Page 64

Reign

A contented sigh pursed my lips, drawing me from a deep, peaceful slumber. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d slept so well. Yes, I could. Every night since Aelia had returned to me, heart and soul, and we spent most of the night tangled in each other’s bodies. Gods, it was glorious.

She was glorious.

I’d never thought anything could ever feel so right.

As the haze of sleep slowly waned, the heated memories of the night before evaporated, and a chill settled over my flesh. There was something missing.

My eyelids snapped open as I reached for the lacking warmth on the other side of the sprawling mattress.

She was gone.

I leapt out of bed. Fear, pure and raw, swelled through every crevice of my being. “Aelia?” I shouted through the darkness, the sliver of moonlight barely illuminating the grand chamber.

No, this wasn’t happening again. I wouldn’t allow it.

My heart kicked at my ribs, a maddening drumbeat, and the cuorem flared to life. This time, I had a lifeline—a direct, unbreakable connection to my cuoré.

Aelia ? Aelia, where are you ?

A surge of zar streaked through the bond, the pungent, insidious power coating my insides.

Helroth.

That bastard had her; I was certain of it.

But now with the bond billowing between us, there was nowhere he could take my cuoré that I wouldn’t find her. Stepping into my discarded breeches, I laced them up in seconds, barely sparing a moment to toss a tunic over my head. A whirlwind of shadows trailed my frenzied movements, and I could already feel Phantom’s presence drawing closer.

She must have felt my panic.

After strapping a pair of swords to my back—one could never have too many weapons—I searched the nightstand for Aelia’s daggers. As I suspected, they were gone.

Did that bastard Helroth have her fighting his war again?

Phantom, is Solanthus with you ?

Her response was immediate. No, he’s already flying south to find Aelia. He just felt her a moment ago and took off. I was about to reach out for you …

Where is she ? The snarl tore through me, knowing very well the answer my dragon would provide. Despite the overwhelming zar muffling the bond, I could feel the chaos surrounding her.

Somewhere deep within the Wilds .

A string of curses erupted from my lips as I stalked toward the window. Phantom’s wingbeats thundered in the distance. As my shadows coalesced across my shoulders, I was filled with the urge to leap out the window and join her mid-air. But before I did that, I had to warn Aidan and the others. If war had erupted, both courts must prepare if we had any hopes to escape the dire warning of the prophecy.

* * *

The battlefield lay before me like a graveyard waiting to be filled.

Noxus, help us.

Amidst the chaos, a flicker of gold caught my eye, drawing my attention over the ridge to a familiar enormous form. An unmoving one. My stomach plummeted as Phantom’s gaze cut in the same direction and her shriek of anguish tore through the sky.

Solanthus . Is he …?

No, he still lives . Her voice was a mere whisper. But whoever did this will not be for long .

Phantom’s wings sliced through the clouds, her obsidian scales glinting with the first shred of dawn. Below, the Royal Guardians and Umbral Guard of the Light and Shadow Courts formed a fractured front, battling against each other like fools. They had no idea what lay just beyond the horizon. They would buckle in moments under the weight of the approaching darkness I’d witnessed last time.

But none of it mattered. Not the warriors armed to the teeth awaiting a command. Not even the countless lives scattered across both courts.

Only one thing mattered.

Her.

Aelia.

She crested the rise like a goddess of night incarnate, wreathed in a storm of shadow and fire, radiant wings of pure light stretched across her shoulders. Good goddess, she had wings…

At her back, the Demon Fae of the Night Court surged, an army clad in armor as black as Phantom’s wings, riding their beasts, the ones that resembled massive serpents of smoke and shadow. Their stern faces were cloaked in mirthless masks, eyes burning in shades of crimson and citrine. But she was their true weapon. Her aura, zar , nox , and rais , burned so brightly, it eclipsed even the sunless sky above. It was wrong. All of it. That power was hers, yes, but twisted now, corrupted by Helroth’s influence.

And gods, she didn’t even flinch when she saw me. Not a flicker of recognition.

Aelia ?

Nothing but a stream of pure darkness raced through our mental connection.

My chest caved in.

Phantom let out a deafening roar as we descended, the wind screaming around me, echoing my silent plea: Come back to me . Her claws struck the earth, carving deep furrows into the bloodstained soil. I leapt from her back just as Aelia touched down, her luminous gold-and-ebony wings unfurling with a snap that cracked through the sky like lightning.

She didn’t hesitate. No warning. No words.

A spear of light shot from her palm, and I barely dodged it, my shadows reacting before I could. They surged to meet her next wave of flame, but she cleaved through them with terrifying ease. My bond pulled tight, screaming for her, desperate for a connection—anything—but it was like reaching for someone across a void that no longer remembered your name.

“Aelia!” I shouted, ducking beneath another blow. “It’s me, Reign. Your cuoré. Please, you must remember.”

Something flickered in her gaze, silver starlight breaking through the darkness, but it vanished before I could breathe.

Her next strike sent me to one knee, nox flaring wildly to absorb the impact. Pain tore through my ribs, but I didn’t retaliate. I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.

And that was my mistake.

She raised her hand, summoning a blade of pure void. Her expression was blank, empty, so unlike the fiery female I loved. The weapon arced through the air, aiming for my throat, and I knew she wouldn’t stop herself. Not this time.

Phantom shrieked from behind me, and the battlefield erupted in chaos. The Night Court charged over the ridge. Screams rang out. Light and Shadow Fae soldiers scrambled to engage, steel, rais and nox clashing in a symphony of war. But I didn’t move.

All I saw was her.

And all I could think was I won’t survive this if I lose her again.

I rose slowly, lifting my umbral blade, not to strike, but to block. “You’ll have to kill me, Aelia. Because I’m not leaving without you.”

Her hand trembled.

Just slightly.

And then a voice, not hers, slithered through the air like venom. Helroth. His presence crawled over my skin like ice.

“She belongs to me now, boy,” his voice boomed across the battlefield an instant before he appeared from a cloud of pure night. His silver hair blew across his shoulders, the Cloak of Forgotten Souls billowing in the wind. Cruel, crimson irises bored into me, a sinister smile kicking up the corners of his lips. “Finish this, princess.”

Aelia's blade descended.

And I closed my eyes.

Just before the strike landed, everything stopped.

The world froze. My nox shuddered. Time fractured.

And the cuorem burned.

Black.

To Be Continued…