” I began, “you think we are meant to be by the Universe, and I’m supposed to fall for you?”

“Supposed is a tough word. I take it as a possibility.”

“Are you in love with me?”

He snickered, exposing his perfect set of teeth. “I’ve just met you. But I might someday. The Universe’s paths are unknown. Who knows what could happen tomorrow or next week? You, of course, didn’t know you were to meet your soulmate tonight, did you?”

“How could I?” I huffed. “I didn’t even embrace the possibility of having two soulmates in the first place.”

“Two soulmates?” Confusion crossed his face. “That’s not possible.”

“All right, you’re my soulmate; Drayard is my mate. You are the part of my soul and heart, but Drayard is the one who is a match for my mind and body.”

“Dragon boy is your mate?” He laughed as though he couldn’t believe it, but then got serious. “It makes sense, I suppose. You’re half a morph.”

He said it as if I was the epitome of abnormality.

“Anyhow,” he continued, smiling charmingly again, “I’d say that’s enough to mingle with dragons. Let me take you to the Empire of Skies. It’s much more modern, has more opportunities for you to thrive as an enchantress than in this … animalistic world. What do you say, Sunflower? Would you like us to get to know each other?”

He offered me an arm.

A year ago, I was preparing to marry a man who’d abused me, saving happiness for another life. But that was before I was offered to the empire and became a slave in the Realm of Bones. Then I secretly wished a man from my trance would come and save me. He never did, at least, not directly. Now, I found out the man I’d been living with for a few months wasn’t the stranger from my trance, unlike I’d thought. Well … he was the half of it, while the other half was standing before me.

I’d wished to dance with my one, and I had tonight, but I wasn’t sure which one was the one.

And for the first time, I didn’t want to find out, afraid of who it might truly be.

“Going to an unknown world with the man I’ve just met?” I somehow restrained myself from laughing in his face. “How stupid do you think I am, enchanter boy?”

He let out half a laugh while I sidestepped him and walked inside. I found Drayard leaning against the wall. I stopped, and as our eyes met, I just knew. My suspicions had been correct. He was aware of all of this.

In a huff, I quickened my pace towards the ballroom.

There was a clink once I entered, and the music ceased playing. Nayden, who stood on the dais, held a glass, clinking the fork against it. Some morphs were frowning at him. After learning what he had done without their knowledge, they didn’t have a high opinion of him, it seemed.

“As you may know, based on the new law, one human must die in every realm daily. It also includes Casidiarn.” His smile broadened, and a trepidation blossomed in my chest. “Since today is the Winter Masquerade, which hasn’t been held in over forty years, to celebrate the new beginning of our kind, we will enliven it.” He then ordered no one in particular, “Bring the human.”

Through the ajar doors next to the dais, two guards wearing yellow armour stepped inside, dragging a wriggling woman.

Then I froze.

I knew her.

Holland.

XII

HOLLAND LOOKED AWFUL. Her face was bony, smudged with dirt, and blood trickled down her bottom lip. Her brown hair was a tangled mess, clothes dirty and torn. But despite her appalling appearance, her eyes were alive, blazing and screaming with defiance.

“Let me go, you sons of whores!” She wriggled to get out of their arms while guards hauled her towards the dais, but it was impossible. Humans’ strength was not equal to morphs’.

“I must say, I showed up here right on time for a show,” Reuel mused beside me.

My eyes shot to him. His crooked smile disgusted me.

I was about to connect my fist to his chiselled jaw, but Baby came into view.

“We need to go,” she whispered.

I ignored her, concentrating on Holland, who was now kneeling before Nayden, her hair yanked back by the guard standing behind her. He forced Holland to look straight at the emperor, who was staring down at her with a glass of wine in hand.

I had to do something. Anything. I couldn’t let her die.

Baby tugged my hand. “We have to go, love.”

But I pulled my hand out of hers and sent a hiss to her head. I’m not going anywhere.

Her eyes widened. It was the first time I’d spoken in her head. And I could tell she wasn’t pleased by hearing someone else’s voice apart from her own in there.

I couldn’t care about it right now, for I had a more important matter to deal with.

I needed to save Holland.

Somehow.

And fast.

I sifted through ways of how I could get her out of morphsʼ hands, but every one of them had an inevitable loophole. If I tried to rescue her, my identity would be revealed.

“You have served us for sixteen years, Holland Twist,” Nayden noted. “You’ve stayed here alive for quite a long time. Quite a survivor.”

Morphs, as if they were commanded, tittered. I frowned and took a step forward, but the gentle hand on my arm pulled me back.

We’re leaving, Drayard said, before you do anything foolish.

I whipped my head over my shoulder, meeting his golden eyes, which dared me to oppose him.

But I did it anyway.

I tried to pull my hand out of his tight grip, but he held it firmly. Glaring at him, I stepped back, still resolved to escape him, but he pulled me closer, my chest pressing against his.

If looks could burn, both of us would have been dead by now, incinerated by the fatal flames waiting to leave our wounded but fiery hearts.

He was a fool to make a scene when there were so many morphs around us. He shouldn’t act the way he was acting with his supposed harlot. It wasn’t his style, let alone appropriate.

But nobody apart from Baby and Reuel noticed the mute fight between us. Everybody was more interested in what was happening near the dais, hungry for seeing the spill of innocent human’s blood.

“You were the one who met my niece at the dusk of the Summer Solstice,” Nayden said. “And when you were asked if anyone of the offered seemed to be unaffected by the portal’s effects, you told us they didn’t. You lied.”

I broke the eye contact with Drayard and looked over at the dais. I was hoping Holland would say something, but she remained silent. She didn’t deny it.

But why would she? No defence would save her. Accusing her of lying was just a part of the spectacle. Her fate had already been sealed.

I had to save her. No matter the cost. But I couldn’t teleport when Drayard was holding me.

Let me go, I told him fiercely.

“Talk, human.” Nayden was growing irritated. The crinkles appeared on his flawless forehead. “Or have you lost your tongue?” He grinned like a serpent.

Holland didn’t say a word.

“Very well, then.” Nayden turned to his substituted version of the throne. He then waved his hand and said, “Kill her.”

I made to run towards her, but suddenly remembered that the bastard was holding me still.

And we shall go, now.

He began dragging me out of there, despite my objections. I dug my feet in the ground to keep him from moving, but he put his hands on my waist, lifted me, and tossed me over his shoulder.

The guards around Holland drew out their daggers.

I was about to pound his back with my fists, mindless that we were in public, but the woman’s voice sounded.

“Leaving already, Drayard?”

Drayard halted. Some morphs were staring at us now because of Asenah, but most of them were still watching a much more interesting scene where a human was about to be slaughtered like a pig.

“Yes, excuse us, Asenah,” Drayard said.

One of the guards pressed his dagger to Holland’s throat. One move and she’d die.

I couldn’t allow that.

There was supposed to be a way I could save her.

Do something.

Anything.

“She’s here!” Asenah shouted. “The lost princess is here!”

All their heads turned to us simultaneously.

My heart sank, and Drayard cursed in his head loud enough for me to hear, but then I saw another pair of eyes watching me. Once I looked at her, a small smile lifted the corner of her parched lips.

Blood spurted out of her throat.

Holland’s eyes went wide, her mouth parted. The guards let go of her, and her fading stare didn’t leave my eyes until her body dropped to the floor. Dead.

People’s shouts ensued. Shouts of glee with chants following. “Get the lost Princess! Get the lost Princess!”

The guards running towards us closed the view of Holland’s body bleeding on the floor, but even if I couldn’t see it anymore because Drayard was carrying me, the image lingered.

“Stop them!” one of them yelled.

But the crowd refused to partake in the chase, chanting to get me instead.

We ran up the stairs and into some random room. Drayard put me down and took my face into his hands. He was saying something, but his voice was far away. I couldn’t understand anything. Not until I felt a burn on my face.

My hand flew to my cheek as I reconnected with the present.

“Teleport us away before you get us all killed, Elynn!”

My wide eyes fixed on Baby’s furious face. “Did you just slap me?”

“Yes, and I will do it again, unless you teleport us now!”

Curling my fingers into a fist, I was about to send a blow to her face when the door flung open, and she stumbled and frowned, letting out a moan. A guard was pointing a firearm straight at us.

I needn’t be coerced anymore. I grabbed both Drayard’s and Baby’s hands and teleported them to the place that first popped into my mind.

As soon as we appeared on the bridge, Baby collapsed to the ground. Wincing, she got the bullet out of her arm and flung it into the river. “Bloody fade ivy.”

“Elynn?”

I looked up at Drayard and let go of his hand. Then his concerned face vanished out of my sight.

XIII

“ELYNN?”

I closed my eyes.

The first time I’d seen someone killed by morphs was Jill. Asenah had strangled her in front of all the staff for informing Drayard about her plans. Then it was my sister. And then Holland.

But the recent deaths were different. Because I was blamed for them. Humans got killed every day, and it was because of me. If it wasn’t, Holland would be alive now. A slave, but alive.

A tender hand landed on my shoulder. “Elynn, what’s wrong?”

As I opened my eyes, I found Blossom sitting beside me in front of the burning hearth. I’d teleported here to be alone, but I’d forgotten all about Blossom being in the house.

“They’re monsters,” I muttered. “Every single one of them.”

“What happened?”

I couldn’t tell her more, or else I’d explode. The flames in the hearth were already burning fiercer than before I’d appeared here.

“Elynn?”

I shook my head, exhaling, but it didn’t help to quell the gradually building fury. I drew my knees to my chest and stared at the fire, trying to find the peace I’d been able to find there before. Before all this, before all those deaths.

“Would you like me to leave?”

“No,” I said quietly and meant it.

Blossom didn’t interrogate me. We sat in silence punctuated by the sound of crackling fire. It was what I needed right now. Someone close to me to watch me in case I attempted something foolish but no chatter.

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed this way but long enough for them to come back after I’d abandoned them on the bridge. Blossom gave my shoulder a supportive squeeze before standing up. She left, but it didn’t mean that I was alone.

I pictured him standing at the threshold, leaning his one shoulder against the door jamb because it was his typical posture. He didn’t say anything, though, and neither did I.

Then I felt him behind me, his hands wrapping around my waist and sliding under my legs. He lifted me, and for the first time, I didn’t protest. I didn’t have the energy for it.

He carried me to my bedroom and laid me on the bed. The mattress sank beneath me. He pushed the hair away from my eye, attempting a smile. “Well,” he said, “at least you didn’t have to finish the dance.”

I understood his aim here. Use humour to lighten up the atmosphere. But it was a poor choice of words.

“Why didn’t you tell me I had a soulmate?”

He pulled away, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, his wings resting behind him. “You never asked.”

I huffed, rising into a sitting position. “Oh, stop it. You think I shouldn’t have known that first before getting pushed into the unknown?”

“I didn’t know he would show up there. Enchanters are not supposed to trespass on morphs’ domains.”

Excuses, excuses, excuses. “And keeping it a secret makes it right?”

He didn’t answer.

I slid to the ground and headed to the dressing table where I took a seat and started taking the pins out of my hair. “You don’t seem drunk, by the way,” I noted. “And you had more than ten glasses of wine.”

“Wine doesn’t affect me for long.”

My hands stiffened at once. If he wasn’t drunk, then what he’d said in the bathroom about kissing my tears away as he could kiss the scars left by different men in my head had originated from his sober mind. It was a lie when he said he wasn’t. He was sober, but he didn’t want to admit it.

As he was always lying to me, I began doubting the truth of anything that left his mouth.

I resumed removing the pins.

“Can I ask you something?” he asked.

I didn’t recall him ever asking anything like it before.

“It depends.”

There was a pause, but he didn’t take long to speak. “You said once you would have married the wealthy man to ensure your family’s welfare, but ever since the day I saw you, you never struck me as a docile girl who wasn’t aware of her self-worth. I’m sure you would have found someone better to marry and who would guarantee you riches. So why did you choose him? That man—if he could even be called one—who abused you?”

I wasn’t sure if it was something I should converse with Drayard. But then again, nobody else was aware of my life in the Mortal Region, and I would never bring the topic up to the bat girls. And even if Drayard had committed the unforgivable, he was the sole person I knew who’d understand my actions.

“I could have found a better one,” I admitted, picking up the hairbrush and brushing my hair. “But at first, when Chase and I started dating, he wasn’t that type. He played a facade of a good, tender man until we got engaged. The first time he revealed his true self, I was beyond confused. There had never been a thought in my mind that he could be this way. I got angry at him, and he apologised, promising me nothing like it would repeat ever again. I believed him. Of course, he did it again one month later. I was ready to leave him, but he …” Unconsciously, I touched my neck, swallowing the flashes of the memory. “He grabbed me by the neck and threatened to impoverish my family. He was powerful and respected among the community enough to throw threats.”

I put the brush down and turned to Dray. “That’s why I let him do such things to me. I was risking my family’s safety when I decided to get offered. He could have made them suffer, but I couldn’t let my sister go to the empire either. They did turn out fine. It was either his threats meant nothing, or it was because Gen wrapped him around her finger.”

I still had no idea how Gen had manipulated him, but I wasn’t going to find out now anyway. “Besides—”I looked down“—I thought I deserved it.”

“What?” he said, anger underlying his words, but it wasn’t addressed to me. “You truly thought you deserved his every delivered hit?”

I arose. Turning my back to him, I collected my hair and swiped it over my shoulder. “Can you untie the laces?”

He stood up, and gingerly, as if afraid to make any contact with my skin, untied the laces one by one.

“Why did you think you deserved it?” he asked, quieter.

I swallowed. “Because deep inside, I knew I was never meant to be happy.”

“Elynn …” His tone turned tender, and I ignored how much it warmed my chest. “You know that it’s not true.”

I didn’t answer, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

“Elynn.”

I pulled away and headed for the wardrobe.

“Do you still think the same?” he asked, not letting this go.

I opened the doors. “What I think is that I’m here for a purpose. To help the world be a better place, to ensure the happiness of others, not mine.”

“There’s no way you can believe that.”

“But I do.” I whirled to face him. “I’m burning, Dray. In hopeless fury, I’m burning. And it’s because of the people who mistreated others, who killed and raped … I want them to pay, and I know, deep in my gut, I will show them there is someone else they should fear apart from the Bloodsucker.”

“You want vengeance?”

“Yes.”

More than anything. It was one of the few things I was one hundred percent sure about.

“Revenge won’t satiate you.”

“Maybe not, but it will help to bring justice.”

He was silent for a while. “You know what I think?”

I turned back to the wardrobe. “I really don’t care what you think.”

It was a lie but a convincing one.

“I’m saying it anyway.” I didn’t detect any pain in his tone. Perhaps it was a mask. Or perhaps my words didn’t touch him as I’d expected. “I understand your thirst for vengeance, and I’m sure you will do anything to get it, but it will come at a price you will regret sooner or later.”

I shook my head, dismissing one piece of clothing after another, just like his words.

“I had my own days of vengeance. And yes, it felt good, even if it was a temporary feeling. It always feels good to pay back worse than what they did, but also, being blinded by retaliation, I lost sense of my surroundings. When I finally woke up, I realised how much I’d lost because of it. How much it tainted my soul until the point where there was no way back to what I used to be. Revenge wasn’t worth such sacrifice.”

“Who did you avenge?”

“Everyone who deserved it.”

I rolled my eyes at his vague answer, which didn’t answer anything.

“I advise you to really consider before jumping into action. If you truly want this.”

“I do want it.”

“All right.”

At least he didn’t try to change my mind anymore, and I covertly appreciated it.

I started removing the dress.

“Mother of hells, Elynn,” Drayard said. “You should have said you were going to do that.”

I glimpsed at him through the mirror. His back was turned to me. “Why?” I asked indifferently. “It’s not like you haven’t seen my body before.” He didn’t say anything. Rolling my eyes, I hung the dress and changed into the robe, securing it with a belt. “I don’t understand one thing, though,” I said, turning to him.

He still wasn’t looking. Before, I would have found it funny, but now, I felt empty.

“I’m dressed now.”

He glanced at me carefully over his shoulder as though to make sure whether I wasn’t tricking him or not. I arched my brow at him, and at last, he turned to me.

“When you gained the independence of your new kingdom, there must have been a lot of new matters to deal with,” I continued. “New laws and all. But why did you stay on the Isle of Sage instead of sending the bats to look after me?”

“I told you once that I don’t trust anybody but myself.”

I frowned. “What does that have anything to do with me?”

“Everything. The only person I trust with your safety is me.”

“Is that more important to you than the people here?”

“Yes.”

He didn’t even hesitate to answer, but still, part of me hoped he was lying. And I would have made myself believe it was all a lie if it wasn’t for what he’d said on the Isle of Sage when I was trying to flee. But I also stand for sacrificing thousands if it means keeping you alive.

However, there was the oath his father had passed on to him. My death meant Drayard’s death.

So I scoffed more at myself than him that I believed for even a second he would put my life first than his kingdom only because he cared. He didn’t care the way I needed him to care. If he did, he wouldn’t have made a nefarious step to sacrifice an innocent girl and fool a gullible boy.

His life was first place.

Then came the Kingdom.

And keeping me safe meant preserving his life. I bet he regretted taking the oath because I burdened him.

He frowned. “What was this scoff about?”

“Nothing.” I fell onto the settee, crossing my legs. “I just understand your priorities better now. Your life tops them, and then there goes your precious kingdom.”

His gaze lowered to my exposed legs. I didn’t feel like adjusting the robe. Besides, The fact that I made his eyes stray made me feel more powerful, more in control. And I found myself loving it.

He looked away, and I suppressed a smirk.

“I know you wouldn’t believe me, but I never wanted this,” he said, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “To be the King.”

I wasn’t sure why he was spreading more lies, but I listened to whatever he had to say anyway.

“When my father was alive, I wished he’d marry a dragon morph of higher title and sire a child who would be a more rightful heir than me, but he died, and I had to become someone I never wanted to be.

“Now, when I have what he did, I understand what it feels like to have such power in my hands. It means losing your personal life and eventually yourself. It means sacrificing others and creating various plans in order to get what you need. People always expect something from me, and it’s exhausting, Elynn. I’ve been a ruler for six years, and I already despise it.”

“Then why sacrifice an innocent to gain independence if you despise ruling?”

“Because it’s not about me anymore. It never was. It never would be. And it never should be. Who am I to deserve happiness? I should be dead. Many, many times, I should have died, but yet, I’m still here, and I don’t understand why.”

“Then why don’t you just kill yourself?”

He stared at me for a while, shaken by my words. But I continued to stare at him, deadpan.

He started to laugh, but it was hollow. “Oh, I tried. I tried at war; I tried after. I tried to plunge the dagger I’m sure you are familiar with, the one you planned to kill me with, into my heart. But there has always been someone to detain me.”

“No one’s detaining you now. Is there a dagger somewhere? Because I can help you with it and make sure nobody interrupts you.”

He stared at me as though he couldn’t believe the words that left my mouth. “Your hatred towards me is boundless, isn’t it?”

“Were there any doubts before?”

Silence stood between us. He broke eye contact by looking down at his hands. “You ask me why sacrifice an innocent to gain independence if I despise ruling. Well, it’s what I am good at. Ruling. It’s a funny thing ... how I’m good at something I don’t even like that much. So, I asked myself, if I cannot get out of this situation anytime soon, why not cultivate it? I care about people in my realm … now my kingdom. But I would also kill every single one of them in exchange for your happiness.”

I shot upwards. “But I’m not happy. You killed her, and you are lying because you’re keeping me safe because of the oath!”

He also arose and stepped forward, towering over me. “Yes, because you needed to see what kind of monster I am, which you keep forgetting, and you deserve more than this!”

I huffed, shaking my head. “If you think I deserve more, then you are blind.”

“Well, if you think you deserve someone like the huntsman, then, my Honeylove, you are blind.”

“I know Chase didn’t deserve me!” I jerked my chin up. “I know that, all right? And I certainly don’t deserve the one who killed millions, but it might be a matter of time before I lose it and turn into someone I’m afraid of.”

“You won’t turn into me.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” I laughed, hugging myself. “I never was.”

Not in the way I should have been, at least.

“Then what are you afraid of?”

Myself. I am afraid of myself.

Because of what had left my mouth—the cold and brutal words pushing him to take his own life were something to be alarmed and terrified of.

He realised I wasn’t going to answer. “I’m staying here for a while, and Baby will go back to the Isle of Sage with you. I need to return to my duties.”

He proceeded to leave, but I put my hand on his chest and pushed him back onto the bed.

I straddled him, and his eyes widened. “What are you—”

I silenced him with a press of my finger against his lips. “I’m sorry.” I lowered my hand to his chest. “I shouldn’t have said anything about … suicide. Despite your crimes and your awful soul, I shouldn’t encourage that. I’m sorry.”

His hands landed on my hips and, with a gentle push, shifted me away from his crotch. “You didn’t have to apologise by straddling me.”

I smiled weakly, pushing my bottom back up to his crotch. He tensed. “You have no idea how I apologised to avoid worse punishment.”

Once the words left me, an instant regret attacked me. He didn’t have to know. I shouldn’t have even implied. But it was too late. The creases on his forehead indicated that he understood exactly what I’d meant.

Those creases ebbed, but his muscles didn’t relax one bit. “Elynn, you can call me whatever you like, stab me with whatever sentences you come up with, but despite my crimes and awful soul, I wouldn’t hurt you the way he did. If I did, I promise, I would make sure the platinum dagger finds its way into my heart and stays there until my soul leaves my body.”

I wanted to believe him. With all my heart, damn me, I wanted to believe him. If not for the reminder when I’d asked him to keep my siblings safe months ago in Hellrock Castle, I would have bought yet one of the many lies he had told me.

As I adjusted myself better in his lap, he drew in a breath, holding it for a moment. Instead of going down that road again, I said, “I need you to do something for me.”

“Should I be alarmed?” he said, his voice coming out strained.

I stared at him weirdly. “Are you all right?”

He nodded, lips pursed. “Never been better.” But the words came out wrong. Strangled.

I wiggled in his lap. There was a weird sound in his throat, but ignoring it, I went on. “Holland was killed because of me.” His lips parted, possibly to ask who she was, but then his mouth closed as though it dawned on him. “Since humans are killed each day, I want you to protect my friends in the Realm of Bones. Their names are Imogen, Thea, Franz …” I caught myself doubting about Clare, but the girl hadn’t done anything to deserve my spite. Her mere personality was quite annoying, but it was not a pretext to omit her from the saving list. “… and Clare. Would you protect them?” I rested my hands on his chest, hating myself for it. “For me?”

He looked down at my hands. Sighing, his eyes returned to mine. “You don’t need to be touchy to get something from me. I may be a monster, but if it was seduction you needed to get something out of the huntsman, it’s unnecessary to use it on me.”

“Would you protect them? Not for me, then?”

He chuckled, but it didn’t come out right. “If I do what you ask, you will obey Baby on the Isle of Sage while I am here. And you won’t try to escape and reveal yourself to morphs. Can you promise me that?”

“Do I need to make a magical oath?”

“That would be unnecessary. I believe we should try to trust each other, and this could be a perfect opportunity to test it.”

I frowned, a bit annoyed by the word test. “Why?”

“Because we’re on the same page. We both want to see me hurt and dead.”

For the first time, I didn’t have to question the truth behind his words.

But why protect me if he wanted his own death anyway? I didn’t ask, however. I had a feeling he wouldn’t answer. Maybe he didn’t protect me not only because of the oath, but because I was his soulmate. Or was it because he cared about me more than I gave him credit for? It would complicate things because it didn’t make sense that he’d care about someone but kill their loved one for their nation’s independence.

But he’d said he had killed her not only for that, but so that I’d see how monstrous he was and that I deserved more.

He was weird and one messed-up individual, and I wasn’t sure what to believe anymore.

“Do you promise, Elynn?” he asked, deadly serious.

“I promise.” I let out a deep sigh. “And do you promise?”

“I promise.” He placed his hand gently on my arm, his grave look melting into compassion. “I’m sorry about Holland.”

“Yeah,” I breathed. “I’m sorry, too.”

Even if the dagger that had killed Holland belonged to a guard, it was me who had sentenced her to death. And I didn’t think I’d forgive myself for disappointing someone else after letting down my sister any time soon.

I was supposed to save her, not send her into the beyond.

Now I had my sister’s, Holland’s, and many more humans’ deaths on my conscience, tarnishing my soul forever. After all, I did nothing, ensconced safely on some island while humans were killed one after another, not only by the hand of morphs but also by the plague.

“I haven’t told you something,” he said, jerking me out of my thoughts. “The night of Winter Solstice, when you fell unconscious, Reuel showed up. He recited the words I’d said to you during our trance.”

I was confused. I was hearing that for the first time ever.

“I feel you too, stranger?”

He nodded. “I feel you too, stranger.”

Now when Drayard repeated the words, it made things more difficult and bizarre, for it was his voice I’d heard in the trance, not Reuel’s. Because Drayard was a rich baritone, and Reuel was a sweet tenor.

The side of my head began to pulse after all the information I’d received and everything I’d experienced in the past hour. I didn’t think I’d be able to fall asleep tonight, busy mulling over Holland’s death and the two men, who apparently were more linked to me than I’d like.

XIV

THE NEXT DAY, I was back on the Isle of Sage. As promised, Baby had come along with me.

As there was not much to do on the island during the wintertime, I trained by practising on my own by the frozen lake. Baby didn’t help me. She wasn’t a trainer like Drayard. All she could help me with was how to do an outstanding manicure, make up, and hairstyle, but nothing that involved fighting.

I tried to be my own tutor then. I couldn’t practice fighting as I didn’t have an opponent, and Baby refused to participate, sitting on a rock and reading instead. So, I worked on controlling the powers I knew very little about. The four elements within me had waited long enough to be released for play.

First, I began with water, as it was a less hazardous element to mess around with for a beginner. I managed to melt a small hole in the ice to gain access to the water. Then, I made the water dance to get used to the feeling of what it was like to control it.

“Do you love Blossom?” I asked, since it was silent long enough.

I had to speak, or else my thoughts would carry me to the night Holland died. Or to a nightmare I had about her tonight.

She flipped a page. “It’s complicated.”

“But you two are together, right?”

I started forming water into various shapes: triangle, rectangle, square …

“Sort of.” She turned another page, making me wonder if she hadn’t brought the book here just to assume being busy so that I wouldn’t ask her to help me with training. “Blossom wants to date and all, but I don’t feel like it.”

“Why?”

“It’s complicated.”

I turned my head to her, losing control of the water. It splashed back into the lake.

“What could be so complicated about it?” I blew the loose strand of my hair from my eye. “Blossom obviously likes you, and you like her. It’s not that complicated.”

“I could ask the same about you and Drayard,” she muttered, watching my reaction from over her book.

I didn’t know how she expected me to react, but I must have disappointed her when all I did was frown. “No, you can’t because nothing is going on between Drayard and me, unlike you and Blossom.”

A smile pulled the side of her lips. “Whatever you say.”

“I’m serious. I hate him with all of my beating heart.”

But she kept smirking, annoying the hells out of me. “Whatever you say.”

I clenched my jaw. Mere seconds later, the water splashed her face which was covered in cosmetics. It wet her hair and the book in which she had no interest anyway. Livid, she looked up at me, her mouth parted slightly as droplets of water dripped down her face.

I held back a laugh at the way she looked: drenched in water with invisible steam billowing from her ears.

“You don’t want to start a fight with me, love.”

“Why?” I raised my eyebrows. “Afraid you’re going to lose?”

She neatly placed the wet book on the rock next to her and stood up, sweeping the damp hair away from her forehead with a flourish. She put her hand on her hip, eyes fixed on me. “Show me what you got, princessa.”

I felt myself smile a bit as I got into the attacking position, all my senses ready.

“Careful, Baby. Don’t break a nail.”

Unbothered by my comment, she smirked and gestured with her hand for me to start first, which I did.

I concluded to start easy with her. I didn’t want to harm her, nor her perfect nails, after all.

I sent another blow of water, but she summoned her wings, and while flapping them, she didn’t let the water reach her. Her wings were remarkably strong. I held onto my power, but the water slowly began moving in my direction instead of hers.

Not wanting to get wet, I let go of the power, and the water plummeted to the ground between us.

A pleased smile touched her lips. Irritation sparked my blood, but despite my annoyance, I didn’t let it reflect on my face.

I teleported, going for a strike behind her back, but she whirled and blocked my hit.

I struck again, this time getting into an intense fight with her.

“Why can you make your wings disappear and Drayard can’t?” I asked.

She blocked every hit of mine, so instead of punching her, I squatted and drew a leg over hers, making her fall on her side. Before she could gather her balance and stand up, I straddled her.

“He’s a dragon, love. Not entirely human.” She pushed me off, and I dropped next to her. Before she could attack, I teleported away from her.

“You’re not human either.” I rose back to my feet. “You’re a morph.”

She also stood up, and her wings disappeared. “With Drayard, it’s different. He’s a dragon, and that isn’t a part of the normal animals like a bat or a lion.” She crouched down and started scooping up the snow. I frowned, watching her. “He can shapeshift into an enormous mythical animal that doesn’t exist outside the morphs’ realm. I mean, his ears are unlike morphs’ already.”

I only now acknowledged his ears. They weren’t round ones like the rest of ours but had two small cuts in his helixes.

I was so immersed in thinking about Drayard’s ears that I didn’t catch a snowball flying towards me. It hit my left cheek. Baby laughed, of course. But as soon as she saw me reaching for the snow, she jumped with a yelp flying from her mouth and ran to hide behind a tree.

I stalked over to her with a snowball ready in my palm. I saw another snowball flying towards me from behind the tree, but this time I wasn’t caught off guard. I ducked, avoiding it.

And that was how the real fight ensued. We snowballed with each other, giggling like little girls, throwing futile threats at each other. When we were out of breath, we rested against the tree trunk.

“Drayard has never been a morph, has he?” I asked, dragging more snow to myself from my right surreptitiously.

She sucked in a breath. “No, not really. His kind is unknown. His ancestors called themselves morphs, just like the other shapeshifters when they were created. As a kind, he belongs to morphs, but we are all aware that he should be considered as the whole other—”

I rubbed a snowball all over her face.

“I won,” I sang.

She sighed in resignation. “I guess I’ll—”she turned to me and put her hand on my face, smearing it with cold snow“—disagree because the only winner here is me!”

“Baby!”

She laughed as I wiped the snow off my face. Then she extended her hand, a smile playing on the edge of her lips. “Let’s agree to a tie?”

Rolling my eyes, I took her hand and drawled, “Whatever you say.”

Her nose wrinkled, and it was my time to laugh.

Baby was cutting my hair. Every time I took a seat, I sat on it, and it hurt. To be done with unnecessary pain, I’d asked Baby to shorten it. She seemed like she knew what she was doing when it came to hair and beauty.

“What’s your story?” I asked.

I didn’t know much about her, except that Drayard had liberated her kind from centuries of whoring, and her sister was killed for no reason, as she had mentioned to me at the Winter Solstice.

“I don’t have one,” she said.

“You don’t want to tell me?”

She continued cutting my hair, saying nothing. But after a while, she began. “I was born sixty-two years ago in the small village in the Realm of Embers. I grew up with my mother and younger sister. Well … sort of.”

“Where was your father?”

“I didn’t have one,” she answered. “I was an accident of a one-night stand. Maybe. Mother and I didn’t have the best relationship. Her birthday gift for my fifth birthday was a ticket to the whoring school.”

She chuckled, but it was sarcastic. She continued. “My sister was two when I was sent away to the City of Fire. At first, I didn’t understand my purpose there. Nobody explained it to me, not even my mother.

“In the first nine years, I wasn’t told to do anything obscene, only to scrub dishes, clean rooms, basically do the menial chores. My sister came a few years later, and we did the scrubbing together.” She put the scissors on the table and took a hairbrush. “When I had my first bleeding, that was when my true purpose in the whoring school began.” She began brushing my hair. “The head-lady of the whoring school started sending young inexperienced volunteers. She wanted to assess my potential.

“When she sent the first one, I didn’t know what to do. I was panicking. The boy was nervous, too, which made everything even worse. But by then, I knew my purpose in that school. I understood that my kind was destined to do such a thing, and it wasn’t fair. I asked myself every day, Why us? Why weren’t we able to choose our future?” Her tone turned angrier. “I was a sentimental young girl. I didn’t want my first time to be a test of my capabilities as a whore. That wasn’t right, but who said I had a choice? None of us did, so I did it anyway. I fucked the boy and hated myself afterwards.”

She set the hairbrush on the table and hopped on the edge. “I hated my mother for sending my sister and me there, even if I knew she didn’t have another choice. I hated the law. I hated my body. I hated everything, but I didn’t rebel and did my job well, earning the name Baby.”

“But why did the bats have to be whores in the first place?”

She looked up at the ceiling. “Almost two millennia ago, your ancestor Macegan Haroun established a system for morphs, enchanters, and humans, creating rules to keep the threatening creatures away from his throne. The main danger to him was dragons. To prevent them from taking his and his descendants’ crown, he bargained with them by giving them an island to rule. Dragons took a deal. Then it came to us bats. We weren’t really a threat; it was that his lover didn’t like that the bat girls were prettier than her. She was the one who came up with the idea to make the girls whores so they could never be ladies, but Macegan forced bat boys into whoring, too. That’s how it all began.”

“But what about enchanters? Weren’t they a threat to Macegan’s throne?”

It confused me. Enchanters were known as one of the dangerous kinds. Far more dangerous than morphs, for they could read minds, teleport, and do many more powerful things.

“No, they weren’t,” she said. “In the very beginning, all enchanters could do was enchant stuff. They didn’t know how to summon their other powers. Even sorcerers were better at their skills than enchanters. That was why sorcerers helped them. Through generations, enchanters had grown stronger until they were completely sick of being ruled by morphs and began to rebel. Later, humans decided that they wanted their own world, too, and sided with enchanters, starting the Hundred Years’ War.”

I nodded, already knowing the story of the Hundred Years’ War.

“You haven’t told me what happened to your sister,” I reminded her carefully, as I didn’t want to reopen the wound.

“My sister didn’t accept her whoring fate as submissively as I did. She fought, and I admired her for it, even if I’d warned her about the consequences. She didn’t care.” She looked down. “So, she decided to kill the men she was about to sleep with, as a rebellious act. That went unsuccessfully and … and one of them strangled her while the other put a golden dagger through her heart.”

Utter silence dropped between us.

Baby didn’t cry. She would never. But I could still sense suppressed sorrow and pain for losing her younger sister emanating from her.

I could relate to Baby, but I wished I couldn’t.

“I found her.” Her voice dropped quieter. “The blankets soaked with her blood; her eyes opened wide. Those assholes didn’t even shut her eyes. They left her body for the rats to feast on.”

I rose to my feet. Mutely, I hugged her, not sure how much it’d make her feel better. My embrace wasn’t going to bring her sister back. Just like nobody could ever bring mine.

“Did you have a birth name?”

“Yeah,” she whispered. I waited, but she didn’t say her true name. And I didn’t ask. If she didn’t want to say it, I wasn’t going to push her into doing something she didn’t want to do when she had been doing things for over five decades against her will.

But at least that part of her life was over. I understood why she felt as if she were in debt to Drayard. He’d saved her and her race from its fate. In her place, I’d have served him, too. No matter what.

It was hard to hate him when he had done such a considerate act once he’d become the King of kings and queens.

But I had to despise him. If not, what person would it make me?

XV

IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG to gain a better understanding of my powers. Although I still didn’t know how to fight decently, as Drayard wasn’t here to teach me, I was at least able to summon the four elements whenever I wanted without needing to get angry.

It wasn’t like my self-training always passed smoothly or with as little damage as possible. Once, when I’d played with the land, I almost made a ravine. While I was sealing up the hole, giggling like a girl who knew she did something wrong and didn’t feel guilty one bit, Baby was shouting at me, making me laugh even more. Later, when the crack in the ground was gone and Baby cooled down, she told me I should stick with designing clothes rather than a bloody island.

“Do you dream of your sister’s death?” Baby asked, as we were taking a stroll in the forest.

I hadn’t been here before. The forest on the Isle of Sage was dark and scary. From previous experiences, forests and I weren’t good friends, but when I had powers and a bat beside me, it didn’t frighten me.

Even if it’d been a week and my nightmares didn’t emerge as often as they used to, they still did. And since Baby was sleeping in the same room as me, I woke her up, so she awakened me, too.

She could have slept in the nook under the stairs, but she didn’t risk incurring Drayard’s wrath. I’d assured her he wouldn’t mind if she slept there, but she had still resisted adamantly.

I didn’t feel the same about him as Baby, albeit I didn’t sleep behind the stairs either. I had a reason for that.

I’d inspected the room out of boredom one day. Its space was tiny, barely wide enough to fit a mattress. Since I was claustrophobic, sleeping there would be equal to suicide.

I had no clue how Drayard fit his wings inside every time he slept there. He must have been very uncomfortable. But most nights, he wasn’t even sleeping there. When I had a nightmare, he came to comfort me and stayed with me afterwards. He slept with me in the same bed, but when I woke up, I didn’t find him beside me. But I knew he stayed the whole night, holding me so I could sleep without nightmares disturbing me.

Baby, however, once she awakened me from a nightmare, had never asked me about them until now.

“Not always,” I answered. “Sometimes, I dream about my ex or twins.”

“And their assault?”

I nodded.

“I saw your face when Drayard burst into the room where the snake was,” she said after a while. “You were terrified. I could see it through the mask. It’s your fear, isn’t it? To be assaulted again?”

I recalled the scene in the Winter Masquerade. Indeed, I couldn’t do anything to stop the man. I was completely paralyzed.

Baby was right. It was my fear.

But I didn’t want to admit it. “I guess.”

At least in these woods, I could hear owls hooting and crickets chirping. The forest wasn’t as deathly silent as the pine forest in the Realm of Bones. The forest on the Isle of Sage was very much alive, and the harmony here calmed me.

“You are safe here, though. Nobody would ever assault you again. I think Drayard assured you of that.”

“Yeah,” I said absentmindedly.

Something ran over my legs. I looked down and saw a bunny. I smiled. It leaped right into the bushes, disappearing from my sight.

I turned my head to Baby. “What’s your fear?”

“Losing the ones I love,” she declared, not being hesitant or evasive, unlike Drayard when I’d asked him the same question.

My smile grew. “So you do love Blossom.”

I could swear if all the cosmetics were wiped off her cheeks, I’d find them rosy.

“Don’t tell her that, or else I’ll cut you with my nail.” She lifted her forefinger in a threat. Her sharp nail indeed looked menacing. For this reason alone, it’d make me rethink crossing Baby next time.

“I’ll carry your secret to my grave.”

“You better.”

I let out a quiet chuckle.

“Are you aware that you have millennia to live, love?”

I pursed my lips.

I’d thought about it already, and it still felt surreal, let alone insane. I didn’t want to live a thousand years if life was going to be this way: brutal and not one bit fair.

“No,” I lied, tucking my hands in the pockets of my coat.

“Do you know how you’re going to spend it?”

The answer to her question was obvious, but I hesitated to reply.

A few months ago, I’d have sworn on my life that I had limited time, but now, I had no idea what I’d do. Plan the vengeance on several morphs, hurt them, and then what?

The millennia of lifetime didn’t sound as pleasing to me as it could to others. I’d have treasured the life I’d have had as a human, but as a half-breed, I still didn’t allow myself to dream.

“No.”

“I have an idea,” she announced. “Someday, when the alarm of Nayden wishing for your death goes away, you could open your design shop or play the piano in the Concert Hall.”

I did love sketching and playing the piano, but doing just that for the rest of my life didn’t sound as exciting as it once had.

“Or you could become a queen.”

Instantly, I came to a halt. She stopped, too, staring at me with a smug smile on her face.

“A … queen?”

She slowly nodded her head. “The Queen of Embers.”

My whole forehead must have been marred with wrinkles. “Becoming the Queen of Embers would mean—”

“Marrying Drayard?” I frowned even more, if that was possible. “Is that really a bad thing? To marry your mate, your fate, your—”

“Why do you keep pushing me to him? You know how much I despise him. Is it entertaining for you to see me angry? What is it that you can’t shut up about him?”

She shrugged without saying anything, smiling. She was definitely relishing this.

“He sentenced my sister to death. He’s not my fate. He’s—”

“Fate or not, you’re in love with him.”

I stepped back in repulsion. “I am not in l-love with him!”

Her annoying smile grew bigger. “You want him. You crave him. I saw plenty in the Masquerade. You crave each other. When I stumbled into the bathroom, I was surprised to find only his jacket on the floor and not the rest of your clothes.”

My jaw dropped. I searched for what to say, but it was pointless because whatever I said, she wouldn’t believe me. So, I closed my mouth.

“Elynn,” she said, taking a step towards me, “he loves you.”

I scoffed. “I don’t think he is capable of love.”

“You think, but it doesn’t mean it’s true.”

I shook my head.

“Every time he enters the room, what he notices first is you. It’s like no one else exists but you. When you two are together, the aura around you switches into something else entirely. Passion. Lust. Love. Longing. I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s like the Universe itself pushes you together, but you both are fighting it like the same poles repel each other. I understand that what Drayard did is unforgivable. I’m fully on your side, and I wish things could be different for you, but it’s also undeniable that you love him. Hate him, but love him, which you hate more than hating him.”

“I do—”

She quickly continued before I could deny it all. “But, since he did what he did, I ought to tell you this. If you do want him to pay and you’re sure that you’re not going to regret it after, hear my advice. A man is easy to fool when he’s in love, especially by the woman he’s smitten with. He would do anything for her, and when the feelings are only at their start, new and fresh … rose-coloured glasses blind all the defects.”

“A woman in love can be as easily fooled as a man.” I turned around and began to walk away. Baby was quick to catch up with me. “I tried fooling him before, and it didn’t work. I doubt there is any way to avenge him.”

“There’s always a way.”

“And what is it?”

“Breaking his heart.”

My chest pinched as I stopped again. “How am I supposed to break a heart he doesn’t have?”

“We all have a heart, but it’s our privilege to choose how to guard it. To break anyone’s heart, even Drayard’s, you have to get to know him better. Learn his desires, more about his past, what hurt him the most, making him the way he is. Try to listen, and you might hear your answer.”

“Easy to say when Drayard can’t confide in me anymore. Not after failing that ridiculous trust test of his.”

“Trust can always be regained.” She paused for a bit. “And along the way, your vengeance list can also decrease.”

“Doubtful.”

Owls overtook the silence between us. We resumed the walk until I couldn’t take the discomforting silence between us anymore.

“You don’t happen to know what poisons dragons, do you?”

She laughed. “Are you planning to poison him?”

I didn’t answer. I hadn’t found any information about what could be fatal to dragons, despite a weapon covered in platinum. I could ask Drayard as he had more knowledge than anybody I knew, but that would be the stupidest move ever. He already knew I was planning to kill him, and a person who was planning to kill someone shouldn’t hint at what death they should expect.

“I haven’t heard of anything that poisons dragons,” she said. “But I could ask one woman who sells all types of tinctures in the city. I doubt she’ll have something, as their blood is a healing source, and it’s hard for anything to intoxicate them more than … Elynn, stop.”

I did. “What?”

“The hoots ceased.”

And indeed. I heard no owls anymore. Only silence. A silence that reminded me of the forest in the Realm of Bones. A shudder ran through me.

“I think we should teleport,” Baby suggested.

I took her hand, but as I tried to teleport us back to the house in the mountain, we didn’t move.

“I can’t,” I said, my heart starting to beat faster in fear.

I could tell Baby was becoming scared, but she didn’t act on it and said calmly, “Try again.”

I did, but it was like bumping into an invisible wall.

An agonizing shriek cut through the forest. I let go of Baby to cover my ears, but it didn’t help. The scream still slipped through, immobilising me.

Baby also had her ears covered, frowning. Soon there was another wail. It made me drop to my knees, squeeze my eyes shut, and clench my teeth tight. For the first time in my life, I wished to die so the torture would end.

The shrieking kept repeating, like a never-ending horrific melody. And each one was harder to bear than the preceding ones.

“How dare you step into my lands?” Another scream mixed with words came, and then it demanded, “Look at me, wrathful soul.”

I didn’t, convinced that it was death talking to me.

A cold hand closed around my neck, lifting me off the ground. I refused to open my eyes, regardless of being curious to learn what creature was gripping my neck. I knew better now than to sate my curiosity.

“Look at me,” it said.

I didn’t.

“Look at me!”

My eyelids flew open, but nobody was before me. However, the invisible hand remained on my neck, squeezing it. I gasped for some air, trying to grasp at the creature’s fingers, but all I touched was my neck.

Another shriek came straight into my face. I winced. My head was in a dizzy state and perhaps bleeding. I wondered how long my highly sensitive ears would take such horrible screaming before it finally ended me.

But then a fume emerged before me, shaping into a figure.

It was a white-haired woman with a face that reminded me of a skull, staring at me with utterly white eyes. The long, tattered dress scarcely covered her bony body, and the hand holding my neck was so thin, I could feel her bones through her chalky skin.

Banshee.

“You invaded my land, wrathful soul,” she hissed. Even her hiss was as horrifying as her shrieks.

Baby was still covering her ears, her eyes squeezed shut. The banshee’s scream must be torturing her as much as it was me. But I was bearing it better than her.

“I didn’t,” I choked out, and bony fingers pressed my neck tighter. I gripped her wrist. The banshee’s morbid eyes stared through me as though she saw my soul and the most hidden pieces of me she was eager to snap with her shrill wail.

“You’re going to pay for stepping into my land, wrathful soul.”

The banshee’s mouth opened wide, and a hail of shrieks shot at my face. I screamed, too.

It hurt. It hurt so much, I wished she’d kill me right now. But I held on, despite my brain cells being in immense pain and her screams threatening to harm my sanity.

But what I knew from tales, banshees weren’t killers. They caused tremendous pain, could foretell upcoming death, and curse somebody if they tried to seek them, but they couldn’t kill.

They could drive someone into insanity, though.

I acknowledged that my legs were free, dangling in the air. Swinging my legs forward, I pushed her with my feet, and she let go of my neck. I fell and winced at the pain, but ignoring it, I teleported to Baby.

Gripping her by her shoulder, I began shaking her. “Stand up, Baby,” I demanded, but she didn’t listen. “Baby, please. We need to run!”

But it didn’t look like she could hear me at all or feel my hands on her shoulders, for that matter. Her eyes conveyed horror, and it was like she was in another world, fighting pain caused by the banshee.

I tried to teleport us both, but I bumped into an invisible wall again. It was because of the banshee’s scream. It had to be. It weakened my powers.

I was all on my own. I couldn’t escape alone and leave Baby, but if we stayed here, Gods only knew what damage the banshee’s screams would do to us. I had to think of a solution on how to get both of us out of here fast.

Banshees could be killed. Any creature in this world could be killed, and a banshee wasn’t an exception, but—

The banshee turned to me. I held her eerie white pupils. I had no idea how I was supposed to kill her. I didn’t think it was possible when I wasn’t prepared to fight anyone yet, especially not a creature who could inflict madness. But I had to get rid of her somehow.

Drayard had taught me how to turn into a lion. It wasn’t an easy thing to do—to imagine my whole body altering into a wild beast. But once I’d turned into my beast form, what was holding me back from doing it now?

Another scream made me collapse in the snow.

My hands are lion’s legs. My skin is as ivory as a lion’s skin. My ears, nose, mouth, and tail—a lion.

I screamed as the pain of transformation crossed my bones, my muscles, and my cells. The banshee’s perpetual screams didn’t help to endure the pain any easier. That must be why it felt as if my whole body was breaking while shapeshifting.

But here I was, after a moment or two, standing on four feet instead of two. My eyes held the banshee’s as I showed her my brand-new wild cat’s teeth and threw myself on her. She disappeared before my claws could reach her and tear her long dress along with her body into shreds.

I turned around, scanning the area for the pesky creature. She materialised next to my friend and gripped her midnight-blue hair, yanking her head back. The banshee opened her mouth, ready to scream again.

But before she even had a chance, I jumped towards her again. She disappeared once again with a scream following her. I was getting irritated by her teleportation skills. Perhaps turning into a lion to fight a banshee wasn’t the wisest choice.

Turning back to a human wasn’t as painful as transforming into a lion. But it still hurt. I knew if I left this place sane and with Baby, I’d not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.

“You stepped into my lands,” she repeated.

I rolled my eyes.

This time, I teleported myself behind her and gripped her long, white hair. She shrieked. I was about to wrap my hand around her bony neck and squeeze her to her death, but she disappeared once again.

I desperately needed to come up with a new attack strategy. I needed to think wiser, but there was no time for it as she kept screaming, attacking with the only thing she could—her painful scream.

“You stepped into my land, wrathful soul.”

Did she know any other words other than that?

She appeared beside Baby and closed her thin, skeleton-like fingers around Baby’s neck. She lifted her, and Baby gasped for air.

I gritted my teeth, and my blood began boiling. I didn’t think twice when the ground beneath me began to quiver. Or when the heat rushed to my hands, sparking them into flames. Or when the trees shook around me, blowing a strong breeze, tousling my hair …

The banshee screamed as she caught fire. It was a different kind of scream. Its purpose wasn’t to inflict pain on others but to show that she was in pain.

She let go of Baby, who sank on the shaking ground.

I teleported behind the banshee and gripped her hair as she had with Baby’s. I tugged it back but much rougher than she had my friend’s.

“And you messed with the wrong wrathful soul, you bitch,” I snarled, sending a flame through my fingers.

Her scream was painful, but I bore it. I kept my eyes open as I watched her burn into ashes. And all that was left of her, the wind carried away, along with her scream that had receded in my head until it was gone as its owner.

Part III: Notes of Loss & Mystery

XVI

BABY WASN’T REACTING.

I’d teleported her to the bedroom, but she hadn’t shown any sign of awareness of her surroundings ever since. And the hour had passed already.

I tried everything to wake her up. I slapped her, poured cold water on her face—after turning her on the side, of course, as I didn’t want her to choke—pounded pots close to her ear, but nothing worked. When I’d slipped inside her head to see what was wrong, I met the banshee’s lingering screams.

If the screams remained in her head, it’d cause permanent damage to her mind. I wasn’t going to let it happen, but I had not even the slightest clue how to prevent it, either.

I tried to talk with her, pull her into this world from her head with my mere words. I had no idea what else there was to do. I felt so useless and powerless and panicky … Truly panicking. My fingers were shaking. I couldn’t help my friend. Only watch how the deceased banshee’s shrieks were destroying her brain cells bit by bit.

And I wasn’t going to forgive myself if she … disappeared, as it was my idea to explore the forest in the night.

I brought her into my arms. She was like a doll I could carry whenever I liked, do whatever I wanted with, and she wasn’t going to react to anything anymore.

Water flooded my eyes at the thought of her being like this forever. I liked Baby. I liked to quarrel with her. If she were paralyzed, with whom would I argue about nothing?

“Please wake up, Baby. Please,” I begged, but no reaction came from her.

Rocking her, I tried to bring her back, but it was in vain. Nothing was going to help her. I’d doomed her as soon as we set foot in the forest.

This isn’t happening. This isn’t happening.

The first notes of a lullaby slipped off my tongue. Perhaps it was foolish, perhaps it was childish, but I sang. Though, I wasn’t sure from where I knew the song and the words. It all had come to me out of the blue.

The words were soothing. Perhaps my singing skills weren’t at their best, but such a thing didn’t even matter at this point.

The scent of smoke wafted to me, sending a rush of anger through me. If he had stayed on the island instead of leaving me with Baby, nothing like this would have happened. I wouldn’t be on the verge of losing my friend.

As I finished the song, I pressed my lips to Baby’s forehead. I was losing her. What would I tell Blossom?

It’s not your fault, he said.

Without looking at him, I slammed the door with a flick of air in his face. His presence only added to the already awakening fire in me.

I pushed the hair away from Baby’s forehead.

“You’ve never told me your birth name. You can’t leave without anybody learning your real name, Baby,” I mumbled, fighting the surge of tears. “A name some disgusting man picked for you … You can’t just … disappear so that everybody remembers you as a whore with the name of a harlot. This isn’t you. You’re more than that …” I blinked, several tears trickling down my cheeks. “You have to fight. You’re stronger than that banshee’s screams. You are strong. I … I believe in you, babes.”

I took a shuddering breath, not even trying to control the tears anymore. They had prevailed, as they were already washing my face.

“How can you leave Blossom alone? You must fight those screams. Please, Baby.

“Who would help me hunt down Fillan and Lupin?” I sniffed. “Or hurt those who hurt you?”

I pressed my forehead against her shoulder. I’d lost my father, mother, and sister. Losing someone else important in my life would be the end of my sanity.

What had I done to deserve this?

“I love you, scary bat girl. I truly love you and refuse to lose you,” I whispered into her shoulder, my voice cracking at the end.

“You love me?”

Jerking my head back, I released her. Baby was staring at me, the wide smile playing on her very much conscious face.

Pressing my lips together to suppress a smile, I pushed her by her shoulder. She chuckled.

“You brat!” But she kept smiling. “No, excuse me, but you’re a bloody bitch.”

Baby shrugged, tossing her hair over her shoulder. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Then she spread her arms wide, inviting me for an embrace. I fell into her arms, squeezing her the way she had when she’d brought me the luggage of clothes. It’d been an hour, and I was convinced that I’d lost her. Hugging her tight assured me she was indeed back and safe.

“Is it true that you love me, and Blossom has a competitor to my heart?” she asked in an affected way as we let go of each other.

“I wouldn’t like to start a war, but,” I said, playing along. “if it’s true love, I’ll have no choice but to fight for your heart.”

I held her gaze. The corners of her lips lifted, forming into a broad but wicked smile. She started leaning closer, and I did the same, holding back a smile.

When there was an inch left between our lips, we burst into laughter.

“Sorry, but you’re not my taste, love.” She pushed her hair out of the way.

I placed my hand on my chest. “Ouch,” I said, offended. “How can I not be, though?”

“Tall blondes with cocky attitudes aren’t my type.”

I rolled my eyes, dropping the act. “How about the banshee’s scream? Is it gone?”

“It was gone after you sang that strange song.”

“Strange song?”

“The lullaby in some unknown language.”

I got confused. I’d sung in an unknown language? How could I—

Dryad language. I must have sung in Dryad. I hadn’t even noticed that.

“And you have been awake since then, making me believe I’d lost you forever?”

“What? It’s not every day I hear someone begging me to stay. It was nice to learn I’m important to someone.” She looked down, picking at her nails.

“You’re important to Blossom.”

“Yes, but it’s different. She’s …” She went silent. I waited for her to speak up about their complicated relationship, but she continued, “Apart from her, I hadn’t had anyone else until I learned that my paralysis would affect you. I hadn’t realised I was that important to you.”

I smiled, putting my hand on her shoulder. I searched for her eyes, and when I found them, I said, “You and Blossom are both important to me. You both came to my help at the twins’ birthday to incapacitate their precious things. You both took good care of me back in the volcano and helped me to find my sister without attacking me when you could.”

It was hard to be honest, since it wasn’t every day I poured my heart out. I was so prone to lie to protect others without knowing how I actually felt, which was wrong. And now, as I was voicing most of my feelings, it felt better than I’d thought it would.

“You’ve done a lot of good for me during these past months. And the thing is, you didn’t have to do anything you did, but you still cared for me no matter what.”

Baby took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, smiling. And at that moment, something changed between us. I was new to this, but even if I was, I could tell exactly what it was.

Real friendship.

“If Blossom was here, she’d cry,” she said, causing me to chuckle. “All right, I have to go since your King is back, love.” She stood up.

I shot her a pointed look. Utterly ignoring it, she strode over to the door and opened it.

Then she paused and glanced at me over her shoulder. “My true name is Avaline. Don’t tell anybody.” She winked and turned into a bat, flying out of here.

I lingered before going downstairs to face Drayard. I was still affected by the fact that Baby—Avaline—would have become mentally paralysed if not for some song in Dryad.

As I fixed myself, making sure there was no trace of crying on my face, I headed downstairs. Drayard, as I’d expected, was in the kitchen, eating the scrambled eggs from the pan.

Frowning at the sight, I cleared my throat.

“Sorry,” he said, noticing me. “I was a little hungry.”

“Careful. It might be poisonous.”

“Why?”

“Because I made it.”

He returned the pan to the cooker. “You know that nothing can poison me, right? I’m immune to whatever you sprinkled in there.”

A beat of silence passed. Did he think the food was poisoned on purpose, and I’d left it there as bait? Indeed he did.

I burst into laughter, wrapping my hands around my stomach.

The hard look in his eyes turned confused.

“Dray, that’s not it.” I shook my head, getting a hold of myself. “If it’s poisoned, I didn’t do it intentionally. It’s because I am that terrible of a cook.”

He winced, throwing a curious glance at the pan. “You’re underestimating yourself.”

I waved a hand, not even going to enter that topic with him. I was a terrible cook, and his lies would change nothing, only make me more determined to stick with the promise I’d made after cooking this abomination that this was the last time I cooked something by myself. Baby herself had commented that my scrambled eggs were as plain as flour but without flour, whatever that meant.

I went over to the counter and snatched a glass, pouring some water. I chugged it all, thirsty after the fight with the creature and trying to rescue Baby from paralysis.

“So, you killed a banshee,” he said.

I swallowed the last gulp. “I burned her.”

“You burned her,” he echoed, as if it was hard to believe.

I turned around. Perplexity was written all over his face. It was unlike him to lay bare his emotions like that. I wondered why now. And it wasn’t only that. Mild dark circles stained the skin under his eyes, and as he rubbed his knuckles against one, it was clear while he was away, he hadn’t had much sleep. If he even had some.

“Elynn …” He let out a breath. “Banshees can’t be killed.”

Silence.

“But anyone can be killed,” I said, barely audible and lacking certainty.

He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms. Again, I ignored the ink on his forearms, focusing on his face and his face only.

“Banshees can’t. They are already dead—deathlike spirits haunting the forest once the sun sets. Nothing can kill them, but you somehow did. I travelled to the place where you murdered her. It smelled of death.”

“How can you smell death?”

“I’ve been surrounded by it most of my life. I know what it feels like, smells like.”

I wasn’t sure if smelling death was a good thing or not, but I chose not to debate over it. “Then it means it’s possible to kill them.”

He shook his head in denial. “You didn’t just burn her. You turned her mortal so you could kill her. But how did you do that, that’s the mystery I’d like to unravel.”

I snorted, hopping on the counter. “Always calculating, always wanting to be one step ahead. Cracking mysteries, riddles, curses … Does your brain ever rest?”

He didn’t answer. But he didn’t have to. We both knew it didn’t.

“Isn’t it tiring?” I went on. “To always seek an answer to everything?”

The corner of his lips quirked up. “I could ask you the same.”

“What do you—”

He gave me a knowing look, and I bit my tongue. I was a hypocrite, as I was doing the same thing, searching for answers, but I did it either out of curiosity or to save someone I loved. He and I were alike and yet not quite. Searching for answers was an innate part of both of us. We were both curious creatures. I should have known better than asking him whether it was tiring or not because it was, but the result made it all worth it.

“The banshee repeated something between the screams.” I grasped the edges of the counter tighter. “You stepped into my land, wrathful soul.” I tried to imitate her voice, but it wasn’t even close. I didn’t have that eerie echo or her insufferable screams in me. “But banshees don’t have lands. They don’t own places.”

He scratched at his nape as though he was uncomfortable. “Banshees see souls since they come from the spirited world. They don’t own it, but they guard it. She must have meant that.”

I frowned. “But it can’t be right. How could I step into the spirited world? I’m not dead.”

He stared at me for a while, deliberating something very carefully, trying to crack a mystery again, no doubt.

“Drayard?”

He came back to the present. “Some places on the island are haunted, and a few of them might connect with different worlds. Spirited world might connect to the place you were with Baby in the forest. You might have entered in-between worlds, and the banshee took you as an intruder because you were a living being in a place where the dead meet.”

That … that sounded reasonable. “She called me a wrathful soul.”

“To them, a soul is transparent. In yours, she must have seen the wrath dominating the rest of you.”

Despite my instinctive urge to argue, I had to restrain this time. I knew too. I was brimming with wrath, which fogged my brain sometimes. Denying the truth would be pointless. I’d only try to fool myself, which wouldn’t give any benefits to me. All I was surprised by was that the banshee didn’t add vengeful to it.

“Are my friends safe?” I inquired after a while.

“Kyrel took only two of them to the Mortal Region.”

My heart quickened at the thought that I’d already lost two of them. “Where are the rest?”

“Asenah’s cook refused to go. Despite how hard Kyrel tried to convince her. She said to tell you she has unfinished business to take care of.”

I rolled my eyes mentally.

I wasn’t surprised. Imogen’s twin brother had been killed by Asenah’s hand. I could wager the reason behind the unfinished business was him. But I doubted if she’d survive long enough to make Asenah pay for it.

“And the other—Clare, her name is, I think—was long gone.”

“Dead?”

“I’m more inclined to believe she ran away right before the Winter Solstice. It was a good opportunity for a human to escape when everybody was preoccupied with sacrifice.”

And at that, I wasn’t surprised either. Clare was a girl of mystery. I was certain she had been hiding something all along. She hadn’t gotten affected by the portal like other humans, like me. Maybe because she wasn’t human, but something else.

At least Thea and Franz were safe. Perhaps Thea would fulfil her wish and create a family with him. Live a long, happy life, as she desired.

But I couldn’t trust that they were in the Mortal Region now, and yet I did. Drayard tended to keep his promises. Well … most of them.

I was also keeping my promise. We’d made a deal after all. He’d fulfilled his, and now all I had to do to repay him for saving my friends was to not show up at the empire when he was aware of it.

He picked the pan and resumed eating the scrambled eggs again. I winced at the sight. He might be certain nothing could poison him, but if he finished this one, it might lower his confidence after he found himself retching late at night.

“Have you even tried them?” he asked, noting my reaction.

“Yes, and it was awful.”

He walked over with a pan and picked some eggs up with a fork. “Open your mouth.”

I drew back.

“Don’t be a frowning baby. Come on.”

Rolling my eyes, I opened my mouth. As he put the fork of scrambled eggs and I chewed it, I could swear the taste differed from what I’d had this morning.

“It isn’t bad. Did you do something?”

“Added a little bit of spice. Want more?”

I nodded, and he gave me more.

“How did setting up the kingdom go?” I asked between bites.

“It’s a work in progress,” he said. “I still have things to do, but I’ll stay here for a bit longer. I’m turning into a terrible ruler, but I think you need me more than the kingdom needs me.”

I scoffed. “I don’t need you.”

“But I need you.”

It turned awkward fast. He dropped his gaze, pulling back. I landed on my feet and didn’t dare to glance at him as I made my way to the door. But as I put my hand on the handle, I paused, sensing his stare at my back.

Taking a silent sigh, I glanced at him over my shoulder, meeting his weary gaze. “Go to sleep, Drayard. You need it.”

He took a glass and, avoiding my eyes, refilled it with water. “I’ll stay here for a bit longer.”

To tire his brain more by trying to crack the mystery of how I could kill the creature that was supposed to be immortal, no doubt.

But I didn’t try to talk him out of it. I was tired, myself. Besides, he was a mature man who could take care of himself.

Maybe.

I lowered the door handle. “Good night then.”

There was the ghost of a smile on his face as he reciprocated, “Good night, Honeylove.”

XVII

THIS TIME, DRAYARD brought two swords to the training. I stared at him questioningly. “Where did you get them?”

He gave me one, and I took it by its handle. “It’s a secret.”

The sword was a bit too heavy for my liking, but I lifted it up and down until I got somewhat used to its weight. “We’re going to start training with weapons, I suppose?”

“We shouldn’t, but we can’t do slow training. There’s no time for that.”

I gave him a knowing look. “I have almost a thousand years to live.”

“If you’re not killed by then because your trainer kept things slow.” He looked down at my sword. “Do you know how to hold it?”

“Yes, I have held many swords in my twenty years,” I said sarcastically.

He dropped his sword and approached me. He put his naked hand on mine, and for once, I preferred if he wore gloves. But there was once a purpose for him to wear gloves, now there was none.

The snow had started to melt, and the smell of blooming buds and a light breeze enveloped the Isle of Sage. The birds’ species I’d never seen at the Mortal Region, nor at the Realm of Bones now chirped in the mornings when Drayard and I trained near the shimmering lake.

Spring had finally arrived. A time when nature was reborn, and I felt reborn with it, too. I’d been feeling so light these last few days, so fresh, despite the gruelling training with my trainer.

He adjusted my thumb forward. “It’s called a handshake grip. There are more, but it’s the most used. We’ll try the other ones later, and you should stick with the one that is best for you.”

I nodded, but it was a challenge to listen to him when his hand was on mine and there was no piece of clothing separating our skin. At last, he removed his hand and returned to his sword. As he lifted it and was turning around, I was already swinging a sword towards his face, but he blocked the hit, his eyes wide. He hadn’t expected that.

I smirked.

“That’s unfair,” he acknowledged.

I went for his legs, but he blocked my sword once again. We started engaging in an intense fight. By now, Drayard must have realised I knew how to use a sword all along, only pretending to be clueless, and surprisingly, we were pretty equal if he wasn’t going easy on me. I couldn’t tell if he was.

As our swords clashed over our heads, he asked, “How do you know how to sword fight?”

I withdrew the sword. “Chase taught me.”

Actually, my former fiancé hadn’t taught me swordsmanship but how to fence, which was pretty similar, except a foil was much lighter. He’d never considered teaching me how to fight with a sword, as he deemed the skill unfeminine, but it wasn’t difficult to get used to a sword, especially when me and Gen had liked to use sticks as swords.

He lowered his sword. “I find it hard to believe.”

I shrugged my one shoulder, lowering my sword as well. “I’ve never seen you carrying a sword before. Shouldn’t you always be armed in case something happened?”

“I am armed.”

I narrowed my eyes, inspecting him. He didn’t wear his fancy clothes on the island like an entire suit, but a shirt tucked in his trousers. There was, however, no sight of a scabbard that would keep his weapons. Nothing.

“Well, then.” He dropped his sword and bent down, but it was hard to trace what happened next.

Two weapons zipped by each side of me, meeting the tree behind me. Startled and wide-eyed, I looked over my shoulder at where two daggers were nailed in the tree trunk.

I neared the tree to inspect them closer. “How did I not see you taking them?”

I touched the black hilt of it. Had he been carrying them all the time, and I only learnt about them now?

The daggers weren’t big. They could easily be hidden, but their honed blade could be deadly to someone other than a morph or enchanter or a dragon, as it wasn’t made of any metal that killed them. I figured he carried them to use for wounding people temporarily. He wasn’t carrying them to kill, unless it was a human.

“I can see in slow motion,” he said behind me. “When I use it, my movements seem faster than they actually are to others.”

I turned to him. “Is it like time manipulation?”

He smiled in amusement. “No, just slow-motion manipulation.”

“Does this slow-motion ability come from your bat or dragon side?”

“Dragons, I suppose. I can’t be too sure, as I don’t know my mother’s family line. There can be a descendant of mine that could have been a fly morph or another animal who can see in slow motion.”

“Fly morphs exist?”

I couldn’t imagine a person who could turn into such a small creature as a fly.

“Of course.” He reached for the daggers, and as he leaned closer to me, I caught myself holding my breath to not smell him. “But they’re rare because they have a smaller chance of surviving than other morphs.” He dislodged the daggers from the trunk and flipped them in his hands before returning them to the hidden spot somewhere in his legs, as I didn’t see where he put them again.

“You don’t want me to learn your hiding spot?” I suppressed a biting tone.

“I’d rather if you found them yourself.”

“If I wanted to find them, I would have to—”

I shut my mouth immediately as I realised it was another mind game of his. He raised his eyebrows, and I shoved him by his chest to get him out of my way.

“Perverted bastard,” I said, teleporting back to the house, for I wasn’t going to endure him and his nasty mind for a second longer.

I was sitting on the platform the next morning, drinking peppermint tea when Drayard landed on the porch.

I barely acknowledged him, not questioning where he’d been or if he always left early before I was even awake. “Your coffee is on the table.” I turned my head back to the scenery, enjoying the spring wind caressing my face.

“Thanks.”

I heard the door open and close. As I thought he was gone, I let myself relax, but his enhanced smell of smoke entered my nostrils, and I knew he’d returned. He leaned his one shoulder against the pillar in front of me. I felt his eyes on me. A minute passed by until I couldn’t take it anymore and met his gaze. “What?”

“Is something wrong?”

I gave him a pointed look. He, more than anyone, should know that everything was wrong, but all I said was, “I’m fine.”

“It doesn’t look like it.”

I ignored him, taking another sip.

I couldn’t be the only one sensing the spring and what it entailed. I was more sensitive than ever. More … lustful than ever. Nature was calling me to bare my animal side, and therefore, I kept a healthy distance from him ever since I’d noticed such a change in me.

He took a sip of his coffee, his one hand in his pocket. The smell of it didn’t trigger my nostrils anymore when I’d got used to controlling my senses. “You should rest from training today.”

“Why?”

“You’ve improved in our fights and got stronger faster than I predicted.”

I didn’t believe that. As we indulged in so-called friendly fights, he still won every bloody time. But then who was I to know? Drayard had actually fought in the war, had been a commander, had trained others, so he must know what he was talking about.

Besides, I did feel stronger.

My expression loosened, although I was still pretty annoyed. I didn’t like that I hadn’t won a single fight against him yet. Even if I was a breed of two powerful kinds and had more abilities than him, it meant nothing without having any experience beforehand. I wouldn’t kill him in a fight any time soon. He was too experienced while I was only an advanced beginner.

Killing him through fighting was not an option anymore.

“I want to show you something today,” he said.

“Another concert?”

He smiled and gulped his coffee. The bulge on his neck snagged my attention, and I diverted my eyes.

“The island looks the best during this season. I think you should see more than a glimpse of it today.”

“Are we going on a trip across the island?”

He nodded, lowering his mug. “I’ll show you the best part of it.”

I raised my mug, hiding my smile behind the rim.

I was looking forward to getting a better look at where I was staying. I’d surmised this island would be beautiful in spring or summer the first time I beheld it. But I didn’t know I’d stay here long enough to see more of it than the lake, canyon, and the forest. How wrong I was …

We left our empty mugs in the kitchen. I teleported to the ground, and he landed before me a moment later, his wings facing me.

The days when he flew me to the training place were over, as I could teleport myself wherever I wanted. I could only imagine how difficult it’d be now if his body got pressed against mine again. Now, when spring was in the air.

I observed his wings. Light reflected off the maroon scales edged with a bit of black. I could swear there had been more of black before, but it’d faded. Or it was my eyes playing tricks on me.

“Are you coming?” he asked, pulling me out of my admiration of his wings.

I fell into step beside him. “Why can’t you make your wings disappear?”

Baby had told me he wasn’t really a morph and not because he was a half-breed. Nobody knew who he actually was because his ancestors had regarded themselves as morphs, not bothering to give themselves a separate name.

But that wasn’t why I asked him, as I knew the answer already. I needed to learn how much he was willing to talk about himself. To see if I was gaining his trust back or not.

“Why should I?”

“So you can make them disappear … ?”

We strode towards the forest. It contained bad memories from the last time I was here. But I disregarded them. I had no reason to be afraid. It was morning, and Drayard was with me—a warrior who could take down anyone. Banshees weren’t a threat to him either.

But then again, who could be a threat to him?

“No,” he said. “I was born with them. They are a part of my body. Like a leg, an arm, a head …”

I nodded, understanding what he meant.

“And your horns, too?”

Another nod.

“Weren’t your wings darker before?”

He glanced at me sidelong. “What do you mean?”

“I think the black used to cover more of your wings than it does now.”

He grinned. “How long have you been observing my wings, Honeylove?”

I tried my best not to avert my eyes as I felt my cheeks flame. “If you haven’t noticed, your wings are everywhere. Wherever I look, they are right there, ruining my view.”

“Ruining your view?”

Well, I might have exaggerated. They didn’t ruin my view but didn’t add to it either.

“That’s all I can see.”

Smiling more, he looked ahead of him.

“So why are your wings less black now?” I inquired again, as he hadn’t answered.

“What does the black colour say to you?”

I winced. “What does this question have to do anything with your wings?”

“Just think about it.”

I inhaled, relenting. “Well … black obviously means darkness, evil, nothing positive,” I mused. “But what does it have to do with your wings? Does blackness resemble the darkness in you or what?”

He stayed silent. And it spoke plenty.

“Is darkness fading away from you?”

“Is it?” he asked, acting clueless.

I raised my brows as it dawned on me. “Your wings aren’t just a part of your body.”

“No, they’re not,” he confirmed. “They used to be entirely black once. Burgundy started coming back only two decades ago.” He sighed. “The wings are the mirror of my soul.”

“That’s impressive,” I declared.

And it wasn’t a lie.

“But if you lost them …”

“Don’t even dare finish that sentence, Elynn.” His eyes flashed to me. “I don’t want you to jinx it.”

I lowered my head to hide my mischievous smile.

We continued walking in silence until he took a left turn. I stopped. It was hard to see where he was heading as the trees blanketed the sky, and only a faint light filtered through the foliage.

Drayard halted, glancing over his shoulder. I stared at him unsurely, measuring the possibilities of why he was going to the dark side of the forest.

He sighed. “I won’t hurt you. I thought you’d have realised that by now, Elynn.”

I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. But should I trust the manipulative personality? He could have made me believe that he’d been protecting me this whole time so I’d trust him, and now he was leading me to my doom to complete the last step of whatever his plan was?

But my heart said otherwise. It knew it wasn’t the case. It trusted him. I wanted to spit on my heart. If such a thing was possible, I’d do it.

Surrendering, I followed him. The right side of his lips tipped up as I reached him. I pushed his arm.

“Ouch,” he said, rubbing it as though it hurt.

I rolled my eyes at his dramatics.

We continued to wind through the forest together. It became darker than before. I could barely see where I was stepping.

“Where are we going?”

I didn’t fear we might get lost when each step of his was confident. He knew where he was going. Obviously. He had trained for war and taught others after the war on this same island. He had to know every single plot in this place. But I was curious to learn where he was taking me.

“You’ll see,” was all he said.

I could turn on my night vision to end the mystery. After all, I could see in the dark, but I didn’t. If he was leading me to some secret place, I wanted to be amazed once I saw it and not ruin that experience for myself.

“So mysterious,” I said with a tease, leaning closer to him. “Perhaps you’re going to show me the place where you get those juicy roast chickens?”

Drayard snorted.

“You know,” I continued, “your strange love to roast chickens makes me wonder if you don’t have some shrine somewhere dedicated to some chicken god.”

“You just gave me the most brilliant idea ever,” he said, astonished.

I smiled. “I’m surprised you hadn’t thought about it earlier.”

“It’s a good thing you have.”

Drayard halted. I looked at him questioningly, catching only a glimpse of his face lit by a ray of light cutting through a leafy canopy. He moved the branch with leaves aside, and a brighter light shone through. He allowed me to go first, holding the branch overhead for me to pass without getting slapped in the face.

As I took a step forward, the sticks cracked under my feet. The bright light dazzled me, causing me to squint and take time to adjust. I recognised the sound of running water, as if someone was pouring it perpetually. And the air …

In front of me was an idyllic view of a pool of aquamarine water surrounded by trees, concealing this place from any intruders. In the centre of the water pool was a mossy arch, and behind it, a few steps away, a waterfall was descending into the water.

It was magical.

Lightness with delight rushed through my body as if the white magic had just blessed me. I felt free here, like a butterfly with no issues outside this place.

“This is spring water,” Drayard said on my left. “It has a healing ability.”

“Healing ability?”

I couldn’t tear my gaze off the view before me. If I were a painter, I’d paint this breath-taking scenery without a doubt. The view, the feeling, it mesmerised me.

“The water can heal small wounds and help heal the bigger ones faster. Being in it could help your soul, too. But it’s not recommended to stay in the spring water for too long. It could give terrible, untreatable effects,” Drayard informed me.

“Such as ...?”

“Such as making someone insane or paralyzed.”

I stared at the innocent-looking turquoise water. It could help, but overusing it could destroy you forever.

“If it heals ... can it heal the scar on my abdomen?” I finally tilted my head to face him.

Drayard was already looking at me as if the sight of a waterfall didn’t astonish him the way it did me. No wonder. He’d seen it before, perhaps many times.

“No, it can’t.”

I let out a sigh of disappointment.

The scar on my stomach that had appeared because of the arrow Chase had released from the hidden crossbow wasn’t big, but it was discernible enough to mar my flawless skin. I hated it. I wanted to get rid of it. I didn’t look at it in the mirror when I undressed. Never. But I could still see it every time I changed my clothes. The sight of the ugly scar made me grit my teeth. And I doubted if I’d ever get used to seeing it.

Gripping the bottom of his crimson tunic, he carefully lifted it up and removed it, since his wings were in the way. As the tunic was off, his physique, shaped from constant exercising, was exposed to me. I had to look away, but I couldn’t as I was too transfixed by the patterns on his powerful arms, surveying each one of them.

“Checking me out, Honeylove?” he inquired. “Again?”

“What does this mean?” I pointed at the specific crown surrounded by flames on his right forearm and looked in his eyes, ignoring yet another blush.

He followed where I was pointing. “A burning crown?” he said. “It binds me to the crown and my duty. It appeared once I was crowned the King of Embers, but since it turns invisible, I went to an artist who inked it. It’s a reminder of what I have to focus on, so I won’t forget.”

A burden. He regarded the tattoo as a burden he carried on his own flesh.

“Well, I think it’s exceptional.”

As soon as it left my lips, everything within me paused to function.

I think it’s exceptional? What kind of nonsense was that? Was I trying to make him see it as less than a burden and more like art?

Perhaps.

But what I’d said wasn’t a lie. The tattoo was stunning, and it suited him, his identity—the King surrounded by flames hiding a scarred man beneath.

“It is when you think deeper about it,” he admitted. “Anyway, will you join me in the water, princess?” he asked with a tease.

I took a step back, and he laughed at my dismissive movement.

“I’ll pass.”

His fingers moved to the buttons of his trousers and started unbuttoning them while holding my stare. He grinned as he was working slowly down there ….

“Are you sure?” he inquired suggestively.

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying my best not to look where I shouldn’t. I focused on keeping my voice straight and unaffected as I said, “One hundred percent.”

As much as I wanted to go for a swim and feel the spring water’s magic, I couldn’t. I wasn’t wearing any underwear underneath my shirt—not like I was ever—and wetting my clothes wasn’t an option either. Besides, swimming with him while he was half-naked seemed like the worst idea ever.

“All right.” He removed his boots and then his trousers. As he headed right into the pool, I looked at his wings, only to notice how scarred his back was.

Many tiny scars covered his back around the wings.

My heart sank.

The scars on your back … I trailed off, unsure where I was heading with this.

Drayard dived into the water, wings disappearing with him.

You’re not the only one who was injured by a golden weapon.

But gold can’t kill you, how …

Yes, it can’t kill me, but the wounds made by it never fully heal.

He appeared before the waterfall and stepped under the running water. Craning his neck, he savoured it. His wings were moving as if they, too, were having a shower, making me smile. But when he turned to me and caught me staring, I blushed.

He stared straight at me as he wiped his face with his hands, pushing his hair back in slow motion, the water running down his body, his muscles flexing in every detail for me to drool over from afar.

How could one person be this bloody attractive? Scarred, broken, but attractive, regardless. It wasn’t fair.

I would gladly be there with him now. Under the waterfall, while he was towering over me as he looked down at me with those ethereal eyes … I’d let his power consume me and everything else. I wouldn’t resist.

I didn’t realise I was biting my nail while fantasies about him fogged my brain.

Quickly snapping myself back to reality, I looked away, pretending to find a rock next to my foot far more interesting than the handsome man having a shower under the waterfall so intimately.

Did you get the scars from the war? I asked, squatting down. I picked up the rock and started to doodle in the sand to distract myself from Drayard and the sinful attraction he emanated.

Not all of them, he answered. Most of them are the aftermath of training for the war.

What?

He went quiet. No better explanation came along, leaving me to add the pieces to the puzzle called Drayard.

He’d mentioned he hadn’t been good at pummelling the first time we trained. In fact, being the worst of all future soldiers, he continued to try and didn’t give up until he mastered it. What if fighting with weapons was the same, and he wasn’t good with that either? Perhaps it was the reason behind his scars.

But why would morphs be trained with golden weapons? Why not choose something less dangerous? Steel or iron? Weapons that wouldn’t damage warriors’ bodies for life?

It didn’t make any sense, but I didn’t question him if he didn’t want to explain it to me.

Shouldn’t fire dragons be afraid of water? I asked instead, leaving the previous topic behind for now.

A chuckle came along. No, the opposite. Cold showers are my sanctuary.

Yes, your wings seem to enjoy it.

I wasn’t looking at him directly, but out of the corner of my eye, I could see him still standing under the waterfall, basking in the magical spring water. Trying to heal but couldn’t as the scars carved in his heart by his father, mother, and Gods knew who else was unreachable for something like spring water.

They do, he said lovingly. Are you sure you don’t want to join us?

Us. As if he and his wings were two separate creatures.

I don’t want to get my clothes wet.

Take them off then? An innocent suggestion.

I huffed out a laugh. In your dreams.

Do you think I haven’t dreamt about you, Honeylove? Naked in particular?

My cheeks were burning as I squeezed the rock harder, pressing it deeper into the ground.

But on a serious note … he said. Why can’t you—oh. He stopped as if he had realised something. You never wear any undergarments, do you?

My silence told him everything he needed to know.

I had never worn a corset in my life. When I’d tried one on, I’d immediately removed it. They were uncomfortable, and I hated the way they pressed against my body, compressing my breasts. I hadn’t worn one since. Even if sometimes my nipples could be seen poking through, I didn’t care. There was no way I was going to put on a corset ever again.

I do … I do wear undergarments, I tried to explain. Just not anything on top.

Can’t you throw on my tunic?

No, I said without a thought.

If I put on his tunic and wetted it, my breasts would be displayed in their glory. Not all but it would leave little room to imagination, for his tunic was made of thin material.

If you go to the water, I’ll answer three of your questions, he suggested.

Now, that piqued my interest.

I needed to know what his weaknesses were, but if I asked him straight away, it’d make it obvious what I’d been trying to accomplish here. However, I had other questions, many actually, I would like to know the answers to. It’d be hard to choose and ask only three.

Five. I tried to negotiate.

Four.

I pursed my lips. Four, but you aren’t allowed to answer vaguely.

A long silence. He contemplated the offer, perhaps thinking about the benefits he’d gain from this, which was getting a glimpse of what parts were hidden beneath my shirt as if he hadn’t seen them already. I was sure when he was taking off my bloody clothes, he peeked at my body despite what he said. He was a man, and no man would pass up such an opportunity.

I felt an urge to roll my eyes at his predictive manhood.

At last, a deep sigh came along with a reply. Deal.

As I changed into his tunic, I stood with my arms crossed in the spring water reaching up to my ankles.

I’d changed behind the trees so Drayard wouldn’t see a thing. And now, as I was standing in the sand, staring down at my feet visible through transparent water, I realised I’d made a mistake.

Drayard was leaning against the mossy arch with his arms crossed, smirking as he watched me with clear relish.

“Stop. Staring. At. Me. Like. That,” I gritted out.

He pretended to be clueless. “Like what?”

I rolled my eyes. “Nevermind,” I mumbled and stepped forward, sliding deeper into the spring water.

I felt his eyes on me, watching my every move.

Why did I agree to this? Oh, right. My sweet, sweet curiosity.

As I neared the arch, the water was already above my navel. And when I took another step, I yelped when the water was suddenly covering me to my chest.

“Careful, Elynn,” he drawled, “there are holes in the pool.”

I shot him a glare. “Could have warned me sooner, you bastard.”

“I forgot.”

Sure he did.

Despite Drayard and his vexing traits, being in the spring water was life-giving. I’d been feeling light when I’d stepped into this zone without touching the spring water, but now, as I was in it, it felt like angels had planted every inch of my body and soul with their relaxing kisses.

Ignoring Drayard, I pretended to be alone here and roamed around the pool in hopes that there wouldn’t be any surprise holes waiting for me somewhere, since I didn’t know how to swim. As I was focused on the water, when I stole a look at Drayard, he wasn’t where I’d seen him last time. He was gone.

Suddenly, a tall figure jumped from the water right in front of my face, scaring the hells out of me. Screaming, I slipped and fell backwards. The water submerged me, and I panicked.

I couldn’t swim. I—

But he gripped my wrist and yanked me out of the water. As I was steady on my feet, I blinked away the remains of water. Then, I looked at him wide-eyed, breathing heavily, my heart racing.

He opened his mouth, but I was faster.

“For the Gods’ sake, Drayard, you can’t scare people like that!”

I placed my hand on my chest to gather my breath and convince myself nothing had happened.

I wasn’t drowning. I wasn’t drowning.

“I didn’t realise you could be scared that easily,” he said, not teasingly, but as if he was feeling guilty.

“Well, yeah, when a devil like you appears out of nowhere!”

I was livid. I couldn’t swim when my feet weren’t reaching the ground. Of course, I’d never told anyone that and never would. Ironic as it was, despite my ability to control water, I wasn’t immune to it.

“I’m sorry,” he said, sounding genuine, but I didn’t accept his apology.

His eyes started shifting lower, pausing on my chest. I covered it with one hand and snapped my fingers in front of his face with the other. He looked at me. All innocent again.

“What was that about, hmm?”

“Pardon me, but I couldn’t help but notice your nipples are hard.” He tilted his head to the side. “Why is that, may I ask?”

My blood was boiling. He’d scared me, making me fall into the water, and now he was not only staring at my exposed parts like it was an allowed thing but dared to question their stance? What a perverted bastard!

“Because the water is cold, you moron?”

He grinned conspiratorially, cocking his brow. “Is it now?”

My rage increased.

No, the water wasn’t cold. It was actually quite warm. But he didn’t have to know the real reason behind some of my erected parts, even if the smug look on his face told me he might have an idea why.

Instead of doing what I would normally do, which was showing my annoyance and striding away, I decided to play along. Uncovering my chest, I summoned a smirk. “Do you want to touch them?”

His smile faltered. He had not been expecting that. “I … I—”

“Oh, drop the act, Dray.” I rolled my eyes. “Do you want to touch them?” I gestured with my hands down at my breasts, concealing my shyness as almost everything could be seen through this thin and drenched material, leaving no room for imagination. “Or will you pretend like you don’t?”

It had been a true challenge to do that instead of pushing him away and leaving him with his dirty thoughts.

Now he was desperately trying not to look at my chest.

Oh, I might have learned how to cut off the teasing.

“I … umm …” He cleared his throat, his eyes wandering all over the place except me. “No.”

“Liar,” I sang.

“Elynn …” He looked me in the eye, his lost and awkward expression melting into confidence I was familiar with. “I didn’t lie when I said I wouldn’t like to touch them. Not first, at least.” He drew closer, and I captured my breath as his chest brushed against mine. His hot thumb pressed my bottom lip, and the rest of his fingers lifted my chin, and I was forced to hold his gaze.

“I’d kiss your lips first.” His thumb brushed against my lip. “Then I’d go lower until I reach your chest and plant kisses all over it. I would put my mouth on your nipple while tweaking the other with my fingers. By then, touching them would be out of the question, as I’d already be doing the rest you and I deeply desire.”

Oh, my—

I snapped myself out of his seduction and the tempting image he’d induced in my head, smacking his hand away from my face. As I glared at him, I tried to come up with a comeback, something that would wipe that annoyingly charming smile off his face, but I couldn’t. My mind suddenly went blank.

“Dammit.” I pushed him out of the way, moving away from him and his sinister attraction, heat, seduction, and flawless comebacks.

I heard his sweet, soft laugh behind me. I reached the waterfall with the success of avoiding unexpected pits. I stopped, staring at it. Before changing into his tunic, I wanted to try the same thing Drayard had done. With an exhale, I got into the flowing water.

The feeling was divine. I closed my eyes, and smiling like a little girl, I relished the feeling of water cascading down my face. And everything—every worry, every nerve—disappeared, replaced by inner peace and utter bliss.

The spring water had such a strange and strong power; it blinded me with its palpable magic. The flowers of soft pink and light blue bloomed in my sight, becoming an entire field of them. Bees collected honey from one flower to another, and the chirps of birds caressed my ears. I smiled at the view the spring water had sent me, sensing a pull prompting me to change into a lion and give in to the life as a wild beast.

But the sight vanished along with the sounds once a song struck my head.

Come, come … sail your boat, the female voice sang.

To me, to me, to hold me tight.

Come, come … sail your ship.

To me, to me … to be with me.

The blackness painted into indigo blue. It was an ocean.

More and more women’s voices joined the song. Their voices, like angels coming out of their vocal cords, had carried me to the Indigo Ocean. I looked for the women, but I couldn’t spot them anywhere. But something in their voices made me stumble. Maybe because the words with every repeat became more of a threat to come to them than a gentle request.

At the end of the ocean, there appeared a bulb of light that started to grow, grow and—

Something touched my forearm, and my eyes shot open, the light dazzling me.

“Breathe,” he said.

The blinding light dissolved into the man standing before me.

Only now, I realised I was panting, and my heartbeat was at its highest. The faint echo of a song lingered in my mind until it receded into silence.

Who were those women singing it?

“What was that?” I asked, throwing a bewildered glance over my shoulder to look at the dropping water behind me. Not a sign of the bright light I’d faced when I opened my eyes. Not a sign of a song, either. Just falling water. But what I’d seen, heard, and felt had been utterly real. Or it was the spring water messing with my mind.

“I don’t know.” I looked back at him. His eyes were filled with worry. “It looked as if you were about to disappear into the water. Your body became transparent, so I pulled you out before you vanished.”

I winced. “My body was transparent?”

“That was what I saw,” he assured me. “But something tells me you saw something else.”

I had, but now I regarded it as a hallucination caused by the power of the spring water. Maybe. But I didn’t see a reason why I wouldn’t share it with him. Especially when he was worried about it.

“At first, I saw nature in the spring,” I began to explain. “Blooming flowers, chirping birds … It all was quick to disappear, and a song came. The words were repeating in my head. I liked the song at first, but then”—a shiver ran across me, reminding me of how frightened I’d been as if it was real. But it couldn’t have been real. I wasn’t in the ocean but on the Isle of Sage, in this secret place—“it became dreadful.”

“A song, you say?”

I nodded. “Yes, a song sung by female voices.”

As he looked at the waterfall over my head, his face went pale. His hand closed around my wrist, and he turned around, hauling me away from the mysterious waterfall with him and back to the shore.

“Drayard, what’s wrong?”

“Do you remember the words of the song?” he asked in a hurry.

My heart started pounding faster. He seemed scared. Drayard. The most powerful morph in the world. A sole remaining dragon. The King of Embers. A commander of the Hundred Years’ War. What I’d heard troubled him more than me.

“It wasn’t real. There’s nothing to worry about,” I said, trying to reassure him more than myself.

“Hopefully not.” We approached the shore, and I was about to ask what he’d meant by hopefully, but he beat me to it. “But do you remember the words of the song?” Letting go of my hand, he squatted to pick up the clothes. Straightening, he gave me mine, not even glancing at me with his tunic clinging to my skin, exposing me.

It was unlike him. He would have stolen a glimpse of my chest, grinned, and made a nasty remark, but he didn’t do any of those things.

“I do,” I admitted and recited the lyrics. He was frowning the whole time while pulling up his trousers. Once I was finished, I waited for him to speak, to explain and ensure there was nothing to worry about. His reaction had made me think that there was something serious I’d seen in the waterfall, not just my imagination, and I, too, should be concerned. But I didn’t want to be concerned.

But instead of assuring me, he said, “I can’t comprehend a single thing you said, Elynn.”

I stared at him, unblinking. I couldn’t have been more confused and out of place than I was now. “Was it in Dryad?”

He shook his head. “Dryad language is delightful, and the one you spoke was far from it. This one was dreadful.”

“How can I speak another language and have no idea about it?”

“I don’t know. This one you just spoke …” He tilted his head back, pondering something. “It couldn’t be water nymph language either, since no record has been made about them in centuries. I have no clue what language that was.”

“I may have invented it.”

“I’m sure you didn’t.”

“No, but I could have fantasised the whole thing. It couldn’t be—”

“Elynn,” he said, taking my one hand and staring right into my eyes. “We both know, you know yourself, that what you saw was real. You didn’t imagine it. Why are you always in a rush to deny anything that can’t be explained logically? Didn’t you deny the existence of the man you saw in your trance, but you still knew he was very much real?”

How does he—

“You read my thoughts,” I breathed.

He’d read them when he found the sketch inspired by him in my book, but I didn’t feel angry or invaded.

I pulled my hand out of his. “But why did you get so frightened when I said I heard the song sung by women?”

He pursed his lips, but then let go of them. “I thought about one creature capable of singing but wasn’t sure if it was them you heard,” he declared. “Was it all that you saw and heard?”

“No, I also saw the ocean, and when I opened my eyes, a bright light.”

His eyes looked over my head at the waterfall, opening wide. I glanced over my shoulder to see what he was staring at, but my ears caught the words of the song first.

Come, come … sail your boat.

To me, to me, to hold me tight.

Come, come … sail your ship.

To me, to me, to be with me.

Three striking women with tails of a fish were perched on the rocks in front of the waterfall. Their colourful hair flowed down their shoulders, lips moving as they sang the song I’d heard before.

What were mermaids doing here?

Every one of them was staring at Drayard as if the song was dedicated to him. They didn’t heed me, as if I was invisible.

The dark clouds gathered over them, and lightning struck the water. With a bolt, the mermaids were replaced by wizened and horrendous creatures. When the lightning was gone, they were pretty again.

No, they weren’t mermaids, after all.

Those creatures were sirens.

XVIII

I’D READ STORIES ABOUT BEGUILING creatures living in the ocean, only swimming out into the open water when a ship full of men was nearby. With their song, they lured them into the ocean where they feasted on them. But I’d never regarded those stories as real. I’d thought they were made up as once I’d thought A Tale of the Bloodsucker was. But sirens were as real as the Bloodsucker. If they weren’t, I wouldn’t be looking at them singing a murderous song with my own pair of eyes right now.

Once, Gen asked me what if the sirens had taken our father. I was quick to disregard such a possibility, believing sirens didn’t exist, but now …

What if my father, the fisherman, who had never come home after his daily fishing had been allured and killed by these sirens? His boat had never been found, nor his body. It was like he’d disappeared. What if they had devoured him, and now Drayard would be their—

I snapped my head back to Drayard, who couldn’t peel his eyes off the deceptively attractive sirens. He was standing still, not moving towards them, which was a good sign, but he was still affected by their song.

But what if … What if I left him here with the sirens to eat him alive? That could serve as my coveted revenge. I would never have to worry about him again, and I could focus on taking vengeance on the others.

He wouldn’t understand it, though. The sirens would eat him, and he would never know that it was supposed to be my payback for his crimes done to me. And he had to be conscious, utterly aware when I blew the death blow right into his face. I wanted to see it fall once he realised he’d messed with the wrong girl.

Besides, I still needed him. For training me. Nothing else.

I let the clothes fall to the ground.

Sirens would not be the death of him.

Only I could be the death of him.

Drayard took a step towards the pool of water. I grabbed his wrist and tried to yank him back, but he was rooted to the ground, seemingly with all his strength, as I couldn’t move him even an inch.

“Drayard, wake up.” I tugged him back again, but it was pointless. Not even my improved strength could move over a century’s old half-dragon.

Meanwhile,the sirens never stopped singing. I tried to ignore their song, but as it went on and on, more and more trembles of fear rolled over my body. Perhaps the song didn’t hypnotise me as it did Drayard, but it scared the hells out of me.

But I could teleport! I’d forgotten I had such a useful ability.

I thought about the house in the mountain, but we didn’t move a step. Again, as it was with the banshee, I bumped into the invisible wall soaked with magic that didn’t belong to me anymore.

The siren song … not only did it bewitch men but it made the powers disappear.

Great.

Moving to stand before Drayard, I rose on the tips of my toes to cover his view of the sirens. I thought if he didn’t see them, he’d wake up from the false reverie, but he didn’t react. Not even when I covered his eyes.

It was a song, not their false beauty, that called him to them. At first, their appearances had been the impact, but now the song they sang did the most damage.

The more I stared at him, the more my blood was boiling. The worst part of this was his facial expression. It was so mesmerised, as if the sirens were the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen. He wasn’t even looking at me. He wasn’t even seeing me. Ignoring me as if I was an empty place. Nothing but air. And I had enough of this.

I slapped his face.

Nothing.

I slapped his other cheek.

Still nothing.

He was lost in the sirens’ song.

Drayard stepped aside and began moving towards the sirens. I stared at him wide-eyed as he made his way through the water, not stopping anymore. My hands balled into fists. If I got him out of here alive, I’d kill him with my bare hands. Strangle him for—

I threw myself into the water, wading through it to reach him as fast as possible. As I caught up with him, I wrapped my hands around his arm, digging my heels into the sand blanketed by the water. However, he continued to move, dragging me along with him.

“DRAYARD!” I screamed, scaring the slew of birds as they flew away from the trees. “Drayard, no. They are going to kill you. Listen to me. Listen!” I begged and yelled at the same time.

He didn’t care. Bewitched by false creatures. That was what it took to eliminate Drayard—unleash sirens upon him and they’d take care of him in no time.

What if these sirens were the same ones that had killed my father, taking away the man from my mother whom she’d loved most of her life?

“Dray, please …” I wept, realising I was actually crying.

I wasn’t sure why, and I didn’t want to think about it or admit anything to myself.

I attempted something else. I got into his head, prepared to face blackness and dread, but a surprise awaited me. Instead of meeting the void I was familiar with, there was an ocean. It felt good to be in his head for once. A breeze of wind licking my bare skin, warming me—

I quickly kicked myself out of his head. If I’d stayed here, I’d have been lost in there as much as he was. The song made his head light and unbothered. Made the centuries-old memories and their influence disappear as they had never been there. As if he was a happy man now, even if it was false happiness he couldn’t understand.

He wasn’t himself, and Gods knew what would happen to him when those sirens got their teeth on him. I doubted if his soul was going to be released into a better world.

Perhaps my sister was dead, but she was in a better world now. If Dray died ... I didn’t want to think about what would happen to his broken soul.

I glanced at three false mermaids. I’d kill them if I could, but there was no segment of power within me. I had no weapon with me, neither did—

I shook my head mentally. I wasn’t going to take off his trousers. Besides, I hadn’t even spotted any daggers when he was putting them on.

How had those sirens got here anyway if they lived in the ocean? This wasn’t one, and the waterfall wasn’t even anywhere near it.

But who was I trying to fool? It was me who’d done this. I’d heard their song before they showed up. I’d seen the ocean, then a dazzling light. I was the one to summon them unintentionally. How? I could only speculate.

Drayard crossed the mossy arch, and the sirens’ smiles grew.

“Dragons don’t even taste good!” I focused on them, but they didn’t even look at me, their beguiling eyes locked on the man I was clinging to. “Do you hear me? They don’t taste good! Leave him alone!” I whimpered, hating myself for showing such weakness. “Please.”

One pink-haired siren sitting on the left rock deigned to look at me. The corner of her lips rose, but the flawless notes were still coming out of her mouth.

“Please,” I begged her. “I’m not done with him. Don’t take him away from me. Find someone else. Just please … don’t take him.”

“You’re Princess Elynn,” she acknowledged, stopping the song. Drayard slowed down a bit.

“I will not let you take him as you took away my father from me,” I stated, stronger now.

Her smile grew, telling me everything I needed to know. I was correct. The sirens had killed my father.

“You speak our tongue,” she said, ignoring the accusation about killing my father. “Dragons or half-dragons have always been on our menu list. We’ve never tasted them but craved for one. We won’t go back into the ocean without him, Princess Elynn.”

“Yes,” I said between my teeth, “you will.”

She smiled, exposing her false perfect teeth. “Your reign hasn’t begun yet, and you’re already giving orders? What a presumptuous little princess you are.”

“Let. Him. Go.”

Opening her mouth, she began singing again. Her gaze returned to Drayard, dismissing me entirely.

I breathed in before I said, “I’ll make a magical oath.”

A sweet laugh left her lips, her eyes flicking back to me. “We don’t do magical oaths with any of you people.” And she continued singing again.

Three steps were left until he reached them, and they’d take him to the ocean, where they’d have him for dinner.

I let go of his arm. It was pointless to hold him when he was dragging me with him. Despite me digging my heels into the sand, I didn’t slow him down one bit.

I pondered fast. I didn’t have any powers to try to take down three sirens. I didn’t have much strength, either. And three versus one wasn’t in my favour.

I forged forward and whirled around, blocking Drayard’s way. I craned my head to look at him. The same stupid expression on his face hadn’t faded a bit.

If he was going to die, the least I could do was say my goodbye.

My heart was palpitating against my ribs as I leaned in and pressed my lips to his, shutting out the world with three sirens around us.

The first time I’d kissed Drayard, it was a forced kiss. Its purpose was to distract him from Juniper, to whom I’d demanded to remove the magical bracelet. Drayard didn’t answer my kiss then.

And this time wasn’t any different.

I hoped he would respond. As if this was a fairy tale, and I’d been five years old again, believing such things as magical kisses of true love existed. But I was twenty, and I didn’t believe in anything like it. The kiss wouldn’t save him. It meant nothing more than a goodbye.

The tears rolled down my face, and I tasted their saltiness. More than anything, I wanted him to part his lips enough so I’d learn what it was like to kiss the man whose touch I’d been craving a lot these past months and hating it. The man who kept me strong without him being aware of it. Without me being aware of it.

Ever since Chase and I’d started having sexual intercourse. Ever since Fillan with Lupin had assaulted me. Ever since the nightmares had begun bothering me in the Realm of Bones as I kept a sketch of him under my mattress as my emotional crutch, hoping like a naïve little girl that one day he’d be a saviour to all my problems. My soulmate. My one. Like my mortal father had been the one to my mother.

If I had only allowed myself to dream, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened.

His mouth was like stone against my soaked lips. But I wasn’t pulling away, and neither was he. He didn’t move to reach the sirens either. Maybe because I heard no song anymore. It was an absolute state of peace and tranquillity. I’d actually sealed the world around us. And I was afraid if I removed my lips, everything would come back like an avalanche, and I didn’t want that.

But I had to. I couldn’t hold on to someone who didn’t even exist anymore.

A sob escaped me as I drew back. “I tried,” I whispered, resting my forehead against his. “I tried, but I failed you. I’m sorry.”

I was ready to leave him to the sirens, but I felt a familiar touch under my chin, pushing it up. Lips I’d tried to part brushed against mine. His tongue swept between my lips, and I gave in without a fight.

The mix of smoke, mint, and spice got me melting into his touch with a moan. His other hand wrapped around my waist, drawing me closer to his body so I wouldn’t melt away. The other he placed on my damp hair, pushing his tongue deeper into my mouth.

Oh, three hells, heavens, and all …

I closed my eyes, letting myself get lost in the sensation and heat of his hold.

A handful of butterflies conquered my stomach, and the heat started building between my thighs. It was just him and me, lost in each other’s arms, warmth, and mouths.

Was it a dream?

Better, for dreams were a result of the mind, and this was real. But my dreams entailed horrors, thus I called them nightmares, and this was as close to a dream as I’d get.

And oh, Gods, please, don’t end this.

But as every dream or a nightmare was supposed to end, so did the kiss. As soon as our lips disconnected to capture our breaths we’d lost along with the invigorating kissing, there followed a splash. I opened my eyes, meeting the golden-red ones already locked on me.

He saw me. Not the sirens, not something else, but he saw me. He was looking at me.

His breathing was more rapid than usual, his lips swollen. He was a wet, shirtless man, and oh, hells, it was the sexiest I’d ever seen him. I wanted to kiss him, claim his mouth, and kiss it nonstop, only to be forced to stop to catch a breath. Over and over again until I was sick.

But then a stench of burning flesh hit my nose.

I tore my gaze off his charming face to glance over my shoulder.

My mouth parted in surprise.

The bodies that had been pretty before had turned into coal. The smoke was billowing out of them and rising to the sky, reaching my oversensitive nostrils, making my nose wrinkle. There was nothing left of the sirens except the charred flesh.

Who did this?

I didn’t send a question to Drayard, but he answered me as if I did. We did.

XIX

I TELEPORTED BACK TO THE HOUSE, leaving him to take care of the three sirens’ burned bodies he was throwing back into the ocean through the portal I’d opened behind the waterfall.

That was what the bright light was before I’d opened my eyes. Somehow, I had created a bloody portal.

I peeled off the drenched tunic and bloomers and changed into my nightwear. As I was about to close the wardrobe’s doors, I saw my face in the mirror. Unconsciously, my gaze shifted down to my lips, and I touched them with my fingertips, still able to feel his taste and the way his lips pressed against—

I snapped myself out of my memories and took the hairbrush to brush my damp hair.

I had to think about sirens. Figure out the reason why they had burned.

But my mind drifted back to the kiss and the way he looked after it. There was a strong urge to sketch him before the image faded for good. I couldn’t do that, however. He had a habit of finding things that weren’t for him to see.

My stomach growled. It was growing dark, but I laid on my bed instead of going to the kitchen to find something to eat. I didn’t want to run into him. I wasn’t sure how I should act in front of him now. Should I speak about the kiss or pretend it hadn’t happened? After all, it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t thought I’d lost him forever.

It was a goodbye kiss. A meaningless kiss. A kiss born out of desperation—nothing else.

But even if it was meant to be a goodbye kiss, perhaps it was only the beginning of something yet to be.

I steeled myself for going downstairs to face the inevitable. But before that, I made sure my hair was flawless, not a single knot. That my lips had a bit of colour as I applied a minimum amount of dye. That—

I paused my movements once I caught myself loosening the robe’s belt to open a glimpse of my nightgown. Shaking my head at my idiocy, I closed the wardrobe door and made my way downstairs. But there was no sign of him anywhere. Not even in the kitchen. Only a roast chicken was on the table with a note next to it.

Thank you for saving my life.

I had to leave, but I’ll be back tomorrow.

Enjoy my roast chicken, Honeylove.

Drayard

I woke up to an awful pain in my underbelly. Moaning, I pulled the sheets off, only to discover the blotch of blood staining my nightgown.

It’d been a while since I bled, and there had never been a time when I felt such excruciating pain like now.

Even if I couldn’t have children, sometimes I bled. Not monthly, unlike the women in my family. My bleeding occurred two, sometimes three times a year. I wondered if that was because I’d given the power to have children to Mum or if it was because female half-breeds didn’t bleed as often as mortal women.

To quiet my moans, I rolled over on my stomach and bit the pillow. I had no wish to attract some unknown forest creatures with my menstrual cries.

I was certain I wasn’t going to move out of the bed today.

And I didn’t.

I couldn’t even stand, forced to wallow in my own blood. I didn’t like to be dirty, but it wasn’t like it was my choice. The wave of pain kept attacking me every ten minutes or so.

But the time passed, and the hits became rarer; however, my underbelly never stopped aching.

It wasn’t until the middle of the day, when I was staring at the ceiling, waiting for another wave of pain to hit me, that I heard the knock on the door.

Is something wrong?

I rolled my eyes back. The last thing I needed was for him to come back after disappearing without a word yesterday.

I’m fine, I muttered.

You haven’t left your bedroom. Is it because of—

I said I’m fine!

The door handle moved, and the door swung open. I didn’t look at him, scowling from another hit of pain as if my womb was getting sliced in two.

I moaned again, wrapping my arms around my belly. I could only imagine Drayard’s reaction to what he’d walked in on. Blood everywhere, like the bed was a war zone. He must be disgusted.

I felt his hands on my shoulders. Gentle hands that somehow made the pain lessen.

“Go away,” I whined, opening my eyes. He was as unreadable as usual. Without a word, his hand slid underneath my legs and lifted me. “Drayard,” I warned.

“I have to change the sheets,” he said, pretending to be unaffected one bit. But I knew better. “And you have to take a bath.”

I wanted to strangle him.

“You are not changing the sheets. They’re disgustingly filthy.”

He carried me downstairs anyway. I had no strength to fight him.

“It’s just blood,” he said, not disgusted at all.

I gave him a quizzical look. “That blood came out of my uterus, you freak.”

He opened the bathroom door with one hand and carried me inside where he gently laid me on the floor.

“Yes, and it’s one of the most natural things that without, we wouldn’t—”

“I’m bleeding,” I’d said when Chase’s hand was about to slip under my dress.

He immediately pulled his hand away, a sneer entering his face. Then he stood up from the bench and stormed off to his horse. He mounted it and rode away without looking back, making me feel like the worst person alive.

“Elynn?”

Instead of Chase’s sneer, there hovered Drayard’s face, etched with concern. Genuine concern.

“Where have you been?” he asked.

I drew my legs to my chest. “What were you saying before?”

Creases marred his forehead, but then they softened. “I asked if you will be all right until I fetch the water for the bath?”

The tears were trying to get through, but I held them back, lowering my eyes to the floor so he wouldn’t suspect a thing.

“I’m sure the cycle won’t kill me,” I mumbled, feeling like a child.

He arose. “If anything, call.”

He left, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Was he really not disgusted, or was it an act? No, of course, he wasn’t disgusted because he had drunk the blood of people. Drayard wasn’t a normal man; he couldn’t be disgusted.

But no decent man should be disgusted by menstrual blood, like Chase was, I chided myself. Why are you always prone to think every man is the same when you got unlucky with just one? There are plenty of them, and bleeding is a natural thing, as Drayard said. Without it, there would be no reproduction; we would disappear. It’s a normal thing, and if someone is disgusted by it, something is wrong with them and not you.

I watched Drayard drawing me a bath, rushing from one room to another to fetch water while I was bleeding on the floor. Tears started filling my eyes, but before he noticed, I got rid of them with the fast brush of my hand and composed myself.

As he was finished, he crouched in front of me. His shirt’s sleeves were rolled back, and his hair was tousled for once instead of neatly brushed into a lower ponytail or a bun. I wanted to crawl on him like a monkey and kiss him for being so kind and understanding, but of course, I didn’t.

“All right,” he said, dropping his hands on his knees, “there are two ways you can take a bath. First one, you’ll manage to clean yourself on your own and the …” A charming smile formed at the corner of his mouth. “This is my favourite one …” I knitted my brows, already disgusted with what he was about to say. “I’ll rip off your nightgown, get in the bathtub with you, and clean you with my tongue alone.”

I stared at him like he was an idiot.

He looked at me, feeling like the wittiest person alive.

“You revolt me.”

He grinned with amusement. “What’s your choice going to be, Honeylove?”

“The first one, you pervert.”

He sighed, disappointed, but it was his dramatics he used to cheer me up. It didn’t help, though.

He lifted me, and without any taunting or flirting, he placed me into the bathtub filled with enough water to cleanse myself. I craned my head at him, waiting for him to leave.

“If you need anything, give me a shout.”

He left, at last, closing the door behind him.

I sighed, took off the nightgown, and threw it on the floor. As I grabbed a bar of soap, I lathered myself, then cleaned my body as fast as possible because of the significant loss of blood and the underbelly ache made me feel weak. I didn’t want to faint in the bathtub where Drayard would find me and see my naked body.

I managed to climb out of the bathtub on my own. Only when I was drying myself with a towel did I realise that my clothes were upstairs. Weakness struck me, and I dropped to the floor to avoid fainting.

Drayard, I called for him.

Yes? An answer came right away.

I need you.

The door swung open in no time. He lifted me and carried me out of the bathroom. My vision dimmed, and I could do nothing but rest my head against his chest.

“Why am I feeling so weak?” I asked. “If it’s a natural thing, why does it make me feel like I’m about to die?”

“I don’t know, Elynn.” He sat on the third step with me on his lap. He didn’t even seem to mind that I was going to bleed all over his trousers in any moment. “I’m sorry you have to bear such pain.”

“Easy to say when you were born a man.”

He raised my chin with his fingers, making me face his gaze. “If I could, I would take this pain from you to endure it myself, trust me.”

One day ago, I would have maintained eye contact with him, but now, I lowered my gaze.

“Do all female morphs bleed three, two times a year?”

His fingers slipped from my chin. “Sometimes four.”

My speculation was correct. Women of my species didn’t bleed as often as mortal women.

“Why does bleeding not occur for us that often? Human women bleed once a month.”

“Well …” He coiled the strands of my hair over his finger. I didn’t like it when somebody played with my hair, but somehow, it soothed me when Drayard was doing it. “Female morphs and enchanters don’t bleed as often because their children are rarer. Their families are never as big as the human ones. Although, there’s a day when most of the morph children are consumed. During it, the sperm in one ejaculation quadruples, and the female’s fertility increases.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, it even has a name. A Mating Ritual Day.”

I raised my chin up at him. “It sounds more intimate than you described.”

He took a breath. “Because it’s more than a day for having a higher chance of conceiving a child,” he said. “On the Mating Ritual Day, morphs can take part in a hunt. Males hunt females in the forest to have sexual intercourse—”

“The Sinner’s Tango,” I corrected him.

Drayard snorted. “Yes, your beloved Sinner’s Tango,” he teased, and I smiled as if I was drunk. “Anyway, the hunt is a part of the tradition since every morph male’s senses enhance at night, and their sole urge is to shag whoever they catch first.”

I blinked, not sure what to think. “That’s … quite feral.”

“They do that if they don’t find their mate,” he continued. “Many affairs happen that night. Raping as well.”

Uneasiness bloomed inside of me.

Drayard was my mate. What … what if the day came, and he—

“Don’t worry,” he said, reading my worries. “I have no plans to mate you, Elynn.”

“Why?” The question left my mouth before I could catch it. “I mean … I’m your mate. Or have you had many mates before?”

He chuckled. “You forget that dragons get only one mate in a lifetime.”

So, I was … the only one.

“Hypothetically speaking,” I began, hoping my unease didn’t reflect on my cheeks, “what would happen if we mated?”

He stopped playing with my hair. “Nasty things. I’ll be obsessed with you. I may or may not kill any man that does nothing more than take one look at you. You might do the same due to your personality.”

I frowned, blowing a jab in his ribs with my elbow. He scrunched forward in feigned pain.

“I’m not a murderer like you,” I snapped, ready to stand despite the weakness, but as I raised just a bit, he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, pulling me back into his lap.

“You killed a banshee,” he reminded me, swiping my hair away from my ear as he whispered, his breath bouncing off my skin, “a creature that couldn’t be killed. You have a fiery character, Honeylove. You may not have realised it yet, but everything you touch, hells, even glance at, can flare into flames.”

I turned my head to him so his lips wouldn’t be anywhere close to my skin. I pressed my fingers softly to his cheek.

“Are you in flames now?”

His hand closed over my wrist. I reckoned he was going to pull it away, but he didn’t. His hand stayed, and the warmth of his touch travelled from my wrist, spreading throughout my entire body like a fierce flame.

“You can’t see it, but my heart is. And if you ripped it out”—his hand closed over my left one, and he turned it over, my palm facing upward—“it would burn down in this very same hand.”

I was breathless, but I didn’t want to concern myself with what he’d just declared to me. What truth his metaphor concealed.

I slid my hand off his hold, looking down. “When is the mating ritual day?”

He hesitated to answer. I bet he could hear my heart beating faster because I could surely hear his.

“In a week,” he said.

My body went still. I looked up at him in disbelief.

“I won’t be here that day,” he hastened to say, reading my concerns again.

It should have relieved me, but it didn’t, as I understood exactly why he wouldn’t be here during the animalistic day. Regardless of me being his mate, it didn’t mean he couldn’t …

“Are you going to participate in the tradition?” I asked, voice bitter.

I wasn’t supposed to be jealous, but I was, and I wasn’t going to deny that to myself. I’d been jealous when his total attention was locked on those sirens. I’d be jealous if he took part in the Mating Ritual to satiate his male needs.

“What if I am?”

I didn’t answer, maintaining eye contact with him while my blood was simmering.

“What if I catch a young, beautiful girl running in the forest? Rip the clothes off her? Get inside her? You wouldn’t mind, would you?”

I huffed. “Why would I mind? I was just asking whether you are going to participate in the tradition or not.”

“Because I saw your eyes go ablaze after I said I wouldn’t be here that day?”

He struck a significant blow. I should control my emotions better, but when I was with him, it was like I couldn’t do anything else but be transparent.

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m in a lot of pain right now because there is blood gushing from my vagina. Of course, I’m easily riled at this particular time!”

He didn’t believe me. I knew he didn’t, even if he sighed, his shoulders relaxing. “The tradition is a play for young people. I’m not indulging in sex that night.”

“But why?” I inquired, not minding my heated voice. “You need an heir to your throne. And if morphs’ children are rare, it’ll be a good opportunity for you to”—I leaned closer to him, trying to match the level of our gaze as I lowered my voice—“..catch a young, beautiful girl in the forest. Rip the clothes off her. Get inside her.” His laugh was hollow. “Did I say something funny?”

“I can’t believe you’re twisting my words against me,” he said, but he wasn’t angry, only amused.

“Why are you not having the Sinner’s Tango that day if you need an heir?” My words were sharp.

“Because it wouldn’t be me.” He rested his head against the wall, staring at nothing. “If I have a child one day, the mother of them will be with the baby. My son or my daughter won’t grow up without a mother.”

And just like that, all the fire within me disappeared, quenched by his words alone.

Drayard didn’t have a mother. She’d left him when he was just a newborn on his father’s castle’s doors. It scarred him forever, and he would not repeat the same mistake his mother had made.

Stupid tears pricked my eyes. Hormones were to blame. I wasn’t as sensitive as I was during bleeding days. And the fact that it was spring and the Mating Ritual was imminent, it didn’t help my emotions either.

“Well,” I said quietly, staring down at my hands so he wouldn’t catch my tears, “that’s something to look forward to.”

He continued to be in the same position, saying nothing. There was nothing to say. A part of me wanted to comfort him, tell him his mother didn’t know what a wonderful son she’d lost, which would be half a lie. I wasn’t someone who complimented people to make them feel better when I didn’t mean it.

What I did instead was rest my head against his chest. I closed my eyes, allowing his smell to surround me, leaving no room for anything else.

But it didn’t take long for another cramp to arrive and ruin the moment. I pulled my legs to my stomach, and as if he knew what to do, his hand landed on my underbelly. Our eyes met as his hand spread heat, and the pain diminished until there was nothing more than a mild ache.

“Thank you,” I said.

He looked away and arose with me, his healing hand still on my belly as he carried me upstairs.

“Do you have something to absorb the blood?” he asked.

“Yeah, the pads are in the bag, which is in the corner.”

He gently put me on the bed with changed bedding, and as his hands left me, the stronger ache came back. I curled into a ball as he riffled through the bag. When he found them, he gave me not only the pads but my bloomers and a fresh nightgown.

“I’ll go make some tea.”

He started for the door, but I stopped him. “I didn’t mean just your hand on my belly when I said thank you.”

He stopped, his back turned to me.

I sat up while clutching all the things he gave me to my chest, trying to push back my nerves so I could elaborate. “I meant all you’ve done today. For changing the bedding, for drawing me a bath, for not minding blood … And I don’t care if it’s because you drink it, which is why this whole thing doesn’t disgust you. It doesn’t matter because … because he …” The tears constricted my throat, and I tried to finish without my voice faltering or shaking, despite the water gathering in my eyes. “He would have never done the things you did. He would have sneered in disgust and never seen me until my bleeding days were over, which turned to my advantage later as my bleeding days became a reprieve from him.”

I sensed his stare, but I couldn’t face it. I clenched the clothes harder. The tears blurred my vision, and one of them dropped on the clothes, the material absorbing them one after another.

“You mean the huntsman?” he asked after a while.

I lowered my chin into a hardly perceptible nod.

I didn’t even hate Chase anymore. I hated myself for allowing him to beat me when I didn’t swallow all his seed or did something else wrong, as he’d never told me the reason behind his every hit.

Drayard squatted before me, putting his hand on my knee. I captured his gaze. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to, as his eyes told everything he was feeling. They were so full of comfort that I sank into his hold and grasped his shirt, succumbing to tears without any care of bearing my vulnerability to the man who was supposed to be my enemy.

XX

I TOLD HIM EVERYTHING, sparing no detail about my relationship with Chase. Every word, despite how inappropriate it was, even though it should have stayed between Chase and me, came pouring out of me like a torrent I couldn’t stop. He never interrupted me, and I ended up telling everything. Neither did he say anything during my hour of honesty, nor after, being unlikely calm in comparison with our previous conversation about Chase. I expected he would curse him, throw idle threats about killing him, but not even a word left his mouth. His serenity crawled under my skin, but one of us had to be calm as I was shaking with tears.

After a moment of silence, he said, “Do you want his death?”

His question took me by surprise, even if it shouldn’t have. Maybe it was because of the way he’d delivered it. With extreme calmness, as though it didn’t matter if I did or not.

I parted my mouth to say yes, but I stopped myself before I did.

Do I? Do I want Chase dead?

He’d hit me for no reason, and even if there was, he still shouldn’t have used violence. I, of course, had a choice to leave him despite the consequences, regardless of it leading to my family’s suffering, and avoided the abuse. But despite Chase being a terrible person, I didn’t want his death. He was now nothing but the past.

“No,” I replied, and I meant it.

Something dark flashed in Dray’s eyes for no longer than a second, making me wonder. What if my answer was the opposite? Would he have hunted him down and killed him?

I didn’t need to ask him to confirm the truth.

He would have.

He brushed my hair away from my face. “Would it be all right with you if I stayed?”

I closed my eyes for a second, grateful and immensely relieved.

After my breakdown, I didn’t think I could bear being left alone with my thoughts, but I couldn’t make myself ask him to stay either. I had shown plenty of my vulnerability to him, but thank hells, he’d spared me from baring it more.

I nodded. “Just let me get dressed. I’m still in nothing but a towel.”

He smiled faintly. “Right.”

He helped me to stand up and turned around. Certain he wouldn’t peek after the last time I was undressing, I let the towel drop. I hastily drew on the bloomers with a pad on them and a nightgown. Dressed, I crawled in the bed’s furthest corner.

“You can turn around now,” I said.

He did and lay beside me. I put my head on my hand, leaning on my arm. Our faces were facing each other. “Could you put your hand on my belly?”

“To feel the kick of a vengeful demon living inside of you?”

I kicked his shin.

“I’m joking,” he laughed, setting his hand on my belly. “Feeling better?”

I nodded.

We lay like that for a while until he started playing with my hair, soothing me even more. I smiled contently once he began massaging my scalp, closing my eyes.

“How could I summon the portal without being aware of it?” I asked.

He stopped the massage, and I opened my eyes. “Are you sure you weren’t aware?”

I shook my head.

He made one of his pensive faces. “I think it falls under the mysteries like how you can speak Dryad and Siren without knowing and killing a completely immortal creature.”

“But you must have a clue why.” I searched his face for hidden answers, but I detected none. “You know a lot. You were the only one who cracked the four-decade-old curse.”

“I cracked it solely because I was the only one aware of the existence of one of the most important pieces of the curse.”

“But still … You have a wise mind.”

Too wise. It was impossible to slip past it with a trick or two.

The room was slowly descending into darkness. There was hardly enough light to illuminate his thoughtful face, but it didn’t take long for him to come back from wherever he was. “You must be hungry.”

I was, but at the same time, I was too comfortable here. “Are you going to leave?”

It came out gloomy when I’d intended to sound playful. I felt my cheeks get hotter, but despite it, I forced myself not to look away.

“I can carry you to the kitchen if you don’t want to be left alone.”

I wanted him to stay here, playing with my hair as his body was close to mine, but I was hungry and thirsty. He must be too. I couldn’t be selfish. Not after everything he’d done for me today.

So, I relented. “All right.”

He stood up and scooped me into his arms. As he carried me into the kitchen, he gingerly deposited me on the chair. I giggled at his gentleness.

He gave me a clueless look. “What’s so funny?”

And I smiled, ruffling his hair only to make him frown. “I want tea, please.”

As he straightened himself, he didn’t bother fixing his hair. I watched him cook, using his fire ability where he needed it. When the belly pain subsided, I got lost in the forbidden fantasy about him and his hands able to manipulate temperature—

The sudden pain jolted me out of my reverie, making me wince slightly. At least I’d guarded my thoughts; the last thing I needed was for them to slip into his mind and expose me.

A mug of tea appeared before me in a matter of a few minutes, a bowl of chicken broth following half an hour later.

I dived into it, wasting no time. If I looked like a starved animal, Dray didn’t comment, nor showed it.

“I think the spring water helped you to summon the portal,” he said after eating a spoon of broth. “But if you did it by accident, I don’t understand why sirens. Why their song had been in your head before they emerged? Let alone how you understood them, how you can communicate with dryads, kill an immortal creature, channel with a—”

He stopped mid-sentence, his lips slightly parted, eyes widening as though an epiphany had struck him.

I swallowed a spoonful of broth before I said, “Drayard?”

He let go of the spoon to lean forward, propping his elbows on the table. “But that wouldn’t be right …” He seemed like he told that himself, absorbed by the realisation, whatever it was.

“What wouldn’t be right?”

Silence. I waited, but he was still lost wherever he was.

“Dray.” I tried to bring him back. “Hello?”

He leaned back in the chair. His eyes gradually abandoned the absent look, zooming back to reality. He then chuckled. “I’m a fool.” He pushed his hair back. “Such a fool for dismissing that right away.”

“Dismissing what?”

At last, he looked me straight in the eye as he said, “I think you are a channeler, Elynn. An absolute, walking myth.”

I’d heard many names, knew about many creatures, but this one rang no bell.

“A channeler?”

“Channelers have innate connections between other worlds, and they don’t count as one species. They are like wanderers without a permanent home. They either belong everywhere or nowhere,” he explained. “But you can’t be a channeler because according to the myth, channelers face death at their birth hour, and Gods save them, thus becoming a channeler of every world there is to exist.”

He drew in a breath before continuing. “But only Tatyana and the sorceress who helped her to deliver you know what happened at your birth hour. You might have been born as a stillborn as Tatyana had to be undergoing a lot of stress while carrying you due to tough circumstances. But Gods resurrected you, and if it’s the case, Elynn ... If you really are a channeler, then your life is destined to be incessant hard work and will revolve around others and never you.”

He voiced it all in such unadulterated earnestness that it was hard not to believe him. What he’d told me was absurd. A complete, absolute absurdity. I forced a laugh, but it came out to be tentative, betraying me.

I shook my head then. “And you said you had no clue.”

“I didn’t say it.”

My eyes were down at the table as I was biting the inside of my cheek.

“I can be wrong,” he said after a little while.

I smiled at that. “Oh, but you’re never wrong.”

I wished he would be for once. They say everyone makes mistakes, but whoever said it hadn’t met Drayard. The creature that wouldn’t speak nonsense unless he was certain it to be the case. He might not be certain now because he didn’t know what had happened during my birth, but it didn’t matter because I knew he was right.

There had never been a place I could call home. Not even the cottage in which I’d spend most of my life. The closest thing I found to home was not even a place but a person with whom I felt safe and comfortable.

I belonged either everywhere or nowhere, as Drayard had said. At least, now, I had an explanation of why I was the way I was.

Apparently, all along, I was not even real.

Chase had left my nightmares at last. He didn’t exist in them anymore. Telling somebody about what I’d been keeping to myself for so long helped. I debated sharing with Dray my other abuse, but I had bared myself enough to him.

Dray was treating me like a queen with each bleeding day. Since most of the time I was feeling weak and in pain, he woke me up when he’d already filled the bathtub with hot water, as I liked it. While I was bathing, he changed the sheets. Afterwards, he carried me into a clean bed smelling of outside and even gave me a mug of tea along with breakfast.

The King of Embers was my personal slave for five days straight.

As much as I enjoyed watching a feared dragon be at my mercy, I felt bad for him having to deal with my mess. I continued to marvel at how he wasn’t disgusted even one bit, but when I caught myself thinking this way, I reminded myself that there was nothing strange about it. It was normal. This was normal.

He didn’t even care if there were specks of blood on his clothes. Not once did he show any irritation. He could walk with blood-stained clothes all day until there came time to sleep.

He was disgusting, but I was drawn to it nevertheless.

He and I slept in the same bed, and it had become a normal thing to us. For once, I allowed myself to enjoy his closeness. The need to be near him, I blamed on my fluctuating hormones. But he didn’t always spend time with me, and we didn’t talk about what had happened after I’d summoned the portal.

When the bleeding subsided, we sat for dinner outside. Drayard brought the table and chairs from the kitchen. But instead of sitting there, I opted for the platform, my back pressed to the wooden pillar as I gazed at the clouded night sky, trying to catch a sight of a star while picking one grape after another.

“If I’m a channeler”—I tilted my head to him, catching him swirling a glass of amber liquid in an almost hypnotising manner—“did I get the ability to control elements because of who I am?”

I’d been thinking about it a lot when Dray wasn’t nearby but only now accumulated the strength to ask him. Maybe it was because some part of me already knew the answer I was dreading to hear.

“Not all of them,” he said. “Your ability to control our soil comes from the Dryad world. Water, the sea nymphs, both good and evil. Air … connecting with the spirit world, I suppose. And fire comes from me.”

I started. “You?”

He nodded. “Me.”

I blinked. “Care to explain?”

“You can’t control elements without their source nearby, can you?”

I opened my mouth to deny it, but no sound came. I’d never thought about it, but he was right. Without water nearby, I wouldn’t be able to control it. The same applied to air, land and …

When I wanted for Drayard’s sleeve to burst into flames, the fire appeared out of the blue. There was no fire source anywhere near.

The pieces connected quickly and fast. “You and I … You got telepathy from me, and I got the ability to control the fire from you.”

Instead of answering, he took a heavy gulp of amber liquid, wincing at the taste. He could drink alcohol like water, but this one must have been much stronger than what he preferred. There must have been a reason why he chose a stronger drink today. I wondered what it was.

“But how?”

How could someone receive power from another person?

“You asked me the same thing when you found out I was a telepath,” he said. “I may be a liar, but I didn’t lie then by saying I’m still trying to figure it out.”

“You haven’t already?”

He set the glass down. “I supposed it was because we were soulmates, but soulmates don’t share one of their powers, unless they get married in a certain way. But we’re not married. I looked for the answer everywhere I suspected it could be, asked about it, but there’s nothing about that sort of thing.”

“Usually, the most searched answers appear unexpected.”

He shot me a knowing look. “Not everyone is lucky to have a spirit show up to them and hand them answers willingly.”

“Lucky? Look where I am now because of it.”

“You’re telling me if you could go back in time, you wouldn’t do the same thing, letting your sister go serve instead of you?”

There was no point in denying it. I wouldn’t think for a second and do the same thing again. Over and over, if I had to.

“If I could go back in time, you know what I would choose differently?”

He sighed. “I may have an idea.”

“I’m listening.”

“You wouldn’t have flown with me to the Realm of Embers.”

He said it with such certainty and a tinge of sadness that it sent a pang to my chest, even when it shouldn’t have. I should confirm his statement, watch him crumble, and feel better because of it, but I found myself silent.

He was thoroughly aware of where I stood regarding the fact he’d taken one of my beloved people from me. I reminded him enough; I didn’t need to do it again.

I rested my head against the pillar, gazing at the stars. “Sirens killed my father.”

I sensed his unbelieving stare. “How do you know?”

The lump clogged my throat, and the tears started burning the back of my eyes from the sorrow I’d felt years ago rising anew. “Almost six years ago, my father went fishing in the Indigo Ocean, but he never came back, gone along with his boat.”

All these years, he had been dead, and nobody knew the real reason behind his death. Even if I’d had a nightmare where my whole family was dying, and I heard the singing in the dream while my father was drowning, I didn’t even consider what it meant, pinning it on yet another stupid nightmare. Sirens had killed him, but I couldn’t be sure if the same ones who had burned into the charred steaks were responsible for his death.

“I … I didn’t know,” he said.

“Most of my family died because of this world.” At this moment, I was talking more to myself than him. “Father was hypnotised by sirens; mother was infected by the plague enchanters had spread because Nayden wanted to obliterate humans, and Gen …” I turned my eyes to him.

A knot of tears was already constricting my throat, but I wasn’t going to cry again. I’d bared enough of my vulnerability to him.

Why hadn’t I let the sirens eat him too? Why had I been so eager to save him when he had taken my sister away from me?

And why, why had I kissed him to say goodbye?

You know why, my inner voice pointed out.

I did, but I would never admit it to myself, let alone to him.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

He had never apologised for the death of my sister before, but it meant nothing. Apologising for letting my sister die so he could gain complete, unrestricted independence of his kingdom was like a stab in the wound.

“Your apology won’t bring my sister back,” I fired back.

He placed the glass on the table, his hand withdrawing. “I’m sorry for what I did, Elynn. But it would be a lie if I said that if I could go back in time and choose not to sacrifice your sister, I wouldn’t do it again. Because I would. I would sacrifice her again.”

I huffed. I didn’t believe he would restrain from sacrificing her again, either, but his words still stung. To his eyes, the life of a mortal was a small price to pay to get rid of the four-decade-old curse. In his place, I’d have done the same thing, but I wasn’t Drayard. I was Elynn, and Gen was my sister. Even if I’d stayed as a beast forever, I’d have never let her die.

“Someday, you’ll die,” I declared like it was a matter of fact and not a threat, staring into the eyes that led to his dark soul I’d beheld a few times when I was lurking in his head. “And I’ll hang your pretty face on my wall for a display.”

No shadow of hurt, nothing surfaced on his face, becoming nonchalant, acting like he didn’t care. “First, you’ll have to acquire a home before you can hang something on your wall.”

His words hurt like a slap, ringing the hurtful truth.

I didn’t have a place I could call home. A place I could come back to anytime I wanted. Not anymore.

I stifled another set of tears burning the back of my eyes already. He raised a glass, taking a sip.

“The kiss meant nothing, by the way.”

Drayard coughed on his drink. He hammered his chest, and I wished he would die choking. But he then looked at me. I was certain he could read the lie through my eyes. Even if I stared at him with a hard expression, he was the only person apart from my dead mother who could see through my lies. He didn’t have to read my thoughts to know that the kiss meant something, if not everything.

The strange thing was that, despite all his crimes, the kiss had felt right. And if I were a dreamer, I would say it was meant to be. But despite him being my soulmate, how could it feel right to kiss him if there was nothing wrong with me?

“Likewise,” he said with a smirk, lying, too.

“And as I saved your life—”

“Actually, you sent death upon me first and then saved me, Honeylove.”

I glowered at him. “And as I saved your life”—I repeated with more force, daring him to interrupt me again. He didn’t do such a thing, allowing me to continue—“you owe me the story of your past.”

Two wrinkles emerged on his forehead. “I don’t owe you anything other than answering your four questions about my past.”

“Do you want me to set more sirens upon you?”

He smiled, finding my threat amusing. “You didn’t let me die when a perfect opportunity presented itself. Why would you try to send them upon me once more? To have an explanation to stick your tongue into my mouth again?”

He was audacious for calling me out like that, smiling so smugly, confident about his words. Every nerve in me was twitching, and I was boiling like a kettle on the verge of exploding. “I. Would. Never. Kiss. You. Again.”

He laughed as if what I’d said was an absolute joke. “Never is a risky word, Honeylove. It tends to go right back at you. The Universe doesn’t understand it. You might have sent a direct wish to get a chance to kiss me again.”

Furious and irritated, I picked a grape from the platter and hurled it right into his face. It bounced off his forehead.

I was already picking another when he stood up and started towards me. I cast it at him, but he sidestepped it before it could hit him, making me frown at his fast reaction.

Drayard was so close to me that I arose to step back and keep a healthy distance from him. With a smile that promised no good, he got onto the platform. I turned and pressed my back against the pillar to distance myself from him, but this way, he only trapped me. I breathed in, which was a mistake, as my lungs, instead of filling with fresh midnight air, filled with his sinful scent.

“You want me, Elynn.” He took less than a half step closer. “You want me, and you hate yourself for it, and I understand that. But this way, you’re fighting a constant battle with yourself.” The wind made my hair beat the side of my face. He tucked it behind my ear. When his fingers brushed against my skin, it shoot a wave of fire through me. “I don’t want you to admit anything to me or speak anything about what the kiss actually meant. I know it. You know it. We both do. Because, despite whatever there is to feel, we also know it can’t bloom, let alone evolve, and we both have our reasons for that.”

Despite the cold, my hands were sweating. His close proximity, his words, and the way he was looking at me were too much for me. “Are you saying we should fight it?” I asked tentatively.

“Why? We have been doing it for months now, haven’t we? Or was it just me?”

I crossed my arms over my chest, protecting myself from his corrupt closeness, but I was naïve to assume it would help. “You know my reason, but I don’t know yours.”

“I have many, not one.”

“For instance?”

Silence sank for longer than a few seconds, signalling me he wouldn’t answer. I was about to jump to the ground, but his hand circled my waist. I didn’t feel a floor under my feet anymore. His enormous wings flapped behind him in all their glory, flying us higher and higher to the sky until we were above the clouds, and I could see stars.

I found myself stretching my hand upward to reach them, to touch them, but it was a fruitless attempt as they remained as distant and as unreachable as they always were. Still, my hand hovered, like I was a child again, thinking that such beautiful things like stars could be reachable.

He stopped flying, his wings flapping to keep us in mid-air. “I’ve read somewhere that stars are just a gas of hydrogen and helium. But it doesn’t look like it, does it?” I looked at him, but his gaze was concentrated on the sky. “Stars are a beauty for our eyes but unreachable to our hands. As some wonders in life. Beautiful to behold but never able to touch and savour.”

His eyes lowered to me, revealing a part of his soul I wished I hadn’t seen again.

I’m not going to cry. I’m not going to cry.

To him, I was a star. A bright, unreachable star for him to gaze at, but it could never, ever be his.

“And what about the moon?” I asked to fend off the tears.

“It’s just a planet,” he said so carelessly and with a tinge of humour that it made me chuckle. “Calming to look at.”

Even if I was supposed to be cold this high in the air, or having trouble breathing, my skin was warm, heated by his hands on me, holding me from falling.

It had never occurred to me I could slip from his hold and fall to my death. And now, when it did, I wasn’t frightened one bit, certain with every fibre of my being, with my heart and soul, that he would never let me fall.

I put my palm on his chest, his irregular heartbeat thumping under my touch. Five days ago, he had told me I could rip his heart out, and it would burn in this very same hand of his. I was fiery, but he didn’t realise he was one of the reasons for giving rise to the fire in me, nurturing it, keeping it alive, not letting it smoulder until there was nothing but memories and cinders.

“There’s a lot of pain you’re carrying inside your heart.” I swallowed, steeling myself for the upcoming words. “Let me … Let me in. Allow me to have a glimpse of at least a piece of your heart. Help me see you.”

Help me understand you, was what I meant. I’d been yearning to learn everything about him after what I’d seen in his head one night. The need was quashed as soon as I learnt he was playing me. But it never disappeared; I was just keeping it at bay. And now it was awake again.

He withdrew. “Why? Why do you want to understand me if you’re planning to kill me someday?”

My heart was beating fast, threatening to jump out of my chest.

“Because …” I’m not going to lie, I decided. I’ll speak the truth. “I saw the boy in the volcano when the ground was trembling. I saw the boy who killed an innocent to please his father. And since then, I’ve wanted to know what it cost for you to bury that boy.”

Pure shock struck him. I’d assumed that he hadn’t been aware I’d been in his head the night I’d seen his vulnerable side, but now there was no doubt. He didn’t, however, shove me away as I expected. He swallowed, shock dissolving into nothing. “Then allow me to show you the place where the boy you saw had perished.”

XXI

HE FLEW US TO THE OTHER SIDE of the Isle of Sage, and if I was correct, we landed northwest. As my feet touched the ground, something heavy was starting to swell in my gut, and a ripple ran through me but not because of the cold. Something was wrong with this meadow.

As soon as his arms left me, the chill of the night returned to my bones, and I wrapped my arms around myself. He glanced over the field, his eyes pausing on the specific area. I followed his gaze. There was a grass plot stretching over the considerable size of a meadow that differed from the green we were standing on. The grass there was withered away, flaxen … dead.

“What is this place?”

He averted his gaze elsewhere, swallowing hard before getting out a grave reply. “A battlefield.”

Drayard must have been on a lot of battlefields, partaking in brutal fights during the Hundred Years’ War to protect morphs’ lands from enchanters and humans aim to usurp them, but this could not be yet another ordinary battlefield. Perhaps this one was the most awful of them all.

“We should leave if you’re not feeling well,” I offered.

“No.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and sucked in a breath as if accumulating the strength. I fought off the urge to approach him and offer a hug. “You know”—he tipped his chin towards the sky—“you were right when you said I was a mistake of my father’s seed.”

I recoiled like he’d punched me in the stomach, but the words were mine and not his.

Out of anger, they had left my mouth when I’d learned about the sacrifice of one of my siblings. I’d forgotten all about them, but he … he hadn’t because those words had wounded his heart, lingering in his mind ever since. And it was my fault.

“Drayard,” I said with difficulty, taking a step closer. He didn’t move, remaining to gaze at the sky. “I shouldn’t have said that. It was the wrong thing—”

“But it’s true.” His voice was emotionless, but he couldn’t fool me because behind it was hiding an immense heartache. “I am a mistake.” He let the words echo as if to savour the poison they carried. I opened my mouth to deny it, but before I did, he continued. “I have no idea how the woman who gave birth to me survived carrying me. No woman survives a dragon in their womb, save for the dragon herself. The embryo’s wings tear through them while fire incinerates their organs, but somehow, she carried me through and still discarded me.”

The realisation struck me like a bolt of lightning.

“That’s why you don’t have an heir,” I thought aloud. “There’s no woman left in the world who could carry your child.”

He was expected to sire an heir because he was the only Emyur left in the family line. The faster he would strengthen his bloodline, the better. But how could he do that when there was no dragon left in the world who could carry his child? Who wouldn’t die during pregnancy?

“Yes and no.” His eyes met mine at last. “If I was eager to have a child, I’d seek out all the healthy women there are and wait for one of them to give birth to one, but … I’m not like that … I can’t …”

His eyes turned distant. “He didn’t want me. Like an obstinate fool, he took me for this thing that ruined the slim chance he had with Tatyana. He could have thrown me away and left me to die, but the bastard knew better. He knew morphs were rare, especially dragons. Father needed an heir to carry the burden of the crown, but despite my existence, he still believed that someday he’d father a pure-blood offspring. But his wish didn’t end well, did it?”

He chuckled, and a faint ironic smile appeared on his face. It was quick to drop.

“He was cruel to me. As you saw yourself, he’d made me kill an innocent against my own volition. I knew if I didn’t, he’d be more disappointed in me than he already was. I had to burn him, and I did.” His voice turned ice-cold, colder than I’d ever heard him speak. “I wasn’t watching at first and opened my eyes only when he wasn’t a living being anymore with a heart but a heap of ashes with teeth. He was my first kill and after it followed many more since he would rather watch me kill than do the nasty job himself. It entertained him. Watching his son break piece by piece with every death of an innocent. That’s how the foyer of bones appeared in Hellrock Castle.”

A sudden rage entered my blood, stirring it. Arragon had ruined his own child, forging him into a monster. But my anger was futile. Arragon was dead, and I was glad for it. No man like him should be alive.

“How old were you when you started killing?” I asked, dreading to hear an answer, but I had to.

“Five.”

Five. Only five when he’d burned a man who had done nothing to deserve it. And what for? To make his father proud, not disappoint him, to feel his love for once.

“When I was ten,” Drayard continued, “my father sent me to train for the war. Everyone there called me a bastard. Not a lie.” He chuckled, but it came out wrong. “Boys in the camp liked to taunt, harass, push me around … All I was, was a bastard. My title meant nothing there. Nobody’s title did. But they still disliked me, only me.

“I was the weakest in the camp. I couldn’t hold the sword right, let alone use it. I always returned injured from the fights. My father insisted the generals teach me how to fight with golden swords. That’s why I have so many scars, reminding me of how many fights I had to lose before no sword could ever touch me.

“It was lonely there,” he said. “Only boys … men. It was a tough period, and some of them, once in a while, would awaken me at night, drag me into the darkest nook there was, and …”

My eyes welled up while he went on, lowering his voice. “‘You have a pretty face, boy,’ they said. ‘Open that mouth, pretty boy. Careful with those teeth, pretty boy.’”

He was lost in the memory. Reliving it. Every emotion, raw and unfeigned, was coming from him, making several tears trickle down my face. I clutched at my chest. It was painful to watch and sense everything he was feeling, but I didn’t stop him. I couldn’t. I had to hear the rest.

“I cried myself to sleep most nights.” He lowered his head. “For bullying, for my mother not loving me, for my father sending me to war to get rid of me. Some kids heard my weeps, and naturally, more taunting ensued.

“I had no friends, my parents, well ... you know. I was certain one day I was going to die on the battlefield. Death didn’t scare me. I held on to the belief that if nobody loved me, nobody would miss me anyway.” He gave a weak smile. “I channelled all my focus on training. In a matter of time, I became decent in the fighting department. Not the best, but not the worst, either.

“I obtained a death wish. Every time I was on the battlefield, I always anticipated it to be my last battle. Sometimes I got close to death, but somebody saved me every damn time. The men who taunted me also protected each other, and that included me, too. This way, I never got hit by anything made of platinum. I did get bruises from golden swords, daggers, and arrows, but they didn’t kill me. I wished the gold could have killed me,” Drayard declared in startling honesty.

For a slim moment, I wished I would have never admitted what I’d seen that night. If this was hard to bear for me, I could only imagine how he felt when he was the one who had gone through that. I had to stifle my sobs. He couldn’t know I was in pain. If he did, he might stop, and he might not open his heart again.

“One night, when I was resting after a victory, other warriors brought some of the enchantresses to the camp. They fed the fade ivy to them, and when there was no single woman except a few nurses in the camp, warriors turned them into their personal entertainment.

“I abhorred hearing their weeps, their pleas when they were abused at night while I was in my tent, doing nothing. Eventually, I couldn’t bear it, deciding to put an end to it once and for all.” A note of indignation entered his voice. “I knew they were enemies, but they were innocent girls. They did nothing wrong.

“One night, I sneaked out of the tent, moved to the cage they were kept captive, and was about to set them free, but one of the many warriors who liked to assault me caught me. We both were certain my punishment would be chopping my head off, but that wasn’t it. They wanted to kill me, but the general was the one to decide, and he chose not to because my father was Arragon,” he spat out his name like disgusting soup.

“Well, your title meant something, and you said it didn’t,” I noted.

Drayard shook his head in denial. “I still got my punishment. They truly didn’t give a damn about my title, which was as it should be. In the war, soldiers had to be equals. Some royal kid shouldn’t be treated any differently than a kid from a lower social position.”

I shivered from the cold. Drayard noticed it and removed his jacket.

“There’s no need …”

But without listening, he placed his jacket on my shoulders and a small, boyish smile spread across his face, despite the horrors he’d just shared.

“Seriously?” I muttered, crossing my arms and lowering my head so he wouldn’t spot the tears.

“I could offer body-to-body heat if you like.”

I gave him a dirty look, making a mistake. He noticed the state of my eyes, and before I could turn my head away, he pinched my chin, the rough pads of his fingers pressing into my skin. He found my gaze. “Why are your eyes watery?”

“What punishment did you get?”

I received a slight wince from him. “If you’re feeling bad for me, don’t.”

“I don’t.”

He stared at me for a while. I didn’t think he believed me, but it didn’t matter, for he stepped back, turning his head towards the sky. I gripped his jacket to make sure it wasn’t going to slide off, as my shoulders weren’t as broad as his. But it did warm me. Perhaps not because it was a piece of clothing that covered my bare skin but because it had been on Drayard before. The man was fire himself. He could breathe it, control it, and his skin was always hotter than anyone’s in this world.

“I was starved in order to die from weakness on the battlefield.”

I hadn’t expected that. “But that’s still—”

“Still death?” He inclined his head towards me. “Yes, but a slow one.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and surveyed the sky above. “I’d been starved, and we were travelling to another battle which happened right here, in this same field,” he said. “I was famished by the time we arrived. A general sorted us into lines. I was in the second row, and I wasn’t in the right shape when we attacked. Exhausted, hungry … I was getting weaker and weaker with every hit of my sword until I couldn’t take it anymore. I dropped the sword and surrendered to the beast that tore through me.”

He looked me straight in the eye as he said, “I fed on my enemies’ blood. I didn’t care if it was supposed to kill me until I realised enchanters’ blood doesn’t have any effect on me. And I burned those who tried to stop me.”

Although his words were meant to incite fear, they didn’t. I’d heard such a tale before, but now I knew the real reason which led him to drink their blood and set others on fire. He hadn’t done it because he wanted to; it was because he was starved to the point he couldn’t think.

“That was when I earned the Bloodsucker name. Morphs who had taunted me became frightened of me. They’d beheld me with brand new eyes. I didn’t like the way they looked at me, but at least they didn’t dare to mock me anymore.”

And it was all because he’d shown the power he’d been hiding from them all along. Perhaps he wasn’t aware of it either until that fateful battle.

There was no mercy he’d shown, turning into a beast many feared to this day. This was how the monster of the famous tale was born. In this same field but over a century ago. When once I’d found it mesmerising, now I felt sorry for him. It wasn’t his fault that he was the way he was, not entirely. Ever since his birth, he’d been struggling. The individuals that had encompassed him had moulded him into a beast, and it was only a matter of time before he couldn’t handle the pressure and accepted his inner vice. He was strong for holding on this long.

Drayard was an epitome of a walking survivor of psychological, physical, sexual, and verbal abuse. An unloved, lone warrior who, despite anything, still cared more than he admitted.

There was good in him, but he protected that bit, guarding it with lies and listening only to his mind. Perhaps he was a devil, and a throne in the afterlife was waiting for him down below, carved especially for him. But devils once too were angels.

“That was when the boy within you died?” I inquired quietly.

Drayard’s head bobbed. “Under that withered grass lays the bodies.” He showed the dried plot with his hand. “Bodies of enchanters and humans I killed with my fangs. The rest of them burned into ashes and dispersed by wind.”

When Fillan had retched my blood on the grass, it turned golden before it sparked into flames and scorched the grass. But what would many enchanters’ blood do if they sunk into the soil? And this was the perfect example of that. The grass would wilt, perhaps forever, as it had been over a century that the grass remained dead.

I pulled his jacket tighter around me. “How many did you kill apart from those you burned?”

Drayard shrugged. “A lot.”

He said it so easily, as if their lives meant nothing to him. But they did. Even if he’d killed so many that he lost the count of his victims over his existence, he cared. It was destroying him, and I saw it.

I remembered in what state he appeared after killing the man who had wanted to assault me in the Winter Masquerade. I hadn’t seen how he’d killed him, but from the bloody palms he wiped off with the handkerchief, the stains of blood on his shirt and jacket sleeves, it didn’t take a wise mind to figure it out. He squeezed his talons into the man’s throat, choking him, and then he burned him while he might have still been alive.

At first, I was thankful he didn’t hesitate to kill that sick man, but now … now when I fully realised killing meant the destruction of his soul, I wished he had saved his soul instead, even if it meant sparing the horrible man’s life.

“Do you regret it?” The question came from me. “For surrendering to hunger and killing this many people?”

I watched him closely, wondering how he was going to approach it. With or without a lie.

“I regret the moment I chose life,” he said in unflinching honesty, staring at the emptiness before him, “as it was the beginning of the monster born out of pain and vengeance who continues to destroy this already ruined world.”

That same night, I couldn’t fall asleep. Thoughts of what had Drayard shared with me bothered me. I couldn’t even close my eyelids for a minute and try to fall asleep.

Unable to take it anymore, I crawled off the bed and strode downstairs.

I checked under the stairs, hoping to find Drayard in his deep slumber, wrapped in his wings, but the mattress was empty. Untouched.

He wasn’t in the kitchen either. By now, I was certain he’d left again after sharing a part of his past. Whenever something happened deeper between us, he was the one to flee and take a break from what exactly I didn’t know.

After the night when the volcano had trembled, he also left for Hellrock Castle for business, as the bats had told me.

But was it really just that?

He had big trust issues, as he’d declared to me once. I still didn’t know why and from where it had come from. He’d told me a lot tonight and yet so little. There was still the rest of the century untold. But I’d heard enough for today. I needed to let the beginning of his story sink in before I jumped into the next chapter of his life when he’d turned into a cold-blooded murderer.

The smoke was more tangible when I stepped outside on the porch. I didn’t smell it but felt it within me. I followed it, opting to teleport to its source.

He was on the grass, his wings resting behind him as he stared into the lake ahead.

“Dray?”

No reaction. Perhaps he hadn’t heard me.

I came closer. “Dray?”

Nothing.

I put my hand on his shoulder, and he flinched slightly under my touch. I pulled back my hand as he looked over at me. A recognition shone in his eyes, but then his look became distant, and he stared at me like that for a moment or two, not quite seeing me.

I’d seen that look before.

“Dray?”

He turned towards me then, but it didn’t make me less worried.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Where were you?” I disregarded his question. “Lost in some childhood memory again?”

He turned his head away. “You should be sleeping,” he said. “Tomorrow we will continue our training.”

“I could say the same to you, and yet you’re here.”

“You’ll get cold.” He glanced at me. “Wearing this especially.”

I crossed my arms over my chest to tell him I wasn’t going anywhere. Perhaps I was cold, wearing only a black nightgown while being bare feet, but I didn’t care about it at this moment. I cared about him.

A smile of amusement curled at the corner of his lips, but his eyes didn’t convey the same emotion. He looked to stare back at the lake.

“Aren’t you going to come inside?”

“No.”

“Why?”

I caught myself stepping towards him. He didn’t move, so I sat beside him. He didn’t say a single word, leaving the question to float between us.

“You’ll get cold.” He didn’t even glimpse at me. “Go inside, Elynn.”

“Come with me then,” I countered.

“I’m sleeping here tonight.”

“Then I’m also sleeping here tonight.”

My own statement shocked me. It wasn’t something I would say.

I was truly exhausted.

Drayard whipped his head to me, brows drawn together. “No, you won’t.”

“If you’re sleeping here,” I said, straightening my shoulders, “then so am I.”

“It’s cold. You won’t fall asleep here.”

I shrugged. “There’s always a body-to-body heat option.”

His eyebrows rose slowly, and a tinge of mirth sparkled in his golden eyes.

The blush bloomed on my cheeks as I smiled coyly, waiting for him to oppose me again, but he didn’t.

His head turned back to the lake, but there was a slight smile of amusement lifting the corner of his lips. “Such stubbornness,” he drawled. “Well, it’s not like I’m going to reject a princess if she wants to sleep with me.”

I swatted his shoulder, making him laugh.

“You’re such a bastard.”

But I couldn’t ignore my broad smile, making my cheeks hurt.

Suddenly, what he’d confided in me tonight drifted back like an unexpected storm, and my smile failed me. I looked at the lake to stare at the reflection of the moonlight hovering overhead.

“Have you ever experienced happiness?”

My question was quiet, almost tentative. Maybe because I didn’t want to know the answer or already did.

He hesitated, thinking, but then shook his head.

“Not even once?”

“I’m not sure if I know what happiness feels like.”

It stabbed me in a way that didn’t hurt me, but his pain was palpable in his words. I wished I could take it away despite how impossible it was. Years of damage were buried behind the pain. It affected me, and all I wanted was to wrap my arms around him and assure him that someday he would, regardless of it being a potential lie.

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “Have you?”

An instinct to lie blossomed on the edge of my tongue, but I stopped myself.

No lies. There will be no lies tonight.

“Yeah.”

I brought my legs to my chest, resting my chin on my knees.

“What does it feel like?” he asked, his voice barely above the whisper.

The tears burned my eyes, and I turned my head to the right. I blamed it on the menstrual cycle. This ridiculous, unreasonable sensitivity. “Like ...” I raised my head, searching my mind for the time when I was happy, and ironically, it was a time related to my sister. “Like too real to be true, as if … as if it’s easy, a moment of complete lightness, ease. A moment of nothing but absolute bliss.”

“You must miss that feeling.”

Our eyes met, and he read the answer from the way I looked at him alone. He was turning transparent, too. There was deep guilt in him as he reached out for my hand, tentative. I didn’t withdraw it. More confident now, his fingers started stroking my cold skin until it grew warm.

“You aren’t going back, are you?”

I wasn’t sure what he meant. If it was going back to the house and leaving him here alone or everything I’d learned today that somehow would influence my further actions. Perhaps it would. Perhaps it wouldn’t. I couldn’t be sure. But they shouldn’t. I had a goal to achieve, albeit I wasn’t so positive about it, nor anything anymore.

“No,” I breathed, not sure what no it meant either.

“Then come here.”

With a jerk of my hand, he pulled me to him. He rolled me over along with him until we were both lying on our sides. His wings wrapped around me, and our chests were squeezed together. We were face-to-face. His body heat seeped through my nightwear, my skin, warming me inside out better than I’d be sleeping alone in the mountain house under the cosy blankets.

For a great minute, I considered pressing my head to his chest and circling my hands around him, but like every other time, I shook myself out of thoughts like that.

He trailed his fingers down my arm, tender and lulling. But before I let the exhaustion take over, I needed to get something off my chest.

“There’s something you have to know.” His eyes grew curious, and I became uncomfortable with what I was about to say. “You … You might be a cold-blooded killer, but you don’t kill because you like it.”

I tried my best to hold his gaze. I wasn’t sure why it was hard for me to speak from the bottom of my heart. It’d always been this way.

He stopped trailing my arm. “I don’t?”

“No.” I bit my cheek. Here goes nothing. “You choose to kill either to save or protect others. In the war, you protected your kind. Your fangs and fire didn’t touch the morphs you were fighting with, did they?” No answer came from him. I took it as a yes. “The same goes with my sister, and then … you killed that man who was about to—” I swallowed the unspoken word. “You kill, but your kills don’t come without reason. Behind all the deaths, there is a reason why the one is dead.”

“And does it make me a better person, Elynn?”

“No, but it makes your actions understandable and reasonable. If you killed just to kill, now that would be a whole other topic, Drayard.”

His gaze lowered. Dark red hair had started to grow over his jaw. He would need to shave soon, but I found myself liking a bit of hair on his face. Unconsciously, I brushed my fingers against his stubble, making him look at me.

“You’re not a villain,” I said. “You never have been. You weren’t born one, and you weren’t destined to be one.”

“But I’m a monster.”

Our lips were almost brushing, but I held on to the small distance left between us for a bit longer. “Yeah, but … a hot monster.”

My lips slightly parted as it hovered before his, waiting for him to move just a little forward, but he pulled away, pressing his mouth to my forehead instead. The mark of the kiss he left burned. He could have gone for the lips, but he didn’t.

Baby might be wrong. Drayard wasn’t into me that way. And the thought of it stung. I didn’t want it to affect me, but it did. I didn’t, however, let it show in front of him.

“Sleep, sleep, Elynn,” he whispered, voice lulling.

I ignored the uncomfortableness he’d initiated and closed my eyelids, letting the clouds of sleep take over my exhausted body instead of holding onto my aching heart.

The remaining night, I hadn’t had a single nightmare because my personal guardian was watching over me, guarding me against the beasts who toted bad dreams whilst trying to slip through the doors leading into my dreamless head.

XXII

TONIGHT WAS A FULL MOON, and for the first time, I felt its possessive grip on me, inviting me to turn into the beast lurking inside. I fought it off by focusing on sketching outside while leaning against the wooden pillar.

I’d been alone since the early morning. Drayard left as he’d told me a week ago. I couldn’t feel the smoke inside of me announcing his whereabouts. He must be somewhere far away so he could ignore his male senses that were extremely sensitive on this day.

A day that was called the Mating Ritual.

He wouldn’t be back until tomorrow. He wouldn’t risk taking me against my will. But would it? Would it be against my will when my traitorous body had been craving him for months? And now, on this day, I was dying to be taken by him, my body hot and aching with the need of him, but he was miles away.

I sat up straighter, pressing my thighs together.

I wondered where he was now, what he was doing and if he’d lied that he wouldn’t do Sinner’s Tango or not. Most morphs must be celebrating this tradition right now. He wasn’t celibate; perhaps his animal-like senses would overtake his mind, and he would catch someone anyway. But the thought of him lying with somebody else got me bristling.

I closed the sketchbook, put it down, and pushed myself off the platform to stand on my feet. I teleported and went for a trek towards the canyon. I could have teleported there instead, but it would lose the entire purpose of sorting out my thoughts and thinking about anything else other than him.

So, my thoughts shifted to the other soulmate of mine. Reuel Themias.

It’d been months after our meeting, and I still wasn’t sure how I was supposed to feel, let alone what I should do about it.

Maybe I should have gone to the Empire of Skies with him and got to know him better? But then again, he was a stranger. That hadn’t, however, stopped me from travelling with Drayard to the Realm of Embers last year. As if I had a lot of choices back then …

I always wanted to meet my one, but now I wished I hadn’t met either of them. All they did now was mess with my head and bring unnecessary problems when I had enough of them.

As I was passing by the forest, the dim light snagged the corner of my eye. I halted to look closer. Between the gaps of the trees, a bulb of light was shining through. Could it be a glosse? A creature which, according to Imogen, knew everything but was a trickster at the same time?

Should I go investigate? What if it had something to say? The last time I’d had an encounter with it, it recited the curse of the Empire of Beasts, which I had misunderstood and got played by Drayard. It also almost led me to my death, for Fillan emerged in his wolf form and chased me in the forest.

This forest, as much as the pine one, was a wicked place. Twice I’d gone there, and not once my trip had ended well. Chances that everything would go well this time didn’t exist.

The light continued to shine brighter now. What if there was something important I should know, and the glosse was waiting for me to tell it?

I didn’t have full control of my curiosity, but now I knew better than listening to it.

Not this time, though. It won without putting up much of a fight, and I proceeded towards the forest until I stepped into it, then there was no way back.

The glosse was hovering and didn’t move as I neared it. It was waiting for me—there were no doubts. As I was about two steps away from it, the gentle voice drifted from it like an ancient melody.

“Kinds created; souls separated.”

Oh, three hells, not another curse or riddle for me to crack …

“It’s a game of the Gods, their stringless puppets.

“One divided soul combines—it’s the end of their kind.”

Heh?

“It’s a Gods’ game: cruel and unfair.”

Why would Gods want to divide a soul? Was that even possible? Did I understand it right?

“But—”

The glosse went silent before it disappeared in a flash, leaving the lone moonlight to cast the light over the forest grounds.

“Wait!” I called, trying to summon it back. “Hello? Come back! I need to hear the rest!”

But nothing happened.

I was all alone, left with nocturnal creatures I couldn’t see. The glosse wasn’t going to come back. I didn’t understand why it would disappear before finishing the riddle? Did somebody scare it off? But as I looked around, there was nothing that could be regarded as a threat. Only trees and insects nobody could spot at first glance.

Sighing, I turned around to leave this forsaken forest, but a man stood before me.

Every muscle in my body went taut. The man’s right hand curled into a fist as his silver eyes were bored into mine. A long narrow scar was diagonally stretching out from the corner of his lips to his cheek. He was of a lanky frame, skin akin to the moon, deep brown hair catching the moonlight, and there was a hardly visible aggressiveness in his stare.

I should move. I should run. Now!

But before I could awaken from my paralysis, he straightened his palm back out in front of his lips and blew a cloud of dark blue dust to my face.

Everything went dark, like a light switching off.

I tried to teleport, but I felt nothing.

He’d blown fade ivy. It was the only way I could explain why, all of a sudden, I felt powerless, defenceless, and blind.

Feeling a snap to my legs, I fell. I tried to stand up, but he grabbed my wrist and pressed me back to the ground. I tried to wriggle out of it, but his foot pressed into my abdomen, and I couldn’t do much anymore.

“Why are you doing this?” I asked but heard no answer.

As a sharp pain seared through my forearm, I clenched my teeth. “What do you want?”

“Your death.”

He pressed the foot harder against my stomach. My bowels were about to explode. A tear trickled down as I struggled against him in vain.

“W-why?” I wept.

Gradually, the blackness was ebbing, shaping into a man standing above me with his foot on me, staring down at me with a satisfied gleam in his eyes.

The sheen caught the edge of my eye, and he was holding a golden dagger in his right hand. My forearm was still bleeding. He must have used it. But if he wanted to kill me, why was he stalling? Why didn’t he just dig the dagger into my heart? I was weak without my powers. He could have finished me in a second. I could only assume he wanted to make me suffer first before ending me.

He pressed my stomach more.

I grabbed his ankle and tried to push his leg away, but he was stronger.

“You’re weak.” He sighed. “How disappointing. I expected more from you.”

I dug my nails into his skin, and he yelped, jerking his leg away. I had enough time to spring to my feet and act fast.

Drayard had taught me the weak spots of a man. First, I aimed just below his knees, kicking him hard. He fell on them, clenching his teeth. I didn’t hesitate to knee him in the weakest spot of them all—his groin. With a cry, the dagger dropped to the ground between us.

I reached for the dagger and grabbed hold of his hair, yanking it back. I pressed the blade to his throat, not hard enough to draw blood but hard enough to have him watch his every breath.

“Who are you?” I gritted out.

He laughed. The point of the blade pressed his skin until the blood was oozing out of the small gap it made.

“Who are you?” I repeated, fiercer this time.

But suddenly, there was nobody here. I was holding nothing anymore, for he disappeared.

No. He didn’t disappear. In front of me appeared a glorious white eagle instead.

He was a morph.

I’m taking my words back. His voice rang in my head. You can put up a fight after all, dear.

And he was an enchanter.

Just like me.

I was caught off guard, and he seized the chance to grab the dagger with his talons. He transformed back and punched my nose. I heard a crack.

My hand flew to my nose as the tears sprung in my eyes, blurring my vision. I reeled back, feeling the warmness of blood running out of my nose, and my back hit a tree.

He lifted the dagger, the moonlight reflecting off its blade. He began prowling towards me like a wolf, twisting the dagger in his hand, showing off how well he’d mastered it.

But I had to keep fighting. Maybe I didn’t have my powers, but I wasn’t training almost every day only to die in a matter of minutes and without learning a reason why.

“Oh, you will die,” he said, hearing my thoughts. I concealed them, and the crooked smile stretched across the villain’s face, making the scar narrow. “But first, I’m going to torture you.” His smile widened. “Slowly and painfully.”

I balled my right hand into a fist and feinted it into his face to distract my left fist that connected with his middle. He doubled over, wrapping his one hand around it. I grasped his hand and tried to pry out the dagger, but he pushed me into the trunk, and the back of my head struck it so hard, stars exploded in my vision. Another sharp pain went through my shoulder, and I screamed.

He pressed me to the tree by the other shoulder, pulling out the dagger. I ground my teeth.

“Why are you doing this?” I managed to get out through the pain.

“What’s the point of knowing?” he asked. “You won’t be alive to tell, anyhow.”

He pulled me back only to smack me into the tree, half of my face smashing into its rigid trunk. The taste of blood filled my mouth.

“Hmm …” He flicked the dagger and pressed it to my stomach. “What if I tie you to the tree and slash your stomach, releasing your entrails out in the open for him to find?” He grabbed my face in his one hand, squeezing my cheeks as he made me look at him. “What do you think? Would he like that?”

I spat the saliva and blood into his face. He winced, the amusement melting off his face as he wiped my spit off with his arm.

“Do it,” I challenged. “And if we’re speaking about the same person, he will burn the world to find you and make you beg for your death.”

He laughed at my face, and a sharp sting entered my belly. My eyes widened. He drew the dagger out and let go of me, letting me collapse.

I clutched at my bleeding stomach. A sudden gust of wind blew into my face, and I squeezed my eyes shut. The blood seeped between my fingers while I rested my head against the trunk, bracing myself for the fatal blow.

But a rasp came instead. “Crap.”

I cracked one eye open to look up at my attacker. He was staring over his shoulder at the dancing leaves by the tree.

The stranger was jolted back. He dropped to the ground on his stomach. The root had circled his ankle, dragging him back as he screamed, “Bloody dryads!”

His fingers grabbed at the grass to hold on to it but in vain. The whirl of leaves spun around him in a frenzy until they dropped, and he was gone along with the wind.

I heard rustling.

I flicked my head in the direction where the sound came from, and an unfamiliar thing appeared from behind a tree. It was a dryad, but not the one I’d expected to see.

The dryad was a female wearing a short dress of leaves as she made her way towards me like a light wind; her eyes, the colour of the sun, locked on me.

“Who are you?”

She curtsied. Better than I’d have expected from a dryad, but then I remembered they had rulers in the mysterious world of theirs.

“I’m Jwala, and I was sent here to protect you, Mother of Wind.”

XXIII

“MOTHER OF WIND?”

Jwala nodded and brought her wooden clenched fist to her chest, bowing her head. “You’re hurt, Princess Elynn.” She straightened up, extending her hand. “Please take my hand and I will get you to a safe place.”

But my mind was in chaos. Why did she call me the Mother of Wind? Who was the man who had attacked me? Why had he attacked me?

My gaze lowered to her proffered hand. I trusted dryads, for they had fought morphs at the Winter Solstice. They were on my side, and they weren’t creatures I should fear.

Clutching my hand to my bleeding stomach and wincing, I stood up. As I placed my hand on hers, the warm wind of leaves enveloped us in a cocoon, and the forest disappeared from my sight.

We appeared in the middle of a path. Dryads strolled between the thick trees with two round windows on either side of the door. They were like houses but with wooden signs above the doors, representing different items, such as bread, a dress, a teapot … Those must be shops.

It didn’t take long for dryads to notice another creature in their lands. They halted, wide eyes directed at me, and as if on cue, they fell to the ground until I was surrounded by a circle of kneeling dryads.

Jwala was the only one left standing. She smiled. “Welcome to the Woodland, Princess Elynn.”

Dryads were staring at me as Jwala strolled along the path with me, dragging my feet by her side. Jwala had informed me that everything would be explained later. I couldn’t wait for that. The whole Mother of Wind thing puzzled me.

Jwala had told me that the Woodland was a small town in the forest, but nobody could enter it except for dryads and those they brought with them.

We were heading towards the hill, and as we reached the mossy stairs, a lone dryad stood guard. He was way smaller than me, but it didn’t surprise me anymore. Dryads were short creatures, despite their age. Still, I felt uncomfortable towering over a man, despite it being a mythological creature.

His vibrant purple eyes met mine, and he bowed his head. “Mother of Wind.”

I smiled through the pain, not sure how else to respond to that.

“Her Highness wants to see her,” Jwala announced.

He lowered his head at Jwala beside me. “Her request is my demand.” He stepped aside, allowing us to pass.

We climbed up to the landing, turned to the right, where more stairs awaited. I wouldn’t mind them, but I was wounded and didn’t have my powers. My nose was still broken; my shoulder was still bleeding, not to mention my stomach. It was a miracle I could still walk, let alone had consciousness. I had a feeling Jwala’s presence or the Woodland itself had something to do with keeping me conscious and mobile.

At the centre of the hill, there was another tree but much wider and taller situated atop of it. This time, two guards guarded the front doors. When they saw me, they, too, knelt before me. “Mother of Wind.”

Yes, I needed this all explained to me.

“Princess Elynn!”

I flicked my head to the side where a boy was running towards me. Juniper.

A wide smile split across my face. But as I tried to squat to welcome Juniper into my arms, I collapsed to the ground, wincing in pain and grasping at my stomach.

“You’re hurt, Princess Elynn.” He took my free hand. “Let’s take you to my mother.”

He pulled me towards the tree. I hardly had time to stand up and avoid tripping over a rock. Guards let us inside without any questions, Jwala behind us.

The inside of the tree was bigger than I’d expected it to be. The trunk wasn’t wide enough to accommodate such a massive room. It was almost as big as the ballroom in Casidiarn Castle. The ceilings were high, and everything was made of wood. There were more doors that must lead to more rooms. But my eyes didn’t linger long on the interior when a familiar female dryad appeared atop the joining stairs.

She wore a long, sleek dress made of moss, and it didn’t disappoint. The queen of dryads wasn’t a stranger to the definition of fashion. It was unusual, and I admired everything different and unique.

Her blue eyes were fixed on me as she began to descend. “Welcome to the Woodland, Mother of Wind.” She stopped halfway down the stairs, eyeing me. “Will you be able to walk upstairs?”

There weren’t many stairs. Each step would be painful, but I didn’t want to strike as a nuisance as they, after all, had saved me.

I bowed my head to her. “Yes, Your Highness.”

She didn’t seem sure about it but didn’t question it. “Please, call me Elda.” Her eyes travelled to Jwala behind us. “Thank you for bringing her, Jwala. Could you check on our prisoner?”

She didn’t hesitate to reply with a curtsy, “Of course, Your Highness.”

She retired in a heartbeat. Elda clapped her wooden hands two times, and one of the doors opened, revealing two young twin dryad girls. “Juniper, your father still needs you in the discussion room below.” She turned around and waved her hand as gracefully as a feather. “Girls, help the Mother of Wind upstairs.”

Grudgingly, Juniper let go of my hand. “I’ll be back. I promise, Princess Elynn.”

I smiled down at him. “I’m sure of it.”

Juniper left, and the two girls took my hands, helping me upstairs. I winced with each step. “The attacker from whom Jwala saved me … Where is he?”

“You mean the half-breed?” Elda asked.

“Yes.”

Somehow, I got up all the stairs, but I didn’t think I would have managed without the help.

Elda threw me a glance. “He’s here. As our prisoner.”

That relieved me. “Would I be able to question him later?”

“Only when the girls … adjust you, Mother of Wind.”

I glanced at the two dryads fidgeting beside me before turning my attention back to Elda. I managed a smile. “Please, call me Elynn.”

The room Elda brought me to was remarkably enchanting. Its ceiling was smaller than any decent rooms I’d been in. I’d had to duck low to fit through the curtain of leaves in lieu of a door, but at least the room wasn’t claustrophobic. If anything, it made me feel free and more attached to nature than being in the actual forest. But that might be because windows here didn’t have glass, not restricting the breeze from drifting inside. It was all wooden, the top edges of the walls decorated with leaves, moss, and red daisies. Even the table I was seated at was growing out of the tree, its legs like branches.

Elda placed a crystal cup before me. “Drink this.”

I looked at her. “What is it?”

“It will heal you and restore your powers.”

Convinced, I took a sip.

“Until the last drop, Princess Elynn,” she prompted.

I tipped back the whole lucid liquid without leaving a single drop behind. My muscles eased, and the pain in my nose, shoulder, and belly disappeared in a matter of seconds. My wounds sealed shut, and my powers came back. I was feeling whole again.

It had a similar effect when Elda healed me from her husband’s injuries last summer.

The girls freed my hair from a disordered braid before they took it into a hold and began brushing it, whispering how beautiful and smooth it was under their breaths.

“What was it?” I placed the cup down.

“Something that your world doesn’t have.” She winked at me as though we shared a secret, and ever so gently, almost as carried by the wind, she sat down on the armchair covered in moss by the entrance.

I found myself missing Juniper. He was like an old friend with whom I wanted to catch up. But first, I needed some questions answered.

“Why is everyone calling me Mother of Wind?”

The queen pressed her wooden legs together and placed her slender wooden fingers on her knees, becoming the epitome of external grace.

“You saved our son, the heir of our realm, and you understand our language.”

“I understand it because I’m a channeler.”

She tilted her head to the side, curiosity flickering in her eyes. “Are you then aware of your mission?”

Confusion crossed me. “What mission?”

The smile that tugged at her mouth was benevolent and gentle. “The Universe told us you are gifted with the power of speaking our tongue to protect us against the monster lurking outside our realm.”

I blinked a few times. “You engaged in conversation with the Universe?”

How could anyone converse with the Universe?

It might be possible with Gods, but with the Universe? The mother, the birth giver of the entire world and all that encompassed it?

Her giggle was gentler than the melody issued by piano keys. “Not me, but Jwala. She’s our oracle who likes to … pose as a saviour sometimes.”

One of the girls put the brush down and started washing the blood off my fingers while the other braided my hair.

“From what monster should I guard you against exactly?”

She squirmed in the chair. “The Lutaur,” she whispered, as though afraid.

“The Lutaur?”

She gave me an almost imperceptible nod. “It’s a monster that has been after our kind ever since we can remember. He’s the cause of many dryads’ deaths because they didn’t tell where the Woodland is. It’s been looking for it, to destroy it and us with it forever, but he could never find it. It disappeared because of you twenty years ago, but he’s not dead. The monster is still out there. Just hiding.”

“He vanished because of me?”

“Yes.”

I chuckled at the absurdity of it. “But I did nothing. I didn’t know such a monster existed until now. And if, according to the Universe, I have to protect you, how can I when he’s hiding, and I can’t even protect myself from the half-breed?” I shook my head. “I think the Universe has picked the wrong person for such a task.”

She waved off her delicate hand as if I’d said a joke. “It doesn’t matter. We dryads are still thankful for your arrival on this planet.” She offered me a reassuring smile.

I almost wanted it to be fake, but if anything, it was the most genuine I’d seen someone wear in front of me.

I looked down at my clean fingers. “If I can speak your tongue because of the mission to kill this Lutaur, then I also have a mission in the ocean, right?”

She cocked her head to one side. “What do you mean, Princess Elynn?”

“I can communicate with sirens.”

Surprise flashed in those unearthly eyes, but it was soon replaced by deep concern. “What powers do you possess?”

“Teleportation, telepathy, shapeshifting, and control of four elements.”

Her lips pinched together. “Every element is equal to one mission. Usually, a channeler has only one, but there hasn’t been one in a long time. If you can control four elements, you have four missions to fulfil in order to be set free.”

“Set free?”

She nodded. “Channelers aren’t free until they fulfil their tasks. They’re bound to their missions, and even if they ignore them, they always find a way to pester them.”

“Do you know when the last one existed?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“So you have no clue what my mission associated with water is?”

She gave me a sad smile. “No, Princess Elynn. But I can assure you that you will learn about it sooner or later when the time comes. All you have to do is pay attention.”

I turned my head to look at the mirror, but instead, I faced a glassless round window overlooking a portion of a town. The moon was still visible in the sky, making me wonder where Drayard was now.

“Someone told me that to become a channeler, you must die at your birth.” I swallowed, fumbling with the hem of my shirt. “Had I been dead when my mother gave birth to me?”

“Whoever told you that told you no lie, but you should ask your mother about it.”

My smile was weak. “I can’t.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know where my birth mother is,” I said. “She’s exiled.”

The silence descended. It wasn’t uncomfortable. I didn’t think the aura could be such around Elda when she was the walking bliss, offering a reprieve from anything.

I dragged in a breath. “Dryad can heal, right?”

After all, by singing in their language, I’d saved Baby from the effects of the banshee’s voice, from the never-ending insanity.

“Yes.”

“And it can be used as a spell?”

Her hand flew to her chest as though my question offended her. “Pardon me?”

“When I was an infant, I spoke in your language and gave the ability to bear children to my mortal mother,” I explained. “Now, I can’t have any children.”

I was fine with it now. I’d accepted it a few months ago, but it still pinched my heart. One day I’d expected to have offspring, but such an ability was taken away from me by my two-year-old self.

“Oh,” Elda breathed, her hand sliding from her chest. “Then yes, our language has such a power.”

I wished it didn’t.

“You must love your mother deeply to bestow such a valuable gift upon her.” She smiled.

“I was only two,” I said, and Elda’s smile dropped. “But yes, I loved my mother. I still do. She passed away last year.”

I’d already mourned her, but thinking about her and the fact I couldn’t attend her funeral still filled me with sorrow.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

I didn’t need any condolences, but as Elda had said those words, it made the sorrow fade away, suffusing my chest with lightness and ease instead. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’d used whatever powers she possessed on me. Or it was just in her nature to make everybody around her feel comfortable and relaxed and blissful.

“But if your mother died, the one you gave an ability to have children, it left her as soon as she … left this world.”

I whipped my head to her, not minding that the girls plucked out a few strands of my hair with such a sudden movement. “What do you mean, it left her?”

“Were you close to her when she travelled to the spirit world?” I nodded. “If so, the power came back to you. If you want, you can have children.”

I stared at her in disbelief, part of me expecting her to say she was joking, but she was the gracious and kind queen of dryads. Joking about such things wasn’t a part of her character.

I couldn’t wait to share this with Drayard.

My own spontaneous thought took me aback.

Why would I want to share this with him? He wasn’t my friend. As much as Drayard and I had been close to each other recently—too close—he shouldn’t know I could bear kids. Because what if he knew, what would be then? He was a scheming devil, probably storing ample plans ahead for the future. What if somehow my fertility got involved in his schemes? I might be overthinking this, but anything was possible. I was, after all, a being in possession of many powers, a princess of two empires. I was valuable, and my genetics were priceless. He might make use of it, despite what he’d said in the dreadful place of the island. I didn’t believe he could be capable of anything like that, but I could never be too safe.

The dryad girls didn’t disappoint me with the hairstyle. My hair was down, some sections of it braided and adorned with flowers and leaves. They also dressed me in a knee-length dress made of leaves. I couldn’t see my full appearance since there was no mirror, but judging by how the girls marvelled at me, I was sure it suited me.

Before I could ask Elda to see my attacker, one of the guards who guarded the entrance yanked open the door, panting in the doorway as if he’d just run a marathon.

“Mother of Wind,” he rasped, bowing his head to me, then cast over the room until he found the queen in the armchair. “Your Majesty, I don’t know how, but the prisoner who’d attacked the Mother of Wind has escaped.”

The guard kept assuring me there was no possibility the white-haired half-breed could have escaped. Nobody could walk in nor leave their lands apart from dryads. It was just as impossible for another kind to escape as it was for humans to fly.

I was lost in my head while the guard was leading me towards the prison cells located under one of the bigger trees, away from the town and the royal dryads’ palace. But as the guard showed me the cell my attacker had been kept in, I glanced at him weirdly.

“Are you serious?”

The guard stared at me in confusion. “I’m sorry?”

I gestured my hand to the cerulean portal inside the cell. “There’s a portal right there, how—”

But his eyes were darting between my pointed target and me.

I lowered my hand. “You can’t see it.”

He grimaced. “A portal?”

“Yes, he created a portal.” I stepped closer to the cell, inspecting the portal through the wooden bars. It was the same as any other portal I’d seen, except for the colour.

I glanced at the dryad. “Dryads can’t see portals?”

He let out a sigh. “Well, it appears that we can’t.”

“Could you hand me the keys?” I asked, extending my hand to him.

He placed the bar of keys in my palm, and as I was searching for the right one, the portal vanished.

“Bloody hell,” I breathed.

“Is something wrong?”

I sighed, giving back his keys. “The portal is gone.”

Juniper had found me first and was now showing me the town.

Dryads didn’t care that it was night time. They didn’t need to sleep, and I envied them. If I didn’t have to sleep, I wouldn’t need to worry about waking up after another nightmare. It didn’t matter that my nightmares had become quite a rare thing, as I wasn’t sleeping alone anymore.

An unfamiliar but delicious smell wafted to me. I inhaled it deeply, savouring the delightful smell.

“I see you’re hungry,” he said, falling into step beside me.

“Starving is more like it.”

As we turned right, a wider tree rose above the others. In front of it were square wooden tables, some dryads were seated there, savouring food that must be delicious since all the tables were occupied. I was tired of Drayard’s food and his beloved roast chicken. It wasn’t like I had anything against it. It’d turned out to be my sanctuary as much as it was his. I just wanted to try something made by someone who knew how to cook, but unfortunately, I had no coins with me.

How was I supposed to know I was going to be attacked and brought to the magical world where dryads lived?

I stopped. “Ugh, let’s pass.”

“Why?”

“I don’t have any coins with me.”

The boy chuckled and nudged my waist. “Nobody’s gonna charge you here.”

“Even so, it wouldn’t feel right. I can’t take something for free.”

I hadn’t grown up in poverty—I’d had more than other unfortunate children—but I had a sense of how tough it could be to earn money, even just a tiny bit. And taking something for free, not to mention from creatures that practically worshipped me … I couldn’t do it.

Juniper’s wooden fingers circled my wrist and hauled me towards the tree.

“Juniper, don’t do this.” I protested but still let him drag me. I was starving, and if, as Juniper had said, nobody would charge me for food, I could always repay. I had a feeling it wouldn’t be my first or the last time in this magical world.

I didn’t like to be in debt, but I wasn’t sure how I would return the money. I hadn’t had any for a while now. How I was supposed to earn it? I had never asked.

I had gotten too comfortable living with the being who must have gold that would last for eternity. I made a mental note to ask Drayard how I could repay the expenses it had cost him to satisfy my needs. I didn’t want to feel like I owed him something.

As we neared the building, dryads stopped eating and quickly hopped to their feet to bow their heads to us. Juniper beamed at them, and I caught myself smiling as well. Well, kind of. The smile was quick to waver.

There was too much in my chest. I didn’t feel like flashing honest smiles to every single person who bowed to me or passed me. It didn’t seem right. To fake it when they didn’t.

Juniper dragged me into the tree. The inside was about the same width as the outside, untouched by magic, unlike the tree on the hill. The leaves were hanging down the ceiling; a wooden bar was to my left with matching barstools and leaves wrapped around their legs. To my right, there were also a few round tables close enough to each other for people to eavesdrop on conversations. It seemed like this world didn’t have a sense of so-called personal space.

When we approached the bar, the female bartender greeted us with a warm smile. I wasn’t even here for long, and I was already growing irritated by the benevolence encompassing me. Perhaps the happy world teeming with good-natured creatures wasn’t my kind of place.

Or it was sheer jealousy. I wasn’t happy like they were, and seeing them like that made me jealous. I was happy for them—for their capability of finding happiness in any trivial thing despite what was happening around them, but it was beyond my comprehension to understand how they could do that.

“Your Highness.” She bowed her head to me. “Prince.” She bowed her head to Juniper.

Juniper let go of my wrist and propped his arms on the bar, which was short enough for him to not elevate himself on his toes. “Give us the best food you’ve got.”

“That would be five crystals.”

Juniper put five crystals of different colours on the bar. The bartender took them. “The best food we have will be right away,” she announced and disappeared somewhere behind the wooden doors.

“You use crystals to buy items?” I asked as Juniper and I took a seat at one of those round wooden tables. It was uncomfortable, as these chairs weren’t customised for someone like me but for dryads only, judging from the fact that Juniper didn’t mind its stiffness.

“You don’t?”

“No, we use coins.”

“Sounds boring,” he said. “Crystals are pretty. You should try to use that in your world.”

I chuckled. The barkeeper brought us mugs of water. I wasn’t surprised that they were, too, made of wood. I gulped it.

“So,” Juniper said, propping his arms on the table, “where’s your lover?”

I choked on water. Juniper’s beam was so wide, it reached his ears. If I didn’t know better, I would suspect he was trying to kill me.

“My what?” I hammered my chest and took a deep breath.

“Your lover boy? I can’t remember his name. The half-breed who fought for your life?”

“Drayard? He’s not my …” Only now did I take in Juniper’s last sentence. “Did you say he fought for my life?”

The boy nodded his head enthusiastically. “Yes! At the Winter Solstice night, he tried to feed you his blood, but you didn’t react, and he was quite desperate, but my mother showed up and gave him the essence that saved your life!” He burst everything out so fast, my ears had a hard time catching every word.

But in the end, I understood, though I didn’t quite get why Drayard hadn’t told me this. I knew he was the reason I was alive, but he’d never told me what happened after I’d fallen unconscious in the Mortal Region except for the part where Reuel emerged. But then again, I’d never asked, and it wasn’t often when he’d start telling stories out of the blue.

“So are you two … I don’t know what you call yourselves in your world.”

I shook my head without hesitation. “No. Gods no.”

Never in a thousand years, I wanted to add but stayed silent.

As our food arrived, I caught Juniper stealing a glance at the boy sitting at the other end of the bar. I was eating juicy fruits, watching him. My stomach demanded meat, but I believed there was no such thing in this world. Dryads were like trees; they didn’t eat meat.

He glimpsed over his shoulder for like the tenth time, and I had to ask, “Is he your friend?”

He hastily turned his head back to me. “Pshh, no,” he said, but his eyes were on the mug and not me.

I looked at the boy Juniper had been watching before I spoke. Dryads were almost identical. Only their clothes, eye colour, and the length of the branches on their heads helped set them apart. This one’s branches were shorter than Juniper’s.

I returned my eyes to Juniper, who was still staring at the mug. I leaned over the table and whispered, “You like him, don’t you?”

“Shh! Keep it down! He might hear you!” he exclaimed with a whisper, flailing his thin hands.

A weak chuckle escaped my mouth. “I was quiet, unlike you.”

“Shh!” He pressed his wooden forefinger to my lips.

I pulled back, unable to hold back a wide smile. “All right, all right, I got the hint.”

After I confronted Juniper, he didn’t glance at the mysterious boy. But I caught the boy himself stealing a glimpse of the prince every once in a while.

XXIV

WHEN THE SUN WAS RISING above the horizon, Juniper teleported me back to the forest with the help of the wind. Unfortunately, he couldn’t teleport anywhere outside the forest.

I was quite exhausted after the adventure I’d had, even if Elda had given me a strange essence that had brought back my strength. I desperately needed to sleep for at least an hour to restore my energy.

I teleported, but I appeared before the entrance of the house instead of the bedroom. Perhaps my exhaustion took a blow on my powers, and they weren’t working as they should. But I’d return to the bedroom just fine if it meant sleep once I got there.

As I was about to put my hand on the handle, the door swung open, and I sprang back, avoiding the hit by sheer luck.

A winged man stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of me. He issued a sigh as though an immense relief washed over him, but the moment lasted this long, for he crossed his arms over his chest, shoulders tensed. “Where the hells have you been?”

I frowned at his tone and stepped aside to pass him, but he blocked my way with his wing.

I let out a deep sigh. “I’m tired, Drayard.”

“Oh, you’re tired? What about me? I was up all night long—”

“Shagging random women?” I raised my eyebrows, not aware of what way, what kind of emotion, what sorts of words had slipped off my tongue.

I was too bone-tired to think before I talked.

His forehead wrinkled. “No, I was searching for you, wor—” He shut his mouth, biting off the word.

Worried. He was worried. My stupid heart jumped at the thought, but even if it was true, I couldn’t fall for it. I couldn’t let it somehow influence my thirst for vengeance or my pride.

“Good dreams, Drayard.” I took a step to the left, but he stepped in front of me.

“Are you all right?” His voice turned breathy.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because you were attacked.”

I wasn’t even surprised he was aware of that. “How do you know that?” I asked. “You were miles away.”

“The promise,” he said gravely. “It keeps me bound to you, remember?”

Right. Why do I keep forgetting that?

“Are you all right? Are you hurt? Are you—”

“I’m fine,” I cut him off. “Just tired.”

He had that penetrating look, as though he was trying to read me. I believed he could, as I wasn’t trying to keep my thoughts well-guarded at this point.

He took me in, acknowledging my different appearance only now. “What … are you wearing?”

“A dress.”

“It’s a dress which could only …” His eyes shot to mine. “What were you doing with dryads?”

I emitted an annoyed sigh. This time, I didn’t try to sidestep him, concluding that it’d be wiser to tell him what had happened in the fastest way possible, and he might allow me to retire to my desired slumber.

“As you know, I was attacked in the forest by some half-enchanter and half-morph, then a dryad girl named Jwala saved me from him and took me to their world. There I learnt my mission as a channeler is to kill the monster that had been plaguing them until my arrival in this forsaken world. Can you believe that?” I snorted but then shook my head, continuing. “The queen healed me, and later I went to check on the prisoner who’d escaped through a portal. Afterwards, I had a meal with my friend Juniper, and now I’m here.” I inhaled to gather my breath after spilling everything and spread my hands wide. “May I go to sleep now, Your Majesty?”

“Hold on,” he said, ignoring my question and the irony in it. “You were attacked by a half-breed?”

My hands dropped back to my sides. “Oh, so you didn’t know that?”

“Did he try to rape you?” He drew a step towards me, and I pretended to show no reaction at his sudden closeness.

“No, he didn’t. He …” What I wanted to say disappeared from my mind. I touched my neck unconsciously as I broke eye contact with him, my palms growing sweaty.

His smell of smoke and spice mixed with sweat was all over the place, intruding my air. And his proximity was doing things to my heart, making it beat wilder—wild enough I could faint.

Focus, Elynn. Focus.

I forced myself to meet his gaze again. “He wanted to kill me for some reason.”

“Kill you?”

His chest was rising and falling sharply but not from rage. His eyes had an unusual burn in them, laced with desire. And thus, I had a feeling … a hunch that perhaps the mating ritual day wasn’t completely over.

“Yeah,” I managed to say with a breath.

I should be running now or teleporting far away, but my feet were rooted. My breathing intensified as well, and such obscene thoughts flooded my mind that I could only hope they didn’t slither through the shield and waltz into his head.

From the corner of my eye, I could see him grasping the edge of the door, the protruding talons threatening to sink into the wood. The air was pregnant with sensual tension. I wondered which one of us was going to surrender to it first. Even if he’d said we shouldn’t act on it, it was easier said than done, as I caught myself slipping from the grip of the control I had over me and my actions.

For months, I’d been feeling this way. I’d assumed the attraction to him was going to diminish until it turned to dust sooner or later. But I’d been naïve to believe it was possible when it was his lone face I saw every day. My attraction to him was only mounting with each day, hour, minute. But his smell hadn’t had much sway over me before as it did now.

All I wanted to do was to bury my nose in his chest and inhale his decadent smell, savouring it all. All I desired was—

His hand on my arm banished all the thoughts, and the next thing I knew, I was pinned against the wall. His warm body was so close, it almost grazed my chest. His palm was propped next to my head, and his hot breath was bouncing off my forehead.

There was no chance of escaping him now. He had me cornered like I was a gazelle, and he was a lion.

Chests heaving, the heat cocooning us, inviting us to explore, to feel more, as we stared at each other, neither of us saying a thing.

I couldn’t tell what barrier stood before him, but I was patient, even if I was burning for him to do something. Touch me. Plant a trail of kisses across my neck. Take hold of me. Do anything that would make me feel better than the time we’d kissed.

I didn’t want to fly anymore. I wanted to be thrown into the pit of flames and be licked by them before being devoured.

“Elynn?”

I breathed back into reality. “Yeah?”

“Please stop.”

For a split second, I got scared that I did something without being aware of it, but all I did was stand still, unmoving, imprisoned by his unfairly attractive body.

“Stop what?”

“Enchanting me.” He nuzzled the top of my head and drew in a deep breath, inhaling my scent like a possessed man. “Tempting me.”

“I’m doing no such a thing.”

“I can smell you.”

“Because you’re the one smelling me, Dray.”

He looked at me. His pupils were now dilated but not the same as I’d seen them when the bolt was in my abdomen. He was hungry, ravenous, but not for blood.

“Not”—his eyes closed shut—“there.”

I pressed my thighs together, my breath catching in my throat.

“It’s the moon.”

The corner of his mouth twitched as his eyelids fluttered open. “I would believe that if I wasn’t already familiar with the smell of your desire before, Honeylove.”

I’d figured he could, but that didn’t stop my cheeks from flaming. “When did you”—I licked my dry lips—“smell me first?”

His gaze lowered to my lips. “Your arousal, you mean?”

I pressed my lips together, nodding.

“The first time it was at the dinner table when you tried to seduce me. Then when you came to the painting room to make the bargain. Then when I carried you from outside to the kitchen. And then when you saw me half-naked.”

I wanted to blame myself for it. For not concealing my smell, but how could I? It was beyond my control when his personality and charm allured me, no matter how flawed he was. If anything, every imperfection added to the flame of desire. How was it fair that he could have such a sensitive nose?

“You’re an animal.”

His eyes glinted with darkness. “Does it scare you?”

I smiled, aware that it was no innocent girl’s smile. “The opposite is more like it.” I pressed my hand to his heaving chest as I looked up at him from under my lashes, his heart thundering against my palm. “It ignites me.”

He closed his eyes for a second, exhaling before bursting out. “You have no idea how much I want to lift your dress, lower your underwear, and sink myself into you. Thrust in you until your eyes roll back, and my name leaves those pretty lips I want to claim with mine.”

The image he incited couldn’t be any more vivid, but I didn’t force it to disappear, letting it stay there hanging as my hand slid down his chest. “Want could be a dangerous thing but so … exhilarating,” I drawled. “And yet, why are you just standing there when you can have all the fun?”

“Because I …” He looked down at my hand, then back at my eyes questioningly.

“It’s all right.” I touched the first button of his trousers and freed it from the buttonhole. “I can take care of you.”

He was doubtful. “Are you sure?”

“You will do it anyway.” And another button. “It doesn’t matter if it’s your hand or mine.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he breathed. “It matters.” His nose brushed my neck as his lips hovered over it a fracture away. “It matters a lot.”

Once his trousers were looser, I slid my hand behind them and reached under his drawers, brushing his burning skin. He grasped my chin with his fingers and captured my eyes. “Elynn, if you don’t want to, don’t. I’m carrying enough guilt with me already. I don’t need another stone added to the pile.”

Guilt.

The word made me pause.

Wouldn’t I be feeling it afterwards? The regret, the shame? When I got the so needed sleep and woke up with a rested and more sensible mind, would I not be angry at myself? Furious? Livid? The Mating Ritual wasn’t over yet. It was fogging both of our brains.

But the moon was barely visible. It didn’t have full control over us. He could stop this. So could I.

But I didn’t want to stop this.

“Dray,” I said, my tone grave. “Do you want me to touch you or not?”

At last, a smile I was waiting for surfaced on his pretty face. “Want isn’t the right word. I crave that.”

“Then you will shut up and let me, won’t you?”

His hold on my chin slipped. “If you won’t regret it afterwards.”

I smirked, willing to take the risk, but I would do it either way. Regret or not. “I won’t.”

I continued sliding my hand lower until I found it. A breath was snatched from me. I tried to watch over my breathing when I wrapped my fingers around his length, holding it in my palm that was not even close to enclosing it fully. I stroked it with my thumb first, feeling him hard and slick with sweat under my touch.

At this point, my heart was racing. It was a familiar sensation but also not quite. This time, my palpitation wasn’t inflicted by fear or that I felt obliged to do it, and it wasn’t just any man my fingers were wrapped around. It was Dray, and I was pleasuring him because I wanted, not because it was expected from me.

He was strained, but in a matter of seconds, his arm muscles eased underneath my grip along with his body. I watched him, his reactions. There were none at first until there was a smile and a curse left his mouth, turning me hot down there.

And then … my name slid off his tongue in a husky breath, his voice deep and on the verge of total bliss reverberating through me and sizzling my flesh.

He leaned closer, his lips a hair’s breadth away from my ear as he whispered in it. “Harder.”

I caught my breath but obeyed his request. My strokes quickened, becoming fiercer. His breathing turned mad as he was about to explode. I had to refrain from falling to my knees, pulling down all his bottom wear, and capturing his release in my mouth.

A slight tremble rippled through his body, and an explicable sound, yet arousing, left his mouth as he came undone, his forehead dropping on my shoulder. I couldn’t suppress a chuckle.

That didn’t take long.

I pulled my hand out while his erratic breath warmed my skin. His breathing steadied as I fixed his trousers. He raised his head, and his lips were nearly brushing mine, but I hurried to ask, “Is your desire gone?”

He smiled, pressing his thumb to my lip. “Will it ever be when I’m with you?”

I figured his question was rhetorical, so I didn’t answer. Even if it wasn’t one, I didn’t know what I’d say to that.

The light guttered in his eyes. “You regret it.”

My expression must have given him a wrong impression. “Should I get on my knees and prove you wrong?”

I started at my own choice of words. My bloody mouth, always doing the talking before my brain could even think first.

At least the light in his eyes sparked to life again. Lower, but if I wanted, I could stoke it up. But I shouldn’t. I wasn’t ready to find out where such a fire might lead me, afraid that I’d find myself liking it.

He leaned away. His smell was still in the air but not as potent as before. “Go to sleep, Elynn. I’ll talk to you when you are rested. There’s much we need to discuss.”

He turned around, ready to leave.

Before he could, I touched his arm. “You should take a rest.”

“I’ll be good.”

I circled him and stood before him, searching for his eyes that were going all over the place to avoid mine. “Can’t even look me in the eye when you lie now, can you?” But my smile betrayed my amusement. “Come.” I took his hand. “Or are you going to refuse the princess when she’s requesting you to her bed?”

I expected him to laugh, but he didn’t. At last, he looked at me. Too serious and downcast for my liking. “Elynn … we can’t mate.”

I didn’t have that in mind, but his statement bemused me. “What do you mean we can’t mate?”

“Because I …” He sighed. “I can’t do that to you. You already hate me, planning my demise. I don’t want to give you another reason to hate me more.”

I wanted to laugh, but he was too serious for my humour. And yet, I couldn’t stop myself from saying. “Are you that terrible in terms of a bedchamber?”

His brows rose at the unexpectedness of the question, but my smile informed him that it was a joke and perhaps a challenge at the same time. At least a chuckle left him, but it didn’t make his low spirits disperse.

“Have a good sleep, Elynn.”

His wings spread wide, but before he let go of my hand and sprang into the air, I hurried to say, “Dray, I meant sleep.”

He gave me a feeble smile. “I shouldn’t.”

“Are you afraid you won’t control yourself?”

He hesitated before he nodded with a slight dip of his chin.

“If you try something, I’ll push you off.”

“But what if you won’t control yourself, either?”

That was a good question. One I hadn’t considered. “Then I guess accidents happen.”

He pulled his hand from mine, and something shattered inside of me.

“Go back to sleep. I’ll come back when I can.”

He hopped into the sky, leaving the linger of his scent and a humiliated girl in his wake.

XXV

INSTEAD OF FALLING ASLEEP, I stared at the ceiling. I rolled over and screamed into the pillow.

What was I even thinking? What the hells was on my mind when I slid my hand inside his trousers? What was wrong with me?

It had to be everything. Everything was wrong with me because all I regretted was not having a taste of him, letting his drawers absorb it instead of my mouth.

I went downstairs and tiptoed to his claustrophobic lair. The doors were opened, and he was there. Sleeping.

“Elynn?”

Or he wasn’t.

Saying nothing, I dropped to a crouch and pressed my finger to his lips. He sat up, watching me. Smiling, I grabbed his head, sinking my fingers into his hair, and pulled him into a kiss. He brought me into his lap, his hands on my waist, lifting my nightgown. I raised my hands above my head, and the only piece of clothing I had was gone off my body. He flipped me over, pressing me into the mattress.

Unearthly eyes sparkled with need in the dark. He conquered my lips with his mouth, his teeth dragging down my bottom lip until I felt the sharpness of one of his fangs penetrating through my flesh. He tasted my jaw, my neck, my chest, my middle. His hands clasped my thighs and parted my legs. He raised his head, but the face I saw wasn’t his.

I screamed.

“Elynn, it’s alright,” someone said as I jolted awake in bed. “It’s not real. Breathe. Not real.”

It occurred to me I was still screaming. I willed myself to stop and take a deep breath. I breathed out. In and out. In and out. My heart rate steadied, and the grotesque face I couldn’t identify as anyone I’d met before dwindled until it left no trail in its wake.

“Not real,” I whispered to myself while sliding off the bed. “Not real.”

I staggered for the door and opened it. In a daze, I descended the stairs. As I was in the kitchen, I poured some water from the pitcher and drank it eagerly.

Not real. Not real. Not real.

At last, I turned to the man who’d followed me. I froze at the unprepared realisation.

He was concerned as always, but was he aware of the beginning of my nightmare? Most of the time, he knew what I’d been dreaming about. He had access to my mind. And when I was sleeping, my mind was at its most vulnerable, and I wasn’t conscious of any trespasser. If he saw most of it, he was considerate to say nothing about it. Or it was that there was nothing to say. It wasn’t real but a sheer creation of my puzzling mind.

Unlike my hand in his—

I chugged water down my throat before I put it down, slicking my hair back with my hand.

What had I done? What was wrong with me?

Soulmate or not, I was attracted to the man who had killed my sister, for hells’ sake!

I sagged against the counter, tears rolling down my face. He rushed to me, but I extended my hand, stopping him before he could reach me. “Don’t.”

I didn’t blame him. It would be unreasonable, needless to say, irrational.

“I should have stopped you,” he said.

I laughed. He didn’t understand why I’d turned so sad out of the blue, but I didn’t have the voice to explain myself. I tried to collect myself, piece after piece, but they were falling, little by little, ever since Chase. “I don’t … I don’t regret … I …”

Since I had a tough time voicing my current emotions, I didn’t try anymore and closed my eyes.

Breathe … Breathe … Breathe.

Exhaling, I reopened my eyes and found his in the dim candlelight. He had lit the candle on the table. “It’s just … something is insanely wrong with me.”

He gestured at the place beside me. “Can I?”

I nodded.

He sat down. There was a beat of silence before he spoke. “Would you like to get rid of it? This … wrongness in you?”

I should have said yes right away, but something made me hesitate.

I didn’t know exactly what was wrong with me, and I would like to find out. To explore it before getting rid of it first, if it was possible.

I freed my inner cheek from my teeth. “Would it be wrong to say no?”

“There’s no wrong answer.”

I stared at him with my bleary eyes, sucking on my bottom lip as my fingers curled against my thigh. I then let go of it, flattening my hand. “Were you honest with me when you said you’d like to sink yourself into me?”

His chest stopped moving as he held his breath. “I was influenced by the …” He breathed in. “I still do, Elynn, but it’s … physical.”

Physical.

But before sadness swept over me, the sensible voice in my mind whispered, He didn’t say just physical, though.

Even if there was more than physical, what difference would it make?

“Would it be a crime if …” Why had it turned so hot all of a sudden? He couldn’t be using his powers now. What for? “If …”

“I need to ask you something,” he said, interrupting me.

“What is it?”

“What did your attacker look like?”

I suppressed an eruption of laughter. Of course, he understood what I was trying to say. He’d spared himself—us—from the awkward topic by changing it before it even came to it.

“Tall …” I said, putting on a dreamy mask. “The handsomest man I’ve ever seen.”

I watched his face, anticipating jealousy, but all I detected was annoyance. “Elynn, I’m serious. If you’re feeling desire, you have more than one finger.”

“You do, too.”

I couldn’t bear it. Averting my eyes first, I pursed my lips as hard as possible, as though it would assuage the mortification. I wanted to bang my head against the counter for not thinking first again before letting my tongue speak for—

“I also have better than that, which I’m sure you’re aware of since you’ve already had a touch of it,” he said.

I couldn’t stifle the laugh this time. I let my head drop against the counter as genuine laughter came flying out of my lips. He joined me shortly, and I pushed him with my shoulder.

“Oh, I’m aware,” I said through the tears.

My laugh morphed into a wheeze, causing him to laugh louder, chasing away all the lingering awkwardness. If there were someone here apart from us, they would look at us like we were insane.

And in some way, we were.

When the laughter faded, I fell into seriousness. “My attacker was tall with white hair, pale skin, and silver eyes.” Something indecipherable crossed his eyes. “Do you know him?”

He set his forearm on his knee. I ignored the ink peeking through the sleeve of his shirt. “I might, but there can be many white-haired men with pale skin and silver eyes.”

“No, because he’s like me. A breed of an enchanter and a morph.”

The colour drained from his face, but then he shook his head. “No, that can’t be him.”

“Him who?”

“Balihar. My spy.”

I blinked in surprise. “Your … spy?”

He rubbed at his eyebrow with two fingers. “At least, he used to be. I haven’t heard from him in twenty years. I thought he was caught spying in the Empire of Skies and got killed. But apparently, he’s very much alive. I believe he betrayed me.”

There was a sadness emanating from him. I didn’t think he could care like that, unless …

“Was he more than a spy to you?”

He nodded. “He was my friend.”

“You … you had a friend?”

He gave me a deadpan look, making the corners of my lips rise.

“Balihar was one of the kids I trained after the war,” he said. “He was born late in the war to the Princess of Talons. Many morph women were ravished by enchanters just like enchantresses were victims of morphs during wartime. It was like their retaliation.

“The princess gave birth to two boys. She didn’t want to keep them, so she abandoned them in the war camp. Two sorceresses found Balihar and his brother, and they took care of them until the war was over. But they had to move to the Mortal Region to help create a new future for the humans. They didn’t want to bring enemies to their new region, so they left them as preteens in the island’s training camp.

“At first, they served in the food department until I arrived here to be a trainer and met two little boys who were so underestimated and with so much potential. I saw myself in them, and I made them train despite what anyone said. Later, they became my friends.”

I snorted.

“You don’t believe me?”

I stood to pour myself more water. “You’re such a reserved person that it makes it hard to believe you could make friends.”

“I was a bit different back then.”

I settled myself back beside him with a glass in my hand. “What happened after you three became best buddies?”

He sighed, but there was a smile and quite an adorable one. However, it faded fast as he came back to the memory. “When I quit training, I gallivanted around the world for some time. I didn’t know what Balihar or his brother were doing, but when I returned and discovered my father on the brink of dying, I found a note from Balihar saying that he was sorry. I tried to contact him, but he was unreachable.”

I sipped water. “What happened to the other boy? The one you trained? Did he switch sides, too?”

“No, Bertuar is living his best life in the City of Fire with his lover. He owns a tavern there.”

“Is he still your friend?”

“I could call him one, but I’m not sure where he stands.”

“You didn’t discuss your relationship with him?”

“Elynn, you lived with your brother. How did he act with his friends? Did he pour his feelings out?”

I rolled my eyes. “Discussing your feelings doesn’t emasculate you.”

“But it makes you vulnerable to that person, and to be vulnerable, you need to trust someone first so they won’t take advantage of what you laid bare before them when you least expect that.”

Suddenly, I found the empty glass in my hand more interesting to stare at. “Where were you … during the mating ritual night? I couldn’t … feel you.”

“That was the whole point.”

I gave him a pointed glance. “Dray.”

He sighed in defeat. “Where the Mating Ritual magic couldn’t affect me.”

“Which is …?”

“I’m tired,” he declared, standing, but I reached for him and seized his hand.

His head lowered, and our eyes met.

“Elynn—”

“Dray.”

We stared at each other for a while until he couldn’t help but chuckle.

I rose to my feet. “I hope you washed your hands.”

His eyes went wide.

“So?” I asked, battling a smile.

“I did,” he said, closing his eyes. “I did.”

I was glad he had his eyes closed because when I saw his cheeks take on a rosy tinge, I couldn’t hold back a smile and beam like an idiot. If I could make Drayard blush, what more was I capable of?

He leaned closer, and his breath tickled my skin. “Did you wash your hands?”

I pushed him away, which made him laugh, and my smile widened enough to hurt my face muscles. Then he took my hand, lacing his fingers through mine. I watched him as he raised our hands, pressing our knuckles to his chin. “You truly don’t regret it, do you?”

At the look of his expectant eyes, he needed to hear the answer. I knew if I said I regretted it, he would let go of my hand, accept it, and walk away, concealing the ache. But wasn’t that what I wanted all along? To make him pay, which naturally led to hurting him?

I could do it right now. Lie that I regretted it, and he would try to keep his distance from me out of deference and my personal space.

But I didn’t want him to stay away.

“No,” I said, running my thumb over his knuckles. “I don’t.”

XXVI

THE NEXT DAY, we were back to training, but instead of training by the canyon, we stood by the lake. I’d already completed the warm-up, stretched out my muscles, readying them for the training. Now I gulped the water while Drayard rested his canteen against the tree.

“I need you to tell me what happened during your fight with Balihar,” Drayard said. “From the very beginning to the end.”

I emitted a sigh. “Why? To assess my helplessness?”

He straightened himself while turning to me. “To learn where it went wrong so that you could hone your weakness.”

My fight with Balihar was embarrassing even to think about. Nevertheless, I told him everything, wanting to embroider the reality but knowing beforehand it would be pointless. Drayard saw me through. And even if I was embarrassed, I needed to learn more about my weakness.

When I was done telling him, I stared for a little while at the narrow scar piercing my forearm I’d uncovered to show Drayard where Balihar had injured me. I tugged the sleeve down, assuring myself that the scars he’d left would be the last ones.

“It’s not your fighting that’s the issue,” he said. “Your body became immobile when you turned and saw the strange man because of your earlier experiences. Because of what happened in the past, your mind assumed it would happen again, sending an instant signal to your muscles to freeze.”

“So you’re telling me I have trauma?”

I was aware of it, but I hadn’t thought it went that deep.

“Yes.”

I took a sip of the water and went over to the tree to put the canteen next to his. When I arose, I asked, “How should I fight it?”

“The most efficient way is to face it or wait.”

I sucked in a breath. “Well, then.” I brushed the loose strand away from my face and rolled back my shoulders. “Let’s go back to training?”

But Drayard stared at me as though he wasn’t finished. “Despite your paralysis, you got the upper hand, and you might have won if Balihar didn’t use the element of surprise. You didn’t know what powers he had. You didn’t know he could turn into an eagle. What could you learn from that?”

I stared at him, not sure what he meant, but I tried to guess. “Bring a gun next time I’m going for a stroll alone?”

He frowned. “You don’t know how to use a gun and could wind up hurting yourself instead. But yes, you should bring a weapon next time you go into the forest, but you shouldn’t even have been there in the first place. Why would you go there after what had happened with the banshee?”

I hadn’t told him about the glosse, and I wasn’t sure if I should tell him now. The riddle could be associated with him. I still hadn’t cracked it, but I was determined to do it since the last time I hadn’t, it cost my sister’s life.

“I saw the light and thought it was a glosse again, but it turned out I was mistaken.”

I gave him a half-truth since I had figured that perhaps he would believe a half-lie. He seemed sceptical, but the expression on his face faded fast. “Next time, if you preserve your powers in a fight, don’t reveal them to your opponent at once. It could give you the upper hand, but if your opponent uses the element of surprise, don’t be surprised by it. In a fight, you should expect anything without letting any of their skills catch you off guard,” he said. “Since now you have an assassin after you, I’m going to teach you three ways to knock a half-breed out.”

After gruelling but educational training, I teleported back to the house to take a bath before Drayard.

As I was done cleaning off the sweat and grime from dropping into the mud an embarrassing number of times, I climbed out of the bathtub, wrapped the towel around my body, and strode upstairs. I changed into a nightgown and sat on the bed to brush my damp hair.

My gaze drifted to the sketchbook left on the table. Every word I’d written there this morning emerged before me like a painting. I’d been staring at the text for so long, the image had lodged in my memory.

Kinds created; souls separated.

It’s a game of Gods, their stringless puppets.

There was some game of divided souls that the Gods were playing. But weren’t Gods playing plenty of games, messing with the lives of the living? Then how could the game that glosse told me about in the riddle be special?

The glosse hadn’t even finished the riddle. It must have smelled the presence of the intruder—that was why it had disappeared. The riddle could also be a sheer trick, but even if it was, this time I was sure I was going to figure it out.

Elynn, his voice drifted into my head, pulling me from my thoughts, we’re not alone.

What?

Don’t come out.

Don’t tell me what to do.

He sighed.

Are you sure we’re not alone?

No answer came.

I lowered the hairbrush, looking at it. For a second, I caught myself considering taking it with me as a potential weapon. I didn’t have a real one, although I was aware there were some in the house apart from the knives in the kitchen. Drayard kept them hidden, and I’d never bothered to look for them, which, now I realised, was a mistake.

I, however, had my powers, and they were better than nothing. So, I let go of the brush, letting it fall on the mattress, and went for the door. I opened it and began tiptoeing down the stairs.

The voices coming from the kitchen rendered me still on the last step.

“You’re aware that invading my base will cost you dearly, Ariel?” Drayard said, voice ice-cold.

Wasn’t Ariel the same man who had offered his daughter as a potential wife for Drayard?

“My sincere apologies, Your Majesty.” Ariel’s response sounded cordial. “I’ve come in peace.”

“And what is the reason behind this peaceful intrusion?”

“Nayden knows where his niece is,” he said. “He knows she’s here.”

My heartbeat quickened, and I stilled. I was scared that if I shifted just an inch, he’d hear me and drag me out of here straight into Casidiarn Castle where Nayden lived. My uncle, who wished to see me bleed.

“But she’s not,” Drayard said, his tone of voice betraying nothing. “You can go back to your realm, Ariel.”

But Ariel didn’t listen. “Nayden sent me here to assure you he has nothing against the girl anymore. He doesn’t want to kill her but welcome her into his family and accept her as a princess of the Empire of Beasts.”

My chin clenched.

Lies. Filthy lies.

“She’s not here,” Drayard said, letting me know he didn’t believe Ariel either.

“The princess’s guardian’s face doesn’t fit you, Your Majesty.”

“Too bad that Nayden’s puppy’s face suits you exceptionally well, Ariel,” Drayard retorted.

The corner of my lips twitched, and I pressed my lips together, suppressing the smile.

Guessing by the utter silence coming from the kitchen, Ariel must have got lost by Drayard’s blunt statement.

But it didn’t take long for him to speak again. “Nayden swore to the Gods and his own sister that he’s done hurting his family. There’s no need to hide her anymore.”

“Hasn’t Nayden learned anything about throwing around his promises?”

Ariel snorted, taking it as a joke rather than a crystal-clear fact. “Nayden cares about his people, and despite his mistake, he’s learned from it. The girl shall come back to her true home. She’ll be treated right there. If not … he’ll find a way to destroy your new kingdom and the people there. Nayden is as fickle as the weather—his steps are unpredictable. Think wise before acting, Your Majesty.”

“You dare to threaten me despite the consequences it might bring upon you?”

Judging by Drayard’s unfazed cadence, he either wasn’t bothered by a threat or masked it well. But knowing him and his calm disposition, the letter seemed more like it.

“I warn you,” Ariel said. “You have a week to make your decision, Drayard.”

The sound of footsteps receded until I heard nothing, but I still waited in case of trickery. I counted until three minutes passed and only then descended the remaining stairs and stepped into the kitchen. Drayard was leaning against the counter, drinking a glass of what I supposed was alcohol. His hand clutching the edge of the counter in a white-knuckle grip didn’t elude my gaze.

I crossed my arms over my chest. “How did he find us?”

He didn’t move, didn’t look at me as he muttered, “Maybe Nayden knew about this place all along. If he did, it wasn’t hard to guess where I was hiding you. Not even for such a halfwit as him.”

This was not good. Not good at all.

“What are you planning to do?”

Drayard turned his head to me. Confusion etched in the lines of his face. “It’s not my choice to make, but yours, Elynn.”

I opened my mouth, made to remind him about the last time I’d chosen to leave the island, and he’d stopped me, but instead of jumping into the pointless argument, I let my brain speak first. “You know Nayden better than I do,” I pointed out the obvious. “Do you think he’s lying to lure me in and kill me?”

He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “If Ariel didn’t lie, Nayden swore it with his sister. You know, the one he fucks?”

I cringed, disgusted by his straightforward declaration. My reaction made him smile, but it wasn’t one of his nicest smiles. He sipped from the drink, tapping his pinkie against the glass in a nervous rhythm.

Drayard wasn’t the person who would show his anger, keeping it at bay instead, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t snap someday. And when he was always withholding it, I didn’t want to imagine what it was like when he had enough, let alone be there when it happened.

I picked the following words carefully, willing my voice to be placating. “He already promised to give her to the Empire of Skies but refused to. All we learnt from it is that Nayden isn’t a promise keeper.”

“True,” Drayard said, continuing drinking.

I caught myself having a tempting desire to knock the glass from his hand and perhaps I would have done it if not for the current state of him. I didn’t want to do anything that would be the last drop in the glass that was already brimming.

“But if I don’t show up there, Ariel said Nayden will destroy your kingdom, its people. Is that true?”

Drayard scratched his temple, his shoulders easing a fracture. “It’s a possibility. If he cuts my kingdom off importation or declares war, but it would be foolish, even for him.”

“Why?”

He released a breath before meeting my gaze. “Because, Elynn, I’m this world’s walking nightmare. Because if he did that, he might as well be signing his death contract. He’d be dead in his bed before he rallied his army.”

“How would you achieve that? Killing the emperor in his bed when he is well guarded?”

“I stumbled on him and his sister participating in sexual desires, didn’t I?”

I didn’t answer.

“Elynn …” He turned to me. “If you worry about my kingdom, don’t. He wouldn’t win. Despite the army he has, he won’t.”

But I stared at him mistrustfully. “Your lies are killing me.”

“What lies?”

I huffed. “You are lying!” I stepped towards him. “It would affect your kingdom if a war occurred. But you don’t say it because you don’t want me to go back and reveal myself to Nayden. I know you are worried, but please stop. Stop protecting me all the time.”

“You’re not ready.”

“I am.”

As confident as I sounded, it was a lie. I wasn’t, and confidence or not, it didn’t convince Drayard one bit.

“You tell me you’re ready, then why did dryads have to intervene in your fight with Balihar? Ah, that’s right …” He stretched out his hand with the glass to the side, his eyes blazing with frustration. “Because you were close to dying.”

Anger boiled my blood, but he had a point. Arguing without having a good argument would only prove his rightness more. “Well, I can’t sit and do nothing when the world may as well be falling apart.”

“Damn the world,” he said with conviction. “I can’t lose you.”

It was like lightning coming out of the clear sky. Unexpected. Unseen. Shocking.

I can’t lose you.

I can’t lose you.

But I wouldn’t relent. Not this time. “You lost me the time you allowed my sister to be sacrificed.”

He lifted the drink to his lips, downing the remains. Silent.

“I’m going to Casidiarn. You won’t stop me. Not this time.”

Lines deepened in his forehead. He wasn’t pleased with my decision, but he couldn’t hold me back anymore. Not when the people in his realm could be in danger. Among those people were my friends. I didn’t want them to get injured because of my hesitation to go into the capital, potentially stepping straight into the maws of the beast.

Drayard set the empty glass on the counter and neared me. I tensed as he stopped no more than a step away, his scent almost tangible in the air, I could as well grasp it and never let go. He acknowledged my tension but didn’t make a remark about it.

“Are you sure?” His voice turned gentle and sweet, the likelihood of an outburst gone, no trace of it remaining. It was like I had imagined it. I envied him for his terrific self-control. “There could be another way.”

“I’m not sure, but I’m tired of hiding here like a coward. It’s been months. I have access to most of my powers. I mastered teleportation ability. If I smell any danger, I’ll flee.”

He shook his head. “They have fade ivies, prison cells built of detain stone. If they want to take you down, they will be prepared beforehand, and before you could smell the danger, you’d be captured and perhaps executed in front of the morph audience.”

“If you want to say I’m young and inexperienced, just say it.”

“You are young and inexperienced, but stepping into the castle without any defence, even for me, could be suicide.”

My mouth fell open. “You didn’t even hesitate there.”

“You told me to say it, so I did.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. The nerve of this man. “So you’re saying I shouldn’t go there and risk Nayden destroying the Kingdom of Embers?”

“Since when do you care about my kingdom, Honeylove?” A teasing smirk curled at the corner of his mouth, and I tried my best not to gaze at it.

“I don’t care about your stupid kingdom.” I stepped back to distance myself from him but mostly from his addictive smell. “I just don’t want any more lives on my conscience.”

His eyes went soft. If someone could understand every emotion and thought swarming in me, it would be Drayard.

“Do you remember what I said about Nayden and his hatred towards humans?”

I nodded.

Nayden hated humans, and he would have started getting rid of them in the empire anyway, despite my existence or not. He wanted to shoot two birds with one stone, as Drayard had said once. But humans didn’t know that, instead blaming me. I wouldn’t have cared, but technically, they were right. If not me, perhaps they would have had more time … or none.

His fingertips touched mine. The connection of our touch sent the current of electricity flowing through my spine, reaching the deepest nerves of mine, awaking them. At the altered look in Drayard’s eyes, I could tell he, too, felt something from our touch, but instead of one of us leaning away to escape it, we intertwined our fingers.

“As I said, it’s your choice whether to go there or not,” he said. “I’ll protect you, anyway. You have my word.”

Before I melted at the sweetness of his words, the reminder of the promise he had made to his father knocked on my gullible skull. He’d protect me no matter what because of it. Even if his eyes said that he wasn’t doing it because of his duty, I didn’t buy it.

If not for the magical oath, perhaps I would be dead by now.

So why should I believe that if the bond cleaving us together by magic disappeared one day, he would continue caring about me instead of abandoning me to face the cruelty on my own?

After all, he had been, was, and would always be the King of Lies.

XXVII

DRAYARD WOKE ME at dawn.

My eyes barely opened as I turned my head in his direction. I was utterly aware of my current position: drool trickling down the corner of my opened mouth, legs crossed over a blanket, nightgown raised, revealing my abdomen with a scar.

Sexy, he drawled.

I grunted, not caring about my looks whatsoever but the fact that he’d woken me up so bloody early.

“What do you want?”

Sitting up, I wiped off the trickle of saliva with the back of my hand. I tugged down the nightgown to cover my stomach from his perverted eyes and squared my shoulders, tilting my chin towards him.

“Before we leave for the empire, there’s a task you need to do,” he said, his tone of voice falling into seriousness.

I yawned, covering my mouth. I didn’t forget my manners after all. Even if I was woken way before my waking time. “What task?”

“You have to close the portal you summoned behind the waterfall.”

I scratched my temple, wincing. “How am I supposed to do that?”

I still didn’t know how I’d summoned the portal in the first place. The ocean had revealed itself like the Song of Sirens presented itself to me. It couldn’t be solely me who had made it materialise. Someone else was behind it—a bigger power I didn’t even want to learn about, as it made me summon dreadful things by accident.

“I don’t know, Elynn, but we can’t leave it active.”

He turned around, neared the wardrobe, and opened its doors wide. I forced myself out of bed, and while I stretched my muscles from their slumber, he was searching through my clothes for something I could wear to get me going faster back to the idyllic but dreadful place.

“I went there today, and the waterfall has become quite preoccupied with the animals from the ocean,” he said.

I pressed my palms to the floor, feeling the satisfying pull at my hamstrings. “Is it a bad thing?”

“Yes. More Sirens can come, and the Indigo monster can slip through.”

I stood straight again. “The Indigo monster?”

“It’s a monster who guards the Indigo Ocean,” he explained. “A nasty, cruel thing.”

I got over to the table and took a hairbrush. As I sat down, I started combing the nest out of my hair in a challenging attempt to restore my natural waves.

“Elynn?”

“Yes?”

“When were you planning to wear this?”

I threw a glance over my shoulder.

I wish I hadn’t.

Burgundy lace lingerie dangled between Drayard’s hands. The same one Blossom had put in the luggage for Gods knew what reason, and the one’s existence I’d forgotten about after leaving it to dust in the wardrobe.

If I’d remembered it was there earlier, there was no way I’d have allowed Drayard to roam his hands freely through my clothes.

My cheeks flamed.

Once when I’d worn a burgundy gown, he’d defined its appearance as enchanting as the sky at dusk. Burgundy was his signature colour, perhaps even his favourite. I could only imagine what was in his mind when he beheld this lingerie collecting dust in the wardrobe.

As though he’d read my mind, he grinned and surveyed the lingerie. “Was it meant for me or as your own plaything?” His playful eyes came back to mine.

I forced my face to appear unfazed despite burning with embarrassment within. I turned on the chair, and instead of saying the first thing that bloomed on the tip of my tongue—which was a no—I played along. “What do you think, Dray?”

A slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “I’m not sure.” His tone dropped lower, carrying that familiar seductiveness. “Enlighten me.”

The air was growing hot. My grip on the hairbrush tightened to keep myself in control instead of going to snatch the lingerie from him and don it, only to seduce him into ripping it off my body. Teeth, talons, and all.

I pressed my finger to my cheek as I tilted my head, my hair slipping, unveiling the side of my neck. “Would you like to see me in it?”

As I expected, his eyes strayed to my neck. I watched the bulge in his neck bob as he swallowed before his gaze was back to my eyes. “You’re always free to demonstrate.”

This was going nowhere.

“Is it a yes or a no?”

He clutched the brace of lingerie into a fist. I felt the corner of my lips twitching, but I didn’t let it shape into a smile.

“Will you …” he said, seeming to struggle with words, and it was a new sight to behold as he wasn’t the person who would be so easily touched, “… demonstrate if I say yes?”

For a second, I considered it. Gods, not for a second, but a whole half-minute. I didn’t even have to feign pensiveness. Gods below, damn me, but I felt an immense temptation to put on the lingerie and do whatever he would wish me to do to him.

But I decided against it, and instead of dragging the flirt leading nowhere anyway, I turned away from him. “It was meant for nothing and no one,” I said apathetically as I resumed brushing my hair. “Blossom put it in the luggage, and Baby brought it with other clothes and necessities. The lingerie is a joke between us women that you, as a man, won’t understand.”

“Tell me, then.” I could hear a smile in his voice. He’d come back to his confident-self fast. “I’m interested in learning the joke behind this wicked little piece of clothing.”

“Your mind of a man won’t get it.” I tossed him a neutral glance. “You can keep it if you wish.”

“Have you used it?”

“No.”

“Then I have no reason to keep it,” he declared, throwing the lingerie back into the wardrobe.

I stifled a snort. “Perverted bastard.”

Drayard merely shrugged. “Can’t argue with that.”

Drayard had understated, saying that the spring water was quite preoccupied with the animals from the ocean. It was packed with them.

Most of them were harmless, but the one particular fish swimming at the bottom of the pool scared the hells out of me.

I had encountered this fish twice. Once when it was alive, the other time when it was dead. The creature had attacked me in the Blue River, or so it had appeared, as it was an illusion created by the Spell as protection against the morph intruders.

But here … here, the piranha was real. Not an illusion. Not a hallucination. A real one.

The smaller fish tried to drift past the piranha, but it struck for it and swallowed it in no matter of time. My fingers travelled to my neck as I gulped.

But then the piranha died and floated to the surface along with the others I hadn’t noticed before. Their bodies burned from within.

I turned my head to Drayard, standing a few steps away from me with his hands tucked in his trousers.

“Thank you,” I said.

“If it helps, the piranhas can’t do major damage to you.”

“I know, but they’re still terrifying.”

He smiled at that. I crouched down to remove my shoes.

“I can fly you to the waterfall if you want,” he suggested.

Letting him fly me would help avoid the holes in the pool, and it would be quicker, but I couldn’t put myself in that situation. The way he held me … when his hands were below my thighs, his body pressing against mine, was too much for me. He could smell me, and I didn’t want that knowledge to affect me when I was in his arms, so I’d better avoid them as much as possible. Only at nights when he slept close to me was I too tired for the dirty fantasies to intrude my mind.

I could also teleport and spare myself the walk, but I wasn’t sure where there was a deep or a shallower zone. I didn’t want to risk it, only for the spring water to consume me. I couldn’t hold my breath underwater, and if Drayard found out about it … He may not laugh, but showing my weakness didn’t sound appealing to me.

I arose. “Thanks, but I’ll take a journey of healing.”

As I went for the water, Drayard rose into the sky and ended up hovering over me.

I rolled my eyes. Gloating?

An impish smile crossed his face. Depends if you envy the fact I can fly while you can’t.

His playfulness sometimes was as annoying as the itching of a mosquito’s bite.

I don’t envy you. Perhaps your wings can be useful, but most of the time, they’re a burden.

His forehead scrunched up. My wings are no burden, he said, offended, which made me smirk mentally. I was told that women like me with them.

Acting wounded, he turned around in a dramatic way and started flying towards the waterfall.

He might be dramatic sometimes, but if it was true, and somebody had told him that, they were right. I’d liked his wings from the moment I saw them. Ever since there was a temptation to touch them, to feel the texture of his wings against my fingers, but every time I caught myself on the brink of doing that, I hesitated. His wings were an intimate part of him, and they should stay untouched.

They were a mirror to his soul.

And I didn’t want to disturb that.

He settled on the verge of a cliff next to where the water started to fall. His wings spread out wide behind him, showing the entirety of his wingspan as though to prove to me that his wings were not a burden but a masterpiece, which they were indeed.

What a show-off he was sometimes. This time, however, he didn’t hide it, unlike other times during our training sessions. During training, he might conduct himself as a professional, but sometimes he showed off his strength, deftness, and the power of his muscles in subtle ways. I would be lying if I said they didn’t affect me, but I was too sweaty, too concentrated on catching my breath to wander off to my fantasies. Now, however …

I crossed the mossy arch. Isn’t it a challenge to do the Sinner’s Tango with them?

You’d be surprised how fun and enjoyable it is with my wings. Especially from behind and against the wall.

I craned my head back to look at him. He was leaning on his elbows as his chin was tipped slightly towards the sun, basking in the sunlight.

It must be hard to bear for a woman every time the edge of your wings brush against her skin.

Who was talking about women?

I got taken aback for a second. So not only women?

I saw the edge of his lips lift. Do you believe it’s truly hard to bear when my wings brush against their erogenous zones and make them climax at a single swipe?

My mind sent an image of it so fast, I didn’t even have a chance to fend it off. Heat diffused over my cheeks, and I forced myself to concentrate on the waterfall.

You sound like you’ve had plenty of people to warm your sheets, I said. Are you a proud man? I suppressed the bite in my tone of voice.

It disgusted me when men bragged about how many women they’d slept with. There were plenty of them in the Mortal Region. Always boasting and boasting as though they’d thought the number would attract more women to their beds. Only drunk women, women with low standards and seeking one night’s relief, were willing to sleep with such a childish man.

I don’t think nine is a huge number, Elynn.

The number was so unexpected, it rendered me to a stop. I’d expected more people over one hundred years, but the tally of them had me blown away. Nine was nothing, considering his age.

Why nine?

Surprised I’m not a whore? He snorted. I didn’t reply. I always had a feeling the tenth would be my last and everlasting one for messing around.

As I reached the waterfall, I dipped my hand into the running water, feeling its soothing coldness run down my palm to my forearm.

How romantic, I teased. It’s unfortunate that there’s no remaining woman who would be yours forever.

Let a man dream, he whined, but there was a flavour of enjoyment in his voice.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m quite a dream killer.

An expert.

I bit the inside of my cheek to curb the smile fighting to surface on my face.

So, how am I supposed to make the portal vanish? I inquired.

I could see the glowing portal behind the waterfall, but I wasn’t going to stand under it. The last time I had, it’d sent me to a whole other world and made me create this portal. I wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

I’m not sure how the powers you inherited from Aytigin work, but try to imagine that you’re closing it. Just please don’t call the sirens again.

I felt my lips shaping into a wry smile. This time I couldn’t battle it.

At least his mind had been in the other place to recall what had happened after the sirens hypnotised him with their song until the kiss. If he knew I was begging them not to take him away … things might change between us.

The innocent flirting, my hand in a place where it shouldn’t have been, might turn into something far more serious once he knew how desperate I was when I was sure I was going to lose him. Even the thought of losing him now made my heart shrink.

I forced myself back to the present, focusing on the portal. I attempted to penetrate my gaze through it, as if I could see the ocean masked under the luminous indigo light.

As Drayard had suggested, I imagined I was sealing the light. I quenched it, and in my mind, there was total darkness but not in reality. The portal remained in its place, standing like an unscathed taunting statue.

Something hit my face, and the reek of fish flooded my nostrils. I scowled as the fish dropped back and splashed into the water.

The man above burst into laughter.

In a blink, I appeared behind him and pushed him off the edge with all of my strength. But his wings spread in a sharp motion, and with a flap of them, he rose above the cliff. The enormous wings flapped behind him, holding him in mid-air.

I jerked my chin skyward, marvelling at the sight of him. The sunlight illuminated him and his wings, presenting him like an angel spat out of hell.

“You wicked girl,” he drawled as he landed before me.

He seemed like he was going to lunge himself at me, making me retreat a step and almost fall back, but his hand circled my waist, holding me still.

The heat of his hand burned through the fabric, touching my flesh. Our eyes locked as I melted from his touch like I was gold, and he was fire.

I could only imagine what it would feel like if his hand was on my bare waist. But I didn’t allow myself to drift into those fantasies again.

He sniffed the air and then wrinkled his nose. “You reek of fish.”

“Excuse me that I’m not all honey and roses,” I spat.

He smiled and pulled me back. As I stood firm on my feet, he let go of me, his wings tucking in. He clasped his hands behind his back before leaning closer to my ear and whispering in a grave tone, “Close the portal, Elynn.”

He leaned back, and it took a lot of self-restraint to control myself from grabbing him by his tunic and bringing him back near me.

“I tried but failed. I don’t know how to close it, Drayard.”

He frowned. “Didn’t your parents teach you how to deal with failure?”

I rolled my eyes. “If you fail, try harder, but never give up?”

“Ah, yours is easier to remember than ours.”

“What’s yours?”

“Failure is a beast that will haunt you for eternity if you’re not willing to beat it regardless of how long, how many tries it will take, it will die sooner or later.”

“Yours is more metaphorical.”

“And yet it’s the same thing told in different words.”

I gave him a faint smile before I teleported back to the waterfall, motivated to try again.

The sun was rising higher, making me unroll my sleeves to have a bit of reprieve from its heat. It was almost noon, and I hadn’t figured out how to close that damn portal.

Drayard landed in the water next to me. He must have seen my exhaustion. He took my hand, lacing our fingers together.

“You still look pretty, even if you’re tired,” he said mildly.

I didn’t care whether I looked pretty or ugly, but still, his compliment was a tender brush across my heart. I didn’t let it show it, though, staring at the waterfall and the portal behind it.

“Perhaps you have to stand beneath the water like the last time when you summoned the portal?”

I shook my head, not even considering the idea. “No.”

“Why?”

Such innocent, falling water was staring back at me. I could swear if portals were alive, this one would be laughing at my idle attempts. It had brought me an illusory sense of bliss the moment I’d stood under it but such an ache afterwards.

When I’d almost lost him.

There was no way I was going to tell him what it was like when I’d been sure it’d be the end for him, and he became a meal for those three cruel sirens.

Never in a thousand years.

So, I remained silent.

Drayard caressed my cheek with his free hand, but I drew back, pulling my hand from his grasp.

“You should go,” I said gravely.

He was right. I had to stand beneath the water to vanquish the portal. But there was no way I would fight the sights the water might show me while he was here. Gods knew what I might summon again.

“Why?” he asked with confusion.

“Go, Drayard.” I turned my head to him and held those magnificent eyes of his. “If I don’t come back in an hour, check on me.”

Drayard was hesitating to leave. He surveyed my eyes, but my confident expression told him I knew what I was doing.

Even though I didn’t.

He smiled. A warm, honest smile. “Good luck, Elynn.”

And with those words, he spread his wings wide and shot into the sky, leaving me to face the portal and whatever was within it by myself.

But since I’d summoned it on my own, I had to end it on my own as well.

XXVIII

I STEELED MYSELF FOR STEPPING into the waterfall. As I advanced forward, the water swallowed me. I closed my eyes and waited. Waited for the spring water to do its magic and show me something similar to what I’d seen the last time. Like a field of colourful flowers and twittering birds whose song carried me over to the ocean where I’d find something strange, unfitting and close the portal.

But as I waited, nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and braced myself for another step closer to the portal. I emerged from the running water into the small cave shrouded by the waterfall. Another step and the portal would have gripped me and sent me to the depths of the Indigo Ocean.

As I surveyed the indigo light, instead of it being opaque like the rest of the portals, I saw through it, like it was a window looking out onto the ocean.

Those mild voices I dreaded caressed my ears like a crisp summer breeze, but I knew better now than to trust the falsity of the angelic melody. The wicked, deceitful creatures weren’t going to get through the portal. Not this time.

The sky darkened, and thunder rumbled between the massive and heavy clouds. Sirens’ colourful heads poked through the water from afar, drawing closer but not in a hurry. I couldn’t let them get too close.

I tried almost everything in the past hour to seal the portal, but nothing worked. The one thing I hadn’t tried yet, however, was using my ability to speak Dryad.

If I’d passed on the power to bear children to my mother and saved Baby from an eternity of insanity because of Dryad, it could heal and be used as a spell.

Perhaps it could also seal the portals.

But what, exactly, should I say?

Come, come, sail your boat, the sirens sang.

I drew in a long breath, balling my hands into fists. “Portal, I demand you to seal,” I said in Dryad.

But nothing happened. The portal remained intact, and the sirens were still making their way towards me.

Of course the portal hadn’t disappeared. It was a ridiculous thing to say. I hadn’t demanded it to appear in the first place, so it wouldn’t disappear with a command, too.

To me, to me, to hold me tight.

In the distance, something behind the sirens’ heads passed by. Something narrow had emerged from the ocean and dived back into the water in an arc in a matter of a second. Whatever it was, I didn’t want to encounter it. It seemed monstrous and formidable.

I had to shut this portal right now.

Again, I breathed in to accumulate strength as the siren song grew louder. But then, the idea presented itself out of the blue.

If I’d summoned the portal without being aware, to dismantle it, I also had to be absent from the present.

But how was I supposed to turn my mind oblivious?

It didn’t take long to come up with the answer.

Hardly ever had I thought about things that made me happy and content when I believed there was hope in every matter of life.

I had to dream.

I closed my eyes, banishing the fear of sirens and whatever creature there was. I let myself dream.

Come on. Dream about it. The sweet voice of a girl—Thea’s—sounded in my mind.

It was harder than I’d thought it would be.

My family … My family is alive in the Mortal Region. I’m not a half-breed but a human. Meira, my mother, has overcome the plague and is alive. Father not feasted by the sirens and my sister …

I shook my head. This was enough. I couldn’t make myself believe things that didn’t exist and could never be brought back to life.

But was it even dreaming or something I wished to be true?

Just shut it down, for hells’ sake, Elynn, I snapped at myself, and my eyelids shot open, only to freeze right at the sight of the familiar brown eyes staring at me.

“Elynn,” he said.

It was my father’s voice. My father’s face. And yet, it also brought unfamiliarity and uncanniness.

It thundered again, and for a second, his face changed. His eyes were dead, as if there was no soul in him. He had a wan neck, one side of it was missing, jagged, the blood streaming down from the gaps. It looked like sharp teeth had gnawed at it.

It was not my father. Even if the sound of thunder rumbled across the cloudy sky, and he looked exactly like he did before he’d gone fishing for the last time, it was not him.

“Elynn,” he crooned.

Not my father. Not my father.

“Elynn.”

Not real. Not real. Not real.

I breathed in, poised to set the creature that looked like my father on fire, but nothing came out. Not even a spark. There was no sense of my power—gone once again. Like a thief had passed by and stolen it from me when I was unaware.

I couldn’t close the portal without my powers. I had to leave, but I couldn’t teleport either. I was stuck.

I found myself regretting pushing Drayard to leave.

But I couldn’t give up.

I spat on the creature’s—my father’s—face. “You’re not my father.”

The creature laughed. Its laugh was distant, as if an echo coming from the end of the tunnel.

I roared. I roared at the portal, unleashing the beast caged inside me. More than a lion, more than me. Everything within me, forced to hide from all the eyes, obscured not only from others but myself. The monster lurking in the darkest shadows, patiently waiting for the time when she would be released so she could finally blow a deadly strike.

Now I sensed it. The thickness and enormity of the power radiating from the portal. It conveyed a familiar tang. The power belonged to me, and I was going to be the one who destroyed it.

My father’s neck broke into fissures. That crooked smile fell at the understanding that I’d located the power of the portal and now held it in my tight grasp.

All I had to do now was to not let go.

“I’m strong,” I said to myself. “I’m stronger than I think I am. Not just the lost princess. Not just a girl who was assaulted. Not weak. More than that.”

The words stimulated me, making me feel stronger than before.

The creature was backing away to the other side of the portal, fissures spreading over his face.

“Not a human, not a servant, not a slave, not a body for someone to use. I’m Elynn,” I stated. “My name means light, and I’m brave. Strong and powerful.”

The creature’s shrill scream deafened my ears, but I held on to my power as I destroyed the image of my father. It changed in a heartbeat, revealing the real creature hiding beneath—that narrow thing with a grotesque deep blue face that I’d seen a glimmer of some time ago.

Fissures were now all over his narrow body, its unearthly yellow eyes on me. Terrified. Horrified. While I smashed it, destroying it.

I roared, louder than a lion, louder than any beast walking on this planet. I growled like me. Like Elynn Startel, who picked up her fallen tiara—no, a crown—and put it back on her head.

The monster exploded, and the scream was gone, not even a vestige of it left in its wake. The siren song also disappeared, and the dark clouds dispersed, permitting the sun to shine, bringing the lightness anew.

But if the song disappeared, their singers did not. Sirens stopped nearing me. They looked in my direction, their eyes confused as they patted their colourful heads.

They saw me then, their movements coming to a stop. Fire kindled my veins, but before I released it on them, they bowed their heads to me.

“Thank you,” the one with purple hair said.

I frowned, stopping my fire.

They didn’t lift their heads but didn’t leave either. “We thank you, Princess Elynn, for saving us from the monster. We could never repay you enough.”

I blinked, confused. “Saving you?”

She raised her head. “For ages, water nymphs were under the Indigo monster’s spell, but now, since you’ve destroyed it, you freed us from it. We’re nymphs again.”

“You weren’t originally sirens?”

She smiled. “No, and thanks to you, we are back to being ourselves.”

But if it was the spell, and the Indigo monster controlled their actions, Drayard and I had burned innocent nymphs. “How many sirens were in the Indigo Ocean?”

“A lot.”

I would never learn what sirens had killed my father, then. Perhaps it was the three ones that had burned like steaks. Perhaps those three were to blame, but it wouldn’t be fair. The monster had controlled them. The same monster I’d destroyed with my power.

“I should close the portal now.”

Before I could focus on the waterfall again, the purple-haired one hurried to say, “Water nymphs are forever at your disposal, Princess Elynn. If you need us someday, come to the ocean and call us by our names. Electricity, Harmony, and Serenity.” She pressed her hand to her chest, letting me know she was Serenity. “Until we meet again, Princess Elynn.”

They dove back into the ocean, their tails disappearing after them. I zoomed back to the waterfall. The portal was still there.

And as if the bigger power whispered in my ear, I knew what I had to do to close it. I raised my hand and clicked my fingers as I whispered, “Dead.”

The portal exploded into a myriad of shatters that pelted my face, but it became dust before they could reach me. I turned around and stepped from the waterfall into the darkness. Instead of the sun, there was a moon reigning in the sky. Had I taken that long to close the portal?

Someone’s warm touch landed on my wrist and tugged me in, pressing me to the firm chest. I jerked my chin up, meeting the worried golden-red eyes.

“I closed it,” I said.

I had destroyed the Indigo monster, freeing the water nymphs from its sway. Then I closed the portal. And I had done it all on my own, without anybody’s help. It felt unreal but fantastic at the same time. I’d opened something locked within me. Something powerful, albeit wicked.

“I closed the portal.” I felt myself smile. “I really did it.”

“Elynn,” he said, his tone serious. “Your eyes are glowing.”

And that was all it took for the short-lived elation to vanish.

“What?”

He inspected my eyes. “The glow is gone now. But they were glowing.” He sucked in a breath. “With gold and fire.”

XXIX

I STARED AT MY EYES in the mirror, but they were as they always were—amber. No gold. No fire. Just amber.

Normal.

Dinner is ready.

Drayard’s voice pulled me out of my examination. I reached for a robe and slid my arms through the sleeves, securing it with a belt. I closed the wardrobe, and when I got to the kitchen, scrambled eggs awaited me.

I crossed my arms, pretending to be offended. “You have to be kidding me.”

He looked up from his plate. “I’m … not?”

“I did such a gruelling job, and all I get is scrambled eggs?”

“You must have forgotten who opened the portal in the first place.”

“It was an accident.”

He disregarded my humour, turning serious. “There’s something we need to discuss.” Grunting, I subsided into the chair opposite from him. “Before we return to the Kingdom of Embers, there are some things you need to know and accept.”

I picked up a fork and poked the eggs with it. I sensed him watching me as he talked. “When we get back, you can’t use your enchantress powers there. You must promise me that.”

I scoffed, tipping my chin towards him. “If I smell danger, I do as I wish. I can’t, and I must not promise you anything.”

Although my powers returned to me when I was relaxing in the bathtub, there was still something there. Like a snake coiling under my skin. A mysterious, awakened power I’d used to shut the portal, ready to be called into action again if needed.

His shoulders tensed. He wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t force me into promising. “You shouldn’t worry much about the dangers as I won’t let you enter Casidiarn Castle alone,” he said. “I’ll provide you with safety.”

“I thought you were coming with me?”

His nod was slow, not assuring. “I am, but I won’t be allowed to stay. Even if I could, I wouldn’t. I have to return to my duties. Full time this time. I’ve neglected them long enough.”

I sensed his guilt. It’d been eating at him lately. I noted the melancholy in him before, but I didn’t consider it was because of his absolutely free kingdom. He stayed here for so long to train me that I’d forgotten how important he was to his people in the Kingdom of Embers. He had to submit to his duty, but the thought of him leaving me in that castle alone …

Realising my shoulders were hunched, I rolled them back. “How are you planning to provide me with safety?”

“I have two advisors I trust with my Kingdom and its people. Kyrel can roam about the castle without getting noticed. He and Nathair will protect you there.”

Kyrel and Nathair … I’d never met those men face-to-face. Once I’d eavesdropped on their meeting with Drayard in Hellrock Castle. The next time was when I was in his head. They had never met me, learning about me at the same time as the whole empire, as I didn’t think Drayard had informed them about me beforehand. I didn’t trust them with my safety. The only person I did was Drayard, and yet I couldn’t be dependent on him not only because he had responsibilities apart from the bargain keeping him bound to me, but the fact that I should be able to protect myself. What if someday I was all alone and there was nobody to save me? I should be able to rely on myself.

“What if they fail at protecting me? What happens to them?”

I was aware of Drayard’s cruelty, and I might or might not be worried about his advisors’ lives.

He turned uncomfortable at the question, and the way his muscles tensed spoke volumes.

“Are you going to throw them into that lava moat surrounding your castle?”

He closed his eyes, releasing a breath through his parted lips. Then he opened them again, and they locked on me. “I will make sure they won’t fail. Even if they do and you fall into peril, I will save you. I’ll bring you back from death if I have to.”

“It’s impossible to resurrect someone.”

He raised a mug of coffee. “Not necessarily.”

As he sipped at the drink, his words perked me up. Was he hinting at something? “Does it mean Gen can be resurrected?”

He set down the mug. “No.”

My hope died. I hated for allowing the possibility of my sister being brought back to life to generate hope. If my sister was alive, I wouldn’t have to ignore my heart and fetter my feelings. But the resurrection was impossible, and my sister remained dead along with a prospect of Drayard and me becoming us.

“Eat your scrambled eggs.” He brought me from my brooding, pointing his fork at my plate. “It’ll get cold.”

I didn’t feel hungry, but I forced the food into my mouth. I hadn’t eaten today yet, after all. His scrambled eggs couldn’t be compared to mine, which were bland, unlike his. And yet, I swallowed each bite with an effort, taking sips of tea after every swallow.

I was conscious of his concerned stare. Conscious of the questions hanging in the air.

At last, he spoke. “What happened at the waterfall when I was away?”

I took another sip before I answered. “I saw my father.” Drayard’s one brow arched. “It wasn’t him, though. An illusion conjured by the Indigo monster you warned me about.”

He let go of his fork. The lines of unfeigned concern deepened in his face. “Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?”

“Why would I tell you everything that happens to me?”

A shadow passed over his features. It appeared and was gone so fast, I didn’t have time to recognise what it was. “You don’t trust me?”

I scoffed. “How funny.”

“I’m serious.”

The silence settled, and I resumed eating. There wasn’t much left of the food, but his merciless stare made it extra hard to eat it.

“How did you get away from it? It’s a creature worse than sirens or banshees put together. How did you elude its power to be taken to the ocean and be lost forever?”

I pursed my lips.

“What?” He asked.

I released them. “I killed it.”

Silence.

“You … killed it?”

I nodded.

“Are you sure?”

I nodded again.

He leaned back against the chair, releasing a breath. “I’m speechless.” I couldn’t ward off a proud smile tugging at my lips. “How did you do it?”

“I put all my power into it. And when I destroyed it, I freed the water nymphs from it. They were turned into sirens by the monster, forced to feast on the flesh of the men. The time when we burned them, we burned the nymphs under the influence of the Indigo monster.”

“That explains why nobody has heard of the water nymphs in ages.”

He must have seen the bafflement in my face, for he clarified, “It was believed that water nymphs went extinct, as nobody has noted seeing them for a long time. But now we know they were turned into sirens instead.”

“Yet again, without knowing I saved someone.” I sighed. “First the dryad prince, now the whole water nymph species.”

He smiled. “You’re a hero, Elynn.”

I lowered my eyes. The last person who’d told me that was my brother, Kristian. My chest filled with heartache. I missed him.

“But if you faced the monster,” he said, “it still should have affected you. It can trigger something in you that should better stay … untriggered.”

I tried not to squirm, not to give away how uneasy his words made me feel. I didn’t argue, didn’t deny it as deep inside I knew … Maybe it was because of the more potent power I sensed inside me, or that Dray was never wrong, but there was something that had awakened in me after what I’d done at the waterfall, destroying the portal into bits and pieces.

Something powerful, strong, and … vile.

XXX

I WAS BACK IN the Kingdom of Embers.

We landed by the volcano. As I climbed off the dragon, he transformed back into his real form. He performed the same ritual to get to the hidden house, and before he left, I rushed to say, “Before I go to … Casidiarn tomorrow, I want a night out.”

He turned to me. “A night out?”

“Yes. A night out in the Fire City.”

I wasn’t sure why my heart was pounding. Why I was nervous, but I was, and I could only hope I concealed it, even if I could do nothing to keep his ears from hearing my heartbeat.

“Alone?”

“Is it safe for me to go alone?”

“No.”

“So I assumed.”

There was a pause. I wanted to fidget, but I tried my best not to, staying still.

He slid his hands into his pockets, and I sensed uncertainty with a tinge of discomfort radiating from him. “Do you want me to … go with you?”

I felt a soft smile on my lips. “Is there another choice?”

“You can go with Baby and Blossom.”

“I could,” I agreed, albeit I hadn’t even thought about that. Even if I had, I would have believed Drayard wouldn’t let me anyway. “But what if I want to go with you?”

My palms began to sweat, and I felt heat blooming on my cheeks while the anxious voice shouted in my head, Stupid, stupid, stupid!

The corners of his lips rose as he broke eye contact by moving his eyes slightly down. “By now I thought you’d become tired seeing my face every day.”

If only it was that easy … “Are you implying that you’ve become tired of me?”

He took a slow step back. “Be ready before the night falls. Don’t overdress.”

“Why would I overdress?”

His smile grew. “I don’t know, you tell me.”

“It’s not a date, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Then what is it?”

I didn’t have an answer, and while I remained silent this long, I was only reaffirming that I had invited him to a date.

Which I had not.

I fixed a steady, unbending look at him, as I repeated steely, “It’s not a date.”

“All right. It’s not a date.”

“Not a date.”

He lowered his head into a nod, pretending to agree with me, but his smile and the playfulness sparkling in his eyes told the opposite.

He turned around and exited through the door before it disappeared. And as soon as he was out of sight, I almost went over to the wall and banged my head against it.

A date? A date with him in the Fire City? What was I even thinking? A date with the one who’d murdered Gen last year? How messed up am I?

But what was done, was done.

I glanced around. It’d been months since the last time I was here, but nothing had changed. The grandfather’s clock remained, as did the faint smell of hot rocks, and no more details had been added to the interior. I missed this place. It felt good coming back here, as if it had somehow gained the feeling of a home to my heart.

I went upstairs. I was planning to see my friends first, but as I was passing my bedroom doors, I halted at the faintest sound of paper being turned. I pushed the doors open and found Baby sprawled on the bed reading a book and Blossom stitching something on the settee. I raised my eyebrows at them. Only Blossom stopped doing what she was doing and jumped to the floor, eyes wide like saucers.

I cleared my throat.

Baby barely looked over the book, acknowledging me before continuing reading.

“What are you doing in my room?”

I wasn’t angry. I didn’t mind them using it while I was away, but the least they could have done was ask me if they could. Asked Drayard, since it was perhaps presumptuous of me to assume this place belonged to me because it didn’t. I was, after all, a mere guest, even if I didn’t feel like one.

“We have been warming it for you,” Baby said, not lifting her gaze from the book.

I huffed. “Sure.”

“We’re sorry,” Blossom said, seeming contrite.

“It’s nothing.” I entered the room and closed the doors. Then I threw my hands in the air and sang out as I’d planned during the flight, “Guess who’s back!”

Baby rolled her eyes while Blossom smiled brightly and ran into my arms, embracing me as tight and loving as the last time.

Baby flipped the page. “You failed at the dramatic entrance, love.”

“Because of you two,” I said, sounding playful.

As Blossom and I pulled away from the hug, she asked, “Why are you here?”

“To have some fun, most likely,” Baby mumbled.

I put my hand to my chest, feigning a surprised face. “How did you know?”

She raised her eyes and appraised me from head to toe. “You look better.”

Now, I was offended, and it wasn’t an act. “What do you mean, I look better? Haven’t I always looked great?”

“Great.” She closed the book, sliding off the bed. “She’s got cockier than ever.”

“Why am I the only one concerned about why she’s here?” Blossom came back to her question.

“Can’t I come back without a reason?”

Baby huffed out a laugh. “No.”

I frowned.

“What Baby meant to say is”—Blossom tried to correct her—“you’re still the most wanted person in the empire. Nothing has changed.”

“Hasn’t it?” I approached the settee and flopped on it. I took Blossom’s embroidery and inspected it. “The King of Wilds visited the mountain house two days ago.”

A beat of silence passed before Baby spoke. “Is that why you’re here? To doll up for your beheading?”

I traced my fingers over the embroidery. Blossom had sewn a butterfly. It wasn’t finished, but so far, it was magnificent. There was no error in it. I could only guess she was practicing over these months while I was away.

“No, it’s not that.” I lowered the embroidery, finding Blossom with my eyes. “It’s a very nice work, Blossom.”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up. “I haven’t finished it yet. I’ve been stitching various types of animals, and I’d like you to see them. Give your opinion if you can.”

I gave her a weak smile. “I will, but I’m not a professional in embroidery. You shouldn’t rely much on my opinion.”

But she smiled at me. “An opinion still matters.”

Baby was watching me, as though assessing something the whole time. “Did you and Drayard finally do it?”

“Do what?”

“Oh, don’t pretend.” Her eyes rolled so much, almost all whites showed up. “You two did it, didn’t you?”

“What makes you think that?”

“You turned nicer. You’re smiling more. You look healthier. What happened on the island? I need to hear every detail. And when I say every, I mean every little dirty one.”

Blossom gasped, her hand flying to her chest. “Baby!”

I bit my lip, suppressing my laugh. “We didn’t do it.”

“Right.”

“I’m serious,” I said with all the gravity I mustered.

“Not even on the Mating Ritual night?”

“He left that day,” I said. “And I was attacked in the forest.”

“Why would you go into that forest after what had happened the last time we were there?”

She stared at me as if I was a simpleton. In some way, I was. But I didn’t regret it. I wouldn’t have learned what I had if I had listened to the sensible part of my brain instead of the part ruled by the mighty curiosity.

I didn’t answer her, and she went on. “You’re alive at least.”

“But …” Blossom began, but then paused. I thought she was going to shy away from whatever she was about to, but I was wrong. “But didn’t you even play with each other?”

My eyes widened.

Baby burst into laughter.

“Played with each other?” I asked, trying to control my own urge to laugh. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know what I mean!” She let out a frustrated groan. “Tell me you two kissed. Please.” She brought her hands into a praying position. “Tell me three months secluded in a romantic haven was worth it.”

“Romantic haven?” I couldn’t help it anymore. I laughed. “There’s nothing romantic about it, and it wasn’t a haven. Besides, aren’t you two forgetting something? This major fact that—”

“He killed my sister,” Baby interrupted, pitching her voice and crossing her arms over her chest.

I wrinkled my forehead. “I don’t even sound like that.”

“You missed the whole point, love.” Baby plopped beside me and stretched out her white fingers with fine nails, admiring them. “He didn’t kill your sister, though. Dara did.”

I glared at her. “Don’t defend him.”

“I’m just pointing out the truth.”

“It doesn’t matter that he didn’t hurl the dagger at her when he’s the reason she is dead, and I will never … never forgive him.”

“Sooooo dramatic.” Her eyes rolled back. “And yet we have a tendency to like bad boys.”

“That makes two of us,” Blossom mumbled.

I gave my head a slight shake, looking at the wall, but eventually, a sigh left me. “We kissed.”

“Yay!” Blossom jumped, clapping her hands in joy.

“She needs the details,” Baby said.

“You too!” Blossom protested. “Don’t act as if I’m the only one interested in their relationship!”

I told them what happened at the waterfall. Blossom seemed more interested than Baby, so I told them about the morning after the Mating Ritual. That got Baby’s reaction and eager listening.

“Is it big?” she asked.

“I’m not telling you that.”

“Why?”

I gave my head a slight shake.

“But he’s a dragon,” Baby went on. “It wouldn’t be proportional if it was sma—”

“Who cares!” Blossom came to my rescue, and Baby grinned, her focus travelling back to her immaculate nails. “They kissed! Even better. It was a true love’s kiss!”

I frowned at her. “This isn’t a fairy tale.”

Baby snorted. “He comes from a tale. It technically is.”

“In a tale, he’s a monster, not a prince.”

“A king fathered him, so he is technically a prince,” Blossom countered. “The monster is what others call him; it doesn’t count.”

I leaned closer to Baby and whispered, “Has she always been obsessed with fairy tales?”

She lifted her one shoulder. “She has a romantic nature, naturally she’s prone to romanticise everything.”

Blossom crossed her arms and pouted, appearing like a petulant child.

Baby and I couldn’t help ourselves but laugh.

“But on a serious note.” Baby sighed. “You saved Drayard from the sirens’ charm. Not everyone can do that. Once the men are ensorcelled by the song, all it’s left to do is say goodbye to them. I know you’ll try to argue with what I’m about to say, but before doing that, think about it.”

“Think about what?”

“The life we’re living is written in fairy tales. Yes, they’re embroidered to make the story more interesting to the readers and listeners, but it doesn’t mean everything that’s written there isn’t true. The events are just … exaggerated.”

I felt my heart thudding against my ribs. “What are you trying to say?”

Blossom smiled, responding in lieu of Baby, “Your kiss saved Drayard from sirens. And only true love’s kiss can do that. He’s not only your mate, but your true love, Elynn.”

“It doesn’t mean anything.”

“You’re still denying it.” Baby smiled at my absurd thinking. “It means a big deal, actually. True love comes once in a lifetime, despite how long or short it is. Whether or not you try to fight it, there’s no denying that you two are fated for each other.”

XXXI

“ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?”

Blossom was staring up at me. She had crouched before me after I’d fallen silent for too long. Her hand lay on my knee for emotional support, which I didn’t need.

“She’s just heard some news. She’ll be fine,” Baby said.

“It’s not news.” I straightened my back. “I already knew that.”

Now they stared at me, uncertainty and doubt in their eyes.

“I’d always known that he was more to me. Not just an infatuation that could fade away in a matter of time. Not even someone my soul speaks to, with whom I feel safe when I’m around, and it’s not because of his physical strength, or that the world is vigilant of him.” I lowered my head. “It goes deeper.” The tears began to sting my eyes, but I withheld them. “Soulmate, mate, true love … these things don’t matter. Fate? It doesn’t matter. It’s our actions, and I can’t … I can’t surrender to the person who took away someone I loved ever since I could remember. How can I overlook such a betrayal? How can I forgive? How can I be with such a person? Because what would it make me if I was willing to at least try something more with him? Something serious with feelings involved?”

It felt a little better to voice what had been on my mind for months. And not just to myself, but to two girls I trusted, too, to some extent.

“Now I feel guilty for rooting for you to be together,” Blossom said quietly. “What he did … it can’t be forgiven.”

“And you know what hurts the most?” I inhaled, unable to battle the tears anymore. “It wasn’t only Gen he took away from me. He took away my soulmate. The only person who would have made me happy and content in the romance department.”

I sobbed. My chest hurt. Baby wrapped her arm around me and brought me closer. I rested my head on her shoulder as tears dampened my face.

“But isn’t Reuel your soulmate, too?”

“Is he? The time I met him, I didn’t feel connected with him the way I felt with Drayard. Or … or perhaps it was just the energy he radiated when he landed in the garden. Was I the only one who felt that?”

“He does have something that draws everybody’s attention to him,” Blossom agreed. “There’s something intriguing about him, but no one’s bold enough to try to figure him out. Except you.”

The corner of my lips twitched, but it didn’t shape into a smile as I looked down. “But what does it make me for basically inviting him on a date?”

“A date?” Blossom and Baby said in unison.

“I didn’t ask him plainly, but it was obvious.” Rapid embarrassment rushed to me, and I covered my face with my hands. “So stupid.”

“But you don’t regret it,” Baby said, confident that was the case.

I raised my head at her and grimaced at the guilt threatening to eat me alive. “I’m a bad person, aren’t I? Going out with a person who played a big role in my sister’s demise?”

“Elynn.” Baby levelled her gaze at me. She seldom used my name. Whatever she was about to say, I knew it would be vital. “You’re not a bad person. You err, you fall, but you stand back up. You’re smitten with a monster, but if we had control of our hearts, imagine what world we would live in. What a bowl of hatred it would become. Never accuse yourself of being bad for falling for the wrong person.”

I wanted to contradict her, tell her I didn’t fall for him, I didn’t love him, but I had no energy, nor enough resolve to do it. Besides, they wouldn’t believe me. They both knew better.

“If you want to go on a date with him, go,” she continued. “We won’t judge, and you certainly can’t judge yourself. It’s just a date. You’re not sacrificing your whole life for him. You won’t do anything that would make you attached to him more than you are now. It’s not like you’re going to marry him.”

I nodded. “You’re right.” I was about to rub the tears with my knuckles, but Blossom extended a handkerchief to me. I took it and dabbed it below my eyes. “I want to have fun before I go to Casidiarn and face Nay—”

I closed my mouth, but it was too late. Blossom’s eyes widened whilst it seemed like Baby was going to murder me with her mere look.

“You’re going where?”

Baby reminded me of my mother who’d liked to use this voice when I was on my way to making poor decisions.

“To Casidiarn,” I almost whispered.

She cocked her eyebrow, expecting more, but I said nothing.

“Care to explain why?” she prompted.

I didn’t want to, but I had no choice. When I finished telling them about Ariel’s visit, Blossom gazed at me sadly, wringing my heart.

“It’s a trap,” Baby declared.

Blossom nodded, agreeing with her lover. “Nayden doesn’t strike me as someone who’d consciously let the threat get inside his castle.”

“I don’t believe Ariel to speak true either. But he threatened Drayard’s Kingdom, and Nayden already knew where I was hiding. I don’t have another choice but to go there and see everything for myself.”

Baby frowned while Blossom shook her head. Neither of them fancied the idea of me stepping a foot into the capital. Just as I’d suspected.

“Drayard is going with me,” I added, as though that would make them more acceptive to the idea. “His advisors will protect me.”

Baby exchanged glances with Blossom. It was like they were communicating silently. If I didn’t know their powers, I’d think they were conversing inside each other’s heads.

At last, Baby turned her head to me. “And we’ll be going with you.”

“You’re definitely not going with me.”

“We are,” Blossom said, matter-of-factly.

“Can we talk about this later?”

Baby’s jaw tightened. “Fine, but you’re not going to talk us out of it.” She stood up. “Now, let’s prepare you for your date.”

Blossom headed over to the wardrobe and opened it, ready to pick an outfit, but before she drew out one of these gorgeous dresses, I said, “It won’t be a date because I won’t be wearing anything suggestive or fancy.”

Blossom threw a questioning glance over my shoulder.

“No dresses,” I warned.

She frowned but closed the doors grudgingly. She still, however, gathered a great ensemble. A crimson ruffled shirt, high-waisted black trousers with matching buttons, a waistcoat to emphasise my waist and lace-up leather boots. As I was dressed, Baby was styling my hair in front of the mirror, whereas Blossom was lying on the bed, chin propped on her hands.

“What did you do while I was away?” I asked into the silence.

“Nothing,” Baby answered, setting the brush down.

“Nothing?”

“Look around, love.” She applied powder on my face, and a bit of it got into my nose, making me sneeze. “There’s not much for us to do here.”

I raised my hand to wipe away the snot, but she pushed it away. I winced. “But don’t you have vials of Drayard’s blood to get out?”

“Their source isn’t infinite. If there was, you wouldn’t have found us here lounging in your bedroom.”

“But you still leave the volcano, or did you seclude yourselves up here all this time?”

“Of course not,” she denied. “We went dancing.”

“Oh?” I tried to mask the envy in my voice as I inquired, “Was it fun?”

“Meh.”

“Did something happen?”

Her foot started tapping against the floor. “Men,” she said with disdain. “Their existence is what happened.”

I waited for more, but she didn’t go into details.

“Is that all?”

Blossom resumed the story. “We were dancing in the club and two men came over to us. They complimented our dancing and asked if they could join us. I was a little alarmed by their request, but Baby told them why not. At first, they were keeping an appropriate distance, but it didn’t take long for them to get … touchy. We weren’t comfortable with that and asked them to stop, but they retorted that if we didn’t want them to touch us, we wouldn’t be dancing like that.”

“Dancing like that,” Baby scoffed. “As if we dance for their entertainment.”

“I stepped in and told them it was our date,” Blossom continued. “I was naïve to expect they would be understanding and walk away.” She shook her head. “Instead, they went silent for a moment, and then the most indecent smiles formed on their faces.”

“They wanted a foursome,” Baby interjected.

“Which we declined,” Blossom added.

“But you know how men’s brains work. They convert no into oh, yes, honey. Take me. Take me now!” Baby used lip rouge to give a slight colour to my lips. “They believe with all their questionable brain—if they even have one—that we’re playing hard to get when we are genuinely not interested in them.”

Blossom nodded, agreeing with Baby. “To make them leave us be, Baby looked them dead in the eye and said, ‘If we were interested in you, we would have offered you to our ancestors a long time ago, but since they whisper into my ear that your things are minuscule, you two are the luckiest of males.’ And she flashed them a smile.”

My eyes widened, and an unbelievable laugh escaped me.

“It wounded their precious ego,” Baby said. “One of them was about to hit me, but I was faster. I’m sure I broke his potato-like nose.”

Blossom smiled nostalgically at the memory. “You definitely did.”

“After I broke his nose, we fled. I’m sure they were running after us, but when we got outside, we turned into the bats and escaped. They weren’t morphs that could fly, to our luck—unlike our night out that ended in nothing.”

As Baby finished with the makeup, she took her time to inspect my face. Then she sprawled my wavy hair over my shoulders.

“Here you go.” She smiled like a content cat as she flicked the invisible dust off my shoulder. “No one will be able to not see you.”

“Dazzling,” Blossom mused.

“Look at yourself,” Baby prompted.

When I did, a beauty was staring straight at me. My eyes and lips were accentuated with a dark makeup while my hair flowed down my shoulders in natural waves.

I smiled. “You’ve outdone yourself, Baby.”

“Yeah, well …” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’m a specialist when it comes to highlighting a girl’s beauty.” She winked, making me chuckle, but then turned serious again. “Now, love, I need to talk to you in private.”

Blossom became confused. “Why?”

Baby turned towards the doors and threw a glance over her shoulder at Blossom. “I need to show her a thing, flowers. Don’t worry. Nothing too dirty.”

“Hold on.” I arose and went over to the luggage. I pulled out the sketchbook and handed it to Blossom. Perking up, she took it and opened it, starting to examine the drawings I’d created in the past months right away. I hoped she wasn’t going to flip the last page where the glosse’s words lay.

Baby and I left and went into her room. As soon as the door closed behind us, I asked, “Show me what thing?”

She took something from the back of her pocket. I frowned at the dark liquid in the vial.

“Before the banshee attacked us, you asked what could poison dragons.”

I hesitated to reach for it, but when I did, Baby drew it back.

“First, I need to know why you need it.”

I had plans, many plans on how to make Drayard pay, but every one of them had a big, insurmountable hurdle. Drayard was impossible to trick, but if he was intoxicated …

I told her the reason. And she gave it to me without hesitating anymore, and with a whisper, she said, “Show him he messed with the wrong queen, love.”

XXXII

“WHY ARE WE HIDING?”

Once we’d traversed the bridge and gone further than the last time, Drayard had begun acting out of the character. We were walking in the shadows, and if some morph emerged from a building or was seen in the distance, he would grab my hand and pull me into the nearest dark alleyway. We stayed there until the morph or morphs were gone. Besides that, he was constantly casting the area around him as if someone were spying on us.

Now we were in another alley again.

“We’re not,” he said.

Was he taking me for a fool?

But it didn’t take long for it to dawn on me. He wasn’t acting this way the last time we’d been out, but unlike the last time, I wasn’t wearing a hood.

I snatched my hand out of his loosened grip and crossed my arms over my chest. “If you’re embarrassed to be with me, then you shouldn’t waste your precious time and bring me back home.”

His eyes shifted from the passage to me. “You truly think that? That I’m embarrassed by you?”

“Then why would you hide every time a morph passes by if you’re not?”

He sighed. “I’m sorry, but it’s not what you think it is.”

“Then tell me what it is.”

“I don’t …” He took a quick glance to the side, as if to make sure nobody was listening, before lowering his voice. “I don’t go this far into the city when the sun is still up. I don’t like people seeing me.”

I couldn’t lie. My chest did ease after learning he wasn’t acting this way because I embarrassed him.

“You’re afraid you’ll scare them?”

His silence gave away the answer.

“But why would you care about that? They’re scared, but they respect you. Every time you’re in public, it happens. You should be used to it by now.”

“People in the empire are a different case,” he said. “But here, when I see morphs hiding their children behind their backs at the sight of me, it hurts.”

I had forgotten all about the fact that, according to the tale, he used to kidnap children. Again, it was just a tale, but as Baby had said, fairy tales were not far from the truth—they were exaggerated to make them more interesting. I could ask him and learn the truth now, but I didn’t want to find out.

However, I had to.

“But why would they hide their children from you?”

He didn’t answer, and my heart rate grew at the prospect of the tale being quite right again.

“Drayard?”

He leaned his shoulder against the wall and tucked his hands into the pockets. “There has been a rumour going around for a while, saying that I stole kids from their parents, but it’s not a rumour.”

For a second, my soul left my body. When it came back, I was frozen.

“Why …” I tried not to grasp at my chest to not show him his confession had such a significant impact on me. “Why did you do it?”

His head dropped low, and he murmured, “To save them from abusive families.”

Relief washed over me like a blessed rush of water as my muscles thawed. Although he wasn’t looking anywhere near me, I knew in my heart of hearts he didn’t lie.

“I saved Nathair from his abusive mother, who locked him in the cell equivalent to a prison in the basement and kindled his fingers,” he continued. “I didn’t expect him to serve me, and you could already guess how surprised I was when he chose to. He’s terrified of fire, and my veins are carrying it. A few years later, I saved Kyrel from his uncle, who taught him how to whore before being accepted to the whoring school. Both of them became my spies in Hellrock Castle, informing me about everything they eavesdropped on while I was away, and later, when I was crowned the King, they became my personal advisors.”

I took his hand and pushed his chin up, finding his eyes. “People don’t know any better because they don’t know what you’ve just told me. So what if they’re scared of you? You’re their king, and you should walk proudly. They can believe whatever, but you know the truth. And does it really matter what they think?”

“But—”

I pressed my finger to his lips, silencing him. “You saved bats from whoring. For that feat alone they should worship you.”

He gave me a weak smile. “Which they don’t know about.”

My hand fell. “What?”

“Nobody apart from the bats knows I released them from whoring.”

I stared at him, confused. “Why?”

Drayard raised his hand to his nape. The sleeves of his shirt dropped down, exposing his inked muscular forearm. I bit the inside of my cheek, drawing my focus away from his captivating hands.

For tonight’s clothing, he’d abandoned his usual suit jacket and wore less formal clothing, but they still asserted nobility: a waistcoat of dark-red brocade with six golden buttons, a black shirt, and trousers. His hair was pulled back into a slick bun.

“Why should they know?” His hand slid off his nape, dropping to his thigh. I was covertly thankful for it. He looked too attractive in such a posture. “Many of them wouldn’t be very acceptive, which might cause a rebellion. I’ve broken the almost two millennia lasting destiny of bats. Morphs didn’t accept the change imminently, unfortunately.”

“But if bats don’t whore anymore, morphs should suspect something. Whores don’t just disappear out of the blue.”

“It’s because they didn’t disappear. Some bats still whore, go to the whoring school to be taught professional prostitution, as few get jobs that are deemed appropriate. But at least now, they can store money as they get paid for what they do instead of the business heads grabbing their income for themselves. My job was to release them from what they’d been forced into and make it possible for them to earn money from it if they wanted to stick with the profession. But I didn’t help them get any job they wished to survive. I offered them to join me, and as you could tell, not many of them took it.”

I was aware of only three bats that worked for him—two of them were my friends and his advisor Kyrel. Baby and Blossom were content working for him, and from what I’d seen through Drayard’s perspective, Kyrel didn’t complain either. But the three of them had taken a substantial risk choosing to work for the notorious monster, and yet, it paid off. I would work for him if I got paid well, which reminded me …

“How can I make money?” I asked.

“Why would you want to make money?”

“Because I don’t have any, and I’m dependent on you?” I raised my eyebrows as though it hadn’t been obvious before. “Maybe I want to buy some things for myself?”

“You misunderstood me,” he said. “Elynn, you’re a princess. You were born with fortune. If everything goes well tomorrow, and Nayden accepts you as the Princess of Beasts, I’ll find a way to transfer your finances to a bank so you can withdraw money whenever you prefer.”

“Why you? Why can’t I ask him?”

“I don’t believe he will give them to you with nothing in return. Your cousin, Daraine, is a princess, too, yet she’s tied to her father financially. She has to marry if she wants to earn something.”

“Then why don’t you help her by marrying her?” I taunted. “You are a saviour of the female kind. Not to mention, she’s pretty, so it’s a win-win situation.”

“Who said I’m not planning to accept the proposal? Perhaps I changed my mind.”

“Have you?”

We stared at each other for a while, and I felt my heart rate increasing with each silent second. His lips parted, and he was on the edge of saying something, but he closed his mouth, averting his gaze. I disregarded the disappointment that came after his silence.

“Well,” I breathed out, “if you’re going to walk like this for a whole stroll, it’s pointless to stay here any longer.”

“No, the town’s square isn’t far off, and our date hasn’t started yet.”

“It’s not a”—I lowered my voice as if afraid someone might hear me say—“date.”

“Then I don’t understand what it is.”

“Two acquaintances hanging out in the city?”

“Acquaintances?” he asked unbelievably.

Perhaps calling us acquaintances was a bit too harsh. We were too advanced in our relationship to be ones, but I couldn’t call him my friend either. It wasn’t because friends didn’t kiss or perform pleasant favours to each other, it was because I couldn’t make myself define him as one.

“People in a confusing relationship hanging out in the city?”

He smiled, but there was a tinge of sadness to it. “People in a very confusing relationship hanging out in the city.”

I chuckled, but it didn’t come out right. It was awkward, and to whisk the uncomfortable air I’d created, I asked, “So, what do you have to show me in the town’s square?”

His lips parted, but they were on the verge of closing before he voiced it anyway. “You’ll see when we arrive.” He summoned a forced smile, offering me an arm. “Let’s go?”

I wasn’t sure what to feel. He’d wanted to say something else. I knew it. I felt it. And yet, something had stopped him. The gap was opening between us, here and now. I could try to close it, but perhaps it was for the better if I didn’t?

No, it wasn’t. I didn’t want to wallow in the cold. I wanted to bathe in warmth, flames—who Dray was.

“It’s a date,” I said confidently.

A surprise struck his face, but then it was washed away by concern. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I invited you on a date, and now you’re my date for tonight.”

At last, a boyish, honest smile graced his lips. “No one has invited me to a date before.”

“Then you’re a lucky man to be invited to one by one of the most gorgeous women in the entire Universe.”

He laughed. It was warm, dispelling all the lingering awkwardness. “I indeed am.”

The gap between closed, but as we were back in the alley, a new feeling aroused.

I was on an official date. With Drayard.

And hells was I nervous.

We walked into the building from the alley. I didn’t have a clue where we were until the sound of the flute reached my ears. We crossed the dimly lit corridor and stopped before the old wooden door. He opened it, and we entered the room, air thick with the scent of ale and cigars. I spotted men around one table playing cards. A woman was straddling one man, whispering something in his ear. I had enough decency not to eavesdrop. A smile tugged at his lips. Apart from them, I spotted or heard no one. Not one of them paid heed to us either.

And yet Drayard’s muscles were still pulled tight.

“Nobody is staring at you. You’re being dramatic,” I noted. “But if you want them to notice you, clap your hands like this.” I raised my hands to clap them, but he put his hand on my wrist.

“Don’t you even dare,” he whispered, but the threat belied his playfulness.

“As you wish, Your Majesty.” I bowed my head to him.

He rolled his eyes, but there was a touch of a smile on his lips.

We headed towards the bar, right into the darkest corner there was.

Of course.

He let go of my hand and took a seat by the wall, and I slid in beside him.

As the bartender turned around, I suspected him to be startled by spotting the Bloodsucker in his bar, but it was the other way around. Although he’d grown a beard to his chest in this short amount of time, it was him. It had to be him, at least.

I grabbed Drayard’s hand, squeezing it as the bartender approached us and propped his arm on the bar.

“Drayard, it’s been a while,” he said.

I couldn’t even blink.

A trap. A trap. A trap, my mind screamed.

Not a date. A trap, but I still couldn’t move, sinking my nails into Drayard’s flesh instead.

“Elynn?”

A voice came from afar—an echo.

“Elynn.” He shook my shoulder, and I came back, meeting his worried gaze. “What’s wrong?”

I pushed him away with all my might, and yet it hardly made him budge. “How could you?”

“How could I what?”

I gestured my hand at Balihar. “This is the assassin. This is your former friend you talked about. Drop the act.”

He smiled.

I nearly spat at him, but Balihar spoke, interrupting my attempt. “You must be speaking about my twin brother.” He extended his hand. “I’m Bertuar, but I go by Bert.”

I blinked at him in total bewilderment.

He had a friendly smile, friendly eyes. Unlike my attacker, who emanated violence, this one spread positivity and warmth.

Of course. It was my attacker’s twin.

“Drayard owns this tavern, and I work here.”

“You own the bar, Bertuar,” Drayard corrected. “It was a gift to you.”

Since Bert realised I wasn’t going to take his hand, he waved off Drayard’s words with it. “Too big of a gift I cannot take. Anyhow, the usual or something else, since you have a lady friend with you and want to impress her with something stronger than ale?” He waggled his eyebrows.

For the first time, I saw Drayard smile at the comment someone else made and not me. It was foreign. Unseen. Only rendering me more speechless.

“Still ale. But make it two, unless my lady friend doesn’t like ale.” He gave me an inquiring glance.

I locked my shoulders and puffed out my chest, finding my voice. “Who said I don’t like ale? I do like ale.”

Drayard turned back to the bartender. “Two ales for now, Bert.”

Bert nodded, but before he walked off, I stuck out my hand to him. “I’m Elynn.”

I expected Drayard to quiet me, but he didn’t.

Bert flashed me an honest smile and took my hand, placing a kiss like a gentleman. “I suspected so.” Alarm crossed me, and he must have seen it on my face, for he said, “Don’t worry. Drayard’s my lad, and I don’t snitch on my lads.” I withdrew my hand, and he gave me a quick assessment. “They said that Tatyana possessed exquisite beauty, but you are ethereal, darlin’. Like a true goddess.”

Now I smiled, pleased by the compliment. “Thank you.”

“Alrighty, then.” He leaned off the bar. “Imma fetch you some ale.”

Once he walked away, I flicked my head to Dray. “The usual, huh? Are you a frequent visitor?”

“I used to be, but not in the past few months.”

I bit my tongue, trying my best to prevent it from spilling its song. He stared at me, suspecting something.

“What is it?”

Oh, what the hell.

“Your drinking habit. It’s not good for you.”

He scoffed, throwing his head away from me.

“I’m serious. Even if it calms you, you should look for other ways to relax rather than indulging in this vice.”

He was silent.

I sighed. “Do you have anger management issues? I won’t believe you if you do when you have control of your emotions, of your actions.”

It was only two days ago that I’d seen him on the verge of exploding, but it was gone fast, and there was no sign of the potential outburst ever since.

“No, I don’t have that.”

“Then you have no reason to calm yourself when there’s nothing to placate. Is there something you’re hiding? The real reason why you have a glass of whiskey every night before going to bed?”

An unadulterated shock crossed his face, which translated to me. I assumed he knew I noticed him drinking before bedtime. Always one glass. On the first days on the island, it wasn’t much. It didn’t even contain half of the glass, but the content continued to grow until it was less than an inch away from reaching the rim.

He had never gotten drunk from whether it was a small quantity or a bigger one, but if he drank it every day before bed, he had a problem. There was a more significant reason behind his daily drinking than to calm himself.

He put his elbows on the bar, his right knee starting to shake as his hands touched his nape. Not thinking about my movements, I placed my hand on his knee. At least his knee stilled under my touch.

“Dray, you can talk to me.”

Seconds of silence passed, and Bert returned with two mugs of ale. He placed the mugs before us and smiled through his thick beard. “Here ya go, lads.”

“Thank you, Bert,” I said.

As soon as he walked to the other side of the bar to serve another patron who’d just walked in, I asked, “Dray, what’s the matter?”

He brought the mug closer to him, his gaze low.

I counted.

One, two, three …

A minute passed, and his lips remained as they had. Shut.

I knew him enough to conclude that he wasn’t going to speak about the reason behind his drinking.

I’d thought we’d overcome this—the hiding. But he still didn’t trust me. It was a wise choice if I had to think deeper about it. I shouldn’t be trusted.

I removed my hand from his knee and dropped my hands on the bar top. “You know what?”

“No.” His voice was dull.

“I have an offer for you.”

He cast me a sidelong glance. “Are you going to expose your top to get an answer from me?”

I gave him a hard look.

His smile did things to my heart I’d rather not feel, but I’d rather see him smiling than depressed when I wasn’t sure what to do to reach out to him apart from holding his hand and whispering that I was there for him.

“I will answer anything if you do,” he tempted.

“Sometimes you’re such a stereotypical man, I want to slap it out of you.”

He looked me up and down in a lascivious way, and I would have indeed slapped him if he wasn’t doing it to drive me mad on purpose.

“What exactly is”—his eyes came back to mine—“a stereotypical man?”

“A chauvinist.”

A brief laugh exploded from his mouth. “That’s a chauvinist, not a stereotypical man, Honeylove.”

I pressed my lips into a hard line. “But you’re not it.” His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Not most of the time, at least.”

“What am I then?”

The most stylish, talented, considerate and, of course, sexy man with a touch of femininity I adore.

“Decent.” I looked down at the table and whispered, “You’re decent.”

I felt his stare on me. I thought he was going to call me out on my lie, as I’d made it obvious. A part of me wanted him to draw the truth out of me, but to my disappointment, he didn’t.

“What offer did you mean?” he asked.

“To forget who you are, who I am for this one night, and let’s just have fun.”

“Define fun.”

I gave him an annoyed look. “If I must school an almost two centuries old man”—I exhaled—“fun does not involve tension …” I began counting on my fingers for emphasis. “No depressive moods, no hard feelings. Just have fun as if we are the only people on the planet.”

“First, taste the ale.” He nodded towards the drink. “You haven’t even touched it.”

I held his stare until I relented first. “Fine.”

I concentrated on the drink and put my finger into the foam. I scooped it up and put it in my mouth, slowly licking it clean.

I caught Drayard staring at my finger as I pulled it out of my mouth. “What?”

“It looked …” He cleared his throat and took a quick gulp.

“Indecent?” I flashed him a smile and leaned in closer to his ear to whisper. “Am I turning you on?”

He didn’t answer, taking quite a heavy gulp of ale this time.

My attention shifted to the bobbing bulge in his throat as he swallowed. It stayed on his neck longer than it should have.

Now he was turning me on without intending to.

I looked away. “Are you going to take the deal or not?”

He either didn’t notice my rude tone or ignored it. “You haven’t taken a sip of your drink.”

I let out a heavy sigh. “You can be so irritating sometimes.”

“Drink.”

“You’re a bad influence on me.”

He cracked a smile. “Says the one who offered me a deal that might lead us to making irresponsible choices.”

“If you don’t want to take the offer, then don’t. I’m not pressuring you.”

He merely gestured to the drink again. “Give it a taste, will you?”

Done bantering with him, I closed my fingers around the handle of a mug and raised it to my lips. At first, I took a tentative sip as if afraid the drink was poisoned. I’d never drunk another alcoholic drink other than wine in my life, I realised. Alcohol blanketed minds and turned people into monsters. Thea had revealed to me her deceased father had been an alcoholic. Alcohol was no good.

But I wanted to forget and loosen up a little. At least for the night.

At last, I took a gulp. Wincing at the bitter taste, I set the mug back on the bar.

“And how is it?”

“How can you drink that?” I asked with a chuckle.

It was quite disgusting and not enjoyable at all. I’d prefer water or tea or wine more at this point. But then again, from tea and water you wouldn’t forget.

Drayard snickered. “I guess men get used to nasty stuff more than women.”

My eyes widened. “You did not just say that.”

But Drayard didn’t retract his statement, taking another heavy gulp of ale to prove it. His eyes held mine as he put the drink down, swallowing the gulp with zero expression.

“Then prove me wrong, Honeylove.”

He was challenging me, but this time, I didn’t give in. “No, first tell me if you accept my deal.”

He turned serious. “If I take the deal, whatever happens tonight, you won’t blame me for it?”

“Yeah yeah, I’m a grown woman now. I can take responsibility for my own decisions.”

A cheeky smile curled at the corner of his lips, and he stretched out his hand “It’s a deal, then.”

The suggestive flavour in his voice told me I could expect anything from tonight. But I didn’t think he would go far as he’d sober up much faster than I because of the healing blood flowing through his veins.

Suddenly, the vial weighed heavily in my pocket.

I looked down at his proffered hand. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw where his drink stood. Not to appear suspicious, I let a smile lift the corner of my lips as I looked at him from under the lashes. His eyes widened slightly in alarm at the recognition of my seductive gesture.

“Securing a deal with a handshake?” I tilted my head to the side. “How lame.”

I grabbed him by his waistcoat and tugged him towards me, crushing his lips against mine. Taken by surprise, he stayed still and didn’t respond while I worked as fast as possible. I pulled out a vial, popped open the cork, and dumped its content into where I reckoned his ale stood.

He pulled back when I was withdrawing the vial. My rapid heartbeat might have betrayed me, but he could just assume it was because of the kiss.

As I was pushing the empty vial into my pocket, I wiped my bottom lip with my thumb, holding his wide-eyed gaze.

“Would have tasted better with tongue.”

Although my voice was playful, it masked the shame spreading throughout my gut.

He chuckled, raising his hand to his nape awkwardly.

I wondered why he didn’t respond. Why was it me kissing him all the time, but then, the last time he was close to trying to brush his lips against mine, I’d interrupted him. But did it matter when he didn’t respond to me now?

He raised the mug and took a sip. A malevolent part of me wished he would choke on it, but the other prayed that whatever was in the vial wouldn’t kill him. If the taste had altered, his face betrayed nothing.

“I’m ordering ten mugs of ale,” I announced.

As I’d wished, he choked on the drink, even if for another reason. He hammered his chest as he set the mug down. “For yourself?”

“Yes.”

“You won’t be able to take them all.”

But the daring tone in his voice contradicted his statement.

“Watch me.”

I called Bert over to our side of the bar and ordered ten mugs of ale, conscious of Drayard’s inquisitive stare, watching me closely.

XXXIII

WITH THE NINTH MUG, dizziness kicked in. But did it mean I was drunk? I couldn’t tell.

Neither could I remember what he and I had conversed about, but the only thing I was sure about was that there was a hell of a lot of heavy mirth. From whom and what we were laughing about, I couldn’t tell. I wasn’t sure if he could either.

I excused myself to go to the restroom since the litres I’d drunk filled up my bladder. The lack of awareness of myself alarmed me. I almost stepped into the hole in the stall. I was afraid that if more time passed, I might fall into oblivion.

When I stumbled out of the stall, I stared at the sinks for a long moment until it clicked with me.

“Oh, they have sinks installed!”

I clasped my mouth before a bubble of laughter escaped my lips with a hiccup coming afterwards, causing me to laugh more.

The ale must have been something.

I managed to get over to a sink. As I opened the tap, I splashed my face with cold water. I grasped the edges, not minding if it was dirty, and looked at myself dead in the eye in the mirror.

“Focus,” I said, but a chuckle still got through. I made a serious face. “Focus. Focus. Focus, Elynn.”

Then an epiphany struck me like a stream of holy light filtering through a dark, clouded sky. I hurried to fish out the thing I’d asked Baby to hand me, but as I got it out of the pocket, it slipped and clinked to the floor.

Thank my lucky stars the vial didn’t shatter.

I fell to the floor and reached for it, but the walls spun, and the vial quintupled. I patted for the one which appeared the most real. As I felt something in my hand, I struggled to uncork it with my nails, but when I did, I chugged the contents into my mouth. After ten mugs of ale, my taste receptors were limited, and therefore, I didn’t taste anything before I swallowed.

I wasn’t sure how long I was kneeling on the dirty floor, but when I sobered up, I promptly jumped to my feet. As I brushed my hair back, confusion settled in me. I glanced at the vial, glad that there had remained enough sense in me to drink Drayard’s blood, which worked as an antidote against alcohol.

I threw out the vial to get rid of the evidence. I could never be too safe. Now, when I was somewhat sober, I had to go back to him. He was still intoxicated, but it wasn’t going to last forever, and I had to carry on with my original plan.

In front of the mirror, I shook my hair to give it a wilder look. Without acknowledging what I was doing next, I unbuttoned the collar of my shirt and a few more buttons, exposing not too much but not too little of my cleavage either.

I left the restroom and re-entered the bar, the jolty tune the band was playing was so enticing, it was impossible to resist. I started moving slightly, and as if a devil had possessed me, I crawled on top of the bar, earning a weird glance from Bert. I balanced myself, conscious of the audience I’d attained, watching a crazy drunk woman standing atop the bar.

Slowly and deliberately, I made my way across the bar, ignoring the cloying invitations coming from the drunk men to strip for them as I stepped over their drinks. One even grabbed my ankle, but as a reflex, I kicked him in the face, making him release it in an instant. He grasped at his nose, which I was sure was bleeding. My kick was far from gentle.

As I jerked my chin up, I met specific golden eyes that turned darker than they normally were in the dimly lit corner of the bar. I made my way towards him, but suddenly, my vision dotted, and I slipped. I expected pain from the hit, but I landed on something warm, and the scent of lush smoke seeped into my nostrils.

“Elynn?”

There was a deafening silence. In a moment, my eyesight brightened again and above me was hovering a face I recognised as Drayard’s, but nausea churned my stomach and I didn’t feel well.

“I must have drunk too much ale …” I trailed off. Unable to hold my head anymore, it fell back, but Drayard’s hand landed below it, supporting it.

“Are you sure it’s ale and not something you poured into your drink when you kissed me?”

My eyes were about to close, but after what I thought I’d heard him say, they opened wide, despite the weakness gradually taking over every inch of my body.

What?

“What did you pour into your drink, Elynn?”

“I …” Suddenly, my mouth became parched as a desert.

“Is she alright?” Bert’s voice came from behind.

“No.” Drayard’s muscles moved as he pulled something out of his pocket. There was a pouch of coins hitting the wood. “I need keys to one of the rooms upstairs, Bertuar.”

“I’m not feeling well …” I mumbled.

“I know, but try to stay conscious for a little longer. Can you do that, Elynn?”

I managed a nod.

“The chamber pot is under the bed in case you need it,” I heard Bert say.

“Thank you.”

Drayard moved through an oddly silent tavern. From what I could see, people were staring at us. My fall must have made them notice their King who preferred to stay in the shadows, and they weren’t sure what to make of it or how to react. I could only imagine how uncomfortable Dray must be feeling when he wanted to slip through unnoticed. I’d ruined it for him.

I raised my hand, brushing my fingers across his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?”

He began going up the stairs. In my head, I couldn’t find the right words to vocalise the reason behind my apology when I was dizzy. I still opened my mouth, but I felt the bile rushing up my throat. I turned my head, releasing everything on the stairs and his feet.

He halted. After I was done, mortification settled in, and I couldn’t make myself meet his eyes. I felt slightly better. The environment was more vivid, but I knew it was temporary, as I was already sensing the terribleness from before on its way back.

Saying nothing to me, he resumed up the stairs. He stopped once more, to unlock the door, and as he pushed it inside, he carried me in. The candles in the room switched on, and he gently put me on the bed.

He went to close the door, and when he came back, he crouched in front of me. “I need you to tell me what was in the vial.”

I wished I could.

“I don’t know.”

His eyebrows drew together. “Then why did you pour that into your drink?”

He waited for an answer, but I couldn’t give him one. We stared at each other for a bit longer until he gave up, reaching under the bed for something. “It doesn’t matter now, anyway. If you feel like throwing—Elynn?”

He patted my cheek, and I saw him again. I hadn’t realised my eyes had closed.

“Your skin is going abnormally grey. Damn it.”

He drew out the dagger and brushed the blade across his palm. With one hand, he lifted my head while the other he pressed to my lips.

“Drink it.”

I did without protesting. I took his hand and pressed it harder to my mouth for a better approach, but he pulled it away when I took about ten heavy gulps.

His concerned gaze settled on me. “Are you feeling better?”

I was about to nod, but before I vomited on him again, I leaned over the bed, spilling everything into the open chamber pot, including the blood he’d just given me. I pressed my head against the sheets and cried. The last time I’d felt similar to now was when I was dying from the Spell’s effects. Now it wasn’t as horrible as then, but it was awful enough to make me want to die.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Elynn?”

“It didn’t help.” I fell onto my side and drew my knees to my chest, hugging them. Why had it gotten so cold suddenly? “I feel awful, Dray.”

He knelt before me and put his inner wrist against my forehead. His face went pale. “Your skin is ice cold. Are you cold?”

I quickly moved my chin down.

He brought me closer. I ended up between his legs with my head resting against his chest. He took both my hands in his and soft warmth radiated through his skin to mine, but it was hardly helping.

“This date went horribly wrong,” I said with a laugh.

But he didn’t feel like joking, remaining serious and worried. He pressed his lips to my temple. “You’re still as cold as ice. By any chance, did you drink Dragon’s Wrath?”

“What’s that?”

“A rare essence that drops your body temperature until your heart goes still. It was used to mainly poison dragons, chaining them to a bed for weeks until their body temperature came back to normal.”

Oh my Gods, what—

“If that’s what you had, Elynn,” Drayard continued, interrupting my thoughts, “then it might end your life since you can’t control your body temperature and sharing mine isn’t making any difference.”

“But then …” I drew in a cold breath. “But why is your blood not helping?”

“Dragon’s Wrath was made to poison dragons, and their blood has healing abilities. It wouldn’t be poison for dragons if dragons’ blood made them immune to it.”

I closed my eyes, swallowing hard.

“But it might not be Dragon’s Wrath, right?”

There was a pause.

I felt his mad heartbeat against my back. “I don’t know what else could match your symptoms apart from Dragon’s Wrath.”

I turned to him, gripping his waistcoat with both of my hands. “Isn’t there something that could be done, Dray?” He said nothing, but his eyes turning watery spoke for him. “Dray, please. I … I can’t die.”

My stomach twisted, and I squeezed my eyes shut in pain, drawing my legs to my belly as an instinct.

“There’s something, but …”

“Whatever it is, do it.” I dropped my head against his chest as I endured the waves of pain, striking me over and over. “Just do it, please.”

He pulled me back to him. “You will have to say, ‘I accept loud’ and clear.”

“Now?”

“Yes. And everything else that follows, you repeat everything I say. Loud and clear.”

I sucked in a breath. “I accept.”

I felt his breath against my ear. “Your wish is my command, Honeylove.”

He lifted my hand and pressed his mouth to my wrist before I felt a sharp sting. I wasn’t entirely sure what ensued next. It was like a vague dream where I repeated I accept again when Dray asked me to. After a while, a burn followed, burning my entire body, and when I opened my eyes, I had a feeling whatever he’d done was over.

“Thank you,” I said sincerely before I flaked out in the soothing heat of his arms.

XXXIV

VOICES WOKE ME, but it wasn’t right away that I deciphered what they were saying. I sat up. After one disorienting moment, I recognised it as the same bed in the volcano, and yet it felt different somehow. I felt different. Lighter. Fuller.

“Blossom wasn’t a part of that.” Baby raised her voice. “Let her stay.”

“No.” A much deeper voice sounded. “I’m done with both of you.”

The events of last night, or as much as I could recollect, rushed back to me, and I sprang off the bed, hastening out. I ran down the hallway and down the first flight of stairs, halting at the landing.

Blossom and Baby were standing in the foyer before Drayard, who looked terrifying. His face was set in hard lines, and utter coldness was streaming from him. I felt colder than when I’d been suffering from Dragon’s Wrath.

“What’s happening?” I asked, although I had a clue.

Drayard and Baby turned their heads in my direction. Drayard’s ruthless expression softened a bit at the sight of me.

“Good, you’re awake.” Baby joined her hands in a clap. “Tell your lover that I didn’t lie about what was in the vial. Tell him I didn’t intend on poisoning you.” Her voice rose higher, bordering on desperation.

For a minute, I couldn’t say anything. Here I thought that Drayard had figured out that the Dragon’s Wrath was meant for him. He always figured things out. It was almost impossible to hide something from him, but it wasn’t that. He thought Baby was trying to kill me by lying about what she was handing to me.

And I didn’t know what was worse.

I descended a step, wasting time to come up with a lie to save both myself and the bat girls. But I had nothing.

Even if I told the truth, it would hardly help them. They wouldn’t get killed at least … Or would they?

I drew in a breath. “This was all my idea.”

Drayard winced. “Your idea to poison yourself?”

I forced myself to look him in the eye. I didn’t descend the remaining steps. I didn’t because I assumed drawing great space between him and me would be safer, although I doubted he’d hurt me. But I could never be too safe.

“Not to poison me,” I said. “Poison you.”

Hurt struck across his face, like I’d slapped him. But there was no sign of surprise. He must have considered it as a possibility but brushed it off, wanting to believe that Baby attempting to kill me was more likely instead of me trying to kill him.

“All Baby did was provide me with a Dragon’s Wrath,” I went on. “But everything else was my doing. Blossom didn’t even know about this. The poison was meant for you, and when I kissed you, it was meant to be a distraction so I could pour it into your drink, but I ended up poisoning mine instead.”

Baby shook her head slightly, probably thinking how clumsy a person must be to do that.

Drayard huffed, returning his look to the bat girls. “You have a week to find a place to stay. You don’t work for me anymore.”

I balled my hands into fists. “Drayard, it’s not—”

“We have to be in Casidiarn in an hour.” He regarded me with an impassive look, but I still discerned a glimmer of hurt in there. “Dress up.”

He turned and stalked towards the bland wall where the doors should appear every time his blood activated it. As he got out the dagger, with a mere thought of mine, I caused it to leave his grip, crashing into the wall next to him.

He didn’t give me a warning look unlike I’d expected. He didn’t even turn to me as I descended the stairs and, with a flick of my hand, made him spin to me. It was easy. Way easier than any other times when I’d tried to control the air.

“You. Are. Not. Kicking. Them. Out.” I jabbed my finger into his chest. “They continue living here, and not as your workers, but mine.”

His eyebrows rose in incredulity. “Why would I allow someone who doesn’t hesitate to contribute to my demise to stay in my house?”

“Fine.” I almost spat out, hating him for the valid reason he’d made. “Then give them a month at least.”

The flash of dubiousness that crossed his eyes betrayed the fact that he’d expected me to say something else. As though he’d expected me to name a reason. As though there was one.

“Two weeks.”

“A month.”

He held my resolute stare. I’d make sure they got at least a month. They were getting kicked out because of me, after all. If I hadn’t taken the vial from Baby, they wouldn’t be in such a predicament.

“Fine,” he relented. “A month and no more. Now, go get dressed.”

But I didn’t move just yet. “And they will get paid for the month.”

“They will,” he assured me. “Now, would you be kind enough to return my dagger without plunging it into my heart?”

I smiled, but it was not a pleasant smile.

I made the dagger rise from the floor. I flicked my hand, and it flew straight to him, but the pointy side stopped an inch before his chest. Undaunted, he put out his hand below it, palm up. I let it hang for a few seconds before it dropped onto his palm safely.

“Perhaps the poison didn’t make it to my drink,” he said, pressing the blade to his palm, “but you sure did. You poisoned my heart. You had your vengeance. Are you happy now, Elynn?”

It wasn’t the vengeance I’d planned. I’d failed. How could I be happy?

“I’ll be happy once I see your head spiked on the rooftop of the castle you hate.”

I pivoted on my heel first and stormed away, feeling all kinds of aching but pretending to appear strong and brave as I passed the wide-eyed bat girls.

“How did you drink the poison?” Baby asked behind me.

As I stormed into my bedroom with Baby and Blossom in tow, I swivelled to face Baby. “Why did you give me Dragon’s Wrath?”

“You asked me for the poison for dragons.”

“Yes, but not the one that keeps them chained to the bed three weeks straight!”

She took a step back, shocked. “Three weeks? The witch said it intoxicated them for a few hours.”

I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration.

“So that’s where you were gone for half an hour when you left me in the accessory shop,” Blossom said into silence. “You were buying poison, risking our job …”

“I’m sorry, all right,” Baby said, but her tone didn’t sound exactly apologetic. “But he wronged her. He deserved it. I just didn’t think she would be the one to ingest the poison.” She gave me a reproachful look.

Ignoring it, I headed for the wardrobe to pick out an outfit for today.

“Why were you planning to poison him?” Blossom asked, watching our exchange in silence this entire time.

As Baby started filling her in on my original plan, I decided on the demurest dress I could find among the abundance of scandalous dresses.

“You need a bath, love,” Baby said as I sat down at the dressing table. “You stink of vomit.”

“And ale,” Blossom added.

Baby turned to fetch the water, but I stopped her. “I’m sorry that you lost your job.”

Blossom lowered her head while Baby looked over her shoulder with the brightest of smiles, but it didn’t fool me. “We have a month. We’ll find another one.”

“But you shouldn’t be in this situation. It was my vengeance. I shouldn’t have involved you in it.”

“You didn’t.” She turned back to me. “I volunteered myself. And I would do it again, knowing the outcome.”

“But Blossom didn’t volunteer.” I acknowledged Blossom, who smiled at me tentatively. “You didn’t even know about my plan, and you still lost the job because of me. I know apologies aren’t going to bring it back, but I’m sorry.”

She approached me, taking my hand in hers. “It’s okay, Elynn. As Baby said, we’ll find another one. We have an entire month.”

Her words seemed genuine, but it didn’t appease the guilt swelling in my chest. “I’ll make it up to you. Both of you.”

“You better.” Baby’s eyes narrowed into slits, but it was supposed to be humour, not threatening.

“I will,” I promised. “If not, you’re free to damn me.”

“Oh, love,” Baby sighed dramatically, “I damned you the day you woke up in Hellrock Castle.”

I laughed because, as I recalled our first real encounter, she’d seemed like she was about to throw me out of the balcony. She had damned me, and here she was, not even a year later, risking her job to help me.

And all I could feel was being unworthy of her and Blossom’s friendship.

I didn’t even need to talk the bat girls out of going to Casidiarn Castle with me. After what had happened this morning, they weren’t even planning to. Drayard and I didn’t exchange a single word as we went through the portal. Not until he tripped over something.

“Dray,” his name flew out of my mouth, rendering me still. He didn’t fall, but he cursed under his breath. “Are you all right?”

“Stop pretending,” he said, not even bothering to look at me.

I swallowed as he continued to go. I shouldn’t feel even an ounce of contrite, but here I was, feeling exactly that.

As I continued following him, the tension between us continued mounting, but I had to bear it. I couldn’t amend things because there was no point. He’d played a significant part in my sister’s death. It was reasonable of me to attempt poisoning him. And now he was hurt when he was the reason my sister was dead?

I stopped dead in my tracks. “You should have expected it. I warned you.”

He stopped and took his time before turning to me. “And I did expect it. But it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t hurt.”

“Oh, please.” I scoffed. “You are hurting? What about me? Whose sister you sacrificed for your own gain? Imagine how I must be hurting.”

He said nothing.

“For the record, I didn’t know it was a strong poison, neither did Baby.”

“I don’t care. If it hadn’t been an accident, I’d be tied to a bed now.”

“Right. Speaking of which, what did you do to save me?”

He was silent for a while. “I did a blood oath.”

“What’s that?”

He hesitated and glanced around himself before he approached me. He put his hands on my arms and turned me around. When my back was facing him, I glanced over his shoulder questioningly. He moved my hair aside.

“Can I?” He pointed at the lace of my dress.

“Are you asking me for permission to undress me?”

A chuckle escaped him. “No,” he said. “I’m asking if I can untie a few laces.”

“Go on then.”

As his fingers brushed my skin, a sensation of familiar leather dispatched inappropriate shivers through me. I turned away, biting the inside of my cheek.

He pressed his finger to my upper back. I didn’t feel leather anymore. I felt skin, and the heat of it was even worse.

“There’s no mirror, but you can get into my head and see it for yourself,” he said.

My heart stuttered. “See what?”

“The mark of our blood oath.”

I whipped my head back. “What?”

“You would have died if you hadn’t agreed to it, Elynn.”

“It’s not that. I would have signed for whatever, even marrying you if it meant saving me from death,” I admitted, and a faint surprise crossed his face. “But I can’t see the mark from your perspective. I always got into your head unconsciously. Only once it was like you pulled me in it when you were having a bad night. But I don’t know how to do it on purpose, and I don’t think I should learn that.”

“You’re wrong. Telepathy might not be the nicest power to have, but it doesn’t mean you can’t learn to use it. You just have to know when using that power is necessary and when it’s for your own selfish benefit. Try to get into my head. I’m sure you’ll succeed.”

I hesitated, but in the end, I relented. I closed my eyes and attempted to get into his head. It was easier than I’d expected. It’d been a while since I was there. It felt slightly different from what I remembered. Less cold. But then again, I was right on the surface of it, not venturing in its depths where the horrors lie.

Drayard turned me around. Once his naked fingers brushed lightly against my honey skin, a faint and few shades lighter tattoo appeared. It was a crown rising from flames. Similar to the one Drayard had on his arm.

I returned to my body.

“Why is there a crown?”

He began tying the laces. “I think it’s because you’re tied to the King.”

There had to be more than that, but as I opened my mouth to ask, I heard him say aloud, “You can reveal yourselves now.”

At first, I was confused, but as I turned, I saw two men step out of the tree’s shadow. How long had they been standing there?

I hadn’t seen Nathair and Kyrel in their true form before, and yet again, I was taken by immense surprise, although I shouldn’t have after the bat girls.

Nathair was a tall man with an aquiline nose and braided dark-brown hair. He stood intimidatingly, exuding confidence and strength. If I’d seen him when I was a maid in the Realm of Bones, I would have been cautious of him. But I wasn’t that girl anymore.

Kyrel was less formidable than Nathair. He was lanky, his short black hair slicked back, skin as pale as paper—like the bat girls. By now, I reckoned, all the pureblood bat morphs had such a white complexion, unlike Drayard, who even if he had bat morph DNA, his skin was much darker.

“This must be our famous Elynn Haroun Cresenbar.” Nathair broke the settled quiet, his forest-green eyes fixed on Drayard instead of me.

I didn’t like that.

I stepped out from behind Drayard in the clearing, my chin held high. “Elynn Startel Haroun Cresenbar,” I corrected him before Drayard could say something.

That brought Nathair’s attention. I maintained eye contact with him, and the tangible intensity stretched out between us, like a thread. He crossed his arms over his chest, appearing tense, which made the two of us. Could Drayard sense something wasn’t right between us? If he could, he didn’t see a reason to comment on it.

“Yes, this is the same Elynn,” Drayard assured, but neither Nathair nor I diverted our gazes. “Elynn, this is Nathair, and standing next to him is Kyrel.”

I smiled warmly even if the snake wasn’t my most favourite morph I’d ever met. There was something about him I couldn’t quite put my finger on that made me dislike him right away. I had an intense bad feeling about the man, and most of the time, my feelings were right, but I tended to ignore them. But should I ignore them now or not? Perhaps, for once, they were incorrect.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, which wasn’t a lie.

It was better to meet them in person than eavesdrop on them or look at them through Drayard’s eyes. In-person, I could make a fairer impression about Nathair and Kyrel.

“It’s nice to finally meet you, too,” Kyrel said, but then he added with a less exciting note, “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Although his intention to express his condolences was harmless and well-intended, it still hurt me.

I wasn’t sure what loss he was talking about, but it didn’t matter when his words reminded me of them both: my mother and sister.

I forced a smile. “Thank you.”

But the words didn’t feel right. I should have said nothing at all.

His faint smile reminded me of Blossom, although it was somehow different. However, still genuine.

Nathair uncrossed his hands. “Should we go?”

I drew in a deep breath to compose myself before facing my biological family for the first time ever without hiding behind the mask. At least, not with an actual mask covering half of my face.

“We shall,” Drayard and I said simultaneously.

XXXV

NATHAIR AND KYREL TRAILED BEHIND Drayard and me. As we reached Casidiarn Castle, the guards hesitated before letting us inside. One of them went somewhere, and when he was back, they escorted us inside. One was in front of us while the other was behind Drayard’s advisors. My heart rate sped up when we entered the lavish hall. I was certain morphs could hear it, but I couldn’t do anything to calm it down.

We can always go back, Drayard said.

But I couldn’t. There was too much at risk. Nayden would harm the Kingdom of Embers if I didn’t do this, and more humans would die if I stayed away from the capital. I had to face Nayden and Nadira. I couldn’t deny that I was also curious to learn what Nayden wanted from me, despite all the risks. Was it a trap, or had Ariel spoken the truth on the Isle of Sage?

Whatever it was, I was going to find out soon.

If you want to leave, say it whenever you like, and we’ll be on our way to the Kingdom of Embers, he suggested.

We did a few turns, passing a few corridors. I met a couple of human servants. All of them kept their heads low, reminding me of my serving days in the Realm of Bones, even if I hadn’t been as dutiful as them.

We entered an unseen room. It reminded me of the ballroom, but it wasn’t the same. This one had portraits of men with crowns hanging on the tall walls. They were all blondes, and I didn’t have to figure out who those men were. My kin to whom I wished I wasn’t related.

“Drayard, what a pleasant surprise!”

Here was the voice I despised hearing.

At the end of the room, Nayden was lounging on the bronze throne which was embellished with colourful gems. The delighted smile stretching over his face repulsed me. Next to him was standing indifferent Nadira, hands clasped before her as she stared straight ahead at nothing. It was as if she wasn’t even here but somewhere else.

I wished I was somewhere else rather than here.

“You were informed about our arrival, Nayden,” Drayard said, unaffected by the emperor’s pretense.

“It’s still astounding.”

He arose from the throne. As he was nearing us, I felt an urge to leave, but I pushed it away.

It wouldn’t hurt if someone held my hand right now, but if I made any physical contact with Drayard standing next to me, it would send the wrong message not only to Nayden but Drayard.

Trusting my own strength, I held on to it.

I couldn’t falter. Not here. Not now. Not before these people.

I had to remind myself that my parents didn’t raise a quitter or a coward.

When Nayden was two steps away from me, my body strained at the proximity, but Drayard stepped in front of me, placing himself between me and my uncle. Despite being confused about why he did it, I tried not to show it while Nayden started to laugh. Drayard didn’t move.

Nayden ceased laughing, pulling a face. “Am I not allowed to take a closer look at my niece?”

Drayard balked before he stepped to the left, not quite retreating to his previous spot. He remained between Nayden and me, but now he didn’t block my vision with his tall frame. Amused, Nayden drew his attention to me, and I wished Drayard would have remained standing like a wall between us.

I should have maintained eye contact with Nayden, but I dropped my gaze and started fidgeting instead.

“What an interesting masterpiece my sister created with the faggot.” Nayden stepped forward and touched my hair. I quelled the urge to slap his hand away. “So exotic,” he mused, stepping back. “Now I understand why you stalled to bring her here right away. She’s a snack worth savouring until the last minute, right?”

I’d never itched to hit someone this much. Not even Chase. But miraculously, I controlled myself.

Drayard was still unimpressed, maintaining his indifferent mask. “Keep your eyes on Nadira, Nayden.”

Nayden laughed, clapping his hands together. Merely now, he acknowledged his advisors behind him.

“How marvellous. You’ve brought your friends!” Nayden beamed at Drayard. “Do you need someone to watch your back?”

“They are here as a precaution. Her mother is in exile because of you, and now you are sleeping with her aunt. You cannot blame me for being prudent regarding people you share your blood with.”

Nayden snorted, his eyes shifting back to me. “You haven’t spoken a word, my darling niece,” he noted. “I suppose Drayard has already introduced you to your place in this world. He did a good job of teaching you how to stay as an obedient female.”

Obedient.

I clenched my jaw, feeling my mask slipping, but then Drayard’s warning sounded in my mind, He likes to get under people’s skin. It’s his hobby, Elynn. Don’t fall for it.

His words helped me pull myself back together, igniting perseverance in me.

“Yes,” I answered with a demure smile, “he did.”

Nayden kept smiling like a content cat.

Although Drayard wasn’t looking anywhere near me, I could sense the question hanging between us. What?

“How marvellous.” He clasped his hands together in pure delight. “This world is a cruel place, my darling.” Drayard tensed at his words. “I’m not sure how humans look at females in their world, but here, females, especially princesses, have rules to follow.”

I kept smiling while imagining shapeshifting into a lion and ripping him into ribbons. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

I marvelled at my capability to say it without sarcasm lacing my words.

“Good girl,” he said, pleased with my answer.

I maintained the idiotic smile, regardless of being treated as no more than a dog.

I left Nayden’s attention as he focused back on Drayard. “Oh, Drayard, don’t stare at me like I’m your enemy.” He pouted. “Come on.” He beckoned with his hand as he turned around. “Let’s have a drink.”

“First, I want to know what you plan to do with Elynn.”

Nayden laughed as if Drayard had shared a joke. He turned back. “Who do you think I am? A monster like you? But tales aren’t written about me. I must be a good man then.” Drayard said nothing. Nayden’s laugh faltered, and his smile dropped. “You really think I’m up to no good?”

“What do you want from her?” Drayard repeated himself.

He pouted, shifting his head from one side to another as if weighing something. “I guess you’re going to find out at the party I’m going to host in honour of my niece’s arrival.”

“A party?” I asked with forced awe.

He looked at me. “Aren’t you one cute little thing? Yes, a party in your honour,” he cooed at me as if I was a baby in the crib.

Little did he know I was a dragon in disguise.

My smile widened. “I loooove parties.”

Drayard shot me a covert look. I expected the question in my mind, but I only heard my thoughts.

“Who doesn’t love parties?”

I kept beaming, unsure what to answer to that.

At last, he turned more serious. “Nadira will show you your bedroom while Drayard and I indulge in some man talk.” He looked at Nadira over his shoulder. “Sister darling, would you mind showing her Tatyana’s room?”

Why was he giving me Tatyana’s room?

Lifting the skirt of the sky-blue gown, Nadira descended the dais in quick but elegant steps.

I followed her, conscious of Kyrel’s presence behind me.

Keep your eyes open, Drayard warned me before I left the throne room.

The room Nadira led me to was more colossal than any of the other bedrooms I’d been inside. This time, I didn’t have to feign the awe reflecting on my face when the room was the fanciest I’d ever seen in my life.

Pale pink and white prevailed, but occasionally, there were light shades of brown, too. The room was so regal, with a tinge of femininity to it. No one who entered it could mistake it for anything other than a princess’s bedroom.

“If you don’t like it, there are ample unoccupied rooms in the castle.”

I’d forgotten that I wasn’t alone here. Nadira had been observing me this whole time instead of keeping her eyes on her feet, as she usually did.

The room wasn’t my style; it was too light. But it would break my created character if I told her I wished to see other rooms.

Besides, I didn’t expect to stay here long enough for it to become my permanent room.

The castle would not become my home.

“No, this is lovely.” I managed to sound as jovial as possible, adding a smile equivalent to the sunshine.

“Would you like me to stay, or should I go?”

Why would I want her to stay?

I wanted nothing to do with my biological family, as they were full of horrible people with strange sexual preferences. But I had to stay here for some time, at least for a sufficient amount, to cross off the things on my made-up mental list I had to do while being here, acting as this stupid meek girl who believed everybody else was above her.

“No, I think I want to stay alone for a bit.”

She smiled. “If you need something, tell the guard.”

“Will do.”

As soon as she left, I dropped the smile, but then I remembered Kyrel was hovering outside the balcony.

I neared it and opened the doors wide. The balcony was overlooking the rainforest. The castle was so big it towered over the trees in the distance.

“I’ll be alright, Kyrel,” I said into nothing. “You can go.”

A bat turned into the form of a man.

“King’s orders, Princess Elynn,” he said. “I must obey them.”

“Call me Elynn. There’s no need to be this official when we’re alone.”

Apart from it, the princess title and all it entailed irked me in general but being called one surpassed them all. Only the dryad prince could call me Princess Elynn and Drayard when he was in a playful mood. Other than that, I detested my title because it reminded me of the fact that my birth parents weren’t Meira and Gerald but total strangers. If only there was a way to change the bloodline keeping me tied to these abhorrent people, I’d do it in a heartbeat.

I turned back to the room and approached the enormous wardrobe. I opened the doors, only to find nothing in it.

I made a mental note to ask for some clothes, as I wasn’t going to wear the same dress forever.

“May I ask a question?” Kyrel inquired behind me.

“Depends on what you’re going to ask.” I approached the dressing table.

“Are you and the King together romantically?”

I paused my movements, fingers poised over a drawer.

“No,” I said, ignoring the flashbacks of kissing him twice and making him come with my mere hand.

I opened the drawer. It was also empty.

“I want to be left alone.” I rose to my feet and turned to the bat boy. “Can you leave me, please?”

He hesitated, but my stare at him was so firm, he relented. “Of course, Prin—Elynn.”

As he turned into a bat, he flew out to the balcony, but I knew he didn’t leave and would stay close by because of Drayard’s orders.

I combed through the rest of the room, checked the bathroom, finding nothing. All the furniture had been emptied. No presence of Tatyana remained. No wonder when she was considered an embarrassment to the family.

And that was because she had fallen for whom she shouldn’t have.

Sighing, I fell on the bed. The soft mattress sank beneath me, and I closed my eyes to let them rest a minute, dozing off instead.

I woke up when the colours of the sunset were pouring in through the windows and balcony doors left ajar. As I rolled away from the light, my body touched something firm.

Afraid, I raised my eyes. And once I beheld who it was, my whole body went numb.

The man grinned down at me. “Good evening, Sunflower.”

XXXVI

I HADN’T SEEN HIM SINCE the Winter Masquerade, nor thought about him since the Mating Ritual.

Those icy eyes were sparkling with familiar mischief, and his lips were curled into a smirk that must melt hearts.

But instead of being affected by his tangible charm, dread crossed me, making me jump off the bed.

He chuckled. “Are you scared of your own soulmate, Elynn Haroun?”

I took another step back, causing his smile to grow bigger. “You lived half a year with the most frightening man on the planet, and the one who scares you is me? Isn’t it strange?”

“The difference between him and you is that I know I can expect anything from him, but you … I know nothing about you.”

“Then we should change that.” He patted the place I’d laid a minute ago. I looked at it with distaste. “Don’t be shy now.”

“How did you find me?”

He clasped his hands behind the back of his head, acting as if he owned the place. “Isn’t this Tatyana’s bedroom? How do you feel about sleeping where your mother used to sleep?”

“You didn’t answer my question, Reuel.”

He shrugged his one shoulder. “Don’t soulmates have this ability to find each other wherever they are?”

I clenched my teeth at his nonsensical answer. “What brought you here? How did you get in?”

“I assumed you’d forgotten about me and came to check, make sure you didn’t.”

“Trust me, I wish I could.”

He put his hand on his chest, pretending that my words wounded him. But then he laughed and raised his head higher—the move conveying conviction. “Whatever you’re feeling for the dragon boy is going to fade away some day. You two aren’t meant to be. We are.”

“I don’t feel anything for Drayard, and I most certainly don’t believe you and I are meant to be.”

He swung his legs out of bed. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong.” He slowly approached me with his hands clasped behind his back. “The least I care about is your little crush. Eventually, we’re going to find our way to each other, but for now, you can explore your relationship with him, Sunflower.”

He walked past me onto the balcony.

I whirled to face him. “How did you get here?”

He glanced at me over his shoulder and smiled before he vanished without another word.

Right, he could teleport. It had completely slipped from my mind.

The knock on the door arrived a minute later. I approached it and opened it with a stupid smile on my face. Behind it was a girl in a castle’s uniform with a cart in front of her. Hiding my bafflement, I stepped aside, letting her in. She pushed the cart in, but before she left, I asked, “Wasn’t I invited for dinner?”

She avoided my gaze. “I was told to bring a meal to your room, Your Royal Highness.”

She stood for a while until it dawned on me that she wouldn’t leave until I excused her. “Thank you. You may go.”

She curtsied to me before scurrying off. Left alone with a cart of food, I met my reflection in the mirror and gave myself a confused look.

If they didn’t invite me to eat together like a royal family, perhaps my act hadn’t worked as well as I wanted. They didn’t trust me enough to have me at their dining table. Not yet, at least.

As I was drinking the tea, a knock sounded again. I swallowed the sip and said in a sweet voice, “Come in.”

As the door swung open, it revealed another handsome man. He stepped inside and closed the door. His eyes scanned the room before they paused on me.

My heart jumped.

I had to murder all those butterflies fluttering for the man who had sentenced my sister to her death. This was getting ridiculous.

“Why were you acting out of character earlier?”

I took a delicate sip of the tea, staying silent to assume suspiciousness.

He shoved one hand into the pocket. “I know you, Elynn, and that was not you down there.”

I rested my teacup on the matching saucer. “Did you expect me to be myself in front of a man who, despite his claims, may or may not wish for my death?” I asked. “My real character is hard to tolerate, and if I displayed it in front of them, how could I be certain I wouldn’t be signing my own death warrant?”

Although all I’d just said was one hundred percent true, I also hushed up the other, the main reason behind my act.

Throughout all my indirect encounters with Nayden, I’d got a grasp of his predilections. He preferred quiet, obedient, meek girls. The only way to get near him without appearing suspicious was to become the definition of what, in his opinion, a “female” should be.

The person I loathed even to pretend to be.

Lesser than men, obeying their every order, agreeing with everything they said, whether they were right or not, and keeping opinions to myself. Because “a good girl” didn’t have an opinion to begin with.

But I was willing to be one if it meant my revenge was fulfilled.

If Drayard was going to take my word for granted, I officially had learnt how to avoid him tracking my plans. I didn’t break eye contact with him as he inspected me with an intense stare.

At last, he sighed and turned to the mirror, fixing the collar of his jacket.

“I’m going to have to come back to the castle. If I stay here any longer, Nayden will suspect things.”

Did it mean he bought the reason behind my uncharacteristic behaviour? I hoped that he did.

“Doesn’t he already think we’re sleeping together?”

The question left him unfazed, to my dissatisfaction. “I’m positive he is, but he doesn’t have any proof. And so what if he thinks that we do? The archaic contact doesn’t exist anymore. I can marry you if I wish to.”

I scoffed. “No, you can’t.”

“Yes,” he agreed, “you’re right. I can’t.”

He turned around and took a seat on the armchair adjacent to the balcony. He released one button from its buttonhole and scrubbed his face with his hands.

“What does the blood oath do exactly?” I asked, and he stopped scrubbing his face. “Is there anything special about it? It must be, as you hesitated to do it.”

“It …” he paused. I could tell he didn’t want to answer, but I waited. “We did a blood exchange, Elynn. Unlike a magical oath, this one is not terminable. We can never break it, and now we’re tied more than before. If you get hurt somewhere, I’ll feel a mark appear in the same place, and if I get hurt, you’ll be notified about it the same way.”

“I don’t see how it’s a bad thing.”

He said nothing for a while until he turned his head to me. “What was up between you and Nathair back in the rainforest?”

I stared at him, not hiding my annoyance at his attempt to change the topic.

But I wasn’t the only one to sense the tension between me and the snake morph. Drayard had, too. I still wasn’t sure what to make of it. “I’m not sure.”

“Are you?”

Two parts of me were warring with each other. One wanted to tell him my concerns about Nathair while the other demanded to keep my opinion to myself. In the end, the former won.

“I have a bad feeling about him.”

He fell into pensiveness before he spoke. “It’s normal to have a bad feeling about someone. I have an intense bad feeling about Nayden. You’re here for a reason, which I can’t figure out.”

“That’s why you were with him all this time?” I placed the teacup on the bedside table. “I thought you recalled the good old times with a glass of whiskey.”

He ignored my tease. “Not only for that. We also discussed some political matters you might not be interested in.”

“Then make me interested.”

“It’s boring.”

“I don’t believe that. I think there’s something you’re not telling me.”

There was silence, then he relaxed into the armchair. “The tension in the Realm of Bones is rising.”

“What tension?”

“Humans are threatening Asenah, saying that if she doesn’t release all humans from slavery, they’ll continue sending dead morphs in their beast shape on her mansion’s doorstep.”

I’d expected diplomacy, economy, but not this.

“How long have they been doing it?”

“Two weeks.”

Malignant pride engulfed me.

Humans were rebelling, which was about time.

“I don’t get Asenah’s logic. If she’s receiving dead morphs on her doorstep, then why doesn’t she concede humans to them?”

“She can’t do that.”

I frowned. “And why is that?”

“Because if she gives them what they wish, it’ll prompt humans to act more brutal, achieve more, potentially incite a war.”

I let out a laugh. “Humans against the beasts. Yeah, I wonder who’s going to win.”

“Elynn … you’re underestimating your kind. If humans team up—which I guess they’re doing right now—with hunters and sorceresses, they can do a lot of damage to the empire.”

But I hardly believed that. “So, what’s the plan to stop them from rebelling?”

“Send them body parts of their own kind.”

My eyes widened. “Drayard.”

“It’s cruel, but there’s no other way.”

I rose to my feet, clenching my hands into fists. “Of course there is. Not to be brutal. Why do you people have to respond to cruelty with cruelty? All it will do is raise more tension, more animosity in the future. If humans have a goal, they’re going to go for it. And sending pieces of their kind to them isn’t going to douse the flame but stoke it.”

He smiled, making me frown.

“Do you think this is funny?”

“No, I think the same thing.”

Now he baffled me. “What? But you said …”

“It was Nayden’s idea to respond to cruelty with cruelty, not mine. I talked him out of it.”

I stared at him and his adorable, proud smile. With a shake of my head, I dropped back onto the bed. “You’re unbelievable.” I took a heavy gulp of the cooled tea. “Were you testing me or something?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“For the sake of curiosity.”

“Curiosity?” I huffed. “Really?”

“For what else do you think I would test you if not to satisfy my own curiosity, Elynn?”

“Oh, you’re not playing this mind game with me.”

He grinned.

“Anyway …” I placed the mug back on the bedside table, taking his word as given. Perhaps it was to satisfy his curiosity, not for some other hidden reason, even if I had a hard time believing it. “What did you propose to stop the rebellion instead?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

I stared at him in disbelief, unbelieving that he hadn’t intervened in it.

“Nothing so far. There’s going to be a meeting with Nayden’s council next week to which I’m invited. The decision will be made then. But I’m not going.”

“Why?”

“It’s not my problem anymore. They can do whatever they want, and I shall focus on my kingdom, not the empire to which I don’t belong anymore.”

“But rebellion can move to your lands.”

“It can’t because I keep no humans in slavery. They have no reason to rebel against me, or else it would be irrational. Of course, I’m worried about the empire. The rebellion might turn into a war, but the chances are small. It’s possible to avoid bloodshed. A challenge to do that when the man sitting on the throne feels indescribable hatred towards humans and behaves like a child, but he has powerful people in his council. Ariel is wise. I trust him with talking Nayden out of committing stupid actions if Nayden shares his ideas instead of taking matters into his own hands again.”

“Does this mean you’re one hundred percent sure there won’t be a war?”

“No, a war will be at some point, but not with humans. Not all people can stay in peace forever.”

My eyes narrowed into slits. “With enchanters, then?”

“Enchanters have access to morphs’ troops. I’m positive they have enough army of their own if someday, as the second-in-command said, the war with the other continents occurred. They don’t need the empire’s forces to aid them, but they’re planning something to do with it sooner or later.”

“Do you think that Kalani will destroy morphs’ armies so they won’t hamper their attempt to conquer the Empire of Beasts, making them easy to overtake Nayden?”

He looked at me, amazed. “That’s it, Elynn. I need you to be my advisor.”

That put a smile on my face and made me roll my eyes at the same time.

“I’m serious. I’ll grant you money.”

His offer was so absurd, it got a chuckle out of me.

“Is that a yes?”

I turned serious. “No, Drayard, I can’t accept that. You know how much I dislike morphs, and letting me anywhere near the government would be foolish.”

He smiled faintly. “The offer is always on the table in case you change your mind.”

I nodded, but I knew I wasn’t going to.

The room settled into silence. An uncomfortable knot was spreading over my chest while I was preparing myself to ask something that I’d been eager to learn for a while.

“Go on,” he said. “Tell me what’s bothering you.”

I could lie and say nothing was bothering me, but he would see right through me.

“What happened to you after the war?”

As if the armchair electrified him, he shot up. “I should go,” he said. “It’s getting dark.”

He headed towards the balcony, his wings spreading in one swift motion.

But before he flew away, I sprang to my feet and reached for him, touching his wing.

I jerked my hand away as quickly as I touched it, retreating half a step.

I shouldn’t have touched his wing, as it was a very intimate part of him attached to his soul.

Drayard glanced over his shoulder, and I detected no sign of unsettlement, annoyance, or anything similar other than mild heartache.

“You already deem me a monster. Why should I widen the picture more?”

I swallowed the uncomfortable lump that had appeared in my throat after touching his wings. “Because you know mine, but I don’t know yours.”

He turned his head away and made it to the railing, his wings tucking back in place. Propping his elbows on the rails, he tipped his chin towards the sky. I quietly approached him to stand next to him.

“When I came back home after the war, I thought my father was going to be proud of me for leading armies and helping them not lose the war until my last breath.”

“You led armies?” Confusion settled in me. “Didn’t Arragon?”

“No,” he said, “I did.”

“But the books my mother read—”

“I came back home with anticipation that he was going to congratulate me for my feats”—his voice had gone grave, and tension appeared in his shoulders—“but his face was barren of emotion.” He tilted his face slightly to look at me. “Do you know what he did instead of congratulating me and being relieved that I was alive?” His face was stone hard, and I shook my head. “He stole my achievements, telling everyone it was his.”

“But the armies you led had to know better. They knew who had commanded them and who hadn’t.”

“Few survived to tell the story, and not one of them was going to deny it if they didn’t want to be turned into ash.”

If this didn’t prove Arragon wasn’t the worst character that had walked on this planet, I wasn’t sure what else could. Drayard wasn’t a good man either, but he risked his life on the battlefields while his father, being a King, stayed safe and sound in his castle. At least Drayard did what was necessary for the people he ruled.

Including sacrificing my sister to liberate his kingdom.

“Why did you think I was going to regard you more as a monster?”

His eyes were fixed on the top of the trees visible from afar. “You haven’t heard the story when I first fell in love.”

Something unfathomable, like sickness, threaded through my stomach, spreading over me like a disease.

He’s been in love before?

“After the war, I met this woman who was nice to me and didn’t treat me like everybody else. As the Bloodsucker. She was kinder than anybody had ever been to me, and that was all it took to fall for her. But her heart already belonged to another.” He looked down at his palms. “I was fine with it. To love someone who didn’t love me back.”

“Because nobody has ever loved you back,” I said out loud and wished I hadn’t.

His smile was bland. “Yeah, well … I’m used to it.” His smile faded. “The man she was with heard from somewhere that I’d slept with her, which wasn’t true. He was positive she betrayed him and didn’t let Inerys explain herself. He slaughtered her in her sleep.”

“Now that’s just brutal.”

He didn’t confirm my words nor reacted to them but continued, lost in the memory. “He escaped the penalty and only had to pay a few coins, but her life could not be determined by money. I couldn’t bear the injustice. If the court couldn’t give him justice, then I could, so I slashed off his wings.” His eyes flashed to me. “He screamed. It felt good to hear his scream, Elynn.” A hint of fire danced in his irises, letting me know he didn’t regret it one bit. “I loved it.”

He was trying to intimidate me, but I was undaunted. Not even a fracture.

“He deserved it.”

Bewilderment struck his face.

I laid my hand on his forearm, and his eyes shifted to it before it returned to me again.

“He deserved more than getting his wings cut off.” I took a step towards him. “He deserved to be tortured by killing someone innocent.”

He swallowed, and the bulge in his throat moved.

“Elynn …”

“You have no idea how I wish you had nothing to do with my sister’s death and Kristian’s brainwashing. But I can’t help myself and …” My hand rose to his face, which I caressed with my knuckles. His eyes went crystal, pinching my heart. I battled my own tears, as I said, “Is this the right time to teach me how to dance the tango?” I drew in a nervous breath. “With you?”

XXXVII

I TOOK HIS HAND and traced his fingers against my neck, dragging them down the stretched-out line. When his fingers brushed across my collarbone, it seemed like he ceased to breathe.

“You want this,” I tried to coax him into taking the lead, but he remained still.

“But I can’t have this.”

“You can.”

I guided his hand down the valley of my—

He jerked his hand away before I could catch it. “No, Elynn. I can’t.”

I bristled. “Are you seriously rejecting me?”

“I’m not rejecting you.”

“Oh, really?” I jerked my chin up. “Because that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

We stared at each other for quite a while, but in the end, his shoulders fell with a sigh. “I killed your sister, and you want to give your body to her murderer?” he said. “Is that what you really want?”

I clenched my jaw, averting my gaze to the trees. I could have gone to Tatyana’s bedroom instead, but for some reason, I stayed. No, not for some reason. I knew why I stayed, and I only hated myself more for it, but I couldn’t help it. I couldn’t help how much I enjoyed his company.

I hadn’t even noticed his approach until I felt the leather of his glove against my skin. He gently turned my head, making me face his gaze.

“Is that what you really want, Elynn?”

“I don’t think I can hold on anymore,” I murmured.

“Hold on from what?”

I pulled away from him, gnawing at the inside of my mouth.

I wasn’t going to say it. Not to me. Not to him, certainly.

“Forget it.” I turned towards the doors. “Good night, Drayard.”

I walked inside, but as I turned to close the doors, Drayard put his hand on one, stopping me. My heart stuttered, and his eyes moved to my chest as if he sensed the increase of my heartbeat. But of course, he did, for I heard his. Unsteady … Rapid.

He raised his eyes back to mine. “Good night, Elynn.”

His hand dropped, and when he was about to turn around, I grasped his wrist and pulled him inside, smashing my lips against his. Surprised, he jerked his head back but didn’t leave.

“Elynn, I—”

“Stop, all right? I want you. I want you all. Do I have to scream to let the whole world know? Because I can, and I will. I will scream. I—”

His lips against mine shushed me. He smiled, lifting me up so suddenly and unexpectedly, a light yelp flew out of my mouth. I planted my hands on each side of his face, and as our tongues touched, the world around us melted into nothing.

The kiss became intense fast. But naming it kissing would be too gentle for what we were actually doing. It had become feral, like it was a matter of time which one of us was going to devour the other first, but neither of us stopped, continuing to conquer each other’s mouths.

I moaned in delight, gripping at him harder. He, too, made a noise I hadn’t heard before in his throat, stoking up the flames of desire flaring between us.

I had never believed I’d be able to feel what I was feeling now.

The butterflies in my stomach.

The heat below my belly.

And the feeling as if my heart was about to explode.

My back touched something solid, and his lips took a break from my mouth, coasting down my neck until he nipped the spot that made my head fall back and my eyes roll back at the pleasure. “Oh … dear Gods.”

“If you’re so pious,” he whispered against my burning skin, “save those prayers. You’ll need them soon.”

He pressed his lips to my raising chest. One sleeve of my dress slipped down, baring my right breast. His mouth closed around the nub, and once he sucked it in with his teeth, I arched my back into his touch.

He let go and was about to move onto the other one, but I grasped his chin with my fingers and captured his mouth with mine. He moved from the wall and deposited me on the armchair. As he was leaning away, he pulled down my dress, then my bloomers. He looked at me from above, his eyes scanning every inch of my naked body. I bit my finger, making him groan.

“Elynn.”

I batted my eyelashes innocently.

He rested his hands on the armchair’s arms as his face hovered over mine. I made to reach for his lips because I couldn’t get enough of them, but he withdrew. “How can I do this right with you?”

I rolled my eyes at his considerate side and grabbed his shirt, tugging him close. “I appreciate your concerns, Dray, but right now, all I need is you.” I lifted my hips, brushing my crotch against him. “Right about here.”

He favoured me with that disarming smile of his, sending a spasm to my lady bits. “My fingers, my tongue, or … my dick?”

All, I thought, but said, “Surprise me.”

I released his shirt, leaving him to his final choice. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected, but when he dropped to his knees before me, that wasn’t it.

I kneel to no one but myself, his voice from half a year ago echoed in my mind.

“May I?” he asked.

I had never heard anything like it before, and the question was so unforeseen, I was rendered speechless. Nobody had ever asked me for my permission before, but here one man did, on his both knees before me, waiting for me to say yes or no if I changed my mind.

And there was no doubt in my mind that he wouldn’t get angry if I rejected him. He might be disappointed, but he would not release it on me, keeping it to himself because he respected me and my choices.

And now my choice was him.

“Yes,” I breathed, nodding my head excitedly. “I’m all yours, Dray.”

A smile of contentment painted his lips, and he removed his gloves. As he tossed them away, his nose grazed my ankle, planting a kiss there. His kisses slowly moved up while his hands were on my thighs. As his mouth was close to my inner thigh, he raised his head to me. “Hi.”

I chuckled. “Hi.”

He rose to his knees and kissed the scar on my stomach. I tensed.

He took my hand, pressing a kiss on another scar. Not only was I starting to grow more tense but more annoyed.

A hardly perceptible smile touched the corner of his lips, as though he sensed my annoyance and was entertained by it. Saying nothing, he accommodated my legs on his shoulders.

“What?”

“Hmm?” His lips pressed against my inner thigh, his hum sending vibrations through my skin.

“Why did you smile like that?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

There was something he wasn’t saying, but I didn’t mind urging him to voice what that was when there was something else coming I was too excited about. Besides, I didn’t want to ruin the mood or scare him away somehow.

Something wet and warm flicked over my thigh. His tongue. I clutched the arms of the chair.

I’d thought a lot about what his face would look like between my thighs, and now here it was, the image so lifelike, yet unbelievable right in front of me. No way this could be real.

It is real.

His voice in my head assured me that indeed it wasn’t some dream but reality. Maddening and exciting. Insane, yet thrilling.

He stroked my left thigh with the rough pad of his thumb, trailing his tongue dangerously close to where I was soaked but never reaching the place, playing with my patience.

“Dray …”

He continued doing so, impervious to my urging.

“Dray,” I warned.

His laugh was warm against my skin.

And then he licked me.

I rested my head against the armchair as he journeyed through the wetness that appeared from all the kisses with a single ridiculously slow swipe. He pulled me closer, and it didn’t take him long to lose the control I’d been waiting for him to let go of, unleashing himself on me.

“Oh …” My eyes shut and claws replaced my nails, sinking into the expensive leather.

Cover your mouth. We don’t need any witnesses.

As he pleased, I clamped my hand over my mouth and the rest of my moans warmed my palm, coming out muffed.

His tongue slid inside me, but it left as fast as it entered. As I was about to cry in protest, I felt his fingers in me.

He bit the flesh of my thigh, and his fingers didn’t stop, driving me closer to the edge.

He didn’t pause. He kept going. Bite by bite. Stroke by stroke. Swipe by swipe. Pumping his fingers in and out. In and out. In and out.

“Dray …”

The sensation building up inside of me was so foreign and addicting, I didn’t want to let go of it. But I knew if he wasn’t going to stop, it would break through me in seconds, and I didn’t want that now. It was too fast, and I desired him to keep worshipping me with his fingers, teeth, and tongue.

It was as long as I could take. As I reached the peak, I crashed into the pool of pleasure I’d never experienced before. My body shook as my hips bucked against him. His hands tightened on me to still me while controlled moans ceased coming from my lips. He slowed down, and his fingers slid out of me.

With my chest rising heavily, I opened my eyelids only to witness him drawing his tongue across me, licking me clean. I bit my lip to stifle a moan.

At last, our eyes met. And as if what he’d just done wasn’t enough, he put his glistening fingers in his mouth, tasting them while maintaining eye contact with me.

This time, I couldn’t suppress a moan.

I needed him now. Naked on the floor with me on top.

“And how do I taste?” I said with a heavy pant.

Standing back up, he pulled his fingers from his mouth. “Like this.”

Our tongues met.

His lips carried a taste of me, and I completely shattered against him.

He was a drug, and I was addicted. But I didn’t care.

He collected me back into his arms and laid me on the soft mattress. He pulled back while removing his jacket. I adjusted myself on my elbows, watching him unbutton his shirt like a ravenous feline. As he finished with the buttons, he tried to remove the shirt, but it snagged on his wings, unlike the jacket he’d got rid of swiftly.

Before I could ask if he needed help, he ripped it off, exposing his copper chest in all its perfect, yet imperfect, glory.

“Someone’s impatient.”

He removed the last pieces of what was left of his shirt. “When such a gorgeous naked woman is looking at me like that, I am.”

I rose to my quivering knees and surveyed his body shamelessly. His half naked physique in all muscles, tattoos, and scars. I wanted to touch him, but I didn’t just yet. “So you’re impatient with every gorgeous naked woman who gives you bedroom eyes?”

“Do I really need to say that you’re the only one to please you?”

I looked up at him from under my lashes. “Why is that even a question?”

He chuckled and leaned over, brushing my hair behind my ear. “You’re the only one that makes a madman out of me, driving me out of control,” he said. “Now, go on.” He leaned back. “Touch me.”

Lick me. He didn’t say it aloud or in my head, but he didn’t need to. His expectant eyes spoke instead.

I dragged my fingertips against his firm chest, exploring him tentatively as if playing the piano for the first time. It didn’t differ much. Every press of his well-defined muscles was like pressing a piano key, and the music was his unsteady breathing. But nothing was angelic or divine about it. It was pure sin.

I looked up from his chest, meeting his lustful gaze and held it until I bit him softly. A low growl came from his mouth, encouraging me to continue. But I took my time going down, torturing him like he’d tormented me.

“Elynn.” His voice was a whisper, but it was enough to wish I could bottle it up.

“Say it again,” I muttered against his stomach. “My name.”

“Elynn …”

I closed my eyes, enjoying the sound of my name leaving his mouth as I trailed my tongue along his waist, tasting the salt of his sweat.

He brushed the hair away from my cheeks while I grasped his pants and hastened to undo them. Once I captured his mouth, I tugged him to me, falling with him on the soft mattress. He smiled, letting out a chuckle, prompting a giggle out of my mouth as well.

I wrapped my legs around his waist. He deepened the kiss, pressing me harder into the mattress. But before he took full control, I rolled us over, straddling him. I finished his trousers, and he helped me remove them. I kissed his chest, his nipple, went down and down, pulling down his drawers until he was all exposed to me.

I traced my finger over his erected length, but before I could take him in my mouth, he turned me over where he was on top of me.

“Hey, that’s not fair.”

“I’m about to explode, and I don’t want to do that in your mouth, Elynn.”

As his cock pressed against my entrance, the bed began to tremble, but his kiss was fogging and I became oblivious of our surroundings.

The walls began quivering.

His fiery fingers ran across my spine, and I bit his bottom lip.

He growled.

My smile was a sin.

Everything around us continued shaking, but neither of us cared about the earthquake.

I was about to guide him in, when, as if struck by thunder, he jumped back.

I propped on my elbows, baffled. “Is something wrong?”

There was no fire in his eyes anymore but fear.

I sat up, my heart pounding. “Dray?”

He reached for his drawers on the floor and pulled them on.

“Dray, what is it?”

He looked at me, his eyes apologetic. “We can’t,” he almost whispered.

I realised then that the room had stopped trembling.

“No …” I shook my head. “No, no. Stop.” I got off the bed, poised to reach him, but he took a big step back.

“I’m sorry.” He was backing away towards the balcony. “It shouldn’t have happened. I went too far. I should have controlled myself. I’m sorry.”

He turned, spread his wings wide, and shot into the air.

“Dray!”

I grabbed his shirt and ran out onto the balcony while putting it on. I nearly fell over the railings as I gripped them, watching the small figure disappear above the clouds.

I’m sorry, Elynn, he said in my head.

I refused to believe it, hoping it was some kind of sick joke or another way for him to play with me, but the undeniable emptiness was spreading within my chest with each passing minute, overtaking my madly beating heart. I stared at the night sky, but the anticipation of him coming back was decreasing.

He wasn’t going to return.

My hands tightened around the railings in a white-knuckled grip as tears welled up in my eyes.

Like a foolish girl, I watched the sky, waiting for him to show up. I waited and waited and waited …

But he never appeared again.

The sorrow transformed into fury.

And the fire replaced my tears.

“You’re going to pay for this,” I whispered, conscious of the stars being the sole witnesses of the promise I made.

Part IV: Notes of Epiphany & Truth

XXXVIII

THE NEXT MORNING, the human maid helped me to prepare for breakfast to which I was invited this time. Nobody talked at the table—the climate in the dining room was worse than the coldest night in winter. Nayden was reading a newspaper on the other end of the table while Nadira kept her eyes on the food, like me.

Halfway through the breakfast, Nayden spoke. “Weird, wasn’t it yesterday? The earthquake out of nowhere?”

Whereas Nadira replied with a nod, I continued keeping my eyes on the plate.

It shouldn’t have happened. I went too far. I should have controlled myself. I’m sorry.

I felt like an idiot. An utter fool. I wanted to yell at myself for even initiating that with him, but also … from where had the earthquake come?

“Are you all right, Elynn?”

Nadira’s question directed at me caught me off guard. It took me a moment to realise that the tears had gathered in my eyes, but instead of assuring her everything was more than all right, I permitted myself to let out a sob.

My sobs filled the quiet. It was awkward, but I didn’t refrain from crying. Nadira’s white-gloved hand covered mine, and I stifled the urge to slap it away.

“What’s wrong, dear?”

I hated her concerning tone because I knew better than to believe it.

“He …” I almost choked on my tears. “He …”

“He who?”

I sobbed again and let go of the fork. It clattered against the plate as I clutched at my chest. “What took you so long to come to my rescue? Uncle Nayden?” I faced Nayden’s blue gaze. “Aunt Nadira?” My eyes moved to her. “What took you so long to save me … save me from the rapist?”

Nadira’s eyes widened as the realisation settled in her, but now I was focused on Nayden. “He’s not only a killer, Uncle. You have no clue what I had to go through being left with him on the island. All alone with him. He’s … He’s a monster.”

Unable to maintain eye contact, Nayden looked down.

“I’m sorry.”

It was a whisper that came from Nadira’s mouth, but I wasn’t sure if I had misheard it. I didn’t ask, however, as I cried, and she held my hand while repeating, “You are safe now.”

But I’d never felt as unsafe as I did now.

The Princess Welcoming Celebration was supposed to be hosted next week; meanwhile, I focused on the role I was playing in the castle, doing just about anything to distract myself from what happened the night he fled.

And I was doing a pretty good job.

After feeding Nayden with a lie, I’d become an official member of the Haroun family. I wasn’t excluded from anything, except for the meetings with his council, as it wasn’t deemed appropriate for a woman to attend one.

At first, I didn’t even know where his meetings took place. I had to do some snooping around the complex castle, where I got lost several times, but in the end, I discovered not only the meeting room but a secret passage leading to it from the library.

Now I believed every castle’s library had a secret passageway in the Empire of Beasts.

Since Drayard had mentioned there was a big meeting next week, I went to eavesdrop every day since I’d discovered the passage. The meetings always happened in the morning, but I’d never heard something worth staying, unlike today.

“Who could possibly be stealing them?” Nayden’s voice sounded in the room.

I leaned against the wall.

“Enchanters might be,” someone unfamiliar said in a matter-of-fact tone. The voice of a man, of course.

“No, they don’t need some human witches.” I recognised Ariel’s honeyed voice. “It’s not a secret that human deaths from the plague took a sharp drop last week. The witches have been gone for two weeks. They are the only ones who could have found the cure.”

“That can’t be possible,” Nayden contradicted.

“Humans live among us. Guards, maids … They could have helped humans sneak into the castle and steal them,” the same voice of another man suggested.

“Humans are stupid, Demian,” Nayden said. “They would never sneak into the castle unspotted.”

“Dara noted we should never underestimate humans, Your Highness,” Demian stated.

“And our ancestors also taught us not to listen to anything leaving a female’s mouth that is more than three words,” Nayden retorted.

Silence settled in for some time.

“The Summer Solstice is coming.” Ariel changed the topic. “No lists of sixteen-year-olds have arrived yet.”

“What?” Nayden hissed.

I felt myself smiling.

Of course, they wouldn’t get any lists anymore. I’d told Genette about the lie about morphs’ inability to get into the Mortal Region and hurt them, unlike it was believed for so many years. Genette must have spread the news before she’d been hauled out of the region. Why should humans continue offering sixteen-year-olds when morphs couldn’t even get to them?

“The lists usually arrive in the spring, but they haven’t yet. It’s either they know something is odd about the offering, or they are testing our patience,” Ariel surmised.

“What about my cousin?” Demian asked. “She grew up with humans. Ever since we learnt about her existence, strange things have been happening in the empire. Humans threatening Asenah, the hunters’ attack in the Realm of Bones, lost witches, and now no lists? Don’t you think the girl has to do something with it?”

He was talking about me.

He’d called me his cousin.

Oh, dear Gods, how many cousins did I have?

And the attack in the Realm of Bones? I was hearing it for the first time ever.

Did Drayard know?

“Have you seen her? Have you spoken to her? My niece is nothing like Tatyana or that imbecile Aytigin. She’s just as stupid and naïve as all humans are. She is too dimwitted to be the culprit.”

Instead of getting angry at Nayden’s words, a smile curled at the corner of my lips.

He’d bought my act. As long as he was going to regard me as this nothing but stupid and gullible thing, the better my plan would go.

“Do we believe that the Bloodsucker assaulted her?” Demian inquired.

“Of course not. He must have hurt my niece’s feelings to make her spout falsehoods. You know how females are. Vengeful, angry, temperamental creatures. But who cares anyway? I don’t.”

My hands balled into fists.

“Speaking of the King of Embers,” Ariel chimed in. “I didn’t buy the reason behind his eagerness to annul the archaic contract between lions and dragons. What if he did that not to be independent but to make Elynn his wife?”

Nayden laughed. “Oh, Ariel. Silly silly, Ariel. Don’t you know the reason why the archaic contract was created? Yes, Ariel. You remember. Drayard would never challenge the Gods. Who would like to get in their way? He could marry her but never consummate the marriage. If he was family material, which he’s not. He’s just like his father. He would die alone and unloved because monsters always end up that way. Moreover, the letter has already been sent to the east. I’m sure she’ll be betrothed soon and disappear out of my sight. At least it will ensure peace between my empire and the east after Tatyana’s treason.”

Dumbfounded by what Nayden had just spilled, I rested my head against the wall, trying to breathe. Although I was shocked by the betrothal I hadn’t signed up for, it didn’t beat another piece of information I’d received—the missing pieces of the puzzle I’d been trying to crack ever since my last meeting with the glosse.

“What should we do about the stolen witches?” Demian asked, but I was too overwhelmed to stay here and continue listening to them.

I stepped out of the secret passageway, emerging in the library.

“Elynn?”

I flinched as I closed the door. Breathing in, I turned to Nadira. I wasn’t sure if she saw me close the bookshelf. If she had, should I be worried that she was going to tell? Most likely, yes.

I forced a smile, although I felt like throwing up more. “Hello, Aunt Nadira.”

She inspected my face. “Is something wrong?”

As if she cared.

“No, nothing has ever been as good as it is now.” I grabbed a random book from the bookshelf. “Just came for this.”

I brushed past her.

“I saw on your face that something is wrong, Elynn. You can tell me what it is.”

I hastened my steps and left the library, pretending like I didn’t hear her. As I reached the stairs, the click of her heels against the floor echoed behind me.

Could she stop following me?

After a few unconscious turns in the castle, I entered the veranda. I took a deep, long breath of the fresh air and grasped the railings, trying to breathe, breathe and breathe.

Kinds created, souls separated.

I closed my eyes.

Keep breathing. Keep breathing. Keep breathing.

It’s a Gods’ game, their stringless puppets.

Drayard would never challenge the Gods. Nayden’s words echoed in my head.

Once a divided soul combines—it’s the end of their kind.

It shouldn’t have happened. I went too far. I should have controlled myself. I’m sorry.

It’s a Gods’ game: cruel and unfair.

“Elynn?”

I returned to the present and laughed. Nadira must think that I went crazy, but I couldn’t help it. I laughed. I laughed and laughed and laughed because I solved the riddle.

Dray had left not because he’d changed his mind but because of the earthquake.

And if we kept going, combining our bodies, our souls together, morphs would have perished.

Because Drayard and I were the Gods’ cursed.

XXXIX

NO THOUGHT HAD CROSSED MY MIND that they were going to put me in such a ridiculous gown at the Princess Welcoming Celebration. Were they trying to make a cake out of me?

The human maid of mine named Lisa—who didn’t say a single word to me, regardless of my attempts at conversation—was helping me with the corset. It wasn’t necessary, but, yet again, I was trying to be an actress in my own play and the character I tried to create didn’t have her own opinion. I had to agree with anything, despite my heart or brain’s disapproval.

Lisa helped me to get into the massive peach gown with no slits, leaving my legs covered except for the cleavage. Since I was wearing a corset, my chest was pushed up, and despite my enjoyment of wearing scandalous clothes, this was too much even for me. I could wager strangers would stare nowhere near my eyes tonight.

I despised the gown. It was uncomfortable to move in it, not to mention the corset squeezing my stomach for the sake of accentuating my feminine form. I already wanted to tear it into shreds but kept a smile on my face, loathing it with my entire essence. The sole thing I didn’t hate about my attire was the forehead diadem made of bronze, matching my bracelet.

But I could only hope this fiasco would end soon.

Once she was finished tying the laces, as if on cue, there was a knock on the door before the guard opened it. He bowed to me.

“May I escort you to the ballroom, Your Royal Highness?”

He asked me as if there was a choice. What if I denied? I’d have to go anyway. Without a question.

I flashed him a smile. “Of course.”

I walked behind the guard. The other was following me, as if someone might assassinate me from behind. It could be an option. I’d already run into one assassin. Who would stop someone else from attempting to kill me again?

Once I entered the ballroom, I hadn’t expected to receive much attention right away, but I did. All their eyes were on me. Enemies were gaping at me, but I couldn’t care less. False, false creatures.

“Here she is!” Nayden rose from his throne with his hands extended wide. His broad smile was as false as the artificial sunflowers in the corners of the ballroom. “My pretty niece.”

Pretty. Like I was an accessory put on display and nothing else.

I mustered a smile and curtsied to Nayden. “Your Highness.”

He joined his hands in a clap. “As you all might be already aware, my niece, Elynn Haroun, is an offspring of my traitor sister Tatyana.”

I straightened myself as he began talking to the crowd, smaller than the one in the masquerade, dismissing me. I didn’t like it, but I forced myself to look at him, concealing my annoyance at such a cold treatment.

“She grew up in a mortal family, and she believed she was one of them until she appeared in our world instead of her mortal sister …”

And so, he told my story, the one he had asked me to share with him before. I didn’t tell him every single detail but enough to not make him doubt me or ask any further questions. When he finished, he raised a glass of champagne. “To a new addition to the Haroun family and royal blood. To my niece, Elynn Haroun.”

Morphs lifted their glasses, simpering at me.

I took a glass from a passing servant and raised it in a salute, reciprocating their fake smiles.

I was overwhelmed by the number of men inviting me to dance and royal ladies coming to me to introduce themselves. Their feigned giggles were enough to make me detest them immediately.

After half an hour of discussing their acquaintances’ lives I didn’t know about, and certainly didn’t care to find out about, I excused myself. As I breezed by the waiter, I snatched a glass of wine, dumping its contents down my throat. The glass was already empty when I reached the table.

“Princess of Beasts?”

My eyes almost rolled back, but instead, I summoned a smile I’d been wearing in the past week almost non-stop before raising my head at the man. “I’m sorry, but I’ve danced ten dances straight. I don’t think I’ll be able to do one more.”

He smiled. “I’m not here to invite you for a dance.” His voice sounded oddly familiar, but I couldn’t tell where I’d heard it before. “We haven’t met yet. I’m Demian Fahedos, your cousin.”

I took in his appearance.

Demian must have been Dara’s brother because the family resemblance was mind-blowing. He had the same brown skin and curly hair, and his facial features were very similar. The only differences were that his eyes were brown, instead of a pear shade like his sister’s, and he didn’t emanate mischief as his sister did but rather a gentle and somewhat dignified nature.

“Elynn Start—Haroun.” I stuck out my hand.

He took my hand and shook it. “How was your first week as a princess?”

Awful.

I beamed. “Brilliant.”

“Yes, so I assumed.” But his detached tone of voice betrayed that he wasn’t convinced by my lie. Would this man be a problem? “Could we go chat somewhere more private? There’s something I need to tell you, and the room is full of nosy stuck-up royals.”

Although he was trying to appear friendly, something twisted inside, below my chest. A bad hunch. I shouldn’t go anywhere alone with strangers. Cousin or not, I couldn’t trust any of these people.

But at the same time, I needed some reprieve from the morphs. Their leering eyes, some judgmental, some lecherous, pointed to me.

I stood up. “Lead the way.”

We jostled through the people, and once I left the ballroom, I felt slightly better. I didn’t have to watch every corner when I was left alone with one person instead of a hundred who could do me harm. Even if Demian tried, I was confident I could take him down. He didn’t strike me as a fighter, but then again, his appearance could be as deceiving as his character.

As we turned a corner, something grasped my arm. Before I could scream, a hand clamped over my mouth, and I was pressed against the wall.

It was leather against my mouth.

Anger filtered through me, and I bit his hand. His hands on me loosened enough for me to escape, but before I could get into the hallway, I was jerked back to the wall.

He put his hand on the wall beside me, preventing me from escaping again. “We need to talk.”

I didn’t like him being this close when his smoky scent was all I could smell. “You had your time to talk, and you wasted it. So there’s nothing left for us to talk about.”

“Elynn, you spread a rumour about me. It couldn’t be more untrue. Why would you do that?”

A new, stronger rage surged up in me, but I tried to control it. “Seriously? You have the audacity to ask me why?”

“Is it because I left without explanation the last time we had an encounter?”

I gave him a brief smile before I stomped his foot with my heel and drew out the knife from my sleeve—the hiding place where I’d put it when Lisa had gone to bring a corset. I’d stolen the knife during dinner yesterday, and now I pressed the pointy side to his chest.

“Step back, or this will end up in your heart.”

He looked down at the knife. “Go on.”

His answer took me by surprise. “I’m not kidding, Drayard.”

He wrapped his fingers around my hand, clutching the knife. “Stab me.”

I discerned a familiar flame in his eyes. A challenge.

He either doubted me or it was his way to encourage me to take the challenge, just like he did with the ale challenge. He didn’t think I’d prove him wrong. And he wanted that. To prove him wrong.

Raising my head, I leaned closer to his face, a smile lifting the corner of my lips. “With pleasure.”

I pushed the knife forward, like once I’d planned to plunge the dagger I’d found in the library in his chest but failed pathetically. Even if this dinner knife wasn’t covered in platinum, it was still a weapon, and I didn’t fail now.

He stepped back, astonishment painting his entire face. Had he thought I wouldn’t dare? Had he forgotten I’d tried to poison him a week ago?

But it didn’t matter as I seized my chance to run. As I ran down the corridor, Demian was nowhere to be seen, but I had a feeling he was working for Drayard. Otherwise, someone would have already found me.

The gown slowed me down. If I didn’t want to step on it and greet my inevitable fall from which I wouldn’t be able to stand up without someone’s help, I had to stop.

I halted before the first door I spotted and opened it. But as I tried to close myself inside, a boot jutted out between the door and the jamb.

“We are not near the finishing point. Why are you running?”

I scoffed. “You’re telling me about running? You are the one who always flees!”

“I’m not running again. It’s time to tell you the truth.”

I flung open the door. The knife I’d buried in his chest was gone. The only trace of it was the blotch of blood staining his waistcoat.

“Now it’s time? It was time to tell me the truth since the day you met me! And look where we are now. I accuse you of assault, besmirching your image even more to get your attention so that for once you would realise that hiding things and lying doesn’t make anything better but worse.”

His contrite look melted into suspicion. “Elynn, what do you know?”

“No, you’re going to explain yourself first. I’m waiting.”

He looked around before stepping inside. I took a step back as he closed the door, switching on the lights with his ability alone.

It was the study room. Nayden’s study. I hoped he wouldn’t think of coming here.

“First, I should explain why I left.”

“Please do.” I gestured with my hand.

“I’m sure you felt the tremble when we … touched. And I’m sure you’re wondering why it stopped once we weren’t touching.”

“Oh, Gods.” He couldn’t be serious. “You spoke about the Sinner’s Tango confident before; now you are acting like a teenager. We almost had sex, Dray. We didn’t because the ground trembled, and you got scared, so you left.”

“I didn’t get scared.”

“You got scared because you realised the Gods’ curse is real, and morphs can die once we join our souls.”

Silence sank between us. He didn’t hide the stunned expression on his face.

But I wasn’t proud of myself for figuring this out, despite cracking the riddle the glosse had told me for the first time. And not even a full one.

“How?” he asked, at last.

“Glosse. It told me a riddle during the Mating Ritual night. I cracked it when you left after we touched.”

“I guess,” he said, “I underestimated you.”

Everyone had, everyone did, and everyone would, but I didn’t complain when it put me at the forefront of them all. “I still don’t know why we’re cursed. But you do. Always have.”

He went past me. I followed his every move as he neared the desk. “Not always.”

I tensed up. “Not always?”

He leaned against the desk, facing me. “Gods created the species, but morphs were their most favourite. They were beasts that could destroy humanity, as the book of Gods tells. The Gods had an exceptional fondness for them as they knew someday morphs would be the end of the world. To make it more entertaining for them to watch from their kingdoms, they cursed a soul and sliced it in two, giving one to a male dragon and the other to a female lion. This way, they were supposed to find each other and join their divided souls to fulfil the curse. According to the book, if the soul becomes one, morphs will disappear.

“Because of the curse, lions stayed away from dragons for centuries. They signed a contract to assure that, and Macegan even gave my ancestors an island so they’d keep their distance from the females of his family.”

“So the contract was signed not because Macegan was afraid of dragons stealing his crown?”

“It was his ulterior motive,” he explained, “but the main reason why the contract was signed was to prevent highborn male dragons from mating female lions. Connecting a sliced soul would have brought disaster to morphs. As my ancestors had promised, they stayed away from the women of your family for centuries until my father was born and nobody told him about the Godsʼ curse.”

He fell silent for a while, but his mood always changed dramatically once he reached the topic of his father. “He fell in love with Tatyana and wanted to make her his. Their souls and bodies might have belonged together, but Tatyana gave her heart to Aytigin, risking everything she had only to lose it shortly. My father and your mother were never meant to happen, despite the Gods’ intervention.”

He issued a deep sigh. “But then this one girl opened her little eyes for the first time in the Mortal Region, and here we are now.”

“How can I be sure you’re not making this up?”

He smiled. “You know I’m not.”

I stared at him, searching his face for a lie. But there wasn’t one. What he had told me was the raw, unembellished truth.

“If our souls collide, will it be the end of the morph kind?”

“I suppose so.”

“But how can it all depend on two people? It’s not right.”

“I thought the same thing, taking it as a fable, but after the ground began trembling when we were close to connecting, I realised it’s not, like you said,” he admitted. “To fulfil the curse, the last thing we need to connect is our bodies, which would merge our souls together.”

But that didn’t answer one thing. “But why would you keep it a secret? We can’t join, so what? It is no secret, just a fact.”

“It’s complicated.”

I frowned. “What could be complicated about this? We’re cursed by Gods. End of story. It isn’t like you did this.”

His eyes travelled to the table with a decanter. I clenched my hand, but he didn’t go for it. “I made it up.”

My hand unclenched. “What? The curse?”

He shook his head. “No … the oath.”

“Huh?”

“The magical oath from my father. I don’t have it. It is real, but my father didn’t pass it on to me. I learnt about the enchanters’ raid from my spies, and when I returned, everybody was—”

He grabbed the edges of the table and winced, as though in pain.

“Is something wrong?”

He said nothing.

“Dray?”

He lowered his head, and his expression softened, but he still didn’t say a word. There was something he wasn’t speaking about. Keeping his secrets to himself again.

“Why did you lie about the oath?”

“Because I’m a coward, Elynn.” He raised his head back up. “I built these walls around me to protect myself, and when there was a girl who could break through them only because she had a part of my soul, it frightened me. I lied about the oath to protect myself from the truth. The truth that we’re tied by a stronger power than us, and I’m bound to get attached to you, despite my attempts to fight it. I didn’t even realise when I got attached. And when I did, it was too late.”

A knot formed in the back of my throat, and I couldn’t make myself get rid of it. “When did you realise that?”

“The time I caught myself buying tickets to the concert, convincing myself I was only doing it to do something nice for you and not for something more.”

I swallowed, trying to focus back on where we had been. “If the oath is real, how did you learn about it? Weren’t you engaged in travelling?”

“I returned to Hellrock Castle a few times because of my father’s request to show up once in two years and attend to some duties. And yes, before you ask, I did have those. They entailed attending some events where lords from towns were offering their daughters to me. I always denied them, which Arragon wasn’t happy about, but in those moments of my life, I couldn’t care less about pleasing him. Grandmother was on my side since she’d married out of love instead of duty, but I didn’t trust the woman because she had let a tyrant grow right under her nose.”

He looked down at his hand. “One time, when I was back, there was a new presence in the castle, and I went to investigate. I overheard my father discussing the oath with Tatyana. I caught bits and pieces of the conversation but enough to put them together and conclude that a newborn was coming who needed protection.”

“Did you see her?” I asked. “Pregnant with me?”

“No, I left the Realm of Embers and didn’t think about the oath or the fact that Tatyana contacted my father when she was on the run. I hadn’t thought about any of that until I learnt I had a mate.”

“You are unbelievable.”

“That’s not all.”

“Of course it isn’t.”

How many lies? How many bloody lies he had told me?

But he said nothing.

“What more is there?” I prompted.

“Oh, bloody hells, I’m going!” The voice sounded in the corridor, causing me to go frozen.

“Do not!” Another familiar voice made my body go numb.

The door behind me opened, but I couldn’t turn my head around to look. I couldn’t because I didn’t need to, as I knew exactly who was behind me.

Drayard was staring straight at me while anger with incredulity was warring inside of me. His eyes were the most apologetic I’d ever seen.

But at last, I forced myself to turn around and face what had already been obvious of what I’d behold.

Months had passed since the last time I’d seen them, and neither of them looked like I remembered.

Kristian seemed like he aged three years, dressed in a grey tweed suit jacket and matching trousers along with a waistcoat. His hair was a bit longer but styled neatly as always. My brother looked as if he’d fulfilled his dream and was now working in the government.

And Gen …

She was alive.

I turned back to the liar and strode towards him. He watched me as I stopped half a step away from him and swung my hand, connecting it to his cheek.

The sound of a slap echoed throughout the room while his head flew to the right. My hit was stronger than the previous one. I was stronger. And much angrier.

Once he turned his face back to me, I hissed, “You shall drown in your lies, you bastard.”

XL

NOBODY TALKED. It was as silent as the dinners with Nayden and Nadira I had to bear, but this silence was beyond my endurance.

“I need an explanation,” I stated, my eyes moving from my brother to my sister and stopping at Drayard. “Now.”

Neither of my siblings spoke, but Drayard did. But by now, I was sceptical about everything leaving his mouth. “When you woke up in the mountain house, you were right. Genette was alive. Two hours was the time she took for her to come alive again because she was going through ascension. Your sister is now an Ascended Sorceress, Elynn.”

I caught Gen’s stare. Coldness was radiating from her like biting wind in the winter, but I didn’t feel cold. If anything, I was brimming hot with many emotions, especially betrayal.

“Why didn’t you contact me?” I asked her, but she didn’t answer. “Kristian?” I addressed him. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s not everything,” Drayard said.

My burning eyes shot to him. “Save it, Drayard. I’m not speaking to you.”

Drayard dropped his gaze. Guilt hit his conscience at last. Kristian, on the other hand, swallowed hard, pulling at his collar as though he was uncomfortable.

Indeed, nothing about this situation was comfortable.

“He … he asked not to tell you, Lynn,” Kristian said.

“He asked?” My ears couldn’t believe the nonsense they’d heard. “Don’t you have your own brain, Kristian? Did you like to see me in pain when I believed Gen was dead?” I looked at Gen’s unreadable eyes. “Believing you were dead for these four months?”

I shook my head, taking a step back. “I was blaming myself for it, too. Hells, you both have no clue how I was suffering, and yet here you two are, listening to some stranger instead of your sister you’ve known since day one.”

Tears had welled up in my eyes, and I inhaled to prevent myself from crying.

I won’t cry. I won’t cry.

But then it dawned on me.

“My blood …” I turned to Drayard. “You took my blood,” I said. “You took my blood while I was asleep. You never told me why.”

“It was for ascension. The more blood of various creatures a sorceress consumes before the ascension, the stronger she’ll be.”

An unbelievable laugh escaped me. I pressed my fingers to my mouth, shaking my head over and over. “Seriously, Gen? You entrusted him with your life? The Bloodsucker? You must have known who he was at least?”

“He knew about my grandmother, Lynn,” she said, but I could hardly recognise her voice. It was barren of emotion. Unwelcoming. Cold. Like the cottage after I’d returned from the Empire of Beasts.

“Lucida?”

It was Gen’s second name, given after our grandmother we had never met. The same grandmother from which I’d inherited my odd looks, as Mum had liked to convince me.

“Lucida Meekin,” Drayard said. “Otherwise known as Lucy.”

My heart stilled.

Lucy … the most powerful Ascended Sorceress who had fallen in love with a morph. The same one who had deceived other sorceresses and created the Spell.

“And that got you to trust him?” I inquired of my siblings calmly, regardless of my boiling blood. “You two can’t be serious.”

“No, he also told us about how you’re involved with him,” Gen said.

I flashed the liar an accusing glance. So you tell them but not me?

“He could have lied! Told tales!”

“Neither of us were believers at first, Lynn,” Kristian said in a placating voice, angering me more instead. “But it was before he dropped us your letter. You wrote two pages. No captor would force their captive to write this much and with emotion.”

“You two are unbelievable.” I pushed my hair away, messing up the hairstyle Lisa had spent half an hour on. “Trusting a stranger. A stranger you’d heard monstrous tales about.” I drew in a calming breath. “What are you two even doing here?”

Both of their eyes travelled to Dray. Annoyed, I closed mine for a second before opening them again to look at him as well.

When I wasn’t focused on him, he’d gone to the decanter, for he already held a glass with whiskey. Before he took a sip, I made it fly off his hand and smash into the wall.

Dray’s face went hard. “Elynn—”

“What. Are. They. Doing. Here?”

“You have Gen’s powers.”

I winced. “What?”

“You smashed a portal, Elynn. Enchanters don’t destroy portals. They make it disappear, not explode into dust.”

“But how would I have gotten her powers?”

“You’re not the only one who has them.”

With his words, the door opened, and there came Demian, but not alone. He was hauling his sister. Dara.

“Let me go, you moron!” she exclaimed.

Demian released her, and Dara started fixing her hair. She stopped once she beheld the rest of the party. Her eyebrows rose in puzzlement until her eyes moved to Gen.

She blew out a breath. “A ghost. Perfect.”

“Not a ghost,” Drayard denied.

Dara smiled at him. “Hello, Dray. My father wasn’t happy when you rejected his proposal.”

“Unlike you, who was over the moon,” Demian added. “More time lying with strangers.”

Dara’s lips curled as she flashed Demian a deathly glance. “Is that jealousy speaking, Demi? That I have a sex life and you don’t?”

I turned to Drayard. “What are they doing here?”

“Demian works for me,” Drayard answered. “My spy.”

“I knew it!” Dara pushed Demian’s arm, and he stumbled to the side at the impact. “Bloody knew you were a rebel, Demi.”

“Drayard, please, be fast with this,” Demian complained. “I can’t stand to be in the same room as her for long.”

“And I need my powers back,” Genette reminded him.

Demian turned his head to Gen, and his eyes sparkled. She must have caught his interest. I would have been concerned about a morph developing a crush on my seventeen-year-old sister if she was also intrigued by him, but she paid no attention to him, as though he was invisible.

Drayard straightened his shoulders, turning into the King. “Since Elynn and Daraine have Genette’s powers—”

“Excuse me, I don’t—”

“Dara,” Drayard warned her.

Dara pantomimed locking her lips shut and throwing out an invisible key.

“As I was saying,” Drayard continued, “Elynn and Daraine have Genette’s powers. When Genette died, her powers travelled to two people. To the one who killed her and to the one closest to her. You have been carrying half of her powers ever since, and now it’s time to give back what isn’t yours.”

“How are we going to do that?” I asked. “By sacrificing our lives?”

“No,” he said flatly. “Nobody is going to die. Gen’s going to extract them from you. It may hurt, but it has to be done. But both of you are used to pain. I’m sure it will be nothing.”

Bastard, I said in his head.

His face revealed no emotion.

“I need you both here,” Genette said.

“I’m not giving my powers,” Dara protested. “Now, when I know how I became stronger, why should I give—”

“Daraine.” Drayard lowered his voice. “If you don’t give them by your will, I will extract them against it. And your brother will help me. Trust me when I say it will hurt worse than hell would.”

She scoffed, but she stepped closer to Gen anyway. I didn’t need to read Dara’s mind to know what she was planning.

I stepped in between them, facing Dara.

“Elynn, what are you doing?” Drayard asked.

I seized Dara’s hand and pulled her closer. “Touch her, and you’ll lose your hand.”

Dara laughed. “I wasn’t going to do anything, psycho.”

“Call me that again, and you’ll be screaming that word in pain.”

“What’s your problem, cousin? Are you still mad about me tripping you at that party?”

I squeezed her wrist harder. “I know you’re mischievous, not to mention you were the one who threw a dagger at my sister.”

“I am, and I did, but you forgot something.”

I raised my eyebrows questioningly.

Her lips curled into an impish smile as she inclined her head towards Drayard. “I fucked him.”

Every inch of me wanted to rip off her smile with my claws. It took all of my willpower to let go of her.

“Wait … what?” Kristian inquired, confused.

Ignoring Drayard’s curious stare, I said, “Let’s get it over with. We’re in the enemy’s castle, after all.” I extended my hand to my sister. “Go ahead.”

As she took it, coldness rushed through me. She glanced at Dara, who grudgingly gave her hand to her.

Gen closed her eyes. I felt nothing at first, but it didn’t last long, for an enormous pain struck my body. I squeezed my eyes shut, gritting my teeth.

The banshee’s scream appeared in my head, as deafening as the night I’d burned her into nothing. But this one was constant, and I couldn’t bear it for long.

I tried to pull my hand from Gen’s tight grasp, but she didn’t let go. She released Dara, who fell back on the floor.

The screaming in my head stopped, but Gen’s hand remained in mine as her eyes opened. “I can’t take the power from her.”

Everyone was watching us in silence. Drayard had his arms crossed over his chest, every inch of his muscles taut.

“I see many colours,” Gen went on. “I recognised the colour of my power, but it’s intertwined with the others. I can’t take it. I’m not sure how.”

“You can,” I said, drawing Gen’s full attention. “Try again.”

“Lynn, I …”

As I felt her hand slipping from mine, I gripped it and looked her in the eyes. “Try.”

She hesitated before giving in. She closed her eyes again, her fingers tightening on my hand. The scream returned. I tried my best to bear the pain, but it was too much. I sank to my knees and screamed.

“That’s enough,” Drayard said.

Genette didn’t stop.

“I said, that’s enough.”

As his strict but deep voice broke through my screams, Gen released my hand at once. My chest was rising up and down in heavy breaths. She gave me an apologetic look before rising from the floor.

“What are we going to do now?” Kristian asked. “Now that Elynn has half of Gen’s powers?”

“We’ll discuss this later,” Drayard said. “Now you may leave.”

They all left except for him. I didn’t look at his lying face as I waited for enough of my strength to come back so I could get up on my feet and return to the party. Morphs might be wondering where I’d disappeared. Or not.

“I slept with her for information.” He broke the silence. “She helped me to learn about the Gods’ curse.”

“The least I care about is why you sleep with people, Drayard.”

I tried to stand up, but I couldn’t because of this bloody gown.

He extended his hand to help me. I swallowed my pride and took it. He pulled me to my feet.

Once I was standing, I withdrew my hand, and he let it leave his without a fight.

I awkwardly brushed the side of my skirt with the hand he touched. “You know what I do care about?”

“Your family,” he answered without hesitation.

I forced myself to raise my eyes at him. “I care what you did for Kristian. He seems different. Older.”

“Kristian … He has been working for me for a while now. As my apprentice and a spy.”

“Well, he isn’t going to work for you anymore.”

“He wants this, Elynn. He is eager, curious, and ambitious. He may help make a big difference someday.”

“Leave my family out of your diabolic schemes,” I said. “You broke me. I won’t let you break them.”

At the sight of his eyes, I could tell the words struck his heart, but I couldn’t care about his feelings anymore. Not when he’d played with mine and damaged them beyond repair.

I spun on my heel and stormed out.

I found my way back to the ballroom, but before I entered it, I halted at the sight of two unconscious guards lying before the doors instead of guarding them. Baffled and with a little of trepidation, I stepped inside the ballroom. I didn’t expect to find morphs still mingling. They must not be aware of the sleeping guards.

Something was about to take place, and morphs were oblivious, sharing feigned laughs and giggles in their groups. I wasn’t sure if I should stay. But wouldn’t Drayard have warned me if something was about to happen? Unless he didn’t know, which would be hard to believe, as he was aware of everything every time.

As I was debating, I sensed someone staring at me. I glanced around and met black eyes watching me from the end of the room. A wry smile touched her full lips before there was a sound of explosion and people released their screams.

XLI

A DARK PURPLE FUME issued from the middle and spread in all directions. People ran. Some bumped into me, but I maintained my footing. I couldn’t afford to fall while wearing this gown.

Don’t say you’re in the ballroom, Elynn.

I didn’t reply to him.

Once I found Clare with my eyes again, I began striding towards her.

If you’re in the ballroom, you have to leave now.

Don’t tell me what I have to do.

Elynn—

I shoved his voice out of my mind and restored the mental walls around it so he wouldn’t enter it whenever he pleased again.

Clare moved towards the exit. I followed her out of the ballroom. But as I breathed in the purple fume, I turned dizzy, and my vision blackened. I had to rest against the wall for a moment to avoid falling.

“Take this.”

I wasn’t sure who said it, but as I opened my eyes, I beheld a black face mask held out to me. I took it without a second thought and put it on. It was harder to breathe now, but at least I didn’t inhale any of the fume that had been released in the ballroom.

“What is—”

Clare pulled out a handgun and pointed it at me, her thumb on the hammer of the gun. She was wearing the same mask as me and a far more comfortable outfit I wouldn’t mind exchanging with this gown: a white blouse and a long plum skirt.

“You know I can still burn you, Clare?” I asked her as this whole pointing-a-handgun-thing was ridiculous. “Or deprive you of oxygen, for that matter?”

She didn’t look fazed one bit. “Can you?”

Her self-assurance puzzled me, but as I tried to reach for my powers, I understood why she was so confident. There was nothing left inside of me. My powers had been taken away, and I hadn’t noticed once again.

“How?”

“There was fade ivy in your mask.”

Of course.

Only now, I acknowledged people lying on the floor. They didn’t move.

“Are they …”

“No,” she answered. “They’re sleeping.”

“What the hells is happening, Clare? Why are you pointing a weapon at me?”

She watched me for a moment before lowering her gun and inclined her head towards the doors I’d come from. The purple fume was billowing out from them.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Harmless bomb that sends you into a deep slumber.” She gave me a push, encouraging me to move. “Or so it’s thought. Nobody has tested it for the side effects.”

I nearly tripped over my skirt while she was pushing me towards the ballroom.

“What’s happening here?”

“We’re freeing humans from slavery.”

“We?”

“The rest of the humans who joined our rebel forces.”

“But how did you get inside?”

“A month spent perfecting a plan, secret communication, and rendezvous with humans living here.”

The purple fume was starting to disperse, but I didn’t dare to step inside yet.

“Why are you telling me all this? I can tell on you.”

“You won’t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I’m a seer.”

That turned me mute.

I’d always marvelled at how she was aware of things nobody else was back in my slavery days in the Realm of Bones. How she’d told me, confident that Chase would come for me on my fourth day there. And he had come but accompanied by Gen.

When most of the fume dispersed, I entered the ballroom, watching where I was putting my feet to avoid stepping on the lying bodies. There were, like, a hundred littering the floor. I spotted Nayden sleeping on the dais but no sight of Nadira. However, I hadn’t seen her much in the celebration. She’d left early.

“They’re alive, Startel,” Clare reassured behind me.

But I didn’t care about morphs. If it was my will, all of these people strewn over the ballroom would be dead instead of sleeping.

A movement flashed in the corner of my eye. Someone was on the other side of the ballroom, standing at the doorway. As I looked, I met green eyes staring at me.

A familiar nausea twisted my stomach.

“Ex-lovers reunited,” Clare whispered in a teasing tone.

He, too, was wearing a face mask, but the hatred in his eyes was visible from here. He pulled out his crossbow and nocked an arrow, but before he released it, a dagger appeared against his throat with a taller man standing behind him.

“This is looking better than I foresaw,” Clare acknowledged.

I turned to her. She was leaning against the wall, her hands crossed over her chest. “Do you need something from me, Clare?”

“I got every entertainment I needed from you back in the good old days in the Realm of Bones. Now, all I need is your lover’s blood.”

I ignored Drayard’s stare at me as I said, “I don’t have a lover.”

“Semantics, semantics. The half of your soul, then. Is that better?”

“I have two other parts out there in the world.”

She pushed off the wall. “I’m not here to be your guide or spoil your near future for you, but all I’ll say is one thing.” She stepped closer. “You are whole. Now tell him to give me his blood.”

“What do you need it for?”

“Not your business.”

Irritation seized me. “I was trained, Clare. You don’t want to mess with me.”

“If you wanted to harm me, I would know. Now get me his blood. I won’t repeat myself nicely again.”

I threw a glance at Drayard. He could read her thoughts, find out why she needed his blood, but as though he read my mind, he gave me an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

He couldn’t read her. Clare was prudent. Of course, she’d have her mind protected from a telepath invasion.

I focused back on her. “He can kill you. He didn’t lose his powers. Aren’t you afraid?”

“He won’t kill me.”

“Because you’re a seer?”

“Because he loves you and won’t kill one of the people you asked to save from Asenah a few months ago.”

My heart cried all over again, but I pretended not to be affected by her words.

“What if you’re planning to use his blood for something evil?”

“Using healing blood for something evil? What could I use it for if not for healing? Don’t you think that maybe humans need it to heal faster when they get injured?”

“Elynn is valid to be concerned,” Drayard intervened, and I caught his gaze from the opposite side of the room. “Dragons’ blood can be used for dark arts, rituals in particular.”

My eyes shot to Clare. “What are you planning, Clare?”

“I’m not … Fine.” She drew something from her pocket. “I thought I wouldn’t have to use it, but you gave me no choice, Startel.”

She threw something on the floor. It was a bottle, and it smashed. A green fume rose and reached my eyes. I rubbed at them with my knuckles, but it only made my vision dim.

“What … What did you do?”

Clare ignored me. “It’s a shame we meet like this, for I am a big fan of yours, Bloodsucker.” She bowed to him, but it was a mocking, even a condescending gesture. “I have an antidote if you’re interested. If not, she’ll become permanently blind and deaf in about … five minutes. You know what to do to avoid that misfortune, and no, killing me isn’t an option. She already hates you. Do you want to give her a reason to hate you more?”

Everything blackened to the point where I saw nothing. I stepped back, and I must have tripped over one of the bodies, for I fell on my bottom. The noises turned muffled; the conversation became incoherent until it fell silent for what felt like minutes.

W-what if Clare wasn’t kidding, and now I was blind and deaf?

But once something dropped on my tongue, the brightness of a ballroom returned with a face hovering over me.

His face.

I rolled over but bumped into the stranger’s body. I looked for Clare, itching to wrap my hands around her neck and throttle her, but she was gone. Chase, too.

He offered me his hand, and I took it solely because I couldn’t have stood on my own.

We arose from the floor together. As he released my hand, he pushed the empty vial into his pocket. The sealing wound on his palm didn’t elude me.

“You gave her your blood.”

“What else could I have done?”

“Kill her?”

He huffed out a laugh.

“You let Chase escape again?”

“Elynn, you told me you didn’t want his death. Have you changed your mind all of a sudden?”

I turned around and, stepping over the lying bodies, I went towards Tatyana’s bedroom.

He followed me. “Soon morphs will wake up. I can’t be here once it happens. Can we discuss everything outside the castle?”

I ignored him. I couldn’t wait to get out of this gown and be done with this turbulent day. I’d been tortured enough. Both emotionally and physically.

“Elynn.”

I climbed the stairs, resolved to pay no attention to him anymore.

“I love you.”

I halted atop the stairs, my hand tightening on the balustrade.

He’d said it so quietly, I couldn’t believe I’d heard it right. He couldn’t have said anything like—

“I love you, Elynn,” he said louder this time, and now it was clear I hadn’t heard it wrong. “I thought it was an infatuation that would pass by shortly, but it’s been months, and I came to realise, if anything, I’m a lost cause for you.”

Both anger and heartache swept over me. I released my grip on the balustrade, and once I blinked away the sting of the tears, I turned to him standing on the landing. I hurried down the flight of stairs and stopped a step away from him. “If you truly loved me, Dray, you wouldn’t have done all the crap you did.”

“What did you expect from me? I’m a damaged bastard, Elynn. My mind is dark, and I like to make questionable choices. I never planned to fall in love with you, but my heart had its own plans. It’s not even my heart anymore, but yours.”

I was about to say he could keep it as I didn’t want it, but I didn’t let my tongue speak for me this time. Besides, I was too drained of energy and vigour to spread more hatred. “Is that everything you wanted to tell me?”

“No.” He extended his black-gloved hand. “Would you do the honours?”

My jaw tightened.

I shouldn’t go with him and not because I was exhausted. It was because whatever he might say, it would make it worse. Break me more. I had no idea what else there was that he was hiding. But I … I still wanted to learn every one of his secrets.

I grabbed his hand, and then we were gone.

XLII

WHEN I TELEPORTED US TO the living room in the volcano, neither of us said anything at first.

I was sitting at the piano while he was against the wall. He’d ignited the fireplace. The corset felt incredibly uncomfortable and stifling, but I wasn’t going to remove it now.

“Twenty years ago, I was in a dark place,” he said into the silence. “There was no light in the infinite abyss. Nothing but void and dense darkness. But a faint ray of light penetrated the dark one day, bringing me back. I didn’t understand what the light was, but I was back. In 1842, August 20th, I was brought back to light.”

When I looked at him, I found him staring at his bare hands. He’d removed his gloves and stuffed them in the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

“I had questions. Hundreds of them were driving me madder than I already was. I needed answers. To whom did the light belong? Why save me? How, suddenly, could I hear people’s thoughts? I searched for them in numerous ways. I even sneaked into the library of Casidiarn Castle where Dara discovered me in the prohibited section.”

I didn’t like the direction this was going, but my lips didn’t part to ask him to stop, afraid he would never continue if I did.

“The thought of Nayden finding out I was snooping around his home didn’t sound appealing. I wasn’t a King back then, and my father wouldn’t have cared about the punishments I would have received. I had no choice but to play along. I struck a deal with Dara and more than ever felt like a slut, but I didn’t regret it when it helped me to get answers to my questions, opening my eyes that didn’t want to see the full image. Afterwards, I stood before the Mortal Region, on the opposite side of the river with a necklace Genette’s grandmother, Lucy, had given me the time I’d met her. She hadn’t mentioned the purpose of the necklace, but I understood once I stood there. The Universe sent me light, and Lucida’s task was to give me a necklace that would help me get to you, but I couldn’t. I turned back and went far, far away until the enchanters’ raid summoned me back.

“The day when you appeared in the Empire of Beasts, I felt you stronger than ever,” he said. “But despite that, I didn’t plan to come to Asenah’s mansion. I was working against the Universe, the Gods, but when I … when I felt the twins assaulting you, I could take it no more.

“I had plans, you see.” He looked up at me. “And once you entered my life, every single one began going wrong for the first time in my life. I never planned to rescue you from Asenah’s oppression. When I arrived at Fillan and Fawne’s wedding, my plan was to scare you off so Nayden and Nadira wouldn’t capture any resemblance in you. I know you know that already, but what you don’t know is what would have happened if Gen and the huntsman hadn’t found you.”

“I remember …” I flashed back to last autumn, when I’d gotten lost in the forest because I was running from him. “I remember Gen saying they didn’t run into any morph while travelling. I found it strange. Was it your job?”

“No.” He seemed genuinely confused. “I didn’t know they would be there. Nobody had tried to go to the empire to free their loved one before, or if someone did, they most likely died. I suppose the huntsman and your sister were very lucky to not get eaten on their way to you.”

Or it was something more than mere luck, as this luck made no sense. In the world swarming with brutal beasts, luck was rare, and it had to be another explanatory reason why Chase and Gen hadn’t run into any beasts while they were coming to my rescue.

“I was planning to find you after the wedding in the forest and bring you back to Asenah,” he went on. “Since her maid, Juli, died, I figured I should get a spy who wasn’t afraid to get caught. I thought you could be a perfect fit for it. It was the first plan to fail, and I should have foreseen more failures would follow, but I didn’t.” He smiled, almost wistfully. “When you tried to enter the Spell, I watched with my fingers crossed you wouldn’t run into any problems, but you disappeared in the water. I still hoped you weren’t a morph, despite the potency of your smell and my insane attraction to it. But you were, assuring me I was doomed more than I’d assumed.

“I never wanted you to find out about the Winter Solstice and the sacrifice. When you appeared in my head during the meeting, I didn’t feel you. When I did, I’d already said too much. I had everything planned out beforehand. I had a house in the Realm of Embers for you to live after the curse was lifted. It’d have been your home where you would have been safe, stayed in touch with your siblings without getting bothered by me. That, of course, didn’t go well because you found out and almost sabotaged the Winter Solstice.”

“You’ve always tried to write my life for me,” I thought aloud.

He frowned. “No, that’s not—”

“No,” I cut him off sharply. “That’s exactly what you’ve been doing all along. You have been alone for so long you don’t know how to be around people anymore. All you think about is yourself. You think you’re always the right one. You think you know what’s best for someone instead of asking them that.”

It was like lightning struck him, for the absolute realisation washed over his face. I might have helped him to realise something about him he hadn’t before. Like, he was a control freak.

“What …” He cleared his throat. “What do you want?”

“I don’t know,” I answered, but it was half-true. “But it is my job to find that out. Not yours or somebody else’s. As much as it’s your job to find out what you want. Do you know what you want, Drayard?”

“All I know is that I didn’t plan for this to happen,” he murmured.

“Plan. Not everything goes as planned. You said once yourself the best things happen without looking for them. We don’t always plan the best things. Do you think I planned to meet you? I didn’t. You landed in the party out of the blue, turning my world upside down just like that.” I snapped my fingers for emphasis. “Or that I planned to be saved by you three times? Or planned to summon the sirens to have a reason to kiss you, convincing myself I did it to say goodbye? Not for some other reason?” I raised my eyes at the ceiling to blink away the tears, hating myself for not controlling my on-the-verge-of-crying voice as the words came pouring out of me. “Tell me, Dray. Without planning, without counting, without considering anything. Tell me the first thing that comes to your mind when I ask you what you want.”

He waited before he stood up and approached me. As he knelt in front of me, he took my hands in his and looked up at me with tears glistening in his beautiful eyes. “I want freedom.”

“But you are free.”

His mouth turned up. “My duty keeps me on a leash. I have a kingdom to take care of. My life is dedicated to people, not to myself. I feel stuck.”

“Is freedom all that you want?”

“No.” He brought my hands closer to his lips, but he didn’t kiss them. “I also want a family. A loving one. An understanding one. Just a family. Like the one you have … had. The stories you told, what your parents did for you, I envied you because I never had anything like it.”

“But you can create your own family.”

“No, I can’t.”

“Why?”

“Because of who I am, Elynn. Who would want me as their husband? Who would consider having my children who might end up as broken as me, my father, my entire family line of lunatics? No one would sign up for such misery.”

“But you said there were fathers proposing their daughters to you when you were a prince. Even Ariel offered you his daughter’s hand in marriage.”

“Forced marriages of mutual benefits,” he muttered. “You saw yourself, Dara wasn’t merry about the idea of marrying me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. She did provoke you into sleeping with her.”

“I’m sure many are intrigued by the idea of sleeping with me, but no sane person would consider being more than my casual lover. And when did forced marriages bring happiness to a household?”

I averted my gaze to the piano, biting the inside of my cheek.

He was right. No sane person would ever want something deeper than having sexual interaction with him.

However, I wasn’t that sane person.

I always wanted something deeper. Yes, I wanted to sleep with him, but just sleeping with him wouldn’t have satiated me for long. I would have started to crave more than physical contact. I would have started to want all of him. I never stopped wanting him. I still did, but I needed time to digest and rethink everything that had happened in the past week.

“As much as I want freedom and a loving family, I’d give it up if I only had one thing.”

I looked back at him.

“You,” he said.

I swallowed the upcoming tears.

“I realised the mistake I made the time I heard there was a rumour about me assaulting you,” he continued. “I realised I’d lost you then. You know how much I abhor the idea of rape and to accuse me of it … you made it clear you were lost forever to me.”

“But you didn’t lose me then, Dray.” Hope flashed in his eyes, and my heart pricked, for I was about to shatter it into shards. “You lost me the day the first lie left your mouth.”

As I’d expected, a glimmer of hope flew apart right before my eyes. I pulled my hands away, avoiding looking at him, afraid if I did, I would break all over again. “When Mum learnt about what Chase was doing to me, she told me I deserved better. A man who would never say a bad word about me, who would never lay a hand on me, who would treat me like a goddess.” I smiled at the memory of her words. “She insisted on me promising her I wouldn’t marry him. I lied to her, but I guess it wasn’t a lie, because I didn’t marry him. But I would have. If I’d stayed in the Mortal Region, I would have. But that wasn’t destined either.”

“You think this was destined?”

I let out a half-suppressed laugh. “I don’t believe in destiny. I don’t believe in a happily ever after. But this? I believe I didn’t deserve any of this. What did I do to be treated this way? What did I ever do to you? Why couldn’t you’ve been honest with me from the start? Why couldn’t you have been the man?”

His throat bobbed as he swallowed. “I’m sorry. If I could, I would bring the time back, would do things differently, would—”

“You wouldn’t,” I interrupted him again. “You and I both know you would repeat the same thing, even if you were aware of where your actions would lead you.”

“No, I would,” he said so surely, it was hard to not believe him. “I’m sorry. Hells.” He rubbed his face before putting his hands together in a prayer. “I fucked up. I fucked up by guarding myself, by being afraid … afraid of being seen, of finding love. I never believed there could be one for me. I thought I didn’t deserve it. I still do. I don’t deserve it. I will never deserve it. I will forever rot in the darkness and void and fight that—”

“Stop.” I leaned over and cupped his face. “Stop saying you don’t deserve anything. Just stop. Stop hating yourself only because your parents didn’t appreciate you the way they should have.”

“It’s not only that.”

I gave him an inquiring look.

Saying nothing, he lowered my wrists and arose. He walked over to the burning fireplace, put an arm on the mantel, and touched his nape.

He was silent for way too long.

I sighed. “You were right.”

He gave me a confused look. “About what?”

“Nayden had an ulterior motive,” I said, glad to take a break from speaking about us. “He wanted me back to betroth me to a stranger from the east.”

He, however, didn’t seem surprised other than turning edgy. His jaw was set while his eyebrows were lowered.

“But you already knew?”

He nodded stiffly.

“Let me guess. Demian?”

Another nod.

“And what’s your opinion about it?”

“I’m not okay with it, but I know you,” he responded, rolling the hem of his sleeve. “You have a goal by pretending to be a meek princess, and I’m sure whatever it is, Nayden will either end up with his mind blown or incinerated.”

“Or both,” I whispered.

“Or both,” he agreed.

I suppressed a smile threatening to lift the stiff corners of my lips. “Then you must be aware that all the sorceresses were stolen from Nayden, too.”

“I’m not only aware of it,” he said. “I’m the one who stole them.”

I stared at him, stupefied. “But … but why would you do that?”

“Because, Elynn, I promised your siblings something, and I do keep my promises. I promised Kristian to keep you safe, and I promised to work with them.”

“What do you mean?”

“While humans are rebelling, Kristian and Genette are my spies. Mostly Kristian, since Genette is as puzzling as her grandmother. I need to be aware of everything that’s going on, what to expect, and in exchange, I did these things. I helped Genette to ascend. I accepted Kristian to be my apprentice, and I also became their secret aid, such as donating blood. If not me, humans who served in the castle wouldn’t be free now. I created circumstances for them to enter the castle unnoticed.”

“You are a rebel, too.”

He didn’t have to say anything to confirm it.

“Are they in the Mortal Region now?”

“Some. Others joined the rebels.”

“But why are you a part of it? They are humans; you are not.”

“It’s not about who I am. It’s about what I stand for. Which is equity and equality in all cases. And as long as I am walking on this planet, I’ll do everything to help shape it as best as I can.”

I wanted to run to him and kiss him solely for that, but I didn’t, as not only would it complicate things, but make them worse.

“But what happens between us? Where do we stand?”

“You shouldn’t be asking me that when I’m the one with control issues.”

It wasn’t meant to be a joke, but I smiled nevertheless. An unbelievable chuckle left him, and he touched his forehead with his fingers. We remained sad and emotionally exhausted, but my smile and his chuckle eased the aura hanging over the room.

“What about you?” he asked. “Can you tell me where we stand?”

“No.”

There was a moment of silence between us until he interrupted it. “I think, for now, I should concentrate on my Kingdom and you on whatever you are planning there.”

I nodded. “That would be for the best.”

Because I wasn’t sure if I could ever forgive him for all the lies and secrets.

“You should go back. They can wake up any minute now, and once you use your teleportation power, they might start suspecting you had something to do with the bomb.”

I directed my gaze to the fire, watching it like I used to when I was younger in the cottage. Watching and hoping it showed me an answer, a sign of what to do, or later a man that would love me forever.

I wished it was easy like that.

“Can I play for a bit?” I asked. “Alone?”

He nodded, dropping his hand from the mantle. He pushed his hands into his pockets. “Blossom and Baby are in Hellrock Castle.”

“Why?”

“They saw no reason in staying when you don’t live here anymore.”

He left. I waited until he was gone out of the volcano. When he was, I lifted the fallboard and began to play.

For the last time.

XLIII

WHEN I WAS BACK in my current bedroom in Casidiarn Castle, I expected to find solitude, not inconvenient company.

At first, I didn’t recognise the brown girl with short purple hair sitting cross-legged on my bed, skimming over my sketchbook. Once I did, I snatched my sketchbook from her hands. “What are you doing here?”

Despite my annoyance, I managed not to raise my voice, keeping it low. Morphs might be awake, and I didn’t want to attract their attention.

Dara’s lips turned up in a secretive smile. “I know your dirty little secret, cousin.”

“I asked, what are you doing here?”

She swung her legs off the bed and landed on the floor as gracefully and quietly as a feline.

Then I remembered she was one.

“Am I not allowed to visit my cousin?” She batted her eyelashes at me, assuming innocence.

But I knew better than to trust a panther who had flung her knife at my sister’s chest.

“All right, you did. Now you may leave.”

She headed for the door, and I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to tolerate her any longer, but she took a sudden turn back and approached the dressing table, hopping on it instead. “Don’t you want to learn what secret of yours I know first?”

“Should I escort you to the door since you clearly can’t see it?”

“Such an unassuming princess.” She set her hands on either side of her and began swinging her legs back and forth. “I wonder, though … Why did you slander Drayard?”

“Do you care about his reputation?”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” She pinched her eyebrows together. “What is your aim here? Humans are gone. They took them. Should Nayden expect a death coming, or maybe Nadira? Or even all the royals, me included?”

“I’m here because it’s my home.”

Home. It took everything in me to not gag from calling it that way.

“Drop the act, cousin,” she sang, and her high spirits bugged the hells out of me. “This place is a stranger to you.”

“My mother was born here. She—”

“Exactly,” she interrupted me. “Your mother was born here, not you. You don’t belong here.”

She was right. I didn’t, and I didn’t want to belong. I wanted to appear like it. Like I wished to be a part of the Haroun family, the Princess of Beasts, but not to actually be one.

However, Dara shouldn’t even be aware of my plans, and here she was.

“Get out of my room.”

“You should be where you’ve just teleported from,” she said, pretending like she didn’t hear me. “With half of your soul hot and steamy on top of you, or you on top of him, your choice. You don’t have a reason to despise him anymore when your mortal sister is alive. That friggin’ witch.”

I was a drop away from surrendering to anger and tackling her like I’d done in the Winter Solstice. Except that I’d be more brutal this time. “Get. Out.”

“I wouldn’t be so mean to your cousin if I were you. I’m the one who knows what’s hiding behind that meek princess mask of yours. You need more allies than enemies, given your situation. Especially when your mortal sister is a witch.” She blew out a breath. “You’re pretty much screwed.”

I clenched my teeth. “Sorceress. She is a sorceress, not a witch.”

Her smile was malicious. “You stand up for the ones you love. How adorable. But also your weakness. What would you say if I gave Nayden his name? Drayard, a secret rebel supporting humans.”

“I would say I should ask your father if he has ever had your chastity tested.”

She threw her head back with laughter. When she stopped laughing, she leaned on her arm, her head tilted to the side. “Shouldn’t your chastity be run through a check, too?”

“I didn’t grow up in a society where women swear with their chastity until they’re married. Your world might be superior to the Mortal Region, but when it comes to your law, it’s unreasonable.”

Something new sparked in Dara’s eyes. I would say it was interest, but it could be something more wicked than that. “He wasn’t my first, though. Drayard. But oh … I still remember the way his lips travelled between my— Oh, cousin, are you all right? You look like you’re about to blow up.”

I was holding my sketchbook in a tight grip, my nails sinking into it while I tried my best to keep the fury at bay, even if I felt an immense urge to burn her.

But I silenced such violent thoughts, for I was not a killer.

She studied me for a while before continuing, “The way his hands gripped my hips while he—”

She went flying off the dressing table, dropping to the floor. I tossed my sketchbook on the dressing table and stomped towards her. As I bent over her, I grasped her wrist, twisting her hand.

She laughed. Almost like a maniac.

“He really knew what he was doing with my body.”

I was about to punch her, but she knocked my feet out from under me with a swift sweep of her leg. Before I could even understand what had happened, she pinned me against the floor, and I could do nothing anymore.

She was remarkably strong for her elfin build.

Dara pouted. “It’s very, very unfortunate you’ll never be able to sleep with him.” She blew a purple strand away from her gleaming eye. “Damn those Gods for cursing you two, right?”

“How did you even know that in the first place?”

Her little smile developed into a prideful grin. “Knowledge is my strongest suit.”

“Get off me.” I wriggled underneath her, but she kept me pinned with her hands on my wrists.

“Let’s make a bargain,” she offered. “You tell me what your plans are, and I don’t tell Nayden about the little play you’re trying to pull off here.”

“You’re blackmailing your own cousin?”

“Our families have always been fucked up. I fucked your soulmate. Nayden sleeps with Nadira …” I wasn’t even surprised she was aware of that. “Blackmailing a cousin is the least weird thing that happens in this despicable family.”

I wanted to strangle her, but there wasn’t much I could do in this situation. Not only did she have me pressed to the floor by her strength but by her knowledge. She was too smart for her own good.

“Are we going to do the magical oath?”

Her smile widened. “How else would I be certain you’re telling the truth when you are such a good liar, cousin?”

The silver ink representing two paws appeared and faded seconds after below my inner elbow. Although there wasn’t a sign of it anymore, it was still there, just invisible.

I wasn’t sure why mine was silver when Dara’s turned out to be black. But it was the last thing that mattered right now. She knew every detail of my plan. Despite her promise to not tell anybody, magical oath or not, I didn’t like her to meddle in my plans. But I couldn’t get rid of her, as the oath also prevented us from killing one another.

I covered the area where the tattoo was by tugging down my sleeve. “Why is your hair purple?”

“It’s not real.” She looked up at me. “It’s a wig. I like to wear it when I’m up to … mischief.”

“But you must be up to some mischief every day. Why aren’t you always wearing it?”

“If I could, I would.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed, as though she was speaking with a child. “Because bat whores have hair with unnatural colours, so it’s considered slutty.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“You didn’t know that?” Seeing on my face that I indeed did not, she took a step back, as though surprised. “Oh, cousin, you should educate yourself.”

“Does it mean Drayard is a slut because of his hair colour?”

She let out a laugh. “He’s a dragon, and on top of that, a male. So … no.”

Baby and Blossom had never told me this, but then again, it had never been relevant for them to mention it. Besides, people who’d grown up here deemed it normal, but to me, it sounded wrong to call women with “unnatural” hair colour whores.

“Anyway.” She joined her hands in a clap. “I’ll help you with your plan.”

“What?”

“I’ll help you with your plan.”

I searched her face for the sign of a joke, as she had to be messing with me, but she either concealed it or was deadly serious. “You’re not joking?”

“Uh … no.”

“Well, then, no. You can’t help me with my plan.”

“I don’t recall asking.”

“Dara, just leave.”

But she didn’t move an inch, staring at me resolutely.

“Why would you want to help me?” I asked since it made zero sense. “We don’t have a good relationship.”

“We don’t,” she agreed, with no hesitation. “But you could use some help.” At last, she stepped towards the doors. “Ask for me once you’re in need of me.”

As Dara left, I couldn’t believe it for a moment. I expected her to come back and stay here forever, but time passed, and I remained alone.

I, then, proceeded to remove this suffocating gown.

It was tough. I wanted to tear it to be done with it already, but I stayed in control. A meek princess didn’t ruin her gowns; she adored them.

Later that night, Dara’s words didn’t give me peace of mind, instead becoming a catalyst for sleeplessness. Grunting, I rolled off the bed and pulled a pen, ink, and paper from the drawer. Dipping a pen in ink every few seconds, I scribbled a short but definite letter and handed it over to the nearest guard standing post in the hallway.

I could only hope he wasn’t going to read it.

Dara returned as I was sketching on an armchair the next day. I lowered my sketchbook to see her better.

“Did you receive my letter?”

“So much for a good morning,” she muttered. “How has your day been so far, cousin? None of that?”

I’d never been fond of small talk, as all it did was waste time.

But I forced myself to smile at her. I didn’t want to risk acting rude when I needed something from her.

“Good morning, Dara. How has your day been so far?”

“Eh, the death of someone could really brighten it up.”

“I’m sure you can organise it.” I set the sketchbook on the bedside table and arose. “Did you receive my letter or not?”

“I did.”

“So do you have it?”

She extended her hand and unclenched her fist, revealing a dried violet blossom on her palm.

“Are you sure this will prevent Nayden from being notified when I use my powers?”

“Positive.” But that didn’t help me trust her. “You have to hold it in your hand if you want to do the enchanters’ shenanigans without Nayden sniffing it.”

“All right.” I reached for it, but she pulled it back.

“Where are you headed, cousin?”

“I’m glad you asked.” I forced a smile. “As I’d like you to describe the Empire of Skies to me.”

XLIV

THE EMPIRE OF SKIES was nothing like I could have ever imagined.

I appeared before a wide, pale-yellow building with a sign saying “Ladies’ Snacks”. I looked around the place, finding more rectangular-shaped buildings with a colour scheme reminding me of sand. But the architecture in the Empire of Skies wasn’t the only thing that differed from the Empire of Beasts. Fashion, too.

The people were wearing different coloured head coverings. If it was cold here, I’d understand, but the temperature was pretty much the same as in the Empire of Beasts. I supposed it was a cultural thing.

Also, unlike in the Empire of Beasts, a few local women wore dresses. Most of them rocked two set clothes made of trousers or long skirts matching with their tops, their arms mostly uncovered, decorated in white ink patterns or accessorised with bronze jewellery.

Unconsciously, I brushed my fingers against my bracelet.

I believed I’d arrived in another dimension. Or Dara had described the wrong place.

Either way, at least I wasn’t standing out that much from the crowd. Enchanters had a darker complexion than morphs, some even had a similar shade to mine. Most of them were tall, and for once, I felt comfortable about my height. My style, however, got their eyes straying to me. My yellow dress was plain compared to their embellished clothes, and my head wasn’t veiled, allowing my hair to shine.

But I didn’t come here to become one of them. I came here with an aim to find Reuel.

Since I had no clue where he could be, I wandered through the stone-paved streets, asking people where the castle was. They looked at me like I was from a different planet, as if the word castle was something they heard for the first time. Assuming they didn’t have castles, I began asking about the place where the emperor lived.

One amiable stout man showed me directions to their so-called Zodial Palace. As I arrived at the gate, I stood in front of it for a moment, marvelling at the palace behind it.

It was a giant chalk white palace with turquoise domed towers topped by some kind of matching sticklike ornament. It must have a name, but I’d never seen anything similar to this building to—

“Miss?”

I returned from my thoughts, facing two guards clad in deep-blue and pale yellow.

“I arrived here to talk to Reuel Themias,” I declared.

“Second-in-command informed nothing about any visitors,” the guard from the right said.

“But he would want to meet me. I am his soulmate.”

“What is your name, Miss?”

I wasn’t sure whether I should tell them my true name or not. I might get arrested. They might kill me. I didn’t know what they had done to Aytigin—how they handled his treason. Their prince whose daughter I was.

“I’ll take her from here.”

I glanced back. Reuel was here, smiling with his heart-melting smile.

I turned to him. “I need to talk to you.”

“You have to go with me then.”

He offered his hand, but I looked at it with suspicion. “If I trusted you, which I don’t.”

His smile extended into a grin, revealing a dimple in his left cheek. “If you want to talk, you have to trust me, Sunflower.”

I didn’t trust him one bit, but I did need to talk to him.

Grudgingly, I put my hand on his. The various scents enveloped me. Female, male … I suppressed the instinct to wrinkle my nose.

We appeared in a room with arched, glassless windows and see-through cerulean curtains toning with a chaise longue set between the windows. A few steps away from me was a pond with iridescent fish swimming around. It was a queer addition, which surprisingly fit the room, even added to its interior. And behind it was a white, intricate desk. This must be Reuel’s office.

“I know. It’s exceptional,” he said. “Thanks for complimenting it.”

I flashed him a false smile. “You’re welcome.”

He sauntered towards the chaise lounge and fell on it, resting his hands on the back of it. “You are very brave to come here alone. With no security against the empire which your father betrayed so he could be with his should-be foe.”

“I’m well aware of Aytigin’s crimes, but you’re my soulmate. You won’t let me get hurt, will you?”

“Lovers can kill each other.”

“It’s a good thing we’re not lovers, then.”

“Yet.”

I ignored that. I had to stick with my plans instead of wasting time. “We need to talk.”

“By talk, you mean body talk?”

I gave him an annoyed look. He kept his charming smile on, his electric eyes sparkling with a playful light. Despite the potency of the sensual energy he radiated with his entire being, I felt nothing. Not even a mere tingle.

“No, I don’t. I need you to—”

Before I could finish, the arched doors pushed open, and a man in the wheelchair rolled in. Wary, I watched the brown-haired man with tired chestnut eyes. He stopped as soon as he noticed me, the door closing behind him.

He was just as startled to see me as I was him.

Dear Gods, is he—

“Uncle,” Reuel said, and I felt my chest easing a bit. “Meet Elynn Haroun.”

His uncle said nothing to me. All he did was stare at me as if analysing a painting in the gallery. For a moment, I got worried he was a telepath and was in my mind, but I didn’t sense him there.

“Now, now, Uncle.” Reuel put his ankle on his knee. “She can’t be that similar to Aytigin, can she?”

“You knew my father, sir?”

Finally, some emotion appeared in his eyes. “He was my best friend.”

Was.

“Your eyes …” he said, rolling his wheelchair closer and raising his head more. “They are unnatural … as if enchanted … by the Universe.”

“How can they be enchanted by the Universe?”

He inspected them more intently. “Interesting,” he mused, ignoring my question. “I’m Eryx. Eryx Themias.”

“What happened?” The question left my mouth before I could catch the words and shut my mouth. “I mean, why are you in the wheelchair?”

I’d have never imagined that creatures who could live a thousand years could become invalid.

His face darkened with something I couldn’t put my finger on. “Your father.”

“Aytigin did this to you?”

“No.” His voice was dry. “His treason.”

“All right,” Reuel cut in smoothly. “There’s no need for this dullness. Our guest is here for an important reason, I’m sure. Why are you here, Sunflower?”

I looked over at Reuel, concentrating back on my purpose here, but Eryx pulled my right hand, his inquisitive eyes on my bracelet.

“Where did you get this?”

I jerked my hand out of his grip. “I bought it.”

“You bought it?”

He couldn’t believe it, but why would I tell a stranger, who was an enchanter, I’d received it from my birth giver? The one his best friend had intimate relations with? Whose treason caused his disability?

“Yes.”

My answer was firm and sure, but his stare at me was penetrating. I’d seen a similar look like his before, and it didn’t take me forever to realise he was in my head. I didn’t feel him there, but he was.

I began fortifying the strength of my mental walls, which resulted in a strong, throbbing headache, but I kept going. There was no way I’d let some stranger wander around my head as if he owned the place.

“Uncle.” I heard Reuel say.

He repeated the word a few times again, but Eryx didn’t move. Eventually, I found him in the deepest layer of my mind and shoved him out.

He blinked back to the present as I stared at him wide-eyed, my chest rising heavily at the effort I’d put in to force him out of my head.

I didn’t know how much he’d seen, but I hoped it wasn’t much.

“Are you out of your mind, Uncle?”

Reuel was standing right next to him, but Eryx paid no attention to him.

“Uncle?”

Eryx rolled his wheelchair back, nearly wheeling over Reuel’s foot, but the man stepped aside. Without saying a word, Eryx left the room.

It was silent until Reuel spoke. “My apologies for my uncle’s behaviour.”

I opened my mouth to say it wasn’t a big deal, but before I did, I realised it would be a lie. It was a big deal. A stranger had invaded my mind, and if not for his penetrative stare that Drayard had when he was trying to read my thoughts, I wouldn’t have known. He would have learnt everything about me, which was an intrusion to my privacy.

I brushed my hands down my skirt, taking time to ease the flames of indignation awaking inside of me. “Is he always like that?”

“No,” he replied without a second thought. “He rarely uses telepathy on someone, particularly against their will. He respects people’s boundaries. I’m quite staggered that he did it.”

Reuel indeed seemed like he was shocked by his uncle’s behaviour, but talking about his uncle’s uncharacteristic conduct wasn’t why I’d come here. I needed to move on with my business.

“Would you, by any chance, be able to rethink taking our aid and troops?”

He stared at me with a straight face for a moment. “Rethink taking your aid and troops?”

“Yes. Nayden did a foolish thing—giving your empire the aid. We can’t give it to you.”

“Why would Nayden send his niece to negotiate with the second-in-command?”

“He didn’t.”

He cocked his brow questioningly.

I went on. “Like you said, you’re Kalani’s second-in-command. Could you make him give up our troops and support for whatever potential war with the other continents?”

A smile touched the side of his lips. “Oh, Sunflower, you must be quite naïve if you believe I’m going to do anything you’re asking me.”

“I figured you wouldn’t, so I’m ready to make a bargain.”

He stepped closer, decreasing the distance between us. Again, the smell of intermingled perfumes irritated my nostrils. I suppressed a need to wave my hand in front of my face. “Your family shouldn’t be trusted with bargains. Nayden is still keeping Nadira with him, and the clock is ticking.” He threw a glance at the clock on the wall. “Tick tock, tick tock.”

“They are not my family,” I stated. “I grew up with humans. My father died in the ocean; my mother was killed by the plague; my sister is …” I checked myself before I went into too much unnecessary detail. Reuel’s eyes grew curious. “They’re my real family. You can trust my word.”

Pouting, he looked up at the ceiling. I followed his eyes and saw stars. It looked just like the sky at night.

“I have something better in mind,” he said after some thinking.

“What is it?”

“The magical oath.”

Of course.

I was new to it, but I’d come here prepared to take one for the sake of the empire.

I wasn’t sure why I even bothered to rectify Nayden’s mistake. It wasn’t my problem, but also the idea of a war didn’t sound appealing to me.

“What are its terms?” I asked gravely.

“The Empire of Beasts won’t give their troops and support to the Empire of Skies, but only if you marry me.”

I stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “Marry you?”

“Yes, marry me. Be my wife forever, and all those”—he gestured with his hand—“perks of matrimony.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “But there’s no use for you to marry me. Why don’t you ask what’s relevant to you?”

He shrugged. “We’re soulmates. You should marry me instead of running away with the dragon boy someday.”

I pushed the thoughts surfacing about him away.

Marrying Reuel? For the sake of the empire whose people had ruined me, even if a few of them helped me a lot along the way? But those people who’d helped me were living in the Kingdom of Embers, which wasn’t a part of the empire anymore. Besides, Drayard and I weren’t over yet. We just needed some time off from each other.

I slid my hand into a concealed pocket in my dress where the flower was. I squeezed it in my palm. “I’ll think about it.”

I vanished in front of his eyes.

XLV

I APPEARED IN DRAYARD’S STUDY at Hellrock Castle. But instead of finding him there, I discovered someone else holding a decanter in his hands.

“Kristian.”

Kristian flinched, dropping the decanter. It smashed to the floor, and a bit of liquid wet his fine shoes. He backed away a step a little too late. “Lynn, how did you—”

“Teleportation,” I said. “Didn’t your new friend tell you about my powers?”

He looked around the room, probably searching for something that could be used for cleaning.

“I’m sure he doesn’t have any rags lying around in his study room,” I commented, and Kristian stopped searching. “There are servants who can clean it for you.”

Servants which I hadn’t run into when I’d been staying here for a week. Only Baby and Blossom. Did they even exist, or was it yet another one of his many lies?

He squatted down and began picking up the pieces.

I acknowledged the room. I’d seen it through a peephole but with a limited view and from Drayard’s perspective the time I’d learnt about the sacrifice.

He owned a big study room with shelves lined with books on my left. Those concealed peepholes I’d been peering through last year must have been there somewhere. I wanted to look for them, but I also didn’t want to raise questions, so instead, I approached the desk, stepping onto the platform.

I brushed my fingers over a smooth, sheen obsidian surface before I sank into the leather chair. I’d expected it to be comfortable, but it hardly was. Now I understood why I’d never seen Drayard sitting in it and bearing in mind that he had wings, I didn’t get why the chair wasn’t tailored to accommodate them.

“What are you doing here?” Kristian asked, still picking up the pieces from the floor.

“I came to talk to Drayard. Where is he?”

He put the bottom piece on the table, silent.

“Kristian?” I prompted.

“He left a few hours ago, leaving me in charge. But he didn’t tell me where he went.”

“You? In charge?”

He grimaced. “I’m not the same boy who almost starved a fish to death, Lynn. I can take care of things.”

“A kingdom, too? Thousands of people? Drayard is insane to give you such a task.”

He stood up. “What’s wrong with you? Do you hate me?”

“I could never hate you, Kris. You’re my brother. But I’m hurt you didn’t tell me our sister is alive. Instead, you listened to him. And I’m your sister. Doesn’t family come first to you anymore?”

“Family is my priority. Always has been.”

“Then why? Why work for an evildoer and follow his commands?”

“Because not only does family come first to me but also my friends.”

I blinked, astounded. “Do you seriously consider him as your friend?”

“Why shouldn’t I? He gave Gen power. He saved your life twice. He protected you when I asked. He gave me his apprentice position. That’s even more than what a friend does. That’s family.”

I shot up to my feet. “But he lied!”

“Not to me.”

My lips parted.

I had no words.

None.

“You pick his side over mine?”

“I don’t pick sides. Am I asking you to forgive him? No. Am I asking to trust everything that’s going on? No. I know he did you bad, but it’s your relationship. It doesn’t touch me, so thwarting him would be unreasonable of me.”

“Oh, you have no idea how much it touches you,” I murmured before I could think.

“How?”

My mouth had to be my worst enemy, as once again I’d said something I shouldn’t have. Now I had to get out of this situation. “If he comes back, don’t tell him I was here.”

“All right, but what did you mean by— Where are you going?”

I was already striding towards the doors.

“Lynn?”

I opened the door and stepped into the hallway. Kristian didn’t follow me, thank heavens.

Regardless of everything that had happened, I believed him. He’d known me for all of his existence.

But there was also a feeling I couldn’t disregard. I hadn’t seen him for the months he’d spent working for Drayard. Could I truly trust him? My own brother, who didn’t tell me about Gen’s situation, obeying Drayard’s wish to keep it a secret from me instead?

I wasn’t sure what to believe anymore. Who to trust. What to do about Reuel’s proposal. How to deal with Drayard’s lies.

I stopped in the servants’ staircase and banged my fist against the wall with tears in my eyes. I drew in a long breath, trying to collect myself and be strong and—

“Elynn?”

I blinked away the tears before turning to Blossom with a forced smile on my face. “Hi, Blossom.”

She stared at me for a while, not saying a word.

“What?” I forced a laugh.

She moved towards me and hugged me mutely. All I did was stand like a statue, as I hadn’t expected to be embraced, and I wasn’t sure what her gesture meant.

“It’s okay not to smile when you’re not feeling like it,” she whispered.

My muscles relaxed, and she let go of me, smiling with the gentlest of smiles. “It’s also okay to permit yourself to cry.”

I chuckled, and a few tears rolled down my cheeks. “Thanks, Blossom.”

She watched me curiously for a while. “Could you tell me what’s weighing on your heart?”

“I don’t want to bother you with my issues.”

“Are we not friends?” There was a tinge of sadness in her tone.

“No, we are.” I hastened to say, adding a reassuring smile. “We absolutely are.”

Her eyes lit up. “Then how can you bother your friend with your issues? Aren’t friends supposed to help each other in need?”

“I …” My throat tightened, and I felt tears coming, but I tried my best to fight them back, lowering my voice. “I’ve never had someone to talk to apart from my family.”

She touched my shoulder, pressing her other hand to her chest. “You do now.”

Her words were all it took for the emotions I’d been keeping locked inside of me for far too long to come out like a torrent cascading down a steep hill. With a sob, I crumbled to the ground, clutching at my chest because my heart hurt. It hurt because it was pierced with many, many daggers by people I loved so dearly.

Blossom sank to the floor with me and wrapped her gentle, soothing arms around me.

“I—” I hiccupped before taking in a breath to continue. “I don’t know what to do. Everywhere I turn, I see an absolute abyss. I’m not sure if it’s because of some strange power that has been coiling inside of me like a wicked snake since I destroyed the portal or if it’s just me.

“I always had anger issues, but they were minor until they started developing into something worse in the past year, and now, I’m having a hard time containing it. I catch myself having thoughts. Thoughts about killing. I haven’t acted upon them, but it doesn’t mean I won’t someday. I might burn someone, Blossom. I already did, but with the banshee it was different. I’m talking about an actual person. What if I burn someone someday? What if I turn into a monster?”

Her hand stroked my hair. “How often are you having these thoughts?”

“Too often.”

“How often?”

“Daily, Blossom,” I said. “I’m having them daily.”

She stopped brushing my hair, putting her hand on her knee instead. “Considering everything you’ve been through, I’d like to burn someone, too.”

She favoured me with a soothing smile, but it didn’t help.

“Don’t try to make me feel better about it, because it’s wrong.” I arose. “It’s wrong to think like that.”

“We all have such thoughts sometimes.”

“Yes, sometimes. Not every day.”

She said nothing other than staring at me with mild, kind-hearted eyes. I wasn’t worthy to be looked at that way. I wasn’t worthy of her gentleness. Not when I was losing my mind bit by bit.

“Perhaps it’s supposed to be this way.” I plopped down on the step and rested my arms on my knees. “Perhaps I’m supposed to turn into a monster. I wouldn’t love one if I wasn’t one as well.”

Her eyes widened in astonishment. “You … you love him?”

“Ever since our first piano lesson, I’ve loved him.”

I’d hoped I would feel better after admitting it to myself, let alone to someone else, but I didn’t. Love shouldn’t feel like your heart is being pulled into pieces you spend every hour without that person. Love should be exhilarating. Love should be the most wonderful thing you could ever feel for another being. Love should not cause such pain that it did.

“Sometimes I want to rip my heart out,” I admitted, “so I didn’t have to feel anymore.”

Drayard was right once again. Feeling sucked.

She took a seat beside me. “What happened between you and him?”

I didn’t hesitate to tell her everything that had happened in the past week. She listened without interrupting me.

When I was done, she placed her hand on my shoulder. “You deserve more than that, Elynn.”

“Yes.” I dipped my head. “I know.”

We sat there for a while in silence until I heard footsteps coming our way. I tensed, but as Baby emerged from the hallway, my shoulders eased.

“Here you … Oh, hi, love.”

I waved my hand weakly at her.

“What’s …” She took a step closer. “What’s going on?”

I stood, putting my hand in my pocket. “I have to go. I’m sorry, Baby.”

As I clenched the blossom in my hand, I teleported and appeared in Tatyana’s room. The sun was already setting. I hadn’t expected to take this long. I should have managed my time better, since they most likely noticed I was gone, which was bad for my pretense.

I glanced at the clock.

There was still half an hour left until dinner. Perhaps nobody had noticed I had been absent most of the day.

I opened the wardrobe and rummaged through the dresses Lisa had brought me one day, frowning at each one of them. Pink and plum were mostly my choices. There was nothing wrong with the colours, but the meaning was crystal clear behind them.

An innocent, delicate princess.

“You can’t take him away!”

I recognised the voice of Nadira shouting outside the walls.

In need of a distraction from myself, I closed the doors and exited the room to see what was happening. I halted at the sight of two men in the blue uniform clutching Nayden’s wrists behind his back.

Nayden looked dizzy; his head tilted towards his shoulder. He had to be drugged.

“He broke his promise, Nadira,” Reuel said, and only now did I see him standing in front of a weeping Nadira. “He defied Kalani’s request.”

“But you can’t take him.” She fell to her knees and clasped her hands in a prayer. Oh, dear. “Please, don’t take my brother away from me. You can’t do that.”

Seeing her in this state made me feel both sorry for her and disappointed in her at the same time.

“Look at the bright side, auntie,” I said, drawing Nadira’s attention. “You won’t have to marry Kalani.”

But her attention lasted this short as she whipped her head back to Reuel. “Please don’t take him. I can’t lose another sibling.”

I couldn’t bear this pathetic sight for long, but for the sake of my act, I didn’t leave. I approached her and placed my hands on her shoulders.

It took a lot of willpower to keep my hands still when my guts told me to remove them, run into the bathroom, and lather them with as much soap as I could.

“It’s going to be okay—”

“No, nothing is going to be okay!” She shrugged off my hands.

I raised my eyes at Reuel and mouthed, “Get him out of here please.”

The confusion crossed his eyes.

I slid into his head and whispered there, Get Nayden out of here.

What about our bargain? he asked in his head. Have you decided?

It hasn’t even been a day, Reuel. I’m still thinking.

Unsatisfied, he snapped his fingers, and they all vanished, including Nayden.

I closed my eyes, ready to take all Nadira’s sobs, but there was only silence.

As I opened my eyes, she was no longer on the floor but standing as if nothing had happened.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

She gave me a weak smile. “Yes.” She patted my arm. “You can go prepare for dinner now.”

She turned on her heel and began walking towards her room while I remained standing, baffled by her odd behaviour.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

She stopped and lingered before she looked over her shoulder. She motioned for me to follow her. I wasn’t sure about it, but my curiosity got the better of me.

She led me to their bedroom. At once, I turned uncomfortable when the memories of the last time I’d been outside it, but in Drayard’s head, came flashing back along with Nadira’s moans.

But it was all gone when Nadira started tearing the sheets with her claws, ruining the mattress, destroying it all with zero emotion on her face.

I watched in an utter daze.

“‘It’s going to be all right,’ he said,” she mumbled so quietly that for a second I thought she was uttering a spell. “‘I’m going to like it,’ he said. ‘That’s normal,’ he said. ‘It’s completely fine to love and fuck your sister,’ he said.” She flung the pillow into the wall. The feathers burst out and fluttered to the floor. “That monster. That bloody monster!”

She turned her head to me, her entire face stained with tears. “I know I disgust you. I feel it when you tense every time I touch your arm. You’re just as disgusted by me as Tatyana was when she found out about it.” She averted her eyes. “I understood her repulsion, but she refused to believe that I could do nothing while Nayden was the emperor.” She smiled, but it was not like any other smile I’d seen on her face. This one was crooked. Elated. “Was the emperor. That sounds damn good, doesn’t it?”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I chose not to say anything. All I wanted to do right now was go back to my room and shut myself off from this mess.

Her triumphant smile collapsed, and she rushed to the bathroom. My feet were rooted to the ground while I was listening to the sound of retching coming from there.

I should go, but I couldn’t make myself move an inch.

She flushed the toilet and appeared at the threshold.

“Yes, I’m pregnant,” she admitted. “And yes, it’s his.” A deep sigh left as she gesticulated with her hand. “And witches are not here to remove it. Nayden doesn’t know about the baby. There’s no way that child—if it’s even going to be born—will sit on the throne.”

“Then who will?”

“You.”

I winced. “Umm. No?”

“I can’t rule. There are no men left in this family. You would be a great addition to the empire, Elynn. You have a talent to fool men.”

“Excuse me?”

She stepped deeper into the room. “You’re pretending to be who you’re not. Ever since Drayard and you stepped into the throne room, I’ve known. Once you began speaking, he glanced strangely at you. I saw that. I always see things nobody else does. It’s what happened when I was shut down and disallowed to use my mouth since I was born. But I could always use my eyes and ears.”

I stared at her as if seeing her for the first time in my life. The portrait of Nadira’s personality was gradually coming clear before my eyes, like the invisible puzzle pieces coming together.

She wasn’t who she acted to be. She’d never been.

“You’re going to sit on that throne, Elynn.” She took a step further. “And you’re going to show this world that women are worthy of being and doing just about anything as any man is.”

I shook my head. “No.”

“Yes, you are. You’re the rightful heiress of both thrones. Tatyana was the Princess of Beasts. Aytigin was born to be the emperor of the Empire of Skies. You were born to be a ruler.”

I kept shaking my head, stepping back. “Why don’t you sit on the throne instead?”

Her smile was weak. “I’m not a ruler, dear.”

“And neither am I.”

“Elynn—”

But I didn’t listen to what she had to say anymore. I spun around and left in a rush, my stomach stirring with nausea from the abominations I had witnessed.

XLVI

THE COUNCIL WASN’T HAPPY to learn Nayden was taken away to the Empire of Skies.

In the morning, I was called to the meeting room. Like any other room, it had floor-to-ceiling windows. A rectangular table with curled legs was preoccupying the middle, surrounded by chairs to accommodate the members of the council, and of course, there was a dais with a single throne on it.

Since I was the first to come, I grabbed a chair from the table and set it beside the throne. Sitting on it, I waited for the rest to assemble. They took a while, and I got the idea that morphs weren’t the most punctual of creatures.

They bombarded me with questions. I told them what had happened without lying, since there was nothing to hide.

Apart from Nadira’s pregnancy.

After questioning me, they moved on to her, and she confirmed my words while acting affected by grief. She’d even brought a handkerchief and dabbed her face to strengthen the effect. I would have believed her act if I didn’t know the truth.

It was hard to restrain from peeking at her still flat stomach.

When the realisation had sunk in yesterday, I closed myself in the bathroom and threw up in the toilet, skipping dinner as seeing Nadira again sounded sickening.

She was carrying a part of her brother inside of her. And I wasn’t sure if it was going to be my cousin or uncle or aunt.

My stomach churned at the thought, and I willed myself to not puke on this floor right here, right now.

“We need to do the voting.” Ariel arose from his chair. “Since there aren’t any Haroun men remaining, the kings, the queen, and our council have to decide our next emperor.”

Nadira’s words, spoken yesterday, echoed in my mind.

You’re going to sit on that throne, Elynn. And you’re going to show this world that women are worthy of being and doing just about anything as any man is.

But I wanted nothing to do with this world. Regardless of being mistreated by men, not all of them were evil, just like not all women were angel-like. Goodness or badness didn’t depend on sex but on a person and the environment encompassing them. Without a question, morphs’ views of gender roles needed to be changed. I could help with that but not by becoming an empress.

I felt someone’s eyes on me. Dara was sitting in the corner of the room, watching me without shame. Her brother was also here. He was taking notes in his leather book on the chair next to his father. I wondered if those were reports for Drayard or something else not related to his spying job.

“I offer myself as a candidate to the throne,” Ariel said proudly.

Nadira’s expectant stare on me was searing, and it didn’t help with Dara watching.

I wasn’t going to speak. I wasn’t.

Hells no.

“What about an actual Haroun on the throne?” I asked.

Every man’s eyes turned to me. But Ariel’s lowered to my abdomen. “Are you with a child?”

You’re staring at the wrong belly, I thought.

“I’m certainly not.” I stood and descended the two stairs from the platform. The corset encasing my stomach was hard to bear. I was an inch close to tearing this ridiculous dress, which didn’t suit me as a person one bit.

I wasn’t just a pretty-looking thing. I couldn’t sit with my mouth shut and nod in approval. I had to do something. Not only to prove to everyone how wrong they were about women but to prove to myself I was capable of something bigger, something significant, perhaps making a difference.

“I’m proposing Nadira to the Throne of Beasts.”

As I’d expected, they began laughing apart from Nadira, Dara, and … Demian?

He was staring at me with his eyes narrowed, writing something in his notebook. Once Drayard was back from wherever he was, he was going to inform him about this.

Perfect.

“Right, Elynn,” Ariel said once he ceased laughing. “You are new to this world, I understand, and you must not be aware that here, females are prohibited from becoming rulers.”

“Women. We are women, not females. Despite our share with the traits of the wild, it doesn’t mean we have to embrace them and behave like animals.”

Ariel’s eyebrows drew together. “Don’t waste your time, Elynn.” He then addressed the rest. “The gathering is in a week. We’ll decide who we give our vote to then.”

He turned around, ready to leave, but I spoke again. “Nadira is the last pure blood Haroun, Ariel.” He halted, his back still facing me. “Yes, she’s a woman. Yes, she is deemed a weak gender, as you all like to say, but if not for women, you wouldn’t exist. None of us would exist.”

Ariel glanced at me over his shoulder with a look of boredom. “We’ll think about it.”

The council left, and all that remained in the room were Nadira, Dara, and me.

Nadira sighed. “I said I don’t want this, Elynn.”

Exasperation fired through me. “So you’d rather have Ariel rule the empire, brushing your family off the crown entirely? Isn’t that exactly what Macegan tried to prevent?”

She said nothing.

“If by some miracle I sat on the throne, Nadira, I would destroy the empire. You should know that. Do you want to lose the home your ancestors spent centuries to establish?”

Again, she was silent.

I couldn’t believe her. If anything, she was the one who was the worthiest of the throne. Had she been so oppressed this entire time and brainwashed into believing her rights had a limit, and now she was convinced she could not be a ruler?

“I’ll have to agree with my cousin playing make-believe, Aunt Nadira,” Dara interposed. “You have to go for the throne, on behalf of female kind and the oppressed.”

Nadira stared at the wall, avoiding both of our stares, her thin lips pursed tight.

“Come on, Aunt Nadira,” Dara coaxed. “You’re the oldest of your siblings. The throne should have been yours all along.”

But Nadira remained speechless.

“This is pointless,” I concluded. “Ariel is going to become the next emperor and—”

“All right.”

Nadira stood up from her seat, her eyes coming alive with a determined flame. “I’ll declare my wish for the throne. But the council is dominated by men and so are the rulers of our realms. They won’t agree to it.”

“No, they won’t,” Dara agreed. “To ascend the throne, we can’t sit and hope they’ll choose Nadira, which won’t happen. We have to take action.”

Curious, I took a step forward. “What action?”

She smirked. “We need to manipulate.”

I huffed. “Weren’t you against the manipulative rulers?”

“I’m not against them. All rulers are maipulators. Nayden perhaps wasn’t since, let’s be fair, he wasn’t the most deserving man of the crown.” She glanced at Nadira. “No offense, Nadira.”

“None taken.”

“But how are we supposed to manipulate them? I have nothing to use against them,” I said.

“Ah, what would you all do without me?” Her smile meant no good. “But if Nadira wants a crown on her head, it comes at a price.”

Nadira raised her chin slightly. “I’m listening.”

“If you become an empress, I would like you to remove one law. Women aren’t allowed to indulge in romance unless it’s their betrothed. If a woman, noble-born particularly, dallies, she must be cast out from the family. I want that rule gone.”

Nadira nodded. “Any more requests?”

“If I plan on helping you get the throne, I need something in exchange, too,” I said.

There was a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips. “Yes, Elynn?”

“I can’t marry a stranger in the east.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” She waved off her gloved hand. “The reply has not come yet, and I don’t think it ever will.”

“Then I want to be your second-in-command if you become an empress.”

“Hey!” Dara exclaimed. “You can’t be one without knowing our law and history.” Her eyes moved to Nadira. “But I can.”

“You can both be my advisors, girls.”

Dara wasn’t pleased. Neither was I, but she was right. I didn’t know the law or their history in full detail. However, it wasn’t like I couldn’t learn it.

“But if we want Nadira to become the empress, we have to have something against Ariel,” I mused. “He’s the most influential person in the council, correct?”

“He is,” Dara agreed, and a familiar gleam appeared in her eyes. “It’s a good thing that he is also my father, and I know exactly what would make him one hundred percent prone to having Nadira as our new ruler.”

I found Demian in the alcove, writing something in his notebook.

“Was it your idea?” he asked without raising his eyes off the notebook. “To offer Nadira to the throne?”

I stopped a few steps away. “Yes.”

“Well”—he shut the notebook and set it on his lap—“you had a good idea, but it’s, I’m afraid, impossible.”

“You’re not going to vote for her at the next meeting?”

“What difference would one vote make against seven?”

“Are you afraid to stand out?”

He got to his feet, his stance purposeful and earnest. “Not when I’m in the same room as my father.”

He moved past me.

I had no idea what his relationship with his father was, but after his words, it didn’t take a genius to tell it wasn’t a good one. But did any royal children have a loving relationship with their parents in this world? It seemed unlikely.

Before he went too far, I spoke. “I could tell your father on you, you know.”

The sound of his steps disappeared so suddenly I knew he’d stopped walking.

“You can’t be blackmailing me.”

I turned around. “I can, but I won’t.”

His eyes narrowed as he surveyed my face before speaking again. “But you still want me to vote for Nadira.”

“I do, but I have enough enemies waiting for a chance to execute me. I don’t need to add another to the list.”

I might have exaggerated a little, since I’d only had to deal with one assassin, but for all I knew, there could be other people who wanted to see me hanged.

He approached me, dropping his voice. “If you’re not planning to blackmail me and you still want me to vote in your aunt’s favour, then how will you coax me?”

“It’s not my aim to make you vote for Nadira. I need something else from you, so I have a proposition which doesn’t involve blackmailing. Let’s call it a deal.”

He watched me closely, sceptical but intrigued nonetheless. “I’m listening.”

“I need your services as a spy. Whatever you relay to Drayard, you tell me first, and I choose if he can hear it.”

“You want me dead?”

I’d figured he’d be put off by that. “He won’t kill you.”

A brief laugh escaped him. “It’d take a lot more than words to assure me. Even if, let’s say, I agreed, what would I get in exchange?”

“My sister.”

“Your sister?”

If he didn’t recall her, perhaps he wasn’t as interested in her as I’d assumed he was.

“Genette? The Ascended Sorceress you met in Nayden’s study room?”

His eyes sparkled with recognition, and he looked away. “How …” He pressed his notebook to his chest. “How will you give her to me?”

“I won’t give her to you.” I frowned. “She’s not an object. But I can arrange a meeting with her someday.”

I didn’t like this. Offering my seventeen-year-old sister to a morph. However, knowing her history with men, I wasn’t worried much. She’d never had a crush. She could have lied about it, of course, but she had never been a secretive girl. Not until our father died, and it changed her.

“One meeting in exchange for relaying information to you first than Drayard?” he asked, quite unable to believe it, as though he’d expected much more than I offered.

“It’s a pretty reasonable deal when I could blackmail you instead.”

He debated for a moment. “How old is she?”

“She turned seventeen this year.”

“Is she interested in me?”

Definitely not. “Why don’t you ask her yourself when you meet her?”

“Well, then.” He tucked his notebook under an armpit and extended his hand. “It’s a deal.”

Smiling, I took his hand. “It’s a deal.”

XLVII

I WAS SITTING ON THE BENCH in the gazebo, engulfed in the utter darkness of the night. If not for my night vision, I wouldn’t be able to see a thing while waiting for Dara to show up. She’d told me to be here tonight and wear something comfortable, but I didn’t understand what it had to do with what she held over her father.

I’d travelled to the volcano to get some clothes more suitable for a mysterious nocturnal adventure than a dress. Part of me had expected to run into Drayard, but I hadn’t, and the smell of him in the volcano was fading.

I didn’t sense him anywhere close when I was in the Kingdom of Embers. He wasn’t there. I wondered where he was, despite trying my best not to think about him much, which was impossible.

“Boo.”

Dara appeared in front of me out of nowhere, causing me to almost fall back. I hadn’t even heard her coming. She was once again wearing her short purple wig.

I arose. “Are we up to some mischief tonight?”

“Naturally.”

She spun on her heel and began prancing towards the rainforest, but I didn’t move. Regardless of her inability to kill me, it didn’t mean she didn’t hire someone to do it for her.

She stopped, glancing over her shoulder. “Are you coming or not?”

“I don’t trust you.”

“As you shouldn’t,” she agreed. “I’m leading you to the forest while most are asleep. But it’s a live or die situation. Which one do you choose?”

She was challenging me. I hated her for that, since I could never refuse a challenge. I couldn’t ignore my need to prove someone wrong, to prove that I was capable.

I proceeded to follow her into the depths of the rainforest. The further we went, the more the castle receded behind the trees until it was finally fully covered, rendering me more worried about my safety.

I stayed vigilant; my body tensed up in case she attempted something on me. When my ears were on high alert, all I could hear was my footsteps since Dara was walking noiselessly ahead of me. No sound of birds or insects. It was like I was one of the offered sixteen-year-olds all over again.

“Why are the forests in the Empire of Beasts so silent?” I asked. “Animals don’t live here?”

“They do, but they’re scared.” She jumped over a moss-covered branch and landed soundlessly on her feet while I simply stepped over it. “They know who the boss in this world is, and if they wish to survive, they have to be quiet.” She halted. “And here we are.”

We stood in front of the clearing. I surveyed it, searching for a reason why she’d taken me here, but I found nothing out of the ordinary. “How is this supposed to help us with blackmailing Ariel?”

I looked over at where Dara was standing, but the spot was empty. Perplexed, I glanced around the area, looking for a small woman, but she was nowhere to be found.

“Dara, where the hell have you gone?” I mumbled under my breath, becoming angry because if she had led me into a—

“Over here!”

I craned my neck, starting at the sight of her face hovering above me. She was hanging upside down on the branch with nothing but her legs holding her weight.

“I’m going back.” I turned back in the direction of the castle.

“You can’t. He’s going to be here any minute. You have to climb up the tree.”

“Why would Ariel come here at this hour?”

“Don’t you want to wait and find out for yourself?”

She knew how to incite interest.

Giving in, I looked around for a climbable tree. The last time I’d climbed one was when I was running from Fillan, and it was tough, but the adrenaline rushing through my blood had helped me. Although my adrenaline wasn’t activated now, I was physically stronger than a year ago. I should be able to climb a tree without breaking a sweat.

While observing these tall trees, however, it made me want to hide behind the bushes more. But since I didn’t want to appear inferior before Dara, I began climbing one but slid back down. Her observant stare witnessing my failure galled me even more.

“Use your claws,” she advised.

She wasn’t laughing aloud, but it didn’t mean she wasn’t in her head. If Ariel was coming, she wanted to remain invisible and silent. Why would she laugh only to risk blowing her cover?

I didn’t want to use my claws when Dara had suggested it, but if I didn’t, I would never reach even the lowest branch.

With claws sinking into the wood, a journey up was way more possible. When I reached the first branch, I found Dara already straddling it.

“Not bad for the first try,” she acknowledged as I was nestling against the tree bark. “Has Drayard trained you to climb trees?”

“I’m not here to engage in a friendly conversation with you.”

Pouting, she sat beside me. I was about to move away from her, but she grasped my hand and put her finger to her lips. Someone was shuffling through the forest.

I followed the sound, and soon, a man stepped into the clearing from the opposite side. I’d never seen him before. He had long, silvery hair, an abnormally white complexion, and bold white eyelashes. He was wearing casual clothes: a black tunic and trousers. Although his choice of attire camouflaged with the dark, he could not cover himself when he had such stark features.

He put his hands in his pockets and began swinging on his feet, waiting for someone. Was he supposed to meet Ariel? I couldn’t ask Dara, as he might hear us.

Dara, who was still clutching my hand.

I shook it off.

The man stopped swinging, and the brightest smile split his face, affecting his eyes.

“Wow,” he said. “You look pretty, Ari.”

This Ari was a dark-haired woman in an emerald dress. She emerged from the direction Dara and I had come. I couldn’t see her face, but she must be pretty indeed. As she made her way towards him, his blue eyes were shining. I felt a hollow spreading in my chest at the sight of them.

When she was standing in front of him, their heights were the same. He took her hands. Dark brown hands that looked—

Those were a man’s hands.

“Is that …” I said in a hushed voice. “Is that Ariel?”

Dara nodded.

The man pulled Ariel, who was dressed as a woman, in for a kiss while I watched, bewildered by what to think or feel. Dara, however, turned her head away from the sight.

“Who’s the man?” I asked.

“Amyas.”

“Who is …”

It came to me then. Amyas was Kayla’s brother Fillan and Lupin had been complaining about my first serving day in the mansion. Amyas was the King of Talons. And he was in love with the King of Woods. Or the Queen.

“I missed you,” Amyas said once they ceased kissing.

Ariel caressed his cheek. “I missed you more.”

“Doesn’t Ariel have a wife?” I inquired, keeping it low.

“He does.”

Her tone of voice revealed nothing. There was no pain. Dara must have known about their affair for a while now, and she had come to terms with it. Or she didn’t as she hadn’t looked at them once since their kiss.

“Does your mom know about them?”

She shrugged.

“What about your brother?”

“We’re not here to engage in a friendly conversation about my family, cousin,” she mocked me, but her tone was serious and a bit harsh. “We are here so you can blackmail my father.”

“Me?” I drew back. “I didn’t agree with it.”

She pulled something from her pocket and extended it to me. A letter. “I snatched it after the meeting. It’s Amyas’s letter to my father, sent a week ago. It tells about how he misses him and requests to see him in his favourite dress here. There’s also a declaration of love. If you interrupt them and tell my father about the letter, saying nobody would learn about it if he voted for Nadira, he would vote for her.”

I frowned. “Is that who he is? Is he actually a she?”

“I don’t know.”

I inspected her face. She either covered it well, or she was telling the truth. But then again, what did I know? If I’d been fooled before, it didn’t mean I was immune to liars anymore.

I looked back at the lovebirds. Apparently, one of them had brought supplies for a picnic as they were relaxing on the duvet and telling each other something I tried not to listen to, as it seemed too personal.

“Why are you so sure he’s going to vote for her if I blackmail him with his relationship with Amyas?”

She sighed. “For royals, it’s illegal to be in a same sex relationship because it’s impossible to make heirs.”

“But why does it matter?” Amyas laughed, and Ariel lowered his gaze, brushing his hand through his hair. “He’s already produced two children.” At least as much as I was aware. “He did his duty. Why can’t he be with someone he loves?”

“It doesn’t work like that. And Amyas is also a king. A childless king.” She gave her head a slight shake. “Even if he wasn’t childless, they couldn’t be together like that. It’s against the law. They can be hanged and risk their loved ones being hunted down by citizens. Not many are receptive to serious same sex relationships and when a man is dressing as a woman. It’s abnormal.” She looked over at them. “My dad is a degenerate.”

But there was no disgust when she said it. Only sadness.

I didn’t want to blackmail Ariel with what made him happy. For what he had to give up to please the law and his conservative subjects. But if I didn’t do this, he would overtake the throne. Perhaps Ariel would be a much better emperor than Nayden was, but he wasn’t Nadira.

Nadira, who had courted her own brother because if she’d rejected him, she might have had a worse fate than her treacherous sister.

I took the letter and jumped off the branch, landing on the grass. As I arose, they were already staring at me, Ariel’s eyes wide.

He leapt to his feet as though the lightning struck him. “If you tell anyone about this, nobody’s going to believe your word over mine, Elynn.”

“Won’t they?” I held up the letter. “This is Amyas’s letter you received a week ago, telling about this meeting and his desire to see you in your favourite dress with a love declaration in the end. This won’t only damage you, but your lover, Ariel.”

Beads of sweat collected on his forehead while his fingers trembled beside him. “How did you get this?”

“It doesn’t matter how I got this. All that matters is your vote in the meeting in four days.”

“You want me to vote for Nadira.”

“Correct.”

“Even if I do, there are six others who won’t vote for her,” he said. “She’s a woman.”

I eyed him from head to toe. “If you’re disgusted by women, why wish to be one?”

His hand curled into a fist. Amyas stood up and put his hand on his shoulder. He whispered something to him I couldn’t catch, but whatever it was, it seemed to placate Ariel, for his hand unclenched.

“All right, Elynn,” he conceded. “I’ll vote for her if you don’t reveal the letter to anyone.”

“Oh, no, Ariel. That’s not everything,” I countered. “I also want you to revoke your candidacy for the throne and convince others how Nadira would be a good empress if they voted for her.”

“Fine,” he spat out. “But you’re worrying about the wrong person. Someone else’s vote should concern you more than mine.”

“Whose?”

“Weren’t you informed that all the rulers will be voting for the next emperor?” he asked. “And Drayard is one of them.”

I tried not to show how the sound of his name affected me, resulting in a faster beating of my heart. “Drayard isn’t a part of the empire anymore.”

“He’s not. He signed a contract with Nayden last year. If Drayard broke the curse, he’d have an independent kingdom. That’s true. But he also demanded Nayden to agree to a term that if the next emperor is selected, he’ll have five votes to give of his choosing. Nayden laughed it off and signed it without consideration, not only because he firmly believed there was no way Drayard would break the curse, but because he was sure the day would never come when he’d be removed from the throne. And yet … where is he now?”

My lips parted, and I covered my mouth with my hand to stop the laugh trying to burst through.

That sneaky, sneaky bastard!

Drayard had turned the tables. The Realm of Embers had been pretty independent before the new contract, but the emperor still could meddle in his governance if he wished. Now no ruler from the Empire of Beasts could do that, but that’s not the case for the Kingdom of Embers. Now Drayard could pick the next emperor or empress because he had five votes, while the Empire of Beasts had four rulers with one council’s vote.

Ariel was right. It wasn’t him I had to convince to vote for Nadira.

It was Drayard.

But how was I supposed to do that if he was gone?

XLVIII

BLOSSOM HANDED ME HER embroidery to assess. There was a butterfly, a lily, and two bats which I guessed represented her and Baby.

“These are good,” I said.

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not.” I looked up at Blossom. “They’re very pretty. I would ask for one so I could hang it in my home if I had one.”

I put the embroidery on the bed beside me and stood up, walking over to the window overlooking the moat of lava. Resting my shoulder against the wall, I watched the land further away.

Blossom leaned against the wall across from me. “You seem sad.”

“She’s missing him,” Baby noted while doing her nails at the dressing table.

It’d been almost a week, and there was still no sign of him. The meeting of rulers was in two days, and their next emperor or empress would be chosen. The Council of Beasts had already decided to whom their one vote would go, and since I’d blackmailed Ariel, it was Nadira. All I needed was to convince Drayard to give his five votes to her, and we would win. But how could I if he wasn’t around?

He wasn’t dead. I still sensed the strange bond we had notifying me of his existence and a trace of smoke, but not a direction where it could lead me.

As I felt a yawn coming, I covered my mouth.

Despite my vanished nightmares—only because he had helped to chase them away—insomnia didn’t go anywhere. When we’d started sleeping in the same bed, it’d been gone for some time, but it returned once the other side of my bed stayed vacant longer than it should have.

Baby was right.

I was missing him.

I couldn’t pretend anymore. I couldn’t deny my feelings. I couldn’t continue hearing my brain repeating that he’d lied and I shouldn’t forgive him because my heart was only suffering more.

The girls had noticed I’d turned more desolate in the past week, less chatty. I was sure everyone I interacted with saw that since I was too tired to maintain my facade. Tired of smiling when a friend of my soul was somewhere else, and I didn’t even have the slightest idea where.

Reuel was still waiting for my answer, but I couldn’t make a decision until I was certain nothing good would come from Drayard and me.

“I should go,” I announced, leaning off the wall. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Blossom smiled sadly. “Take care, Elynn.”

“You too.”

I teleported, appearing in front of the tavern. A gentle touch of wind caressed my cheek, and I took a deep breath before I pulled open the door and walked in, facing the memories from the last time I’d been here.

The flirting shared between us, touches …

Once I banished the snippets of the memory, I approached the bar and slid onto a barstool.

“Well, well, well.” The bartender propped his forearm on the bar, greeting me with a broad smile. “Glad to see you back, Elynn.”

I managed a weak smile. “Hi, Bert.”

“Another mug of ale to the wild girl, eh?”

A faint chuckle left me. “No, thank you,” I said. “But maybe you’d happen to know where Drayard is?”

“The big guy has disappeared again, eh?” I nodded. “No, I don’t, girl. He likes to disappear at times, but he always comes back, eventually.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, lowering my gaze. “But …” I raised my eyes back at the bartender. “Are you sure you don’t have any idea where he might be?”

“He isn’t much of a talker. So, no. No clue. But the man dancing over there might know.”

I followed his stare, leading to Nathair dancing with two girls. I wasn’t sure if he’d know. Not even Kristian, who had turned into Drayard’s puppy, knew where he was. Nor Kyrel. I’d run into him yesterday, and he had no clue where he was either. If Kristian thought of Drayard as his friend, even family, and he hadn’t told him where he’d be, then his advisor, Nathair—who worked for Drayard because he had saved him from his abusive mother—couldn’t be aware of his whereabouts either.

I turned back to Bert. “I don’t think so.”

“You won’t know if you don’t ask,” he advised before knitting his brows. “Are you sure you don’t want some ale?”

I forced a smile. “No, thank you, Bert. I’m not in the mood to strip on the bar and fall off it again tonight.”

He issued a hearty laugh. “I must say thank you, as you have brought more clients to the tavern ever since that night. Just be careful. Some men would be mindless of their king and still try to approach you.”

My smile melted into a deep frown. But before I could reassure him that I didn’t need a male figure to rely on every time some pervert made a move on me, two men slid onto the barstools on either side of me.

“Hello, hottie,” a dark-haired man said on my right.

“We’ve been waiting for you,” a blonde one crooned.

Bert glanced unsurely at the men before he returned his gaze to me, concern etched into every line of his face.

“I’ll be fine,” I mouthed, adding a smile for assurance.

“Come on now, Bert.” The man on my right ran his fingers through his black hair. He had a thicker accent than Bert. “Get the girl the nicest cocktail you have. It’s on me, hottie.” He sent me a wink.

I glanced over my shoulder. Nathair was still dancing with those girls.

“Actually,” I said, turning back to the dark-haired man, “I’m not a cocktail girl.”

“Oh?” His black eyebrows rose in great surprise. “What kind of girl are you, then?”

I would have lied if I said both of the men were disgusting looking. No, they were attractive. Perhaps one more than another, but then again ... no one could be compared to the man who had my heart.

“Shh, Rays,” the other said. “We don’t even know her name.” Bert walked away to serve another customer, throwing me a watchful glance from time to time. “What’s your name, darlin’?”

They didn’t know who I was or acted like it, at least. I tested my luck on the former.

“Lara,” I answered without contemplating the made-up name too much.

“What a common name.” I recognised a flavour of disappointment in Rays’s voice. “I’m Rays, and that other idiot is Xander. Definitely not worthy of your time.”

“Oh, come on, man!”

“What?” Rays gave his friend a guiltless look. “Did I hurt your feelings?”

“Yes!”

As they carried on with their banter, I glanced over my shoulder again. In time to see Nathair leaving with two girls by his side.

“It was nice meeting you,” I lied to them. “But I have to go.”

I jumped off the barstool, ready to run and catch up with Nathair, but a hand on my wrist stopped me.

“And where do you think you’re headed, hottie Lara?”

I turned to Rays, and as I saw his hand gripping my wrist, something vile flared to life within me. “Let go.”

He didn’t, pulling me closer instead. “Are you one of those cut-to-the-chase girls?” His voice was seductive, but it sickened me, stoking up my flame. “I’m into those.”

“Let go of me,” I repeated myself, fiercer this time, my patience slipping. “Now.”

“Uuu, a demanding one, pal,” Xander commented.

“Love those.” Rays smirked.

He still didn’t release me.

A loud, sudden slap echoed throughout the bar, attracting people’s attention. The slap was almost louder than the music played by the band.

He turned his head back to me. Playfulness had disappeared, replaced by a wrathful, meant to intimidate me, look. But I’d seen scary before, and this man was not it.

“You bi—”

He doubled over once my knee connected with his groin. With a whimper, his hand on my wrist went lax. I wanted to spit at him, but I restrained, taking a step back.

“You can’t touch me without my permission.” I looked at his companion, who was staring at me wide-eyed. “Not only me, but anyone else who doesn’t want to be touched. I’m not some object waiting to be grabbed at any time. No. I am a person like anyone else who has a right to be treated with respect.”

I drew in a deep, calming breath as I was on the verge of exploding out of the wildfire raging within me, tempting me to release it for a play at last.

I was aware of the attention I’d drawn by causing a scene. I would have tackled the opportunity to speak up for the people who were afraid to try, or couldn’t, but Nathair was gone, and if he had any slightest idea where my love could be …

“I would explain further why you can’t do anything like this to anyone without their consent, but I have more important things to deal with right now than your dense arses.”

I exited the bar in a hurry. A linger of wrath was still simmering within me, but I tried to breathe it out and calm down. This was not why I’d come here. But it was a tavern. I should have expected anything, being groped in particular. And yet, it shouldn’t be this way.

Breathe, I told myself.

I breathed out all the hatred, or as much as I could, through my mouth.

The sound of giggling girls reminded me to focus on what was important now. Regardless of feeling an immense urge to satiate my bloodlust by returning to the tavern and burning Rays and his friend to ashes, I restrained myself. It would be indecent, let alone cruel.

“Nathair!”

Nathair either disregarded my call or didn’t hear it.

I quickened my pace, but then I remembered I could teleport.

I appeared in front of them. The smug smile he had on his face dropped instantly at the sight of me.

He grunted, coming to an abrupt stop. “Pardon me. My wifey is here. Unfortunately, no fun for tonight, doves.”

I scowled at the whole wifey thing. He let go of the girls, and they walked past me unbothered, their arms linked, giggling as they disappeared down the street.

Nathair made a mocking bow. “Why did you intrude on my night, Haroun?”

“Do you know where Drayard is?”

He straightened himself, buttoning up his loose buttonholes. “You made me release the girls because you’re missing your boyfriend?”

I opened my mouth to deny his assumption of Drayard being my boyfriend, but it’d only waste time if I started an argument about it. “Nathair, it’s important. Do you know where he is or not?”

He shrugged his one shoulder. “Gods only know where that dragon is flying. He never tells anyone where he’s heading. Don’t you know he’s a loner, Haroun?”

“My name’s Elynn.”

“Right. Elynn.”

“So you can’t contact him?”

“Look, Elina, if he doesn’t want to be found, nobody is going to. Maybe he’s an enormous dragon, could easily be spotted in the sky, but if he disappears, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

That was the dead-end for me. Nobody who knew him even a tiny bit had any idea of where he was.

“I’m sorry for ruining your night, Nathair.”

I still didn’t like the man, but I had thwarted his fun tonight for selfish reasons. The least I could do was apologise.

“Yeah, well, I don’t like you, but you can always makeup for it by heading home with me. I’m sure you have some skills in—”

I silenced him with a pointed look.

“Right. I forgot that Drayard would throw me into lava straight away.” His smile was crooked. “All right, bye-bye, Elina.”

“It’s Elynn.”

He sidestepped me and slouched away while whistling.

I clenched the flower, but before I teleported, I looked up at the sky where part of the moon was peeking through the passing cloud. A whisper slipped out of my mouth in hopes I’d catch a voice I longed to hear in my head. “Where are you, Dray?”

But minutes elapsed, and the voice in my head remained my own.

XLIX

ASENAH’S EYES WERE ON ME ever since she’d entered the meeting room. Obeying my guise of a meek girl, I lowered my gaze as Ariel was reciting his speech to coax them to vote for him.

They’d all vote for him. At least most of them. Ariel would win, since Drayard had failed to show up. Only the rulers’ votes and a council’s vote would count then.

I couldn’t listen to Ariel’s empty promises about getting their troops from the Empire of Skies. He had done nothing to improve the situation. I doubted little would change if he became the next emperor. But despite that, the odds were in his favour, which got me worried.

If Ariel became an emperor, I doubted I’d get away with blackmailing him.

I should be fleeing the empire right now, not waiting for the results that wouldn’t benefit me anyway.

As Ariel finished his speech, the rulers’ applauded him. Ariel soaked up their ovation, bowing his head to them. At last, he sat back in his seat, and their gazes moved towards Nadira. Dressed as immaculate as always, in a sky-blue gown concealing every inch of her skin, she arose, putting her hands covered in white lace gloves in front of her as she raised her chin up.

It was so quiet here, I could hear a bee buzzing outside, and I was told it was hard to catch any sound behind this room because of the soundproof walls. But the rulers weren’t so quiet out of respect for her, I realised. They were so quiet because she had never looked straight ahead before, only down.

“I am confident when you got the news of my pretensions to the throne, many thoughts entered your minds,” she began. “I would hope not one of them was cruel or unkind, but if anything, I’ve learnt while listening without having a say in nothing, is that …” she inhaled. “That it’s all bullshit.”

Some eyes widened while Dara and I exchanged concerned glances. This wasn’t the speech Nadira had rehearsed in front of us yesterday.

“Over the years, you have developed the idea of what my character is, and I’m not going to try to convince you I’m nothing like you took me for. It takes time. What I’m going to do instead is not spout false promises, raising insurmountable expectations, but face the reality.”

She climbed on the dais so they could see her better and turned to them. “We’ve been relying on human slaves for over twenty years, and recently, they’ve started rioting against us. Instead of fighting back, we must acknowledge where they’re coming from, and then what we are doing wrong to feed their anger. We deem ourselves the right ones. We deem ourselves superior because of our longer lifespan and the powers we possess, unlike them. But instead of suppressing the weaker, we should help them, not take them for granted. And I know it’s not what you’d like to hear, but if I become the empress, I will release the remaining slaves and pay the wage for all the wrong things we did to them, to their families, even if it’d be a drop in the ocean as some things not even money can repay.”

Although Nadira was voicing my mind, she was also taking our chance to win away from us. The disapproving looks and the shake of their heads spoke enough.

Morphs don’t accept the change imminently, unfortunately. Dray’s words echoed in my mind.

“However,” Nadira said, stressing the word, “if they continue fighting, we will—”

“Fight back?” Asenah asked.

The side of Nadira’s mouth barely curled up. “We will fight back if parleying with them is unsuccessful.”

Someone sighed. Half of the rulers had already lost interest in listening to Nadira while Ariel was smiling surreptitiously. My hand curled into a fist. He knew he had this, and the worst part was that he indeed did.

What was Nadira thinking? She was supposed to talk about these things after being elected, not before when they were already against the idea of a female ruler.

“To conclude, I hope you all will rethink what’s best for the lands you’re ruling and not your pride. And if you want a newer vision, you will vote for me. Thank you.”

She returned to her seat. Ariel put on a bright smile in front of the assembly. “Let’s vote, shall we?”

Demian stood up and handed out the piece of paper with pens to every ruler, including his father. The council’s vote was already in the middle of the table. As they wrote a name, they folded the paper and gave it to Demian, who put it back in the pile. After voting, Demian began unfolding the papers.

“Ariel,” he read.

Two votes were for Ariel so far, but as Demian picked up the third paper, Nadira’s name sounded in the room. This must have been the council’s vote. As he raised the fourth paper, I found myself praying in my head that it was Nadira.

“Ariel,” he said.

It didn’t matter what the other paper said. Ariel still won.

Even if the last vote also belonged to Ariel.

Nadira didn’t display a tiny bit of disappointment. It was either she conducted herself well, or she’d jeopardised any chance she had on purpose. Who would have thought a speech like hers would make rulers more liable to vote for her?

Ariel stood. “Thank you, everyone, for voting for me,” he said. “A new change awaits—”

The doors swung open, letting in a chill inside. My entire skin coated with goosebumps, but they faded as soon as I saw the intruder, sending my heart into a flurry of emotion.

“Excuse my tardiness,” Dray said, stepping inside while fixing the lapels of his jacket. “I received a letter merely this morning. The messenger must have not been told how urgent it was, or he was but ignored it. Anyway, he was dealt with appropriately.”

I couldn’t tell if it was his mask speaking or if he was actually implying that he’d killed the messenger.

But I refused to believe it.

“Drayard …” Ariel forced a smile. “It’s too late to vote now. We already did.”

Drayard was not deterred. “How could you have voted without me? Isn’t that a violation of the contract?”

Ariel laughed, but it came out unnaturally. “No, we assumed you wouldn’t come.”

“But I didn’t inform you I wouldn’t come, did I?”

“No,” he agreed grudgingly. “It’s my mistake. We should have postponed the meeting.”

“Sit down, Ariel.”

He did so, and Drayard walked over to the end of the room towards Ariel. He stopped behind him, and an apparent tension appeared in Ariel’s posture. “I’m here now. Who’s in the lead?”

“Ariel,” Amyas said.

“Four to one,” Demian added.

“I see.” Drayard rested his hands on Ariel’s chair. The man seemed to be holding his breath. I wondered how long it would take for him to stand and flee when the world’s greatest menace was standing inches away from him, practically breathing against his neck. “I believe you’d like my votes to benefit Ariel, or am I wrong?”

Nobody said a thing, except for Ariel after a while. “Vote for who you think would be the best emperor or empress.”

Drayard scoffed. “Neither of you will be the best,” he said, making Ariel frown. “But neither of you will be the worst.” Ariel’s expression dampened. “And still, neither of you is fit for the throne. Not as much as someone else is.”

What was he trying to pull off?

His eyes travelled from one morph in the room to another until they stopped on me. “Elynn Startel Haroun Cresenbar, will you accept my five votes?”

I stopped breathing as Ariel’s eyes almost fell out of their sockets for how wide they became. “You can’t do that, Drayard,” he said.

The edge of Drayard’s lips turned up. “She’s Haroun, is she not?”

“Yes, but …”

“But what?”

“She’s a girl who was raised by humans. She’s not fit for it.”

Ignoring Ariel, Drayard approached me. I tensed as he extended his hand to me. “Will you accept my five votes?”

What are you trying to do? I asked in his head.

He didn’t reply.

Instead, a controlled laugh sounded in the room as Asenah gave her head an almost imperceptible shake. “Classic Drayard, planting his pawns in every part of the empire. Doesn’t he have enough spies in our kingdoms already?”

“Spies?” The King of Woods laughed. “I would know if there was a traitor roaming my palace, Asenah.”

“Would you?” Asenah asked. “I didn’t know there was a spy in my home until Drayard made a visit, knowing things he shouldn’t be aware of. Later, I found this spy and eradicated it from my staff at once.”

Many things I’d like to say were blooming on the tip of my tongue, but I controlled my mouth this time.

Everyone was too shocked to speak, except for the King of Woods. “Is this true?” He addressed Drayard. “You have spies all over our empire?”

“Do you think he will say yes?” Asenah laughed. “Please, Zorian.”

Zorian continued staring at Drayard, anxious to hear his answer.

I had learnt about Drayard’s fondness for having spies not long ago, and he never told me about his current spies, but judging by one sitting right in this same room, it was likely that there were more of them in the empire.

“Asenah is right,” Drayard said. “I’m not going to admit such a thing, but I’m not going to deny it, either. If I did, you’d still be wondering whether there’s a spy in your home or not, and this allegation is not why we’re here. But I can assure you, whether you believe it or not, Elynn won’t be my pawn if she accepts the votes.”

“Then who is she going to be?” Asenah mocked. “An ornament?”

Tired of just sitting there and listening, I arose. “No,” I said, diverting their attention from Drayard to me. “I’ll be the crown.”

I looked at Drayard, catching his gaze spiced with a tinge of rebelliousness. “I accept your votes, Drayard Emyur.”

He smiled and stepped back, bowing to me deeply. “All hail the Empress of Beasts.”

L

EVERYONE ELSE WAS SILENT. Too stunned or too angry to speak. Drayard turned around and exited without another word. Holding up the skirt of my dress, I hurried after him.

I didn’t call his name, but he must have sensed me behind him. He entered the veranda and stopped, his back to me. He must have known he had some explaining to do and didn’t try to run, unlike I’d expected him to.

“What was that all about?”

He hesitated a moment before turning to me. “I have my own reasons.”

I shut my eyes in frustration. His classic vagueness annoyed me to the bone. When he was being vague, he was always hiding something.

I reopened my eyes. “And what are those reasons exactly? To keep me away from you. Is that what it is?”

He took a step closer to me. “I need to show you something. But I’ll have to fly you to the place. Can I?”

My stomach twisted in knots. “Show me something? Is that a good thing or not?”

“Elynn …”

I clenched my jaw, jutting out my chin. “Fine.”

He transformed into a dragon, and I climbed onto his back faster than previous times but with a heart smashing itself against my ribs. Holding onto his spikes, he soared into the sky.

You didn’t do anything to the messenger, right? I asked.

What messenger?

The one who brought you a letter this morning.

He hesitated to answer. No.

Are you lying?

No.

I closed my eyes to savour the flight, but I couldn’t be silent for long.

You should have voted for Nadira, not me.

I thought you disliked her. What changed?

I did, but … Sharing Nadira’s secret, however, didn’t feel appropriate. It wasn’t my secret. I couldn’t tell everybody simply because I wanted to. People aren’t always who they seem to be.

He continued flying in silence. I had no idea where he was taking me as I could see nothing when we were flying above the clouds, but I trusted him with my life. I always felt safe with him. I couldn’t tell if it was a mate thing. Even if it was, it didn’t matter.

Hold on tight, he warned after a little while. We’re landing.

My grasp on his spikes tightened, and he dived downward. Instead of screaming as I would have a year ago, I smiled, but my smile was weak and it sent a pang of pain to my heart.

As we landed, I climbed off him before he transformed back into himself. We were in the valley surrounded by many mountains. The air was warm and gentle, but I … I could smell nothing here. Not even him.

I inhaled deeply to make sure the scents didn’t elude me, but nothing. It was like the air was barren of any life.

I looked over at Drayard. “Why can’t I smell anything?”

“It’s one of the small, enchanted islands outside the Kingdom of Embers. It was created for morphs, male morphs specifically, to go to during the Mating Ritual night if they didn’t want to mate as being here they can’t smell, and their urge to mate decreases.”

“You spent the night here during the Mating Ritual?”

He nodded. “Half of it.”

The other half he’d spent looking for me.

Incoherent noises reached my ears, causing me to turn around. In front of me was a river flowing behind me, but on the opposite bank, tents were scattered around with a bonfire. Like a camp. And people were walking around.

People with wings and horns.

Dragons.

I blinked to make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me, but no. There were people. With wings. And horns.

Actual dragons.

“What is this?” I asked Drayard. “Didn’t they all die six years ago?”

“Not all.”

My heart sank at the realisation. “You … lied?”

He dipped his chin—guilty. A long moment passed before he looked me in the eye again. “I’m sorry, Elynn, but this is the secret I’ve been carrying ever since the raid. Nobody knows most dragons are alive, thriving on the neglected island. If the word got out, even a rumour that they’re alive, they’d be in danger because of their blood, which could be used for wicked things.”

His explanation was sensible, but it didn’t stop hurting less. “If the raid was a real event, how are they alive?”

He took a seat on the rock. “I wasn’t too late to come to the rescue when enchanters attacked the Realm of Embers, unlike I claimed,” he confessed. “I was aware of the attack beforehand because of my spies infiltrating the Empire of Skies. I didn’t want to save them at first, but my conscience made me. I had to at least try. I returned to my birthplace a day prior to the massacre to warn them, but not all believed me.”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

He smiled ironically. “Dragons were ashamed of me. I was half a bat. A bastard of a whore who was also a child of their king. Inferior, and yet superior. They didn’t know how to behave themselves around me, and when they caught on to the fact that Arragon wasn’t treating me like a father should treat his son, they became more and more confident to belittle me, make fun of me. Arragon is strong, they thought. He has many years to live, they thought. There will be another son, they thought. The rightful heir, they thought.”

He breathed out to control his anger, but he was in a fragile state of mind, and I could tell it hardly helped. “Despite some not believing me, some did, and I showed them where they could stay in the meantime. I didn’t tell them that they might not be able to come back home any time soon.”

“But some of them stayed in the realm during the raid?”

He nodded.

“And they died?”

“Some,” he said. “Others were taken to the Empire of Skies. To this day, I don’t know what happened to them. I could only assume.”

Whatever it was, they couldn’t be treated well there.

“What about your father?”

Did Dray warn him about the raid?

The corner of his lips lifted, answering my thought without needing him to voice anything. “I flew to the castle a few hours before the raid. I watched Arragon from the shadows, wondering what he was going to do once he learnt of the attack. Would he fight to protect his kind or run? But I chided myself for it, for even giving him the credit of doubt when I already knew the answer, and I was right. When guards warned him of the enchanters attacking the towns, he rushed to pack his things. But before he fled, I cornered him on the roof.”

He stood. “He was a coward, and I didn’t forget to point that out to him before I pulled out the dagger—the same one you found in the library—and slashed his wings. He tried to fight, but he hadn’t gone through the war training when he was ensconced in the castle his entire life. Without his wings, all he had was his fire, but he barely had a chance to use it. I let him so he’d believe he had a chance against me before I crumbled all his hopes and pushed him into the lava chasm below.”

My eyes widened.

“I killed my father,” he assured me of what I had already come to realise. “Not the enchanters. Me. I did it. And I don’t regret it.”

A killer. A killer. A killer, my mind yelled.

But as I recalled everything I knew about his father, I couldn’t help but understand him. He’d made his son go through hell by burning countless people he didn’t want to kill. By doing nothing when they had starved him. By stealing his war achievements.

He was a killer. I couldn’t argue with my mind.

He was a monster, too.

Yet my love for him didn’t diminish. Not even a little.

I moved a step closer. “Dray, I—”

Out of nowhere, he sprinted towards me, cutting me off. I stayed still as he embraced me, his wings enveloping me. Before I could ask why he was conducting himself this way, there was a deafening sound of an explosion. I squeezed my eyes shut.

His voice entered my mind. Teleport back to the empire once I release you in one—

What’s happening?

I wasn’t going to teleport anywhere, not when he was holding me this tight and his wings were protecting me from the outside world. Not when there were shrill screams and shouts coming from the camp.

Elynn, you must—

I put my hands to his chest and tried to push him away, but he didn’t move. Only when he looked around did he release me, his wings unwrapping me from their cocoon. The first thing that caught my attention was a silver-like arrow jutting out of his right wing.

The air was snatched out of me. “Dray—”

“I’m fine.”

He was staring at the camp, mindless of the arrow that I was sure was covered in platinum. It was lethal to dragons, but did it have to go to his heart to kill him or not necessarily?

He looked over at me, his eyes unreadable. “Teleport or hide, Elynn. I have to go.”

His wings spread out, but before he went, I said, “What’s happening?”

He shot up into the sky, his voice sounding in my mind.

Hide.

I remained still, watching him disappear above the clouds, unsure of how he could fly with an arrow in his wing. Shaking myself out of my wonders, I directed my focus to the camp in flames. The noises were quieter now, but something terrible was happening there, and I had to find out what.

I teleported behind one of the tents and stealthily neared the centre. I peered over the wall, discovering cages with winged and horned people trapped in them. Women, men, children …

Two men in blue were lugging a dragon towards the cages. With the Empire of Skies insignia sewn into their uniforms.

Somehow, I developed a bad feeling that their appearance here had something to do with me. If Drayard had kept this place a secret for six years and now, when I’d learnt about it, suddenly enchanters were here? It couldn’t be a coincidence.

Before the guards could push the dragon into a cage, Drayard landed before them. Disposing of the arrow, he arose.

“Release them.” His voice was low and steely—a warning before the storm.

I was looking out for any archers as Drayard was brave to stand this exposed when some of them were lurking somewhere with arrows covered in lethal platinum.

“It’s Kalani’s request, Your Majesty,” one of them said, failing at masking a tremble in his voice. “His second-in-command, Reuel Themias, said if we run into you to relay the message. You’ll concede the dragons to us without a fight if you don’t want a war, which wouldn’t end in your favour.”

Not when the Empire of Skies had free access to the troops of the Empire of Beasts.

“Well, I suppose it’s too late for them now?”

The guards followed his stare and so did I. On the far tree, two men were nailed to it by arrows in their throats. My eyes widened at the realisation that Drayard was responsible for it.

One of the guards diverted his gaze as tears filled his eyes.

“Release them if you don’t want the same happening to you both.”

“Reuel also said if we don’t come back, the war will also be declared.”

A faint smile touched the side of Drayard’s lips. I felt a weak shaking underneath me, and some vicious tinge of feeling spread within me. Drayard’s eyes turned from golden-red into an awakening fire, and his bronze skin was growing redder.

I wasn’t thinking when I left my safe spot, rushing towards him. I put my hand on his shoulder, and the ground stopped trembling. His body temperature returned to normal as well as his eyes.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he whispered, keeping his gaze steady on the enchanters.

“I know it’s not what you want, but you have to let them take them,” I said. “I don’t know about your army, but I’m sure it won’t stand a chance against the Empire of Skies. You can’t risk a war.”

As he didn’t deny it, I knew I was right to assume his army was weak compared to the Empire of Skies.

Not a little pleased, he took my hand and stepped out of the guards’ way, pulling me with him. The guards lingered a second before they moved towards the cages and pushed the last dragon in it. As they put their hands on the bars, everyone disappeared.

“Will you be able to return home?” Drayard asked, his voice drained of life.

I wasn’t sure what home he meant, but I supposed it was my new one. “Yeah,” I mumbled.

He let go of my hand and brushed past me, going towards the tent.

I trailed behind him as he drew the flaps apart, checking the inside of the tent one after another.

“What are you looking for?” I asked, although I had a clue.

“Go, Elynn.” He sighed. “You did enough.”

My heart dropped. “No, Dray … Don’t say that.”

He stopped and took a moment before turning to me. His head was lowered as he strode towards me. I stayed still when he closed the distance between us and raised his head. His eyes were glazed as he said, “Go.”

He delivered it so calmly yet demanding.

“Is that what you want?”

I hoped not, but he opened his mouth and as a faint sound left his lips, he grimaced, like the time in Nayden’s study room. I raised my eyebrows questioningly.

“Just go, Elynn.” He swept his hand through the air.

“Is this it?”

I didn’t elaborate. He understood what I meant.

Is this the end of us?

“I’m afraid so.”

I sucked in my cheek, daring a step forward, our chests inches away from touching. “Broken finds broken, Dray.”

“But broken cannot fix broken.”

I produced an unbelievable huff. “Why did you make me an empress?”

“Elynn—”

“No,” I said sharply. “Why. Did. You. Make. Me. An. Empress. Drayard.”

Every action of his had a reason. There was always a reason. An ulterior motive. And making me an empress was no exception.

By the look in his eyes, I knew he didn’t want to say it. The truth. But something was holding him back from the lies he liked to use so often.

“You know, I’ll make it easier for you.”

I drew out the knife and brushed it against my right palm. Blood seeped through. I grasped his right hand, removed his glove, and turned it over. There was a faint line going across his palm, matching the wound I’d just made.

I looked up, finding his heartbroken eyes staring back at me. “You drank the poison on purpose,” he said dejectedly.

Releasing his hand, I couldn’t stop the tears from filling up my eyes.

“Why did you do it?” he asked, not hiding his pain.

“You know why.”

“To get back at me? Well, that’s obvious. But is it really just one reason?”

I hesitated before shaking my head.

He pinched my chin with his fingers, stopping my head from shaking, and leaned closer to my face. “Tell me the real reason. Tell me the real reason why you poisoned yourself to make me make you the Queen of Embers, Elynn. Tell me.”

Entranced by his eyes, my lips parted to tell him the truth, but I didn’t want to. I didn’t want to admit that, despite the distance separating us, I didn’t want to let go of him. I wanted to stay bound to him and making a blood oath with him to become the Queen of Embers meant nothing and no one could ever split us up.

I closed my mouth, pushing him away.

He chuckled, running his hands through his face. “I can’t believe you fooled me with such finesse. How?”

“You never told me your weakness.”

“Ah, you figured it out.”

I didn’t have the energy to even nod my head. But I didn’t have the energy for anything, for that matter. “It saddens me that you think of me as your weakness and not your strength.” I stepped back. “Goodbye, Drayard.”

“No, Elynn—”

But I disappeared before I heard the rest, his tired eyes lingering all the way to the place I’d hoped I wouldn’t need to return to anytime soon.

“Have you decided?” Reuel asked, lounging on his chaise lounge.

“Yes,” I said gravely.

“And what is it?”

I reconsidered it, searching for something to latch on to, but there was mere emptiness.

I felt dead inside.

“I will marry you if my empire won’t have to provide yours with aid, and you’ll release the dragons you just took.”

He laughed. “That was not our initial deal.”

“No, it was your deal.”

“It was, since you had nothing to offer in return, Sunflower.”

I clenched my hands, and his gaze wandered to them. I breathed out surreptitiously, releasing my fists. “What will happen to the dragons?”

“I might tell you if you become my wife,” he said and then tacked on, “Or not.”

His grin turned so wide, I was tempted to punch him in the face.

“Fine, I will marry you if my empire won’t have to provide yours with aid.”

He stood and approached me, sticking out his hand to me. “It’s a deal, Sunflower.”

I took his hand and felt an itch on my arm where the promise was digging deeper into my skin.

There was no going back now.

It was not like I had something to lose.

I was going to forgive him for all the sins he’d committed, choosing love over revenge, but now, when there was no love, only malice towards the people who had failed me, there was nothing left to lose anymore.

Apart from my sanity.

But it had begun slipping the day I’d killed the banshee.

And I’d completely lost it the day I’d parted with the love of my life.

Epilogue

“ARE YOU SURE IT WAS a good idea?”

Kristian, following Drayard’s lead, tried his best not to touch any morphs once they entered a ballroom in Casidiarn Castle. He was doing his best to keep up with Drayard, but no matter his fast pace, he always fell one step behind.

Drayard was aiming for the furthest corner across the throne. He didn’t want her to see him or people to pay much attention to him, even if they already did, bowing their heads to him as he passed them, but he ignored every single one of them.

“No.” The answer left his mouth at last.

Elynn was right. He had a reason to give her his votes. But it wasn’t the one she spoke of to keep her away from him. It didn’t even sound possible to him to stay away from her for long, as she was, at the end of the day, his potent pull.

It would go horribly wrong. He’d known perfectly well before giving her those five votes. She was his soulmate. Their minds worked alike. Needless to say, Elynn had a thirst for vengeance and no matter what she put her mind on, she made sure to get it at all costs. She was capable of destruction, and he was sure it was what she’d give to the empire that had been failing her ever since she’d entered it.

A morph servant breezed by, and he grabbed a glass of champagne from their tray, chugging the drink down in one go. He crushed the glass in his hand, shards digging into his skin that healed fast. Kristian watched the situation in alarm.

Broken finds broken, Dray.

But broken cannot fix broken.

He swallowed the words like an acid drink, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the remains of blood off his palm.

The double doors opened across from him, and the bat girls sashayed into the room, going straight for the seats near the throne. He’d figured they’d follow her. In fact, expected such when he’d fired them.

But now, the house was empty.

And so was he.

If he focused, he could catch one morph after another complaining about a rumoured girl whose head they desired months ago becoming their ruler. But as another double door opened, they fell silent for the first time to greet the woman in a yellow, almost golden gown.

The gown she’d designed.

The gown that belonged to the only woman he truly loved. Still did to this day.

A thief of his heart and soul.

Although she was about to become an Empress of Beasts, rule the Empire of Beasts, looking like she was all prepared for it, she didn’t belong here. She would look better seated on his throne with him always by her side.

But if it was meant to happen someday, it wasn’t now.

People spread, giving their soon-to-be-empress a way to the dais. She walked graciously and easily towards the throne, as if it was calling for her. Morphs held their breaths at the sight of her, and Drayard was no exception.

Perhaps yellow was her favourite colour and fit her well, but crimson was the one that suited her the most.

What the hells am I still doing here? Drayard thought.

She ascended to the dais and turned to the crowd.

“First,” she began, clasping her hands before her, “thank you all for allowing me to be here.”

Nobody said a word. Her void amber eyes scanned the room as if daring anyone to speak.

“Second,” she continued after a moment of quiet, “I’m beyond glad you came here on such an important day of mine.”

Deadly silence.

“And finally,” she said, inhaling, “my head feels very light at the moment.” She tilted her head in the direction where the priest was standing and smiled faintly at him. “Could you, Father?”

The priest nodded and approached her, standing before her. She knelt on one knee, bowing her head.

“By the power of Gods, the Universe and holy spirits,” he cited the coronation words as he held a crown above her head, “I crown you, Elynn Startel Haroun Cresenbar, as the Empress of the Empire of Beasts.”

This was wrong. What had possessed him to give her the crown as though she wasn’t going to crush it once it was in her hands?

He put the crown on her head. “May your reign begin, Gods’ child,” he said.

As she rose back up, a fleeting shadow passed through her eyes.

The priest had no idea he’d just put a crown on a devil herself.

People raised their hands, tentatively starting to clap. If she noticed morphs’ discontent about the idea of her being their empress, she didn’t show it.

“Thank you, Father.”

The priest took it as his cue to leave the sight.

Elynn was about to sit on the throne when she was interrupted by a shout.

“What the heavens, people? Can’t you see?” Drayard’s eyes found the man with a death wish among the crowd. “A child of forbidden love can’t sit on the throne!”

Elynn stared at the man, saying nothing, as if challenging him to continue to speak.

“A female can’t rule! Only males can!” He glanced around the room, looking for mutual thinkers.

If Drayard had the power, he’d quiet him as he was testing the death right in front of him, but he couldn’t.

“I’m here to change that,” she said, her voice sounding odd. It didn’t belong to her, as if it wasn’t the Elynn he knew talking but a cold empress whose tips of her horns were protruding from her head.

If you want to be a king someday, you will have to dispose of your heart, boy, his father said once. Being powerful and kind isn’t possible unless you want them to stomp on you and equate you with dirt.

“This is a jest!” the same man exclaimed. “She can’t rule! Put a man on the throne! Put a man on the throne!”

Gradually, one morph after another joined his chant. Uncertain at first, but as Elynn was silent and did nothing to stop the rebellion, they became more confident, and the chanting increased, becoming louder.

Elynn’s eyes narrowed, and the crowd was abruptly robbed of their chanting, cut off by a scream that belonged to the same man who’d started it.

He was burning.

Alive.

And it wasn’t Drayard’s power who had taken him but Elynn’s.

He tried to extinguish it, but Elynn was gripping into his power, clutching it as if it was hers. And it was hers. He was aware she knew he was trying to thwart her, but that didn’t matter. Her utter focus was on the man she was burning like a match.

Blossom sprang off her seat and shook her friend by her shoulders, begging her to stop. Baby dipped her head, shaking it disapprovingly.

“Stop!” someone from the crowd yelled. “Make her stop. Please!”

The fight between Elynn’s and Drayard’s powers disappeared. A too familiar smell of burnt flesh reached Drayard’s nostrils. Kristian’s face scrunched up as he covered his nose. The man wasn’t there anymore, only a heap of ashes with teeth peeking through.

Silenced people raised their heads at their empress in unison.

Blossom’s face had become a shade whiter. Baby had to hold her so she wouldn’t swoon.

And Elynn didn’t show the slightest care of her stunned friend as her eyes locked with a certain someone staring at her from across the room.

“So,” the empress said, breaking the deadly silence while fixing her bronze crown, but her eyes never left his. Eyes that screamed chaos. “Is anyone going to name the reasons why I’m wrong to be on the throne next?”

Nobody dared to speak this time.

She could finally sit on her desired throne and bring the inferno to the empire, a ghost of a smirk on her face.

Checkmate, my king.

The unexpected, yet familiar voice rang in his mind, continuing to echo until the realisation finally struck him. But too late.

She had never wanted him to vote for Nadira. She had wanted him to vote for her.

She hadn’t tricked him into making her the Queen of Embers just to get back at him. She wouldn’t have done it if she didn’t want to tie herself to him forever, and she knew … She knew he already didn’t like to be in the position he was in. She had to have at least a clue that the only way to keep her away from him was to make her the empress.

He wouldn’t have helped her with that if he had known she was going for that crown. But her words of how awful it would be if she held any kind of authority in this word rang in his mind. It was a perfectly executed ruse from the very start.

Offering Nadira to the throne in the same room where Demian was, his spy who would report everything to him …

And she knew that. She bloody knew that.

Perhaps sending the messenger was her idea as well. If not for them, he would have never learnt about the voting, and Ariel would be sitting on that throne instead of her.

As Drayard returned home, he stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, grasping the edge of the sink, his eyes closed.

“I’m tired,” he whispered. “So tired.”

His eyes opened, but instead of facing his reflection, he met the void staring back at him.

Author’s Note

It’s been two years since I published the second book, and a lot has happened since then. Anthem of the Cursed Empire was my first ever release, and there were more firsts that followed shortly after.

I fell in love. I flew by plane for the first time. I moved to another country…

For a long time, I thought I wouldn’t release the sequel in print because the first one didn’t pay off. And yet, here I am. But it wouldn’t have been possible without you, my reader.

Ever since the first book release, I was getting little sales. That was until one of my videos went trending on TikTok and later on Instagram. My sales skyrocketed and now they’re low but not as low as they were at the beginning of the year, so I’m not giving up.

I know there’s a lot of you who wanted the sequel, and I wasn’t going to leave you hanging. I really hoped you enjoyed this one. Forgive me if you found mistakes and such. English isn’t my first language, but it’s one of my favourite things in the world. I had a better editor for this book, and I hope it was more easily readable.

If you really enjoyed it, please leave the review on Goodreads or Amazon or where you’re most active. I love writing, and I’m trying my best to make it as a career, but without you, it’s not possible. Getting reviews would help me out immensely.

Again, thank you for reading.

Love,

Austea

About the Author

Born and raised in Lithuania, Austea has finally fulfilled one of her dreams and moved to another country. Because of love, she ended up in Norway but not without her cat. Currently, she’s complaining about the cold weather, creating videos and writing every once in a while, hoping that someday she will be able to write full time and explore the world.

You can follow her journey on Instagram @austea.kette

Thank you so much for reading

I hope you enjoyed the story. If you did, please consider leaving a short review on Amazon, Goodreads or your other favourite book website. Reviews help every author, and even leaving a line or two can make a huge difference.

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Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Dedication

Map

Prologue

Part I: Notes of Chill & Seclusion

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

Part II: Notes of Reunions & Masks

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

XIV

XV

Part III: Notes of Loss & Mystery

XVI

XVII

XVIII

XIX

XX

XXI

XXII

XXIII

XXIV

XXV

XXVI

XXVII

XXVIII

XXIX

XXX

XXXI

XXXII

XXXIII

XXXIV

XXXV

XXXVI

XXXVII

Part IV: Notes of Epiphany & Truth

XXXVIII

XXXIX

XL

XLI

XLII

XLIII

XLIV

XLV

XLVI

XLVII

XLVIII

XLIX

L

Epilogue