Page 40

CHAPTER 40

SERENNA

S erenna spluttered and spat a mouthful of bitter tea back into her mug. “S–Sorry,” she coughed, eyes stinging as she dashed a glance at Jassyn across the campfire. “It’s just a little hot.”

Focused on pouring another steaming cup, he didn’t seem to notice the tight smile she wrestled from her grimace. Serenna hastily shoved the drink aside and tucked her gloved hands deep into her cloak.

Amusement spiked through the bond as Vesryn’s thoughts telepathically curled around hers. You’re a horrible liar.

Serenna glared over at him, only now realizing why he’d refused the tea so casually. I don’t want to hurt Jassyn’s feelings, she snipped back. So don’t tell him.

Vesryn arched a brow, the firelight dancing over his face to highlight the curve of his smirk. He chuckled, reclining further against a fallen log. Shedding his gloves—likely to keep them from charring should his magic flare again—he ignited an orb of illumination. The glow cast silver streaks across the surrounding frost-laced pines, their branches shimmering as if dipped in starlight.

“Good luck,” the prince called out wryly as Jassyn rose with two mugs.

Jassyn froze mid-step, his eyes darting between Vesryn and the ridge beyond. On an outcrop, Lykor sat regenerating, scowling up at the sky as twilight surrendered to a scattering of stars.

With an audible inhale, Jassyn straightened, seeming reluctant but resolute as he drifted away from the fire.

Serenna scooted closer to the prince as the logs crackled, embers bursting skyward.

“You are so nosy,” Vesryn scolded, though he shifted to grant her a better view of Jassyn’s hesitant approach.

Serenna leaned against his shoulder, feigning innocence. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Vesryn shook his head in silent bemusement as Jassyn inched toward the ridge. “Two minutes,” he murmured, idly spinning the orb of light above his palm. “Lykor hardly seems to be in the mood for company.”

“Is he ever?” Serenna asked. “But Lykor did save him today.”

Vesryn shrugged, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as they shamelessly watched. “But if Lykor thinks Jassyn is trying to poison him with that excuse for tea, we just might have the best view in all the realms when he hurls Jassyn off that cliff.”

“You’re terrible.” Smothering a laugh, Serenna elbowed the prince in the ribs, but his armor absorbed the blow. “And thanks for nothing . A warning would have been nice.”

Vesryn snorted. “I wanted to see your face when you drank it.”

Serenna wrinkled her nose, the bitter taste still clinging stubbornly to the back of her tongue. “At least Fenn should be back to take over tomorrow.”

The illumination winding around Vesryn’s hand dimmed for a heartbeat before a pulse of Essence brightened it again. He cleared his throat, but the words that followed sounded forced. “Speaking of our preferred tea master… Where is he?”

Serenna tensed, startled both by the unexpected question and the current of unease drifting down the bond. Before she could interpret the feeling any further, it vanished as if the prince had drawn a curtain between them.

Vesryn rarely let his emotions surface, but when he did, he was quick to bury them—to shut her out. But she’d sensed it, a flicker of disquiet swiftly stifled before the bond went dark. Unsure how to navigate the muted connection, Serenna hesitated before answering.

“Fenn is…” Reaching for his presence, she searched as she had countless times that evening. He wasn’t tethered, so he couldn’t have been captured. At least, that’s what she told herself. “I think he’s still in the same place.” She bit her lip, clamping down on her worry. “But he probably needs to regenerate before he can return, and he usually does better when more stars are out.”

Gaze distant, Vesryn nodded with a low, noncommittal grunt. “We should probably get more firewood.”

“ Now? ” Serenna’s attention flicked toward Jassyn and Lykor, locked in an awkward silence she assumed was thick enough to choke on—no tea required.

Vesryn’s shrug seemed indifferent, but his fingers twitched as the illumination flared. “I figured you’d want to wait up.”

Warmth stirred in Serenna’s chest at the quiet care hidden beneath his practicality. He didn’t have to offer, but he did—despite the discomfort he tried to hide.

“Okay,” she agreed, rising to her feet with the prince. She drew her cloak tighter before they stepped away from the campfire and into the chilly night.

The forest stretched around them, silent except for the squeak of snow crunching beneath their boots. Their breaths misted in pale clouds, curling with hanging wood smoke. Each step carried them deeper into the spindly trees, the ice-coated branches glinting in the illumination hovering above the prince’s palm.

Serenna glanced at the shimmering globe, wondering if it could emit warmth as well as light—without burning. “Have you made any progress with calling sunfire again?”

“Not since a few nights ago.” A muscle feathered in Vesryn’s cheek as he stared at the glowing sphere. “I don’t know what I did, and I can’t seem to do it again.”

Flexing his fingers, the tendons in his hands rippled as though he was wrestling with more than just the whirling orb. With a disgusted sigh, Vesryn extinguished the glow and summoned a fistful of shadows instead.

“If I can’t even master something as basic as illumination, how am I supposed to protect you—or anyone else?” His voice wavered before his teeth clicked shut, the admission seeming to escape before he could stop it.

Flicking his wrist, rending lashed forward. Darkness struck a fallen tree with a sharp crack that shattered the stillness.

Vesryn threw himself into a relentless rhythm, shadows thrashing around him as he split the logs. With each swing of magic, he drifted further away, retreating into the work.

Serenna’s chest tightened as she watched him. His agitation wasn’t just about the sunfire. It ran deeper than that, tangled with everything else—Lykor, Fenn, this endless journey, and all those in the jungle depending on them to discover a haven.

She searched her mind for something comforting to say, but guilt wrapped its talons around her. Fenn’s presence had pushed Vesryn out of the center of her world. Though she hadn’t meant for it to happen, she couldn’t deny she’d played a part. And admitting that truth stung.

But the prince hadn’t given up on her—or them. In a moment of shared uncertainty, he’d reached for her back on Vaelyn’s cliffs. Not with words of reassurance, but with a fierce kiss, a silent promise to hold on.

Vesryn rarely spoke his care aloud, but his actions never left room for doubt. This moment wasn’t so different. The way he attacked the wood, each strike carrying the weight of his frustration, felt like another kind of language.

Serenna exhaled, willing her remorse to dissolve as she stepped toward him. She could bridge this divide in a way he understood—in the way he would.

Pulse quickening, she approached and brushed his arm. His cloak denied actual contact, but even so, Vesryn stilled. The shadows writhing around his hands wavered as if the simple gesture surprised him.

For a moment, he didn’t move. But when his gaze finally drifted toward hers, his jade eyes reflected the light of the rising moons—piercing sharper than the wind slicing through her furs.

“So you only notice me when Fenn’s not around?”

Serenna’s heart lurched at the accusation and she withdrew. Was that how she made him feel?

“That’s not true,” she said quickly, defensiveness instinctively tumbling out.

Vesryn’s mouth slashed into a hard line, his expression shuttering as he pulled away. Then, with a heavy sigh, he dragged a hand across his face, releasing his power.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled at the trees. “You didn’t deserve that. It’s just…”

Serenna rested her palm on his back. At her touch, Vesryn’s shoulders sagged, the weight of everything he carried seeming to bear down at once. Slowly, he turned to face her, hesitation etched into every movement.

“I don’t know what you need from me,” he confessed quietly, the words rough but sincere. “I see the way you look at him, how easily you trust him. And then there’s me. Fumbling with my power and making a mess of things. Trying to be enough but falling short.”

Serenna’s heart twisted at the ache in his tone—at the wound beneath it. She opened her mouth, but what comfort could she offer? Fenn had carved out a different place in her heart than Vesryn had, and maybe he sensed that too.

Vesryn released an unsteady exhale, steam curling in the cold. “I know if…” His voice was lower now, raw in a way that made Serenna’s chest tighten. “If it ever came down to it, you’d choose him.”

Serenna’s breath caught. “Vesryn—”

“You don’t have to say it,” he cut in gently, shaking his head. “I already know. But the only one to blame is myself.”

“I’m sorry that Fenn…complicated things between us,” Serenna said softly. “But I need you to know that you matter to me too.”

Her hand found its way to his chest, seeking the steady beat of his heart. He stared down at her, the ridge between his brows softening despite the shadows of doubt lingering behind his eyes.

“You’re not second to anyone,” Serenna insisted, her voice firmer now as she stepped fully into his space. But even as she said it, doubt whispered—what if he never could believe it? “You’re different from Fenn, but that doesn’t make you any less.”

Vesryn’s hand flexed near her waist, trapped between action and restraint. He didn’t reach for her—or retreat. His lips parted, the start of a protest or perhaps another apology, but no words came. For a breath, it looked like he wanted to argue, to say something—something final. His eyes darkened as they searched hers, flickering between longing and uncertainty before he glanced away.

But Serenna was done standing by, done watching a male she cared for retreat further into himself when all she wanted was to pull him close.

Gathering her courage, she shed her gloves, craving the warmth of him beneath her touch. Serenna lifted a hand to his face, her magic stirring as her fingertips skimmed the edge of his jaw.

Vesryn’s breath stalled when she gently guided his gaze back to hers.

“I want to be with you,” she whispered, the vulnerability in his eyes stirring a pang in her chest.

Heart thundering in her ears, Serenna rose onto her toes. She leaned in, brushing her mouth against his, a fleeting whisper to test the line between them.

Vesryn stiffened at the contact, but he didn’t pull away.

Emboldened since he hadn’t withdrawn, Serenna slid her fingers through his hair. Pouring her affection into the kiss, she tugged him closer.

Gradually, whatever resistance the prince clung to dissolved, his breath shuddering against her lips. He seized her hips, hauling her flush against him, the warmth of his body melting into hers like sunlight thawing frost. Fingers digging into her waist, his mouth devoured hers as he deepened the kiss.

Releasing his hair, Serenna slipped her hand inside his parted cloak, tracing the taut planes of his chest. Even through his armor, she could feel the conflict coiled there, wound tight as though he held something back.

“Serenna—” His words caught as her hands coasted lower, skimming over the hard lines of his stomach.

She silenced him with another kiss, claiming him as her tongue tangled with his. Driven by the need to touch him, her pulse raced as she moved her hands with purpose. She wanted to learn him, discover what he hid beneath his layers, take a step back to find their footing before they moved forward.

Breaths growing uneven, a tremor ran through the prince as her palms wandered lower, landing against the front of his trousers. Vesryn’s hands jerked as if to intercept her, but Serenna snatched his wrists before he could.

“Don’t make me restrain you,” she threatened. To prove her point, she ignited her power. Shadows unfurled across her fingers, spiraling around his arms.

Lips parting, Vesryn’s breath hitched, his eyes heavy-lidded and glazed with hunger. But if he had any protest, she smothered it when she drove her mouth into his once more.

As the prince—the commander—he’d always held the control between them. Deferring to him, Serenna had let him keep that distance, too afraid to push beyond their former roles.

But they weren’t those people anymore. There was no court, no duty, no chains of expectation—only the heat between them and the pull of something neither could ignore.

He’d always protected her, not by shielding her from challenges, but by pushing her beyond the confines of her self-doubt. His care had never been gentle or simple—it was relentless, a force that demanded she find the strength to rise on her own.

And now, she felt his tension beginning to yield under her touch. Vesryn relaxed into her, letting her take the lead—for once. She needed him to feel it. That he mattered. That he was so much more than an exiled prince haunted by doubt.

Releasing her magic and his wrists, Serenna unfastened his belt. Vesryn stilled, exhaling slowly, his chest barely rising as the buckle slipped free.

Heat blooming low in her belly, Serenna sank to her knees on the snow-blanketed ground. She burned to feel him unravel beneath her hands, to strip away the composure he always wore like armor.

The rigid length concealed by his leathers strained against the loosened confines, undeniable proof that he was already affected. As she traced the shape of him, the sound of her name rasped from his throat.

Serenna glanced up, caging a smile while savoring the bewilderment in his eyes—the rare moment where she’d caught him off guard. His fingers twitched, either torn between the urge to reach for her or to reclaim control.

Returning to his waist, Serenna unfastened the remaining laces and clasps on his trousers, her pulse fluttering as she wrestled the stubborn leathers down. The tight fit—which she normally appreciated for how it framed his form—was now an inconvenience. When she finally freed him from his armor, the sight of him stole her breath—smooth as ivory in the starlight, unyielding like sculpted marble.

And because she wasn’t wholly cruel, Serenna exhaled warm air into her palms before wrapping her fingers around him. Vesryn still shuddered, hands curling into fists at his sides.

With a deliberate slowness, she glided her fingers along his length, a teasing whisper of exploratory touch. She traced her nails lightly along the sensitive underside, savoring the sharp hiss that escaped from between his teeth. Serenna’s pulse skipped when his arousal jerked beneath her palm, a silent confession of want.

As she tightened her grip, Vesryn’s hips bucked forward and she stroked him harder. Basking in the power of that small surrender, she wanted more—wanted to strip away his restraint with every touch.

Confidence surging, Serenna leaned closer and took him slowly into her mouth. She sucked at the velvet crown, tracing the slit and tasting his need on her tongue.

Vesryn’s head tipped back, a ragged groan tearing from his chest as she hollowed her cheeks, drawing him deeper. His fingers tangled in her hair, cradling the back of her head rather than steering.

Uneven bursts of his breath puffed into the air as she continued to explore every inch of him, mapping his length with her tongue.

Serenna set a rhythm, drinking in the heat of him as her hand stroked what her mouth couldn’t take. Vesryn’s muscles flexed, his control fraying as he began thrusting deeper into her throat. Swallowing, she moaned around him, pulling a shattered curse from his lips.

Tentative at first, his hands drifted to cup her face. Serenna lifted her gaze through her lashes, and despite everything—despite what she was doing—heat rushed to her cheeks. Not because of the act, but because of the way he looked at her.

Starlight shimmered in the emerald depths of his eyes as Vesryn watched her with reverence—a dark, hungry devotion that transcended the haze of desire.

The barricade he’d constructed between them, the one that kept her at a distance, shattered. A flood of emotion surged through the bond—not just lust, but love and vulnerability, a fierce tenderness that wound through Serenna’s chest, stealing the breath from her lungs.

Holding his gaze, Serenna quickened her pace and a growl spilled from his lips. The rhythm between them faltered as Vesryn’s movements turned wild. His fingers curled against her scalp and he tried to extract himself, but Serenna seized the backs of his thighs, refusing to let him go.

A shudder and a curse tore through him. Vesryn gripped the back of her head, a low groan tearing from somewhere deep in his throat. Heat spilled across her tongue and Serenna swallowed him down, not relenting until the last tremor wracked through him.

She eased away, releasing him from her mouth. He was still staring at her, chest rising and falling like he’d just run a realm’s worth of miles.

Wordlessly, Vesryn reached for her and helped her back to her feet. The night pressed in around them, the crisp air swiftly encouraging him to tuck himself back into his leathers. As he clasped the buckle to his belt, the corner of his mouth twitched—a warning that Serenna wasn’t fast enough to decipher.

Ribbons of blue light fountained from Vesryn’s fingertips, a pulse of force curling around his palms. A heartbeat later, the tendrils latched onto Serenna’s trousers, yanking them halfway down her legs. She yelped as a strike of cold air nipped at her bare skin.

Before she could react, Vesryn seized her waist, lifting her like she weighed nothing. Serenna shrieked as the world spun, the prince pinning her back against the nearest tree. She scrambled for purchase, fingers digging into his cloak as her legs dangled over his shoulders, the fabric of her trousers still twisted around her lower legs.

Her pulse lurched at how close his face was—now nestled shamelessly between her parted thighs.

“Vesryn!” Serenna hissed, squirming against the heat of his hands on her backside. “What are you doing?” she demanded, her voice more of a breathless squeak.

Warm breath fanning across her chilled skin, he tilted his face up to hers, eyes gleaming with dark intent. “Surely you didn’t think I would let you get away with that without returning the favor?”

The infuriating, heated look sent a thrill bolting through her. Serenna’s cheeks flamed as she glared down at him, though the intended effect was likely diminished by her current position. “I—I didn’t do it for anything in return.”

His thumbs brushed the curve of her backside, his smirk widening into something more feral. “I’m aware.”

Serenna stiffened as shadows surged, inky tendrils curling around her calves, teasing the bare skin of her thighs. The darkness caressed her, holding her open, drawing out a shiver as tingles raced in its wake.

Then his mouth was on her.

A slow, deliberate stroke of his tongue up her center had Serenna gasping, the sudden jolt of pleasure flecking her vision with stars.

When Vesryn’s shadows joined his lips, Serenna’s thighs clamped against his head. Her fingers knotted in his hair as she fell back against the tree with a moan.

By the time Vesryn resurfaced, she was half-dazed and shuddering, breaths coming in rapid draws.

“Tongue or shadows?” the prince asked, his mouth hot against her skin as he skimmed a trail of kisses down her thigh.

Heart thrashing against her ribs, Serenna’s question came out unsteady as she struggled to focus. “W—What?”

Vesryn’s grin was pure wickedness, his voice dropping to a husky whisper. “Both it is.”