Page 7

Seven

Myron

My words still echo through the hallways as my chest tightens at the sight of Kaira’s tears. I can’t remember when I’ve last shouted at someone like this, but when the part-Flame came up to me earlier, informing me that Ayna told her she wasn’t going to return to the palace after training or for dinner, or even to sleep, I lost my temper so thoroughly I couldn’t even remember my own name.

Now, I’m a solid case of remorse.

“At least, now we know we don’t need to send half an army out to comb the woods,” Tori says quietly. If his tone is anything to go by, he’s being cautious not to set me off all over again, because next time, words might not be the only thing spraying from me, and he is really fond of this sparkling joke of a palace.

All I do is throw him a dark glance. “Would you sit tight if it was Clio out there?”

The answering look he gives me says it all.

Never in his right mind would he sit tight if his mate was unaccounted for and potentially in danger. But he’s had to, so he expects me to do the same.

“If she doesn’t show up by morning, we’ll send out scouts.” He ushers Kaira along the corridor back to our rooms but falls into step beside me as I make my way back to gather more weapons and set out to find my mate myself.

“Not soon enough. By the morning, she could be so far away we can no longer track her.” Not that we can properly track her now. If only she’d tug on our mating bond, I could find her, but since she’s stuck in her bird form and our bond hasn’t been the strongest since Erina tried to un-mate us, I can’t even count on that—if she even remembers she has a mate.

This is so messed up I can’t find words to describe it.

“The storm is still raging out there,” Silas points out, his presence behind me more calming than I would have expected. When he shared his story of losing Dahlia, I learned that there is so much more to the broody warrior than I could have ever imagined. He has compassion for Ayna and for me when all he ever shows is that dark and sarcastic side. “If you fly out there, you might get caught in the current, and you won’t be of any use to Ayna if you get yourself injured in a fool’s attempt at a rescue she might not even need.”

I hate that he’s right.

“I’ll fly with you,” Royad offers, ready to get beaten up by the weather if it means I have some peace of mind.

It’s that readiness to sacrifice that gives me pause, and I halt on the threshold, considering Kaira draped in her blanket and how she huddles unusually close to Herinor, who’s now sitting on the sofa as she swallows her now silent tears. A pang of guilt eases me back across the threshold, making me head straight for the window instead of my room.

“A few more hours until dawn,” I clarify with a glance at Tori.

The male nods. “If she hasn’t shown up at first light, I’ll send scouts, I promise.”

Not a binding promise the way fae promises are binding but a promise nonetheless.

“If she hasn’t returned by first light, I’ll be the first one out the door.”

Time passes in a nightmare of agonizingly slow minutes. I sip the tea Tori conjures from thin air, but I never leave my spot by the window. Royad takes it upon himself to check my room regularly for signs of Ayna, and even if the wind carries in leaves and dirt, we keep all windows open, lest we miss her approach and she’s locked out.

When at last the wind dies down, the first ray of sun is tickling the retreating clouds, and my patience has come to an end.

With a few efficient movements, I strap my weapons to my belt, my back, and pause in front of the fairy general only long enough to tell him I’ll scout the palace grounds first, and if I don’t find a sign of her there, I’ll set out south. If anyone caught her, they would be coming from that direction.

Royad is right there with me as is Silas, now dressed in battle black with his hatchet on his belt and his sword sheathed across his back.

Herinor remains seated beside Kaira, who tried reaching her sister through that mind connection they share and found only disconcerting silence. Whatever calm the Flame held before has long vanished, and she hasn’t stopped pestering Tori to take her along when he site-hops out to search for her sister; her own leathers are covered in a cloak, bundled up against the cold even with the spark of fire in her.

Tori has the good sense not to attempt to stop me. Dipping his chin once, he says, “Come back and report when you’ve searched the premises. I’ll put together a group of strong soldiers who can site-hop out to comb the lands.”

Silent understanding passes between Royad and him as my cousin burns a warning toward the general.

If we are too late because of Tori’s hesitation, there will be consequences. He knows it; I know it. We all know it, and I beg all gods who will listen that Ayna has been simply hiding in an alcove along the palace walls and waiting for the night to be over.

Shifting in a flash, we’re out the window, fluttering into the biting-cold morning. Adrenaline surges through my blood as I finally allow myself to hunt for my mate, bird instincts meeting those of the Crow male I’ve been keeping on a tight leash since Ayna got stuck in bird form.

Silas takes the north side of the palace while Royad turns west, circling above the towers before banking hard and scouting the yard and the area of the gate on the other side of the building. My own course takes me southeast. One caw from the others and I’ll know to return with hope in my heart.

She could be anywhere, in any tree by the edge of the gardens or hiding beneath the roof, so I take my time, screening every nook and cranny as I circle higher to have a better overview.

No sign of Ayna. Just like Shaelak is lending me a helping hand, there is no flock of crows either that could make my heart surge with hope just to drop back to the depths of Hel’s realm when I realize she’s not with them.

It takes an efficient quarter-hour to finish my search of the gardens, and I only return to the palace because I know we have higher chances of finding Ayna if we properly coordinate, but the roaring in my head gets louder with every minute I don’t know where she is.

Tori is already waiting with twelve soldiers, one of them Tata, who looks ready to kill. “Half of us will start east; the other half will take the west,” he announces.

I dip my chin in thanks and confirmation. “Then we’ll take south and north.”

Herinor is ready and armed, standing with Kaira a few steps from Tori. If he’s planned to help, it might kick off a disaster.

“You’re staying.” It’s not a suggestion but an order from his king. Much to my surprise, he doesn’t look relieved.

“If I make it to help you , I could get away with it.”

Like he’s done so many times before. Help me so I can help Ayna. Help everyone else so he can disguise his intentions to aid his queen.

“No.” Not this time. If she returns while we’re gone, I’ll need someone who can deliver a message. Someone who knows how to find me.

Herinor understands immediately the task I’ve given him and bows his head. “I’ll fly like the wind the moment she returns.”

I don’t care that he’s phrased his statement in a way that could mean anything. Returns from wherever she is now to any place in this world she’s been before. It’s all right because I know he’d rather peel off his skin than disappoint me.

“We’ll meet back here at noon,” Tori says before he holds his hand out for Kaira, and together, they disappear.

One by one the other fairies fade out of the room as they set out to find my mate when they should have been in the arena, practicing to function without their magic—a sacrifice, I realize, that might cost us in the long run should Erina decide to attack today.

But what’s a kingdom in comparison to my mate’s life? I’d trade all and any of them just to know she’s safe. If that makes me a ruthless bastard, I’ll own the title.

Royad is already shifting, Silas at his tail as they disappear through the window. I follow suit. We’ll spread out south and north.

I want to go south. Try to bank and follow Royad, who is already headed in that direction, but something inside my chest is calling north. It’s not the familiar tingling I was used to when we still had the mate mark but something more subtle, a call of an entity so much bigger than the connection between Ayna and me.

I haven’t felt it since the first night I visited Shaelak’s temple and lit a candle beside the altar, but it’s definitely the same energy, vast and unyielding as it beckons for me to follow the slight current floating in the opposite direction of my cousin.

Silas is already headed that way, and I merely give a long-stretched caw to inform Royad I changed my mind. He’ll know to continue south without me.

With a few strong beats of my wings, I’ve caught up with Silas, his head tilting slightly to the side in acknowledgement I’ve chosen to fly with him instead, but I don’t slow to his pace when that tingle in my chest keeps urging me to go faster, faster, faster like my life depends on it.

So I fly like the wind itself, and in my heart, I harbor hope and dread in equal parts as I head away from the direction of Tavras against my better knowledge.