Page 63 of Realm of Crows (Wings of Ink #5)

Forty-Six

Ayna

“Are you sure that’s what he said?” I don’t care that I’m repeating myself, asking this question when Rogue explains to us what Herinor told Kaira and him through the mind link before he came to get the rest of us.

Now, we’re standing behind the army around a cot in the healers’ tent at the edge of the camp, looking down on my sister, who is sipping some herbal infusion the healers said would help her recover more quickly.

The stack of chocolate on the little plate beside where she’s perched at the edge of the cot is half gone, already fueling her powers from the inside.

“Exactly what he said. Kaira dropped the mind link with the rest of you to be able to bridge the distance with Herinor. I only heard it because I was right next to her.” What Rogue explains makes sense, even when it does raise the uncomfortable tightness in my stomach that comes with dread.

Myron’s hand on my shoulder is a steadying presence, but it won’t chase away the fear of losing him.

“He’s waiting to meet you behind the forest, southeast from here,” Kaira croaks, and I sit next to her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders to reassure myself she’s really here and safe after what she just did on the battlefield.

“Do you think it’s a trap?” Clio cocks her head, flipping the sword in her hand before reaching for a piece of cloth at the end of the cot and wiping blood from the blade. “Ephegos might have put him up to telling us some concocted story to lure us out.”

“He’s a Crow,” Silas reminds us, gritting his teeth as one of the healers bustling about the place knits together the wound on his leg. “He can’t lie. Not even if he wanted to.”

“He can twist the truth,” Kaira points out, grimacing at the bitter taste of the tea and eyeing the chocolate like she’s had enough of its sweet taste too. “He’s proven that multiple times.”

“He’s also shown his loyalty to Myron and Ayna.” Rogue plays with a small knife, eyes scanning the sides of the camp as if for spies. “I am not ready to accept that he betrayed you.”

Myron nods his agreement, but the expression in his eyes as I meet them is pained, and he is sitting down next to me on the cot. He doesn’t look healthy, his complexion paler than usual, and with one hand, he’s clutching his stomach.

With my free hand, I rub soothing circles between his shoulder blades while, in my mind, I’m trying to piece together what is happening.

“Because you prefer to see the good in people,” Clio chastises her brother. “That’s always been your weakness. You should have long executed Tata and made an example of her for anyone who considers betraying our court.”

“Along with the other traitors,” Royad amends, unusually bloodthirsty. “Those rogue fairies site-hopping Ephegos and Erina around will be the death of us.”

Rogue gives both of them a long, measuring look. “Then I would have needed to execute Herinor as well after we learned how much information he was holding back, and look what a formidable ally he makes.”

“One who might be betraying us all over again,” Kaira murmurs. “Even if it’s not his choice.”

“So his information might be a setup after all,” Tori throws in, eyes on the troops at the back of the army.

Whatever he sees there, it makes him look like he’s eager to head over and tell them to change formation.

“Herinor might be luring us into a trap where Ephegos can get his hands on Ayna while staying safely out of the combat zone.”

I don’t disagree but—“If we don’t do anything for fear of being betrayed again, we might not survive to learn whether it was a trap.”

“That’s why Myron can’t come with you,” Kaira prompts, her brown eyes more alert than her condition should allow. “He can’t be in the same place as you in case this is a trap.”

When I turn to Myron, his eyes are already waiting for me, ocean blue framed with midnight lashes, not a hint of his onyx power visible on his skin or at his fingertips.

I could drown in those eyes and die happy.

I could lose myself until the end of the world.

So much love shines from those two gems that allow me to see straight into his beautiful soul, and I know there isn’t a choice of who follows Herinor’s call. It has to be me.

“We can’t both fall into Ephegos’s hands.

” There is nothing more to be said on the matter.

We all know what Ephegos wants and how he plans to kill Myron to have Shaelak make me his mate.

So no—there is no way he and I will step into a potential trap together.

When Myron opens his mouth to probably say he won’t let me go alone, I amend, “Plus, we need someone to oversee our forces once they join the battle.”

I rest my head on Myron’s shoulder, savoring the warmth seeping through our leathers. Throat bobbing, Myron turns to kiss the top of my head while his free hand finds my knee, squeezing lightly as if to say he knows exactly what I’m doing.

“Tori, Myron, and Royad will make sure fairies and rebels work together seamlessly,” Rogue confirms my unspoken question. “And I will stay to catch any stray units heading for Aceleau.” Where Sanja and his unborn child are waiting.

“So it’s just the three of us again?” Silas raises a brow at Clio, then at me.

“Plus a group of hand-picked soldiers who will aid you with neutralizing whatever forces Erina has gathered to project across the lands.” Rogue gestures to the ten males and females in battle black standing at the edge of the camp, waiting.

“They’ll answer to all three of you.” In case one of us gets hurt or killed during battle, he doesn’t need to add that.

“Go, find out if Herinor’s information is a setup.

We can’t leave anything untried when we’re already losing a war.

” His gaze wanders to the bulk of the army, then to the soldiers crawling off the battlefield, vomiting their guts up as they fight the effects of the drug.

With every passing minute, their numbers are increasing.

“There is still hope.” Rogue does sound like he actually believes it. “But if the three of you don’t return and that hope dwindles, too, I will make sure Myron and Royad get away to the eastern coast and board a ship with enough supplies to take them to the land they call their home.”

“Neredyn,” Silas whispers, awe filling his near-black eyes.

“I won’t leave without you,” Myron murmurs into my hair, but I don’t get to tell him that he might need to, independently of Herinor’s call for help with neutralizing Erina.

If the rebels don’t join soon, we’ll be overrun, and running will remain the only viable option for the Crow King and what will be left of his court.

Royad plays the voice of reason once more, grabbing Myron’s other shoulder and bracing the male who seems to be sagging into himself with each passing breath.

“The gods shall take me if I allow you to go to your death when everything is lost, Myron. You are the King of Crows, and you will find us a new realm where you can live—in Neredyn, where Ephegos’s power doesn’t reach. ”

“Yet,” Silas amends, and none of us have it in us to correct him—because there is nothing to correct. If we lose this battle, Eherea won’t be the last continent Ephegos claims.

“Are you all right to fight?” Tori measures Myron with the vigilant eyes of the general.

Straightening, Myron nods. “The drug is wearing off fast.”

I knew he’d been hit, but he’s been remarkably stable on his feet.

Something I’ve been chalking up to different variations of the drug, but as I look back at the last times I was hit by it, I recovered fast, too.

As did Herinor and the other Crows. As I watch Myron flex his hand above my knee, thin threads of midnight and silver establishing a shimmering web between his fingertips, I realize it might not only be the drug.

“The other soldiers are all retching their guts up while you seem pretty stable.” I study him closely: the thin blush on his cheeks returning beneath specks of blood and dirt, the strength in his posture as he sits up under my scrutiny.

“Perhaps I got a lower dosage.”

I shake my head at him. “I don’t think that’s it. We’ve been drugged so many times that our bodies have been building up a tolerance.”

“Interesting idea.” Tori leans in, staring Myron in the eyes like he can find all the answers there, then nods at himself.

“And very much possible. I’ve seen it happen with different types of poison.

” He hesitates before pressing his palm to Myron’s forehead.

“Normal temperature. Normal heart rate. Normal breathing. You should be out cold from the amount of liquid that spilled over you, or at least vomiting in a corner like any fairy would, but you seem to be regaining your powers already.”

So Tori saw it happening. Perhaps I should be grateful I didn’t, or I might have petrified from panic.

“It’s a working theory, but it won’t save us if the initial effect still renders us useless,” Clio points out, and she’s not wrong.

“All the more reason to find Erina and destroy him before he can make more supplies of the drug while he distracts us with his projections.” Getting to my feet, I meet Silas’s gaze, then Clio’s. Both of them incline their heads in silent confirmation.

“Be careful.” Rogue pulls his sister into a tight embrace while I kiss Myron, then hug Kaira and Royad.

“And take this with you.” He waves over a healer who hands each of us one of the vials of magic-nullifying drug Myron and Kaira found in the clearing a while back.

“If Erina has magic, he might be susceptible to its effects.”

Taking the vial from the healer’s hand, I give Rogue a broad grin. “It’s worth a try.”

“And if any Crows or Flames are keeping watch, they’ll make excellent targets,” Clio amends.

Before I take the Fairy Princess’s hand, I tell everyone, “Don’t get yourselves killed on the battlefield.” But my eyes linger on Myron, who has gotten to his feet to pull me close for one last kiss.

“This is not a goodbye,” he whispers into my ear, mouth brushing the sensitive skin at its tip. “This is the beginning of the future. Come back to me so we can share it.”

I don’t look back as Clio tightens her grip on both Silas’s and my hand and site-hops us out of the camp.