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Chapter Thirty-Two

R eign

The truth should have lightened the unbearable ache in my chest, but the slip of her smile at my brother’s declaration only served to achieve the opposite. It was as if a thousand tiny shards of light speared my heart, impaling it to my ribcage.

Gods, Helroth had managed to rip away everything Aelia had ever felt for me, leaving only the venomous hatred and scorching mistrust.

“Then why don’t I feel anything for him?” She jerked away from me and clutched onto my brother, her hands closing around his collar. “It’s you I love.”

I was going to be sick. I couldn’t endure this, not for another moment. Her words were like knives, each one striking at my soul, tearing me apart from the inside out. Worse, a torrent of fury began to grow, slowly pushing out the unbearable pain. One I wasn’t sure I would be able to control…

After all the time spent apart, dreaming of being reunited, to discover the only feelings that remained were bitter loathing and revulsion? I couldn’t survive this.

“Why are you all lying to me?” She glanced between us for a fraction of a moment before focusing back on my brother. “I love you, Ruhl, and you swore you loved me. You wanted us to run away together to complete the bond. Don’t you remember?” She held him closer, eyes pleading, and for the love of Noxus, I could feel my heart shattering and the cuorem crumbling. The anger bubbled up, a defense mechanism to overpower the heartrending ache. “I want all of those things, too.”

The sharp odor of zar filled the orb of shadows, forcing my gaze to the woods. Was there an onslaught of Night Fae approaching? I scanned the murky shadows but there was no one beyond the barrier, only the quiet forest ahead.

“Aelia, it’s not real,” Ruhl whispered.

Her head twisted over her shoulder, eyes narrowed to meet mine. “Reign’s lying. He must be. Every word that spills from his tongue is a damned falsehood.” Her chest heaved, the influx of zar growing thicker. The silver of her pupils ignited, a smoldering glow of fury burning within their depths. Shadows erupted from her fingertips, writhing like living tendrils of darkness. Before they could fully take shape, a wave of pure blinding rais surged outward, engulfing her in an aura of searing light.

The opposing forces twisted around her, rais , nox and zar battling for dominance, colliding in a tempest of raw, unchecked power. The air thickened, crackling with energy so intense it sent ripples through the ground beneath our feet. Her body trembled violently, as if struggling to contain the warring energies that threatened to tear her apart.

Lightning arced through the shadows, gold and black intertwining in a vicious dance, illuminating the strain on her face. Her breath came in sharp, uneven gasps, and cracks of light splintered up her arms, racing across her skin like molten veins. The power was growing, spiraling beyond control.

Noxus… I’d never seen her like this. Fear ricocheted across my chest as I watched the chaos unfolding. The trio of gifts from the gods were too powerful. They were destroying her.

Then her scream split the air.

Not of fear. Not of pain. But of something far more terrifying.

Power unchained.

“Aelia, calm down!” Ruhl’s hands clamped down on her shoulders, but her entire body pulsed, raw energy spilling from every orifice.

My own nox surfaced, summoned by the invading presence streaking through our bond.

She ripped free of my brother’s hold and shoved him back. A bolt of radiant light burst from her palms with the motion and sent Ruhl hurtling backward and beyond the safety of my cloaking shadows.

The crack of the trunk as he hit the massive tree sent another sliver of fear up my spine. I considered checking on my brother’s wellbeing but tossed the thought aside, the jealousy still too raw. He would be fine. It wouldn’t be the first time Aelia had put him on his ass.

With only the two of us now blanketed in shadows, I inched closer, hands held up. “Let me help you.”

“No,” she hissed, the preternatural gleam in her eyes icy cold.

I lowered my voice, just above a whisper. “The power is too much for you to contain, Aelia. Especially with your emotions out of control.” I hazarded another step closer. “You need to release some of it. Give it to me. You’ve done it before; I felt it when we were separated.”

“I can’t…” she gritted out as the torrent of shadow and light engulfed her.

“You can and you will. You’ve overcome much more than this, Aelia. I do not pick losers, remember? Now fight, princess.”

A glimmer of warmth thawed her frosty glare at the words, her eyes crinkling in the corners as if striking up an old memory.

Another step closer. “Do you still feel the cuorem?”

Her head bobbed but the glacial glare returned, the silver like molten steel.

“Reach for the swirling energies, and once they are firmly in your grasp, channel them through the bond. Our bond.” I attempted to keep my voice steady, but beneath it, the desperation bled through.

“I don’t know how!” she shouted, and a wave of darkness eclipsed the murky light seeping into the shadowed orb. Pure, inky black poured in, icing my veins.

Drawing in a steadying breath, I focused on my end of the cuorem, on the whisps of shimmering light that connected me to her. The bond pulsed, burning brightly between us. “Do you feel that?” Dangerous hope blossomed deep in my chest, the kind that had no place in this state of turmoil. I held my breath for an endless moment as she watched me, her brows twisting.

“Reach for it, princess. The bond will anchor the chaos, will bind the storm inside you to something steadfast, unyielding.” Me and my love for you . But I dared not speak the words out loud. Not when she stood on the edge of oblivion, her power fracturing, unraveling. Not when the tenuous bond was the only thing keeping her from shattering entirely.

Her eyes drifted closed, sealing me off from the raging luminous silver, and I felt it. A tug, then an overwhelming flood of power. Intense sunshine tangled with cool night and whispering shadow pummeled into my being, bloating the shimmering strands that ran between us. My chest heaved, my entire body contorting at the influx of raw, undiluted power. I braced myself against a wall of shadows, my wings snapped out, flapping wildly against the onslaught only to keep myself from taking flight.

Good gods, it was glorious and terrifying all in the same instant. The kind of power that would bring a kingdom to its knees.

With each crashing wave, I released more nox , my shadows struggling to contain the foreign energies. My legs trembled, the earth shaking beneath the soles of my boots. I drew it all in, summoning it forth until power thrummed through every inch of my body. I wasn’t certain how much more I could contain. Searing heat and blinding darkness pummeled over me, again and again. I grit my teeth to keep from crying out at the intensity. Only Aelia kept me grounded. The steady feel of her across the glistening cuorem. Her eyelids remained closed, but before long, the hard line of her jaw softened, the deep crinkles at the corners of her eyes becoming less strained.

By the gods, it was working.

A final tremor vibrated through Aelia’s form, and the tempest of light and shadow began to recede. Her knees gave, then her weary body crumpled to the ground. My own shaky legs compelled me forward before I could think better of it. Sliding to the moist earth beside her, I wearily dragged her to my chest. “I’ve got you, princess,” I murmured, pressing my lips to her temple, my voice raw with a desperation I could no longer hide. “I’m right here, and no matter how hard you try to push me away, no matter how far you run, I will always find you. Always. ”

Her head tipped back against my shoulder, lashes fluttering. Her eyes met mine, glossed over and unfocused, before her lips parted, barely a breath of sound. “Reign...”

Then her lids drooped, the tension in her body melting as her ragged breaths slowed.

I held her closer, rocking gently, as if my heartbeat alone could tether her to me, to this moment.

“However long it takes, starlight.” My voice was a vow, a plea, a prayer. “I will never give up on us, not while I still draw breath.”

* * *

Ruhl stood beside me at the foot of Aelia’s bed in the safety of her dormitory only a few hours later. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her, from the gentle rise and fall of her chest, the locks of platinum hair swept across her brow, the faint part of her perfectly bowed lips. I was terrified the moment I did I would discover this was all an illusion, one of Helroth’s tricks of the mind. And she’d vanish once again.

Gods, what had the Night King done to her and how could I fix it?

My thoughts whirled back to a recent conversation with Phantom. To the first time I’d attempted to wield zar and had used a cursed illusion against my brother. My dragon had warned me…

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 .

Phantom’s words echoed in my mind, a bitter chill penetrating deep within my bones.

“Now what?” Ruhl heaved out, the defeat palpable in his tone. His gaze remained pinned to Aelia’s body, the yearning in his eyes one I refused to accept.

“I don’t know yet.” I wished I had an answer. I’d been so focused on finding Aelia, I never thought past what would happen once we did—or of the consequences of her imprisonment at the Night Court. After everything, we were firmly back at square one, battling the prophecy and enemies from all angles. Only now, her powers were unleashed and completely volatile, and she despised me.

And that was to speak nothing of King Helroth and his banished court.

There was no doubt in my mind he would not remain hidden for much longer. Loosing Aelia’s powers were all part of his plan, but to what end?