Page 50 of The Lost Art of Revealing Hidden Truths (The Lost Arts #3)

Perian hadn’t thought about the logistics at all.

Was someone changing the bed linen? Were people who were on their own just spilling into a towel or something?

Perian grimaced. Maybe he didn’t want to know the details.

Maybe he could pretend, even if he knew it was nonsense, that each of these people was enjoying themselves in their own way, as if Perian had just accidentally been nearby at a critical moment .

Perian didn’t know where Brannal had possibly found them all, except that he did know some of them.

He knew Delana immediately, and he almost laughed, because she was followed by Onadal, but they went separately. There was Nisal, on their own. There were a couple of Warriors that made him think of Bennan and Chamis, and Perian wondered what the two of them would think of all of this.

Perian wasn’t going to get to hear about their travels, was he? Maybe it was just as well that he’d never know what they thought.

Alona was there from the kitchen, and she was with another woman and a man.

He could feel the affection embedded in their desire, like they’d been together for some time.

That was so nice. Perian couldn’t even manage a relationship with one person; he was glad they’d figured out how to make it work between them.

There was someone Perian didn’t recognize. Then Misalla, the woman whom he’d tried to save from Venoran. Oh, Perian hoped she was really all right with this. But she was alone, and her desire felt fine, a bit muted but pure.

He was shocked when he felt Arvus. He was there on his own—Perian supposed Molun couldn’t have been easily moved all the way here, and he needed to save his energy for himself.

Perian couldn’t imagine why Arvus was doing this, but he knew that the man cared very much about Renny and his duty. He liked to protect people.

There were a few more people he knew, a few more he didn’t, and then—

Perian’s breath caught in his throat.

Oh.

He couldn’t decide if it was the very best thing or the absolutely worst thing that he got to feel this one more time.

He startled when a hand touched his arm.

He blinked his eyes open, not having realized he’d closed them.

“You’re crying,” the doctor said.

He could feel the tears on his cheeks now.

“It’s fine,” he said thickly.

It had never been less fine in the history of ever.

Her eyes were filled with compassion.

“You shouldn’t touch him,” Cormal admonished sternly.

She ignored him and produced a handkerchief, wiping carefully at Perian’s face .

“You can tell who it is, can’t you?” she said quietly.

He nodded faintly. The tears kept coming, and she kept wiping them away.

Perian had never, ever, had such a blissful feeling feel so terrible, feel so much like a goodbye.

He’d never wished so much that he could touch another person, and he’d never been so grateful that a wall separated them because if it didn’t, he would have fallen apart so much worse than he was falling apart right now.

The doctor went to the door, and Perian closed his eyes again and tried to get his breathing under control.

She returned a few moments later with a glass of water for Perian, which almost made him laugh, because apparently, it was always important to hydrate, even when you were busy absorbing the sexual satisfaction of a fair portion of the castle’s inhabitants.

It gave him something to do with his hands, and it let him get himself a little bit more under control.

“Thank you,” he said a bit hoarsely.

She smiled at him and sat down next to him on the bed, completely ignoring Cormal’s stern recommendation to get away from the carnalion.

She offered her hand, and Perian clasped it, absurdly grateful.

The energy continued, so much sex, and yet so much less than before.

He wasn’t participating, and it was definitely not his preferred method.

It wasn’t his preferred person —that experience had just been emotionally gutting, really—and no matter what the books would have you believe about carnalions, that mattered.

He now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he could feed on a huge variety of people—but that wasn’t the same thing at all as being with the one person he loved.

There were a few more people, including Simiala and…

Mitor, he thought, but he hadn’t spent a lot of time with the man to be sure.

And then with the next few people, Perian found that although he could feel that buzz along his skin just like he usually did, he…

didn’t think he was drawing it in. He hadn’t even fully realized that he was drawing it in before, but now it was somehow obvious that he wasn’t.

It was just… doing whatever it normally did when people reached a climax, spilling out and dissipating, however that worked.

Maybe none of it mattered.

He blew out a breath and said, “I think that’s it.” He looked up at the doctor. “I think I’ve, uh, got as much energy as I can take.”

Because that sounded slightly better than saying he was full .

She nodded, and Cormal popped to attention at the other side of the room.

“You’ve finished? Finally?”

Every word was an attack, but Perian couldn’t even be bothered to fight with the man. There was no point.

“I’ve finished,” he agreed simply.

He was immediately shuffled back down to the dungeon, where the doctor insisted he get some actual food and water, ignoring Cormal’s snide suggestions that Perian must surely be full at this point.

“It’s important to feed the body as well,” she told him quellingly.

Cormal, of course, wanted to move ahead immediately, and the doctor wanted to give Perian the chance to rest and relax. Perian could see the doctor’s point, but oddly, he was with Cormal on this one.

“I think I’m at my most energized right now, Doctor,” Perian told her. “I think the longer we wait, the more I’ll absorb this energy, and the less there will be for Renny and Kee. I think we need to act now.”

She was silent for a moment, and then she said, “Your bruises are already better.”

He startled. He couldn’t see his face, but he looked down at his hands and saw that she was right, that everything looked more healed than it had yesterday.

He managed a smile that only wobbled slightly.

“Then we should definitely get started,” he said.

“You should be at your best,” she told him gently.

“I can’t wait.”

She hesitated for a long moment, and then she nodded.

Then, of course, there was the whole debate about the fact that Perian needed Renny to be with him when he did this.

“Kee is attached to her!” he snapped, for what felt like the millionth time. “They’re connected! He hasn’t been able to leave her in almost seven years! They need to be here!”

“You can feed through a wall!” Cormal growled.

“You’re not asking me to feed through a wall!” Perian argued. “You’re asking me to try to stabilize an energy connection that we don’t even understand! We need every advantage! ”

They would probably still have been arguing about it, but the Queen put her foot down, finally, and declared that Renny would be there, and Brannal and Cormal would be there to make sure nothing went wrong.

Perian was going to be doing his absolute best to make sure this worked not because of anyone who was threatening him but because of Renny and Kee.

The doctor insisted on remaining. The Queen did, too, even though Cormal recommended she leave. She just stared him down and said that her children would be present, and therefore, so would she.

Cormal insisted on more Mage Warriors to protect the Queen. Perian didn’t care who was in the room, so he ignored this. Cormal picked Mage Warriors he didn’t know very well, except for Delana. Perian wondered if Molun and Arvus would have been present if Molun wasn’t hurt.

He hoped so much that Molun would be all right.

Renny arrived, and she appeared to be the most relaxed about this whole thing, despite the fact that it had the most to do with her.

She practically skipped into the cell after giving Cormal her best glare until he unlocked the door.

She came to fling her arms around Perian just like she normally did, never mind that he was in a dungeon cell.

“Hello, Perian!” she said. “I’m so glad to see you again. Ooh, Kee says you look weird.”

“Weird how?” Perian asked, turning to look to Renny’s left. “Hello, Kee.”

She tilted her head. “He says it’s hard to describe. You always felt a bit different from everyone else, apparently, and now you feel… more different.”

This made Perian laugh, an unexpected sound in this particular place.

“I made sure to get as full of energy as I could, so I hope that’s a good thing.”

She made her “you’re talking about sex, that’s gross” face, and he had to laugh again, because it was that or cry, and he was pretty sure that if he started crying, he wouldn’t be able to stop.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her.

“Better now that I’m with you,” she said simply. “It was all right when I got to visit you when you were with Molun and here in the dungeon, but it’s not great. I like it better when we have picnics. I miss them.”

“Oh, Renny, I miss them, too.” He wished he could promise her that they could have more, but he wasn’t sure if the others would let him lie—and he wasn’t sure if it would be worse if they did. He didn’t think a hysterical Renny was going to add anything to the proceedings.

“Right,” Perian said, sucking in a breath and then blowing it out slowly. “I think we should all be sitting down.”

Renny promptly sat across from him, still not seeming to care that they were in the middle of a dungeon, because this was where he was. She was a very good friend. He felt that weird little tug and was sure that Kee had sat down beside his sister on her left.

Perian held out his hands, and Renny placed hers in his. Right on cue, Cormal started to object, but Brannal told him to shut up.

“May I observe?” the doctor asked.