Page 5

CHAPTER 5

SERENNA

L ykor’s binding shadows disintegrated the moment his portal snapped shut behind him. The place in Serenna’s mind where his presence had been a roiling storm of fury now lay hollow, a chasm of loss she hadn’t braced for. There wasn’t pain, but the absence stung—a wound without a mark.

Vesryn dashed to Jassyn’s side, his dismay slicing through her disorientation. The prince dropped to his knees, hands splayed against the blood-slick cobblestones. Eyes wild and stricken, he gathered Jassyn’s broken form into his arms.

Serenna’s heart clenched, pounding into a terrified rhythm. Her vision tunneled to the wreckage of Jassyn’s face. Skull caved in, the left side was hardly recognizable. And what she could make out—splintered bone, muscles shredded and slack—sent her stomach heaving. Clamping a hand over her lips, she choked back her shock as Jassyn’s blood trickled over Vesryn’s fingers, splashing onto the stones.

Serenna lurched forward to join the prince, her hands shaking as she summoned Essence, mending light sputtering weakly. Unsure where to begin, she battled to maintain control as fear scattered her focus.

Fenn knelt beside her, a steady claw against her back, his own apprehension pouring through the bond. She could barely believe his touch—and the impossible fact that he’d survived.

“Your friend…” Fenn’s voice faltered, crimson eyes tracing every irreparable wound. “He won’t make it unless you work your magics now.”

The words jolted her. He was right, but Vesryn’s reply was a snarl. “Don’t you think we know that?”

Serenna forced herself to breathe past the horror crowding her throat. “We need to stop the bleeding first.” Her gaze fell to Jassyn’s shattered face. “But I…I don’t know how to reconstruct bone.”

With a curse, Vesryn gently placed Jassyn back on the ground and wrenched himself away. Staggering to his feet, he ripped open a portal. “Keep him breathing,” he ordered.

Before Serenna could ask how, he vanished into the rift. Left with no time to wonder where—or why—the prince had disappeared, she gripped Jassyn’s hand, clinging to the fading warmth.

His intact eye was squeezed shut, brows twisted in agony. Her heart ached at every fractured detail—the tremor in his fingers against hers, the faint whimpers slipping through his clenched teeth.

“I wish I could do something for the pain,” she whispered, spooling threads of mending light into the wound. Doing what little she could, she stitched around the splintered edges of bone and knitted ruptured vessels.

Fenn placed a claw on Jassyn’s chest, teeth dragging over a lip ring as he tracked her magic. “I can help,” he said, words low and urgent. “If I give him enough venom, he won’t feel a thing.”

He caught Serenna’s gaze, wordlessly seeking her consent in Jassyn’s place.

She swallowed hard, the weight of fear heavy in her throat. “Do it.”

Fangs extending, Fenn leaned down. Jassyn twitched when the sharp canines pierced his skin. Serenna tightened her grip on his hand as the seconds ticked by, Fenn’s bite lingering far longer than she expected.

By the time Fenn pulled away, Jassyn’s fingers had gone slack, his body utterly still. Fenn dashed a claw over his mouth while Serenna quickly wound tendrils of mending, erasing the small punctures left behind.

“I gave him enough to keep him paralyzed for an hour,” Fenn said, glancing between them. “I think. Everyone reacts differently, and with your elf bodies, I don’t dare risk giving him more unless he appears to need it.”

Serenna nodded, her hands trembling uncontrollably as she wove a stream of Essence to assess Jassyn’s condition. His heartbeat slowed beneath the venom’s grip, each breath growing shallower. She worked cautiously, fearful of causing permanent damage to injuries far beyond her skill.

“He saved me with plant magics,” Fenn whispered. His talons hovered over Jassyn’s face, as if he wished he could piece the broken bones back together. “Why would Lykor harm him?”

Unease cradled Serenna’s thoughts as the question lingered unanswered. And when Lykor returned…

The prince’s presence crashed back into Serenna’s mind. She snapped her head toward the portal that had opened as Vesryn burst through, hauling Magister Thalaesyn behind him.

Doubt lanced through her from one look at the disheveled magister. Thalaesyn was but a shadow of the legend she’d heard spoken of in hushed tones—his scholarly prestige tarnished by his vices. She couldn’t shake the thought that Jassyn’s associate, Magus Nelya, might have been the wiser choice. But a flicker of reassurance settled within her regardless—at least the magister had decades more experience.

Thalaesyn’s gaze locked onto Jassyn’s crumpled form, and with an impatient flick of his arm, he shook the prince off. Serenna released Jassyn’s hand as the magister rushed to her side, dropping to his knees. Essence crackled as he extended his palms over Jassyn’s ruined face, brows furrowing as ribbons of magic unfurled from his fingers, probing Jassyn’s wounds.

Fenn rose and stepped back, silently yielding his place. He caught sight of prying wraith hovering nearby and his demeanor instantly shifted. Joining Kal, he began barking orders, moving swiftly to disperse onlookers that Serenna hadn’t even noticed.

Vesryn slumped down beside her, shoulders curved in. His fingers drummed restlessly against his knee. As he watched Thalaesyn braid numerous lattices of crimson light, he reached out, closing his hand over hers in a tight but unsteady grip.

Serenna tensed, sensing him form a telepathic link—their unaccepted bond unable to fully bridge their thoughts. His question jabbed into her mind. Do you know where that monster took my brother?

Serenna shook her head, staring at the mending light. I don’t have any guesses where Lykor would go, she answered silently, but Kal might.

Kal? Vesryn’s disbelief surged. He’s here?

The prince scoured the chaotic courtyard, landing on Kal herding the wraith out of the square. Vesryn’s features softened—clearly he recognized something familiar in his former captain, who now appeared somewhere between wraith and elf.

Vesryn called out, drawing his attention. Beneath the tension etched into the prince’s face, a glimmer of relief shone through as he locked eyes with Kal.

To the point, no elaborate greeting passed between them beyond a firm clasp of forearms and a nod laden with mutual respect. Their hushed conversation was quick, revolving around Lykor’s suspected whereabouts as they exchanged terse whispers. But Serenna barely caught the words, her concern anchored to the magister’s healing.

She held her breath as mending threads coalesced across Jassyn’s wounds, sinking into the ragged muscle, knitting torn flesh, coaxing his ravaged features back toward something whole. With each pass, the fear cinching her chest loosened, ebbing like a retreating tide.

After driving the others from the courtyard, Fenn returned with a female wraith Serenna didn’t recognize. A black braid trailed down her back, flowing over her soft leathers. Without a word, she knelt beside Jassyn, placing a water basin and towels at Thalaesyn’s side. Silent and efficient, she soaked a linen cloth, wringing it out before passing it to the magister.

Thalaesyn accepted the towel without breaking his focus. Flexing his fingers, the final filaments of crimson light settled on Jassyn’s skin, softer than snowfall. With deliberate care, Thalaesyn wiped away the flakes of blood, each stroke revealing mended skin beneath.

Jassyn’s chest jerked with a shuddering breath, his body convulsing as he swallowed, lashes fluttering open. A jagged scar slashed through his brow, carving down across his left eye before ending at the crest of his cheekbone.

Serenna winced at the healed ridge while Thalaesyn’s expression hardened—a silent acknowledgment that even his mastery couldn’t erase the depth of the wound. He thrust the soiled linens back at the female wraith then clutched Jassyn’s shoulder, a flicker of guilt shadowing his eyes before he spoke. “Can you see?”

Jassyn blinked, his amber eyes darting to his mentor and then the prince.

“He says he can,” Vesryn breathed, his grip on Serenna’s hand finally easing as he let go.

“He won’t be able to move or speak until enough of the venom wears off,” Fenn explained over Serenna’s shoulder. “I’ll remain with him,” he added, lowering himself to the ground. “My life is his.”

Vesryn helped Jassyn sit up, leaning him against one of the few unscathed walls. Meanwhile, Kal collected the magister and the female, leading them toward a smashed fountain across the plaza. Serenna caught a faint flicker of recognition in Thalaesyn’s face as he studied the wraith, followed by an intimate familiarity when they embraced.

Confusion suddenly rippled from Fenn, but he wasn’t watching the exchange. His gaze had latched onto the prince, crimson irises flaring with a curious glow. Tilting his head, Fenn frowned, eyes tracing an unhurried path from Vesryn’s chest to his face, as though measuring a memory against the reality before him.

Realization sparked across the bond before Fenn finally spoke to the prince. “I thought I shot you.”

Serenna’s breath hitched as she mirrored Vesryn’s sudden stillness. His jaw tightened when a dangerous smile crept across Fenn’s face, revealing a flash of fangs.

“It seems the stars have a way of entwining our fates together,” Fenn said as he cackled, his grin widening as Vesryn’s glare darkened. “I assumed you’d perished after yanking that bolt out of your chest—one of my best shots. If my crossbow hadn’t jammed…” Fenn trailed off, muttering a string of curses under his breath. “File my fangs. Do you know what this means? If Koln discovers that I didn’t actually slay the silver-haired—”

“Fenn!” Serenna hissed, interrupting his heedless recounting.

Vesryn’s eyes blazed with a murderous challenge. A strangled sound came from Jassyn—almost a laugh—the corners of his mouth twitching briefly before falling slack again.

Fenn seemed blissfully unaware of the tension polluting the air—or more likely, he couldn’t read it. Serenna flinched as shadows coiled around the prince, dark tendrils unfurling as living extensions of his fury, each one thirsting for retribution.

Before he could erupt, the female wraith approached with silent, gliding steps. “Vesryn?” she whispered, hovering close. Her ruby eyes flicked to Thalaesyn beside her before blinking away a glint of fresh tears.

Through the bond, Serenna sensed a shift within the prince, an emotional wall she’d thought unbreakable beginning to crumble. The malice hardening his expression disintegrated, replaced by a painful recognition that contorted his face.

Vesryn staggered to his feet, his legs unsteady. He stumbled forward, collapsing into the female’s embrace, his arms locking around her with fierce desperation.

A tidal wave of grief surged from the prince, its intensity nearly fracturing Serenna’s own composure as it echoed back through the bond.

Vesryn buried his face in the female’s shoulder, his breaths coming in broken gasps as her claws smoothed over his silvery hair with gentle strokes. She murmured to him, her words lost to Serenna over the distance.

Even though she was beginning to suspect the answer, Serenna turned to Fenn for an explanation. Clogged with emotion, her voice fell hoarse. “Who is she?”

“Mara,” he replied quietly, his gaze skirting away from hers. “Queen Maraelyn. The former queen.”

Fenn’s words doused Serenna in a wave of icy disbelief, chilling her to the bone. Knowing Queen Maraelyn was alive wouldn’t have changed her captivity, but perhaps she could have appealed to the prince’s mother weeks ago.

“You told me everything else about the wraith,” Serenna said, an unexpected pang lancing through her, “but you didn’t mention that the queen has been here this entire time?”

Fenn glanced away, remorse pulsing through the bond. “Lykor ordered me not to,” he mumbled, fidgeting with the end of one of his braids.

Serenna’s own guilt simmered, her traitorous gaze drifting to Vesryn, weeping in his mother’s embrace. She couldn’t fault Fenn for obeying Lykor, not when she’d concealed her bond with the prince.

But as she tried to share her secret with Fenn again—she’d been about to before the reavers attacked—a warrior with an eye patch strode into the courtyard, long hair trailing to his waist. He sauntered to them, crouching beside Fenn.

Serenna hadn’t formally met Fenn’s partner, but she recognized Koln from glimpsing him at the Lagoon. Where Fenn’s face was all sharp angles and high cheekbones, Koln’s features carried a rugged strength—a square jaw, a heavier brow, and a nose bearing a slight crook, likely broken in a brawl. From what she’d learned of their shared past, Serenna’s guess was that Fenn had thrown the punch himself.

“I heard you had a brush with death,” Koln said, briefly sparing her and Jassyn a glance before his gaze settled on Fenn. His piercings clicked together as he raised his brows, appraising the dried blood staining Fenn’s chest.

“Thanks to Jassyn,” Fenn replied, making introductions, “I’m granted the light of another dawn.”

Koln grinned, red eyes igniting. “I’d have been sorely disappointed if a spineless reaver slayed you.” His smile turned sharper. “Don’t forget—I already claimed the right to kill you.”

Fascinated by their dynamic, Serenna could only blink as Koln reached out, twisting one of Fenn’s nipple rings. Fenn snarled, fangs snapping in Koln’s face as he swiped his talons away.

Koln only chuckled, tipping his chin toward Serenna. “This must be your she-elf?”

The question caught her off guard, a flush rising to her cheeks. She hadn’t considered that Fenn might’ve mentioned her to his partner.

Fenn slipped an arm around her shoulder, a gesture that felt more supportive than possessive. His eyes danced with a fire of their own as he looked at her. “If she’ll have me.”

Serenna’s heart fluttered at the sincerity in his words, feeling like they were meant for her alone. For weeks, she’d spun plans to return to where she belonged—to the prince—but now with that path opening up, she found a strange hesitation. After the chaos of the last few hours and nearly losing Fenn, leaving sat heavy in her heart, a decision too difficult to bear.

Before Serenna could finish sorting through those feelings, Koln muttered, “Thought you’d sworn off females, considering you have a knack for driving every last one you touch straight into the ranks of the reavers.”

“That had nothing to do with me,” Fenn growled. “Pure coincidence.”

But Koln’s focus had already shifted to Jassyn, leaning closer to trail a talon over the edge of his boot. “And have you claimed this pretty elf too?”

Jassyn’s eyes widened, but Fenn swooped in and swatted Koln away. “Remove your greedy claws. Where are your manners?”

Undeterred, Koln smirked, tapping Jassyn’s leg. “If you’re willing to share, bring him to the Lagoon next time.”

“Your single-mindedness is truly a marvel,” Fenn shot back. Serenna stifled a snort. Fenn had little room to talk. Fishing the Heart of Stars from his pocket, he shoved the relic at Koln. “Do something useful and deliver this to my father.”

Koln’s lips pressed into a tight line. “Yes, Lieutenant,” he drawled. “Nothing excites me quite like obeying your every command—especially since we’re the same rank.” But his irritation faded as the prism caught his attention. Turning it over in his claws, he studied the crystal, approval flashing in his eyes. “So, you managed to unearth the one in our keep.” With a satisfied nod, he tucked the relic away.

Then, without warning, Koln seized Fenn’s face, slamming a fierce kiss to his mouth—quite thorough and unrestrained, uncaring that they had an audience. Serenna’s cheeks burned, her jaw dropping open as they continued. So that’s where Fenn learned—

A cough from Jassyn snapped her attention away. Koln rose and slapped Fenn’s shoulder. “Glad you’re not dead.” He shot Jassyn a wink before scanning the courtyard, strolling off when he located Kal.

Serenna couldn’t help but grin as she watched Koln swaggering away, his long arms swinging easily at his sides. “I can see why you like him,” she said, catching the glower Fenn aimed at Koln’s back, and noting the dark flush creeping up the tips of his ears.

Jassyn cleared his throat, his voice hardly audible. “What’s the Lagoon?”

Fenn’s eyes lit up but Serenna quickly interjected. “Don’t agree to go. Trust me.”