Page 37

Aruan

T he Phaelix kicks and claws as we arrive in my mother’s quarters. I’m holding Elsie’s hand on one side, and on the other, my fingers are locked in an iron grip around his thin, scaly wrist.

My mother, who sits on her dragon chair, gives a start. My father stands next to her. He takes a menacing step toward us, his dagger already pulled.

My mother’s knuckles turn white where she grips the armrests, her face pale with shock. “What in the name of the dragons…? You’ve come from Earth. Through my portal.”

The implication hangs thick in the air. A Phaelix somehow crossed paths with us in an open portal to Earth.

I confirm their wildest guess. “We ran into a visitor on our way back.”

My father bares his teeth.

“All right?” I ask Elsie.

I only let her go when she nods.

The Phaelix screams as I drag him to the center of the floor.

“What’s the meaning of this?” my father asks.

I force the Phaelix to his knees by the back of his neck. He stares up at me with hatred simmering in his blood-red eyes.

My mother stands, her back straight and stiff. “What happened?”

“Our portals collided.” I give the vermin a shake. “He was on his way in just as we were leaving.”

“How is this possible?” my father asks.

“Portals bend toward one another,” my mother says. “If they’re created close enough to each another, one vortex will pull the other one in and vice versa.”

“Like magnets,” Elsie muses.

My father stares at me. “Who in the dragon created a portal for him? The Phaelix don’t have powers. He couldn’t have done it himself.”

I grin at the Phaelix. “That’s what I’m going to find out.”

The Phaelix glowers at me.

I switch to his language. “What’s your business on Earth?” I already have a good idea, but I want confirmation.

He spits a guttural curse at me.

My mother and father are fluent in the Phaelix tongue. They understand what I’m saying. Elsie doesn’t. I repeat the question in our language.

The Phaelix pulls his lips away from his sharp teeth, offering me a sneer for an answer.

I let his nape go with a shove and catch his wrist in another bruising grip. “This is what’s going to happen. You’re going to tell me everything I want to know, or I’m going to melt you bit by bit, starting with your fingers and your toes.”

He snaps his teeth at me like a rabid dragon.

“Fine.” I lift his arm and squeeze hard enough to break his bones. “We’ll do this your way.”

The pain forces him to splay his fingers. He swallows the agony down, his throat rippling and his teeth clacking with the effort.

He’s a tough one. Let’s see how long he lasts.

I focus my power on his little finger. His scaly flesh bubbles, his sharp claw dropping with a glob of goo and a clunk on the ground.

His chilling scream pierces the air as he grabs my fingers and tries to dislodge my hold on his wrist. When that doesn’t work, he simply clings to his arm, holding it up in the air as he whines and wheezes.

“Don’t make me ask you twice, Phaelix. For every breath I have to waste, I’ll take another finger.”

He heaves, sucking air through his teeth.

“Did you go to Earth to bring back a human slave?” I ask.

“Yes,” he hisses. “Yesss.”

“For whom?”

“For me.” He snaps at me again, seemingly unable to resist biting like an animal. “For me.”

My father crosses the floor and stops short of the Phaelix, forcing him to crane his neck to look at my father. “To do what with?”

“To sell,” he says, writhing in my hold.

“Where?” I ask. “I destroyed the market.”

“A new market.” He spits at my feet. “New.”

“Where?” I ask again, melting the first digit of his index finger for making me repeat myself.

He howls in agony, twisting and throwing back his head.

“You’d better answer him,” my father says. “Before you run out of fingers.”

“An island on the lake.” He rocks himself while shooting daggers at me with his eyes. “The lake.”

“What did he say?” Elsie asks.

I tell her.

“The barge,” she cries out. “That’s where Sandy and the others came from when you found me on that shore!”

“I know where it is.” My mother gets up and walks to us. “There’s only one island big enough on a lake to house a slave market.”

“I’ll send Kian and a team of guards.” My father pushes a fist under the Phaelix’s chin, forcing the Phaelix to meet his gaze. “How many slaves are still on Zerra?”

“Not a lot.” The Phaelix bends his neck from side to side when my father lets him go. “Not a lot.”

“How many?” I bite out.

The Phaelix quickly lifts his free hand, showing three clawed fingers.

My father translates for Elsie.

“What are you selling them for?” she asks.

My mother tears her gaze from the Phaelix to face Elsie. “Is that important?”

“It could be,” Elsie says.

I translate the question and shake the Phaelix again. “Answer her.”

“For opals.” He pulls his eyes into slits. “Opals.”

I tell her what he said.

Elsie considers that for a moment. “To do what with?”

I ask him in his language.

“For war.” He utters a high-pitched laugh. “To buy weapons. For war.”

My father nudges him with the tip of his boot. “Against whom?”

I already know the answer. “Us.” I squeeze harder, making him mewl. “Isn’t that so?”

His silence says everything.

My father’s curse is quiet but lethal. He tightens his grip on the shaft of his dagger and curls the fingers of his other hand into a fist. His muscles tense as he prepares to pounce.

My mother touches my father’s arm. “Don’t kill him. We still need information.” Contempt radiates from her as she comes to stand in front of the Phaelix. “Who created that portal for you?”

He looks between us, grinning through his cooked teeth.

“Was it someone from Lona?” My mother’s upper lip curls. “Or from another kingdom?”

The moment seems to suspend in time as the silence stretches. For the first time, the Phaelix looks truly scared.

I melt another finger.

He howls and swears at me, spitting out curses with saliva.

“He’s of no use to us,” I say. “I’ll take him to the cell where I can melt him slowly over days.”

“No melting,” he whines. “No more melting.”

I put my face in his and melt a thumb. “That’s for the repetition.”

“It was Arix,” he screams. “Arix! Arix makes the portals. Arix!”

My mother and I look at each other.

“There’s no Arix in Lona,” my mother says. “That’s not even a name.”

“Yes,” the Phaelix cries. “Arix!” He resorts to sobbing. “Arix.”

It hits me at the same time as my father slowly says, “Tarix?”

“Yes!” The Phaelix bounces on his knees. “Arix. Arix.” He points a finger at my father. “Arix.”

My mother stumbles back a step, her cheeks deathly pale.

“Tarix?” Elsie says as if she has to push the name from her lips.

My father wipes a hand over his brow. My mother walks with stilted steps to the table. She trips over her own feet but rightens herself and carries on. She’s like a dead person, mechanically lifting a carafe and pouring wine into a goblet before downing the drink in one go.

“That son of a dragon,” my father says through clenched teeth.

Cold fury pushes up inside me. “Where is he?”

My mother whirls around. “Why would he do that? What could he get out of such an act of treason except a painful execution?” She looks at my father. “Do you believe him?”

Anger draws stark lines over my father’s face. “Why would he lie?”

I drag the Phaelix to his feet. “I’ll throw him in the cell, and then I’m going to get some answers. Where is he—Tarix?”

“I don’t know,” my mother says. “We finished our official business this afternoon. He could be anywhere in the palace.”

I exchange a look with my father. “Don’t let anyone leave.”

He sheathes his dagger. “I’ll tell Kian, Vitai, and Gaia.”

I don’t bother dragging the sack of shit through the hallways. I hold out a hand to Elsie and open a portal. We enter it, dragging the Phaelix along, and exit on the underground level where the cells are located. We haven’t used them in many moon cycles. There was never any need.

I throw the Phaelix into one of the cells.

He kneels on the floor, cradling his injured hand against his chest while spitting and snapping his teeth.

Not sparing him another glance, I close the archway and place a seal on the cell to prevent him from leaving and anyone else from getting in.

We don’t want a rescue party—such as Tarix—to free him.

My heart is like ice in my chest as I lead Elsie upstairs. My mother trusted Tarix. I didn’t like him, but I never suspected a thing. He hid his talents well.

Once we exit on the level of the Great Hall, I head straight to Tarix’s quarters, only to find them empty.

I stop a servant who walks past with a pile of clean bath sheets in his arms. “Have you seen Tarix?”

“Your Highness.” The servant bows. “He left earlier this evening to visit the sacred site.”

Of course. With a free pass from my mother, Tarix is a regular there. He’s one of the staunch believers.

Gaia comes running up, her face drawn and pale. “Mother just told me. She’s pulling up portals, trying to find him. What can I do to help?”

“Search the palace.” I turn Elsie to me with my hands on her shoulders. “Will you help her?”

She nods tersely. “Tomorrow, when it’s light, I’ll call Betty. It’ll be easier to search from the sky.”

“Let’s hope that won’t be necessary. I want that son of a dragon found before daylight.” I kiss her on the lips before letting her go. “Be careful.”

She wraps her fingers around my hand. “You too.”

Gaia takes off in the direction of the banquet hall. Elsie holds on for a moment longer, our fingertips brushing as I finally break our contact.

When I pull up a portal to take me to the sacred site, I focus hard on keeping my power in check.

Betrayal burns hot in my gut. When I get my hands on Tarix, I’ll make him regret every act of treason he’s committed against our people.

Theories are forming in my head. Did he instigate the Phaelix attack?

If so, why would he want to overthrow our rule?

What, except for power, can he gain from killing his own flesh and blood?

He can’t be stupid enough to believe the Phaelix will let him rule once they’ve gotten rid of the rest of us.

They’ll crush him like the insect he is, wiping away his existence like a dirty stain.

The guard jumps at attention when I walk out from the portal at the site.

“Tarix,” I say, not needing to explain.

The guard’s chin trembles. “He left a short while ago, Your Highness.”

I gnash my teeth. “Did he say where he was going?”

“No, Your Highness.”

And his mind is too vague for Kian to find him.

I stomp up the path, heading for the village. He could be hiding out there. But after a long time of asking around, I know I’m not going to find him there.

In a rare act, I open my mind to Kian.

Nothing.

I reach out to Elsie via our bond and find the same—there’s no sign of my cousin.

If my mother can’t find him either, there’s only one explanation. He’s hiding, and he’s hiding well. Somehow, he knows we’re on to him. He must’ve seen us coming when his portal collided with ours.

It’s almost the middle of the night, but I portal myself to the nearest Phaelix village.

I’ll find that traitor if it’s the last thing I do.