Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

A elia

A deep groan woke me from a fitful sleep, my lids so heavy I was certain I would need someone’s help to pry them apart. Peering out through half-open lids, I scanned the unfamiliar surroundings. I had fully expected to wake within the confines of the dungeon, blanketed once again in utter darkness. Instead, I found myself in a bedchamber, and even more wonderful, atop a soft mattress.

Forcing my weary eyes to open all the way, the vast chamber stretched out before me, its high, vaulted ceilings adorned with twisted iron chandeliers that dripped with blackened crystal teardrops. A faint glow emitted from the crystals, casting a ghostly shimmer across the room and leaving shifting shadows to dance along the walls.

It was such a vast improvement from my cell, I was almost giddy with delight. Sitting up against the headboard carved of ebony wood, I examined the four tall posts resembling spiraling thorned veins that reached toward the ceiling. Thick drapes of onyx silk cascaded from the posts, their edges embroidered with thread that gleamed faintly, as though it had been stitched with threads of captured moonlight.

A twinge of pain stabbed at my chest, the ethereal glow reminding me too much of Reign’s starlit eyes. At the mere thought of him, the cuorem bond snapped to life, and the mythical tether pulsed, greedy and ravenous.

Something else surged to life in the hollow of my chest, a new presence, both foreign and familiar all in the same breath. Energy bloated my torso, a tangle of power writhing and twisting, constricting my lungs and tightening my ribs.

Stars, what was happening?

The buzz of energy grew more volatile, more violent until I couldn’t remain sitting for a second longer. I leapt out of bed as the foreign power consumed me, rushing through every inch of my body from the tips of my ears to the toes of my bare feet. Instinctively, I reached for the medallion on my necklace, my fingers blindly searching… And found nothing.

“My necklace!” I cried out as I searched the chamber. Darkness seeped into the corners of my vision, blotting out the edges of the ominous stone walls surrounding me.

The fiery energy only amplified with the outburst, growing more uncontrollable with each ragged breath. Raysa, help me . What was happening? I was hot and cold in the same instant, a scorching conflagration and a frosty deluge. I clutched onto a spiral post, nails digging into the black wood, but it did nothing to ground the overwhelming energy threatening to overpower me. My veins burned with molten power, each pulse of my heartbeat a clash between light’s soothing clarity and shadow and night’s consuming hunger.

Oh gods, my powers… Now that they’d been unbound, they were going to destroy me. I wasn’t strong enough to contain them all.

“Reign!” His name split my lips, a desperate plea I knew would go unanswered.

The cuorem bond, those ethereal filaments that weaved around my heart, flickered, jolting my already struggling heart. Reign . Squeezing my eyes closed, I channeled some of the influx of energy across the mystical passageway, forcing it out of my body. The consuming pressure in my chest almost immediately relented.

An icy chill surged across my bare arms, and my eyes snapped open to find coils of shadow and pure night kissing my skin. Oh, Raysa! The dark tendrils twisted and looped around my body, stifling the burning sensations. Reign? My nostrils flared, searching for his familiar scent, but these shadows didn’t belong to him.

The unmistakable odor of nox flooded my system before a wave of rais crashed over. Then a third joined the mix, the foreign, smoky zar . The opposing energies twisted and turned, butting against my ribcage until my insides were bruised and battered.

My own powers collided in a breathtaking storm of opposites, the air around the chamber rippling with raw energy. Light blazed from my fingertips, radiant and pure, casting the room in a celestial glow, while shadows coiled from my other hand, writhing like living tendrils of midnight. The two forces didn’t simply coexist—they warred, intertwining in a chaotic dance that sent crackling arcs of energy through the air.

I heaved in a breath, forcing myself to calm enough to imagine that invisible channel between Reign and me, and I attempted to push more of the overwhelming power in his direction. Again, the warring in my chest subsided a notch. I could do this. No, we could do it together. Reign was right, we simply had to fight, and together, we were strong enough.

Unclenching my jaw, steeling myself, I released a guttural cry, throwing my hands out. Waves of endless night poured from my fingertips, bathing the entire chamber in darkness and shadows. Then I heaved in another breath, calling to the soft light glow that resided in my core. Rais . Summoning it to the surface, I splayed my hands out once again until my fingers glowed, illuminating the interminable darkness.

A twist of light and shadow danced across the walls, the otherworldly display rippling and shifting. It was alive, weaving patterns of celestial brilliance and inky darkness in a mesmerizing, chaotic harmony.

Duskling .

Starlight .

I could feel all three forces reaching out, pulling me in opposing directions, yet somehow with the help of the bond, I fought to find a fragile equilibrium in the chaos. My voice trembled, but I forced it out all the same. “They’re one... and they’re mine.”

In that moment, I was no longer a lowly Kin, not Light Fae, nor even Shadow or Night Fae. I was the child of twilight, an embodiment of balance and the harbinger of something entirely new.

The thrashing of footsteps across the stone floor jerked me from the onslaught of burgeoning power. As quickly as it had come on, the well of power fell away. My door swung open and none other than my grandsire barreled in, nostrils flaring. Only a second behind him came Kaelith, peering into my chamber over the king’s broad shoulders.

“It worked…” The king’s wild eyes, like burning coal in the hearth, seared into my own, then traveled to my ears. A satisfied smile softened the harsh lines of his face.

I moved to the edge of the bed, the nail marks in the bedpost catching my attention from the corner of my eye.

“How do you feel?” He edged closer.

“Fine.” Out of control. Unstoppable. Powerful .

Helroth ticked his head at Kaelith who had now moved to stand by his side, just skimming the threshold of my chamber. “Kaelith will spend the next few weeks training you. It’s essential you harness the zar before you succumb to the fury of the combined powers.”

Now he tells me …

“And the nox ?” I had the perfect person in mind, if only I could escape this damned Keep.

His eyes narrowed as he regarded me. “I am impressed that you are able to decipher the difference between nox and zar . Their signatures, much like their powers, are very similar.”

“My goal isn’t to impress you, Helroth. My goal is to return home, to the people I love. I fulfilled my end of the bargain; my powers have been unleashed. Now when can I go?”

A sly smile curled the corners of his ebony lips. “Not until you have control of those powers, princess.”

Heaving out a frustrated breath, I slumped down onto the mattress.

“The sooner you begin to train the better.” He motioned to a door along the far wall. “You’ll find training clothes in there, and a washroom over there.” He pointed to an archway blanketed in a curtain of night. “Kaelith will wait for you outside as you ready yourself.”

Despite the excitement of a bath and new clothes after over a month in this gods’ forsaken ragged tunic and leathers, I needed answers first. “Wait,” I blurted. “You never answered me before. Clearly, Shadow blood runs through my veins, but you never told me from where. You promised I would get answers once my powers were unleashed. Was it from my father?”

“No,” he snarled. “That man never gave you a single thing worth keeping.”

My brows furrowed. I was so sure it had to be. The only other possibility was… “My mother wasn’t pure Night Fae.”

The king grumbled something beneath his breath.

“Tell me.”

“Your grandmother, Eldrina was Shadow Fae. In the days before the war, the Night and Shadow Courts often intermingled. I never took her as an official mate, after the passing of my first and only partner, but your mother was born of the tryst.”

My breath hitched, but I managed to muffle the sound. Not only had I not expected him to be so forthright with me, I’d also never imagined my mother, a Night Court princess to be of illegitimate blood. Perhaps that wasn’t considered a disgrace there as it was in the other two courts.

About a thousand more questions peppered my thoughts as I reached for the familiar feel of my worn medallion, reminding me. “My necklace…” The words burst free of their own accord. “Was it destroyed when the spell was broken?”

The king shook his head. “It was not.” He dipped his head toward Kaelith and my jailer stepped forward before opening his clenched hand and revealing the remains of the delicate chain, now in three parts instead of one. A jagged fissure raced across the golden medallion, but it was somehow still miraculously in one piece.

I snatched it from his palm, cradling the fragments close to my chest. I could use my rais to heat up the gold until it was malleable again so that I could weld it back together. Already, I felt more whole now that it was in my hands. It was as if I was holding a piece of Aidan and a fragment of my mother. It even reminded me of Reign…

“Snap to it, Light Fae,” Kaelith growled. “I don’t have all day to wait for you.”

The king’s eyes met mine from across the chamber, something new in his dark gaze. Before I’d beheld only a vacant stare or, alternatively, burning anger, but now I could have sworn I saw hope as he regarded me.

The chilling look was all together unnerving. What wicked plans did my grandsire have for me once I’d harnessed the full breadth of my powers?

I vowed I would not remain imprisoned within the walls of this Keep long enough to find out.