Page 42 of Heir of Broken Souls (HOBF #3)

Chapter 42

Knox

S he doesn’t know that I’m awake and watching.

If she does, she shows no sign of acknowledging it. All she continues to do is stare into the fire blazing in the hearth.

She’s hiding something.

The real question is, though, what is it and why is she so fearful to tell me? I saw how she reacted when I asked her about it last night, the way her neck and shoulders coiled with tension. She tried to mask it, tried to brush it off, but I know her as well as I do myself.

If it weren’t for the update from Nolan and Harlow helping her unleash her anger last night, I would have pressed more about it but once my head hit the pillow, I was out like the dead.

But now, it consumes me all over again thinking about it.

Gods.

The news from Nolan truly threw me for a loop.

Never in all my time in the lands of Aloriah and the courts of the Fae did I ever think there would come a day when we had to sanction our people to pack a bag and prepare to abandon our home. The unending ache in my chest flares at the reminder of it all.

I have never felt more like a failure to my people than I do now.

My father wouldn’t have failed his people. He wouldn’t have had to evacuate his city because of the ruins from a battle.

The day my parents died was the day Azalea lost the greatest rulers to ever exist. They ran the court with kindness and a fierce heart, and all I have given my people is doom.

“You’re up.”

Delilah’s voice pulls me from my desolate thoughts.

I give her a reassuring smile. “I can’t believe I slept that long. What time is it?”

“It’s still early, no need to fret.”

As she stands her entire body coils as tight as our bond. It’s tugging relentlessly, screaming at me for something that I can’t put my finger on.

My gaze drops. “Then why are you in your fighting leathers?”

She freezes, a momentary pause that makes her eyes flood with panic. She seems to brush it off, force herself to relax, but the tension doesn’t leave her shoulders completely. “I was hoping everyone could help me with a flying lesson this morning.”

I quirk a brow.

Yet something deep—ancient—within me tells me not to push her. It practically screams at my body to keep my mouth shut.

The last time I felt ordered by my own body like this was when I saw Delilah for the first time. I had that same ancient feeling pass through me, a wisdom of the ages as my mind shouted from the rooftops, My angel .

Perhaps it’s the bond between us.

Before now, it had been nearly one hundred and fifty years since the mating bond was able to snap into place with our magic lessening, and because of that, the knowledge of it faded. Of course, people are talking about it now that magic has been restored, but I don’t know nearly enough about the bond as I should.

My parents passed before they told me all its capabilities.

So maybe this is one. A keen knowing.

Flicking the sheets off me, I don’t take my eyes off her as I stalk to the closet and pull out my fighting leathers. I see the small sigh she lets out, as if she didn’t know she had been holding her breath.

“Breakfast?” I ask.

She cocks her head. “I’d rather just get in an early morning training session.”

Something tightens in my belly, my mind sliding into a mindset that’s second nature to me. I send a message to everyone on the ship immediately. Early morning training session. Everyone to the top deck.

As the groans fill my head, I promptly slam their mental doors shut and walk toward my mate, who can’t seem to stay still. Her fingers tap her thigh anxiously. Still, I can’t help but suck in a sharp breath.

“You’re so beautiful,” I murmur.

I will never get over the sight of her and how perfect she is.

My words seem to unravel something within her. Her shoulders relax, practically melting into me as my fingers trail over the braid of her chocolate hair.

“Perhaps you should leave the braids in for tonight.”

Her brow furrows. “Tonight?”

My grin turns wicked. “So I have something to hold on to,” I purr and demonstrate as I wrap it around my hand and gently tug.

Her eyes flare before she quickly swats me away with a laugh. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Holloway.”

“Impossible to do so when you’re the fixture of my fantasies.”

I wrap a corded arm around her waist and yank her to me, noting the shiver that wracks her body. “I’ll never get enough of you,” I whisper truthfully.

Pulling away, I can’t help but smile at the glazed look that’s entered her eyes. Everything I said was true, but I know more than that she needed a distraction, and I feel like I’m about to find out why.

BANG. BANG.

“I didn’t get woken up for nothing!” Axel bellows. “Get your ass upstairs, Holloway!”

A female tsks. “You’re so grouchy in the mornings.”

“Elysia,” Axel growls.

Rolling my eyes, I fling open the door a second later. Axel’s there in the hallway, crowding Elysia against the wall while she smirks up at him.

“Everything okay here?” I ask.

Axel snaps his gaze to mine, a muscle in his jaw ticking.

“This is bullshit,” he mutters before stalking away.

Delilah comes to a stop beside me, worry shining in her gaze as he disappears up the stairs. “Should we…?”

Elysia waves her hand. “He’s going through withdrawal. They’re always moody.”

“You have experience with addiction?”

“I’ve seen it, yes.”

The way her back straightens lets me know I shouldn’t pry further, but I make a mental note of it. My gaze jumps between the two seers. “Have you received any further translations?” I ask instead.

Delilah stiffens at my question, my words throwing out the work I did in relaxing her.

“No, it’s been awfully quiet for me,” Elysia says.

“Same,” Delilah blurts. Pushing off the doorway, she struts down the hall. “No point talking about something we have no control over.”

* * *

I spread my arm along the railing, my gaze locked on the horizon as the early morning sun glints off the ocean.

No one has trained.

Delilah insisted on everyone fighting against her power one at a time, but she hasn’t allowed anyone to use a drop of power in return. Every time they try, she slams them with a golden shield.

The air is thick this morning, the waves surprisingly calm for how far out at sea we are. But it’s rife with tension.

Something is coming.

Something that I think we aren’t ready for.

Every battle I’ve gone into, my mind and body were in sync with one another, yet I cannot grasp that sense of serenity now, not when I feel in my bones that what is coming is going to be the struggle of a lifetime.

But I can’t say that out loud.

The deck beneath me rattles, which is usually normal, but this morning…there are no waves.

Dread, as quick as a whip, snaps into place. My hand reaches out to grab Delilah’s shoulder, to not only try and steady myself but to yank her into my embrace.

There is not an ounce of confusion or surprise on her face. I spin her and duck my head, boring into her eyes.

“Tell me everything ,” I demand.

She smacks her lips together, her eyes shining bright as she shakes her head.

A deep, guttural roar pierces the sky, gaining my attention. The griffins are sailing in our direction fast.

They roar again—this one a warning cry.

Suddenly, I’m not a king at sea. I’m not a mate or a lover but a warrior, one that has been training for nearly two centuries.

Snapping upright, I bark out orders as I slip into Aurora’s mind as effortlessly as if it was my own.

“Axel, get atop Zephlyn. Lenox, I need you to take the front and Harlow?—”

Someone is calling my name but all I can hear is my blood roaring in my veins.

“Oh my gods…”

I send what Aurora sees into the minds of my court so they know what we face, the death heading directly for our ship.

Slithering in the depths of the ocean, swimming faster than is naturally possible, are three water dragons. Ones with eyes as red as blood, with black veins filled with dark power.

Ones that are under the control of our enemy.