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Chapter Twenty-Two

R eign

“You can’t simply go off half-cocked after the Night Court King!” Ruhl dragged his hands through his hair, weaving through the darkwoods of the Twilight Forest.

Once we’d returned from Vesperis, I’d ensured all the Light Fae were safely tucked into their beds in the dormitories. My nerves were still electrified, a buzz racing through my body that would never be quelled in sleep, which was how I ended up stalking through the woods with my frustrated half-brother.

“Since when did you become the sensible one?” I stopped and glared at my brother, clutching the Ebonshard Compass in my fist. Another day had come and gone, and I simply wouldn’t— couldn’t —waste another. “I finally have what I need to find Aelia! After months of spinning our wheels, I can finally bring her home. And now you want me to wait?”

My brother erased the distance between us, jabbing his finger into my chest. “I’m not asking you to wait forever, Reign. You know I want her back too. I only want you to take a minute to think . We must have a plan.”

The weight of the mystical compass in my palm drew my gaze away from my brother, away from his words and the rush of jealousy they invoked, and to the gage maniacally pointing north. I wouldn’t wait another minute. This would lead me to Aelia today.

“You come up with a plan then, and I’ll meet you there,” I snarled. “By the time you arrive, you’ll find my umbral blade at Helroth’s throat.”

“How can you be so sure you’ll be strong enough to defeat him?”

“Because I can feel it,” I hissed. “It’s Aelia. Her powers have been unbound, I’m certain of it. I can sense it through our bond, can’t you?”

He slowly shook his head, something akin to disappointment in his dark eyes, and the swirl of satisfaction that filled my chest at the admission was embarrassing.

“I’m stronger now because of it,” I continued, choosing to ignore the look of distress on my brother’s face. “It’s as if the cuorem is a living, breathing channel, and she’s figured out a way to push her power toward me.” My shadows whirred across my skin, spinning a net of midnight around us. The pungent scent of sulfur tickled my nostrils as my shadows spun into something darker, more cloying.

Ruhl’s nostrils flared as he regarded me and took a measured step back. “Is—Is that… zar ?” he finally spat, a mixture of shock and trepidation descending across his features.

My head dipped slowly. My powers had felt different, more volatile in the past week. I’d blamed it on the cuorem and the maddening effects of the distance between Aelia and me, but it was more than that… it was zar , slowly infiltrating the bond and finding a new home in my darkest depths.

“So you’re telling me you can wield zar now?” My brother stared at me, eyes wide in disbelief.

I couldn’t quite believe it myself. “I’m not certain, as I have yet to attempt to summon it.”

“Don’t you think you should before you race off to save Aelia and try it then? What if it backfires completely ?”

I huffed out a frustrated breath at his more-than-adequate point. “Fine…”

We remained standing there in the quiet of the forest for an endless moment just staring at each other.

“Well, what can you do?”

“I don’t know,” I barked as I searched for that foreign energy buried deep in my bowels. I suddenly understood how Aelia had felt all those months, trying to coax out her reluctant rais . “I can’t very well summon darkness as we’re already cloaked in it.” I scanned the murky woods surrounding us. “And you know well that nox and zar share many similarities, which makes it difficult to decipher.”

“Fair enough.” Ruhl regarded me with arms firmly crossed over his chest. “Then try something else. What about infernal manipulation? Power over demon hellfire seems like a fairly basic ability, and one I certainly do not hold as a Shadow Fae.”

I snorted, widening my stance to match his as he loomed closer.

His shadows hissed to life, a tornado of silky tendrils blanketing his form. “Come on, brother. Let’s see those wicked crimson flames.”

I didn’t have the faintest idea how to summon hellfire, but there was one Shadow ability I’d always excelled at, far more than even the most powerful Fae. And it had close ties to a higher-level Night ability.

Squeezing my eyes closed, I summoned my shadows to my fingertips. Skulking into other Fae’s minds, erasing inconvenient memories and planting new ones, was a skill I’d developed long ago. How much harder could creating cursed illusions be?

Reaching for that new well of power far below the surfacing nox , I searched my core for that sulfurous scent, that insidious energy. Zar . The cuorem pulsed, the luminescent tether spewing the potent power forward. It seeped through my veins, and my eyes snapped open as I loosed a torrent of shadows at my brother.

The dark mass of writhing, spitting night swallowed him whole before he could utter a sound, his shadows powerless against the onslaught. Tendrils of nox infiltrated his mind, zar weaving through the darkness. Instead of procuring memories, I focused on planting fear, a vision. A sinister smile curled my lips as I imagined the creatures my brother feared most, the dreaded Immortalis.

The image of King Valtherion, ruler of the Death Drinkers, filled my vision, that pale complexion, the pools of crimson that passed off as windows to that dark soul and the sharp, pointed incisors. Once the image was firmly in mind, I released it upon my unsuspecting brother, conjuring a terrifying scene reminiscent of our recent battle through that cursed mire.

Ruhl’s eyes widened as a scream rose, ripping through his gaping jaw. “No!” he cried. “No, please! Don’t!” He dropped to the ground, his fingers clawing at his hair. “Let go of me!”

The darkness bloated my insides, filling me with a perverse sense of joy at his suffering. The power was intoxicating, infiltrating every corner of my being as I watched him writhe and curl into a ball of terror.

I felt it, the moment my lips slid into a smile. I was enjoying this, his fear satisfying some dark, twisted part of my soul.

Reign, stop it! Release him now . This isn’t you . A familiar grumbling female voice invaded my mind, winding through the devious zar . You must not allow the power to control you .

I thought you of all creatures would enjoy this, Phantom.

I have no quarrel with your brother, Reign, only his ruthless skyrider . Her angry growl ripped through my subconscious, loosening the hold of the heady cloud of Night power. Release him before you cause permanent damage .

How? It’s only a cursed illusion . Or at least, I was fairly certain that was what I’d created…

If a Fae is exposed for too long or too frequently, the effects may become permanent and the damage irreparable.

Are you saying he could lose his mind?

Yes, and the images implanted could become his reality, and he’d be caught in an endless nightmare .

Her final words were like an ice bath. I recalled my shadows, snapping down my mental barriers on the raging nox and zar . It was no easy feat controlling the potent zar , but I managed it nonetheless. Ruhl remained on the dark earth curled in the fetal position, and a wave of remorse pummeled through me. I dropped to his side, kneeling on the moist soil.

“Ruhl!” I squeezed his shoulder, then ran my hand to his cheek, slapping lightly when no response came. “Wake up, Ruhl. You’re safe here; you’re with me.”

Slowly his lids rose, his manic gaze meeting mine.

“It was only an illusion, none of it was real. You’re perfectly safe here in Shadow lands, and there are no Immortalis chasing you.”

He blinked quickly then heaved out a breath. Sitting up, he eyed me warily. “Noxus’s nuts, brother. You can wield zar .”

I nodded, overwhelming guilt still thrashing through my insides. “I apologize, I should have warned you before attempting it…”

He ran his hand through his hair, blinking quickly as if to banish the dark thoughts I’d placed in his mind. “Did you know you could do that?”

“No…” It wasn’t entirely a lie. “You know I’ve always had my way with my shadows.”

“Yes, in memory retrieval, or the dispatching and rearranging of memories, but cursed illusions?”

“I suppose it’s not much more of a stretch.”

“It is, trust me, brother. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever felt.” A rueful grin kicked up the corners of his mouth. “I was wrong. I think you could be ready to take on Helroth after all.”

That satisfaction roared once more as I regarded the look of admiration in my younger brother’s eyes. The prince. A role I’d never truly wanted but was jealous of all the same. “I know I can, but you were right too. I need a plan, and I’d like for you to help with that.”

“Of course.”

“We leave tomorrow, Ruhl. I won’t allow Aelia to suffer another night at the hands of those bastards.”

“Deal.” He reached out his hand, and I wrapped mine firmly around it. “Even if we must spend the entire night forming a plan, we leave tomorrow.”

The determination in his gaze echoed the steely resolve in my heart. Tomorrow, Aelia would finally be back where she belonged—safe in my arms—and no force in this world or the next could stop me from reaching her.