Page 40

Chapter Forty

A elia

The scent of blood infiltrated my nostrils. Metallic and thick, clinging to the air like mist in the predawn hush.

Then came the screams.

Not distant, not far away, but close. Too close. The sound of flesh splitting, of steel cleaving bone, echoed through my ears like a burial hymn. My breath came in ragged gasps, my hands slick with sweat—or was it something worse? I refused to confirm.

The battlefield loomed before me, littered with broken bodies, luminous golden wings crumpled like discarded parchment, once-radiant faces twisted in agony. Light Fae. Their brilliance, now dimmed, flickered like dying embers.

I took a step forward, my boots squelching in the moist ground. Something about it was wrong—too dark, too thick. I looked down. It wasn’t soil beneath me. It was bodies. Their life seeped into the ground, staining it crimson, and I was standing atop them.

I staggered back, my pulse hammering in my throat. My fingers trembled, lifting before me. A blade of pure shadow curled in my grasp, writhing as if alive. My other hand burned with hellfire— zar , pulsing with power, hungry and desperate. It didn’t feel like mine. None of this felt like mine.

A familiar voice rang through the chaos. “Aelia, stop!”

I whirled at the sound, and my breath caught in my throat. Rue stood a few paces away, her face streaked with blood and ash. Her pale blue eyes were wide, pleading. Not with fear. With grief.

I wanted to answer. To tell her I didn’t know what was happening. That this wasn’t real. That I wasn’t?—

But my body wasn’t listening. My hand lifted, seemingly of its own accord, and the shadows extended from my palm, serpentine tendrils reaching for her, eager to wrap around her throat.

No. No. No .

I tried to fight it, to stop, but the power pulsed through me, intoxicating, unrelenting.

“Aelia, please,” Rue whispered. “This isn’t you.”

But it was.

My lips curled into a smirk—a smirk that wasn’t mine—as I lunged.

She barely had time to scream.

A blast of light erupted from my chest, the world around me shattering like glass. Then I was falling, plummeting through darkness, through time, through fate itself.

I gasped awake, clawing at the sheets, the phantom scent of blood still thick in my nose. My pulse pounded like war drums, my hands still trembling, still reaching, as if they hadn’t yet let go of Rue’s throat.

Gods. What was happening to me?

Jolting straight up, I slid to the edge of the mattress and scanned the quiet, dark room. No bodies, no rivers of blood or death and destruction. And no Rue… Where had she gone at this hour of the night? I swallowed hard, my throat raw, as if I really had been screaming. This wasn’t the first time I’d been ripped from slumber by a nightmare, but this was by far the most vivid. For months now, my sleep had been riddled with them.

I focused to calm my raging pulse and ragged breaths, but I was much too restless to attempt sleep. Instead, I pushed off the mattress and followed the mystical pull that beckoned me straight toward the open door that led to Reign’s room. Creeping forward on still shaky legs, I paused in the archway and peered into the murky darkness.

With a flick of my wrist, I summoned a tiny spark of light to my palm. The radiant glow illuminated the room, casting light upon the empty bed. Glancing at the moon dial hung from the wall, I heaved out a sigh. And where was Reign? Not that I had any say regarding his whereabouts, I reminded myself.

Still, my bare feet propelled me forward, pulled by a force I couldn’t quite name. I moved through his empty chamber, through the door into the hallway and continued down the winding corridors of the old manor. Again, I couldn’t help but question: How much longer could I deny what was clearly there? The cuorem bond pulsed more quickly with each step closer to…

I turned the corner and muffled voices reached my newly sharpened, sensitive ears.

“I am glad you are here, Rue.” Reign .

Every part of my being recognized his voice, despite the muddled confusion in my head. Peering around the corner, I could just make out Reign and Rue sitting at the stone table in the kitchen, sipping from matching mugs.

“As if I would be anywhere else.” She gave him a reassuring smile, one he easily reciprocated and caused a twinge of envy to uncoil low in my belly. “I wish I could stay longer, but we will have to return tomorrow evening for the Umbral Trials.”

“Yes, I imagined as much.” He took a sip, watching my friend over the rim of the cup. “Tell me, has Draven mentioned anything about sending more fourth years to the borders?”

She slowly shook her head, her expression reminding me of the one she wore earlier today when I’d mentioned Heaton. “No, but there are fewer upper classmen around the campus every day. It was gradual at first, but before we left, it was impossible not to notice.”

“And what of King Elian? Has he returned to campus?”

She nodded. “Yes, he appeared with his troop of Royal Guardians only a few days ago. Right after we recovered Aelia, actually. He gave another rousing speech about defending our borders against the Shadow Fae. It’s such a load of Pegasus shit. Instead of preparing us to fight an imaginary foe, they should be training us to battle the real threat, the Night King and his warriors.”

My heart pinched at her mention of my grandsire, and I startled at the unexpected pang as their voices grew more muddled. Why would I feel anything for the male who kept me prisoner for an entire month in complete darkness?

Because my blood, Night blood, runs through your veins. You are Princess Aelia of Inferna, and you will rise to the throne you were destined for . Helroth’s voice sailed through my mind, as clearly as Sol’s used to.

My skyrider had been distant since my return, as if he, too, sensed something wasn’t quite right. I hated it.

“I should probably get to bed.” Rue stretched her arms over her head, yawning.

“Yes, of course. I’ll walk you to your chamber.” Reign rose, offering her a hand, and that dewdrop of jealousy grew into a flowing cascade as their palms touched.

“You know, if you keep this gentleFae act up, professor, I won’t be scared of you for much longer.”

A rueful laugh lit up Reign’s eyes, thousands of tiny stars winking across the endless night. “Let’s just keep it a secret between the two of us then.”

“I suppose I could do that.” She tossed him a grin, and despite her releasing his hand, the jealousy only blossomed with each step.

I wanted to be the one walking beside him, holding his hand. No, Ruhl is your cuoré. You love Ruhl . Dark voices hissed through my mind, the maddening whispers ricocheting across my skull. My mind warred with the conflicting sensations, the tidal wave of darkness threatening to pull me under.

From my hiding spot, I could just make out the happy pair walking down the corridor, away from me. Shadows surged, coiling around me, bathing me in obscurity. Reign paused about halfway down the hall, his head twisting back over his shoulder as if he’d sensed me, while Rue continued on. He scanned the murky darkness, but a cloak of night and shadow concealed my form. One I hadn’t even meant to conjure.

Once he turned and they continued down the hall, my bare feet quickly followed. I seethed at their lighthearted banter, at the casual touches and soft smiles. Were they acting overly friendly to each other or was it only me? A desperate knot of zar and nox kindled in my core, suffocating the shiny rais .

Black edged into the corners of my vision, and it was like stepping into the void itself—weightless, unshackled, and yet unbearably cold. My zar expanded, stretching beyond the fragile confines of flesh, unraveling into the unseen threads of existence. For a single, breathless moment, I was nothing and everything, untethered and infinite.

Then the pull came.

It ripped me through the veil, yanking me like a marionette on unseen strings toward my target. Rue. The moment my essence collided with hers, the resistance hit—a suffocating wall of identity, of self, of will. Rue’s consciousness fought back, a flurry of emotions and fragmented memories crashing into me like waves against jagged rock. Panic. Rage. Fear.

I had to push. To carve a space for myself inside her.

It all happened so quickly, so innately, I couldn’t believe what I had done until I found myself staring into a pair of midnight irises, that beaming smile directed at me.

Not me. Rue.

Reign paused midstride, dark brows furrowing as he regarded me. “Are you all right, Rue?”

“Yes.” My voice was not my own. It was lighter, more airy. “I just felt lightheaded for a second.”

Again, he offered his arm and this time when our flesh met, tiny jolts of energy raced across my skin. Those mesmerizing starlit orbs seared to mine and held, a torrent of emotions brewing in that single stare. The cuorem pulsed, angry and insistent, and a hum of energy surged through my veins. I inched closer, my bare feet brushing against the tips of his boots.

Like two celestial bodies destined for impact, I was powerless against the gravitational pull. Cuoré . Cuoré. A new voice blasted across my subconscious, this one ancient and more powerful than anything I’d ever felt. It was as if the goddess herself had interceded.

I lifted to my tiptoes, now only a heartbeat away from his lips, and gently swept my mouth against his. A feral growl ripped between us, vibrating the tense air as Reign’s arm snaked around my waist and drew me flush against the hard planes of his body. His mouth fused to mine, ravaging my lips, nibbling, tasting before his tongue tangled with my own.

This kiss was everything—it was fire and ruin, longing and fury, the kind of collision that shattered all reason and set my soul ablaze. His grip tightened, pulling me impossibly closer, as if he could brand himself into my skin, as if he feared that if he let go, I would slip through his fingers like a fading dream.

But I wasn’t going anywhere. Not now. Not ever.

An instant after the thought crossed my mind, Reign leapt back, tearing his mouth from mine. Horror streaked across his expression. He pressed his back to the wall, eyes wild with lust and something else… “By the gods, Rue, I’m sorry,” he rasped, chest heaving.

“Rue?” I blurted as a wave of zar overtook me. Heady and overwhelming, I could feel it raging through my body. My hand lifted, fingers searching for the comfort and grounding only Aidan’s medallion could provide.

Only, it wasn’t where it should be. Because I did not belong in this body.

Reign’s turbulent gaze fixed to mine, pupils blown out with desire. “Your eyes…”

I blinked quickly as the all-consuming power began to subside with each sweep of my fingers against bare skin.

“Aelia, is it really you?”

A swell of embarrassment rose, heating my cheeks and overtaking the dwindling zar . Oh, Raysa, what had I done? I whirled around and raced down the corridor as hot tears pricked at the corners of my eyes. As I ran, my world spun, disjointed and blurred. Then I felt the tether snap, and the foreign body I had stolen sloughed away.

Now back in my own form, mortification pressing in harder with every manic footfall, I darted past my chamber and kept going.