Page 25

Chapter seventeen

ATALIIA

Soft afternoon light poured through the window as the familiar purred, tucked between my arms. I scratched behind its ears as it stretched its small paws, its claws extending and retracting as it woke from its nap.

The day had been spent waiting for the healing tonic to mend Nox to a point that he was well enough to tether without extreme pain. Ammord was always quiet until the sun began to set and though I wanted to go into Sethros, it was too dangerous to show our faces so soon after Pri had been attacked.

“What should I call you?” I asked, the familiar’s rough tongue lapping at my wrist. I rolled over onto my back, pulling the cat onto my stomach. “What about Onyx?”

Its fur turned as white as snow as it stared at me. A soft chuckle vibrated out of my chest at the nonverbal answer. If I was to be stuck with it until death, at least it had a sense of humor.

“Okay, fair enough—no color names then.” I pushed myself upright and scooted back against the headboard, watching as it circled a few times between my crossed legs before falling into a comfortable position.

“What about Changeling?” I joked, raising a brow. It hissed back at me and this time, a full-bodied laugh burst from my lungs. “You really are mine, aren’t you? I hate it too . . . kinda .” I cooed, scratching my sharp nails under its chin.

I let out a soft sigh, looking over my shoulder through the large window and watched as the breeze blew over the dunes, pushing the sand into small funnel shaped columns.

“What about . . . Cyloe?” I pulled my eyes back to the cat in my lap and it purred against my legs.

A smile spread across my lips.

“Cyloe it is then. Now, are you a boy or a girl?” On cue it lifted its leg into the air, licking at its fur, and another chuckled escaped my lungs. “A girl, I see. How ladylike of you.”

A knock sounded at my door and my eyes snapped to the sound.

“Ata, may I come in?” Pri called from the other side of the wood and I let out a sharp breath.

“Yes,” I responded, watching as the door creaked open.

She slipped through the opening, shutting it quietly behind her as she sauntered toward me. The hair on Cyloe’s spine straightened as Pri approached and as she reached her hand out to pet her, Cyloe hissed.

Pri retracted her hand with furrowed brows. “Well that’s a first,” she said softly. “Animals usually love me.”

“Don’t take it personally, I don’t think she really likes anyone,” I said, shooing Cyloe from the bed. “When are we leaving?”

Pri sighed and pushed her golden locks over her shoulder as she fell back on the bed. “As soon as Nox is awake. He should be healed enough to withstand tethering without too much pain.”

“Pri, do you know who Nox is?” I questioned cautiously, dragging my eyes from the bed of my nails to meet her gaze.

“Yes.” Her voice was hushed as she said the word and I clenched my fists together, trying to restrain the anger her answer ignited.

“Why would you let us work with him? Why would you ever tell him anything if you knew he would sell the information we traded with him?” I scolded, the words harsh as they left my mouth.

Pri shot up from the bed, her eyes narrowing on me. “Because we needed information that only he had. He is the one that warned me of the attack on your academy with enough time to let Wren know. To get you out—to get you to safety.”

“Nox is the reason that attack happened in the first place,” I snapped. “He is the one that sold information to The Silliands on how to even get into Redelvtum, how to break past the wards.”

Her face fell at my words, her golden skin paling as they sunk in.

“What?” she breathed, a look of horror slowly seeping into her features.

“He sold that information to Dukovich, Pri. Then turned around and sold you the warning of the attack. None of that would have happened if it weren’t for him.

” I could see the gears in her mind frantically turning as she stared at me.

“Dukovich bought and acted on the information because he knew if he didn’t, Nox would sell it to Ammord. ”

I could’ve choked on the words as they fell from my mouth with the bitterness they held. But I believed him, I actually believed him. Dukovich had so many opportunities to kill me, to kill Hyacinth—but he never did.

Pri ran a shaky hand through her hair and I watched as her eyes darted nervously around the room. “We need to get back to Locdragoon; Landers will know what to do. He’ll know how to fix this.”

“Landers is in Ithia with Cin and Andrues. And . . . is it really the smartest idea to bring him back there knowing what we know now?”

“I thought I could trust him, Ata. I knew who he was but the information he gave me kept us alive so many times. I thought I could trust him—thought he was on our side. Wren can talk to him. He can get him to tell us who he has spoken to besides me.” The words were frantically spilling from her mouth, her voice shaking as she mentally sifted through every interaction with him.

I grabbed her hand, pulling it into mine as softly as I could to calm her.

“Pri . . . what exactly did you tell him?”

She looked up at me with wide, rounded eyes.

“He knows that Dukovich is alive.”

Well that is going to be a fucking problem.

I stared back at her as the blood drained from my face.

“When did you tell him this?” I forced my voice to stay calm as I rose from the bed and began to pace.

This was bad.

This was very, very fucking bad .

If The Silliands and Ammord knew he was alive, that he was working with us, then any plans they’d made with him present, any information he had given us about their tactics would no longer be of use.

This would change every strategy we had planned to go against them.

I finally understood why he had glamoured himself for so many years, even if they now knew he was alive, they would not recognize him.

“When we were here last month. He said he and his men were gathering people that wanted to stand with us and needed something that would convince them to fight on the right side. I thought knowing their High Priest was fighting with us would help sway them—”

“Okay,” I interrupted before she could spiral into a complete panic.

“Wake him up. We need to get out of Ammord as quickly as possible, I don’t care if it’s painful for him.

When we get back to Locdragoon, we will send word to Landers and have Wren interrogate him in the prisons until he gets back.

” Pri nodded, immediately tethering from the room.

I plucked a pillow from the bed and screamed into it.

We were so incredibly fucked.

“Rough morning I take it?” Dukovich’s voice rang through the room and I pulled the pillow away from my face to see him leaning against the door frame smiling at me.

I hadn’t heard him open the door through the cacophony of screams I had been unleashing.

He needs to learn to fucking knock.

I chucked the pillow on the bed and watched as Cyloe crawled from under the frame and lazily walked toward him, weaving in and out between his feet.

“We need to get you out of here,” I snapped, striding toward him. Wrapping my fingers around his forearm, I pulled him into the bedroom and shut the door at his back.

“Well, it must be my lucky day.” Amusement danced in his tone as his eyes flowed over the thin nightgown that covered my body.

“For once, can you at least try to be fucking serious?” I hissed, picking my leathers from the floor and stalking toward the lavatory. “I am changing, then we are leaving.”

I slammed the door behind me and pressed my back to the wooden surface, taking in a deep breath to steady the rising panic.

We just needed to get to Locdragoon.

Elric and Wren would know what to do, would help us figure this out until Landers returned. I stripped as quickly as I could, pushing into my leathers as I swung the door open and began shoving my items into my sac.

“What exactly is going on, Ataliia?” Dukovich questioned as he leaned against the stone wall, watching me scurry around the room. I stopped, turning to face him as I swung my bag over my shoulder and stretched my hand out toward him.

“Brakan knows you are alive. He may not have recognized you last night because he had only ever seen you glamoured until now, but he has known you are alive for a month now. We cannot risk him seeing you again, and we cannot risk staying in Ammord without knowing who he sold that information to.”

Dukovich’s back straightened, his skin blanching at the sound of my words.

“How is that possible?” he said, his voice lethal—quiet.

“I’ll tell you everything, Dukovich. But not here, we need to get you home.”

I recoiled at my own words, at the sound of calling Locdragoon his home. But it was his home now, it was the only place in the five realms he was safe after what he had done, and for a split second I felt sadness for him. Sadness that he had given up everything just to be hated—t o be hunted.

His hand fell into mine, and as our skin connected, the tether ripped us into it. He squeezed my hand a little tighter as we whirled through the ether, landing in the center of the throne room.

I ran to the war rooms the moment my boots connected with solid ground. My body slammed against the door as I burst in, the wood cracking so hard against the stone wall that scrolls fell from their places on the shelves.

Three pairs of eyes snapped toward me.

“We have a fucking problem,” I panted as Asrai stood and rushed over to me.

“Are you hurt?” she asked, examining me then eying Dukovich with suspicion.

I shook my head as the sound of tethering filled the throne room at my back. I stepped out of the doorway, gesturing my head over my shoulder as Asrai rushed past me.

Elric and Wren shot to their feet, racing after Asrai as I sucked in a sharp breath, then finally turned. Pri stood in the middle of the throne room, a frenzied look in her eye as Brakan clutched his side at her feet.

A snarl sounded from Asrai’s lungs as she lunged for him.

Wren tethered in front of Pri a split second before Asrai made it to Brakan and threw his arms out.

“Move,” Asrai growled. It was a command but Wren didn’t flinch at it.

“No, Asrai. I cannot let you harm him—not yet. I need to interrogate him first.” Wren responded, his voice calm, though a warning laced his tone.

Asrai took a sharp step toward Wren, her shoulders squaring. “Move, or I will move you, child.”

“Touch Wren—touch Brakan—and you will find yourself in a cell,” Elric hissed and my head snapped to him in shock.

I had never seen him hold such a commanding air. It shouldn’t surprise me, but he had always been so gentle around me that I forgot there was a reason Landers had made him the commander of his armies.

“What is going on?” Wren snapped, looking at me like this was somehow my doing. Annoyance bubbled in my chest at the assumption that this mistake was mine, but I couldn’t blame him.

My lips pressed into a firm line as I lifted a brow and glanced toward Pri. His head swiveled toward her in surprise as she began to speak.

“I thought I could trust him, Wren,” she blurted, wrapping her fingers around Wren’s forearm.

“You foolish child,” Asrai scolded.

Wren threw his hand up, his eyes narrowing on Asrai with disdain before pulling his gaze back to Pri and gesturing for her to continue.

I slowly backed away from the group as Pri recounted everything that had happened in the last day and a half. For the first time, it was not my mistake that was under scrutiny and I was going to take advantage of the fact that all eyes were not on me.

We’d been so busy before leaving for Ammord that I hadn’t been able to make it to Yenne’s shop to pick up my tonic and I desperately needed it.

I turned my back as I neared the entrance to the throne room and strode through the doors, a smug look plastered on my face. It’s not that I wanted Pri to be in trouble for this, I was just glad it was not me.

“Ataliia.” Eric’s voice rang in the empty corridor and I groaned at the sound.

“What?” I snapped, turning my chin over my shoulder as he slipped from the throne room and took a few quick steps to my side.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his voice painfully sincere.

“Yes, Elric. I’m fine,” I answered, trying to hold back the growing irritation.

He took another small step toward me, clasping my hand in his. “I missed you. Let me come to you tonight.”

“No.” The word was harsh as it flew from my mouth and I backed away from him.

“Ataliia—”

“Elric, stop.” I jerked my hand from his. “You bedded me, that’s it. I never cared for you past that and I never will.”

His face fell as my words landed. “You do not mean that.”

Out of the corner of my eye I watched as Dukovich stepped into the corridor.

Thank the fucking Gods .

“I do, Elric,” I said, stepping around him and hurrying toward Dukovich with a look on my face that said play along or else . “Dukovich and I have some business to attend to, so if you will excuse us . . .”

I curled my fingers around Dukovich’s bicep, pulling him in the opposite direction as I looked back to see hurt seep into Elric’s features. My stomach tightened, guilt knotting there as I tore my eyes away from him and dragged Dukovich down the corridor.

He didn’t deserve the hurt.

“Tell me, love,” Dukovich said, smirking down at me as we rounded the corner. “Will you break my heart next?”

I scoffed, tilting my chin up to him and taking a small step closer.

“You have no heart for me to break,” I answered, then tethered from the corridor.