Page 197 of Lady of the Drowned Empire

But this mage…she should have taken this one from me. It was far too valuable, too powerful. And if she hadn’t there was only one reason. She couldn’t.

Her nostrils flared, telling me I was right, and she looked pointedly back to Rhyan, shooting down another one of his plans to save us.

“For fuck’s sake!” he snarled. “I get it.”

“If it entertains you, keep plotting. As long as you know that each one will fail.”

Rhyan hissed under his breath, his shoulders shaking with cold. His eyes found mine, and his nostrils flared.

“It’s okay,” I mouthed to him, “I’m okay.”

He nodded once, and closed his eyes for a long minute. And then he opened them, the same feral look spreading across his features. His eyes conveying all his concern.

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, maybe hours, of Rhyan and I simply staring at each other, reassuring ourselves the other was there still-alive, not hurt. But after sometime, the sky began to brighten with hints of color. Dawn approached with a faint reddish golden glow, and I felt my akadim tighten its grip on me out of distress.

“Day,” it growled at the mage.

“Yes,” she said in her oddly sweet voice. “It’s almost time.”

“Hurry,” it said, its putrid breath blowing past me. I gritted my teeth, resisting the urge to gag.

Rhyan was still, watching me almost as unblinkingly as the mage. I was pretty sure that once the initial spell had worn off, he’d barely gotten any sleep, not trusting himself to be unconscious around the akadim and not trusting them to be alone with me. His hands were fisted against the restraint of the beast’s arm, and his knuckles were white, his entire body brimming with a predatory stillness he only had when he was truly furious. He’d been keeping it at bay, but now that dawn approached, he was starting to slip.

Given the opportunity, he’d murder everyone on this gryphon to reach me. But I knew he wouldn’t strike until we were on land.

The gryphon’s head dipped down, one wing lifted, and suddenly we were racing downward, my stomach in my throat.

“It’s okay,” Rhyan said. “They descend fast.”

Tears burned behind my eyes. Of course, gryphons descended faster than seraphim, their larger bodies and weight bringing them down. I couldn’t believe this was my first time riding one—against my will, captured by akadim, and terrified.

I gave him a small nod, trying to thank him for the reassurance—for being the sort of person who, even when his life was threatened, still protected me with every tool he could possibly use.

His good eyebrow lifted, and the wind blew through his hair, turning the curls he’d had earlier into long, loose waves, bronzed gold as the sun rose.

Golden like Auriel’s.

Auriel….

He looked pointedly ahead with a small jerk of his chin. An ominous-looking mountain loomed ahead. The sides of the mountain were smooth as a wall—no areas of flatland, no paths. The only way past it was to fly over it or cross through the tunnels and caves that had been created before Lumerians had reached these shores.

This was the Allurian Pass. Morgana and Meera were in there.

I looked down at the crystal I still held, trying to get a better sense of what it could do. It seemed like it should have been glowing a bright red, but other than during those first moments when I’d taken it in my hands and when I’d had the vision of Asherah telling me to use it, it had been dormant.

Rhyan’s eyes were on the crystal and then on my face, as if he were thinking the same thing.

The mage waved her stave around the beast, and a dome of white light formed, creating a protective barrier to keep us from crashing. We were nearly at the ground, and our gryphon hadn’t slowed.

I resisted the urge to grab hold of the akadim. To hold onto anything. Instead, I narrowed my eyes, glaring at the mage. “I thought magic didn’t work on akadim.”

She shrugged. “It doesn’t. If they fall, they fall. But the shield will catch you.”

I swallowed, only realizing then my ears had popped. The gryphon finally slowed, and we touched down.

The mage stood, staring curiously at Rhyan, who was being hauled to his feet. Immediately, he sprung into action, twisting out of the akadim’s grip and reaching for his sword.

“Now’s not the time to play the hero,” she said, as black glittering ropes burst from her stave and wrapped around him.