Page 41 of The Song of Sunrise (The Prentice Teller #1)

Unwound

I f we are going to stand a chance in the next Summit task, the Terraguard champions need to practice as a team. After a long day of classes, I gather a few more things from my room, trying to ignore the knot of tension in my stomach. Ramona isn’t there, and I feel a strange, almost guilty relief.

It’s not that I don’t want to talk to her. I do. I want to scream at her, cry, demand answers, but I can’t. Not yet. My thoughts are tangled, sharp edges catching on the raw wound inside me. She’s always been my closest ally, the one I trusted more than anyone.

The silence in the room is oppressive, every corner filled with the weight of things unsaid. I push the door behind me and head for the library, the one place where I can breathe without her shadow hanging over me.

Atlys and I agreed it would be best to train down in the caverns where no other teams could intervene.

Selene and Gryphon are already huddled together, Gryphon’s massive frame taking up almost the entirety of the couch.

His messy brown hair falls in his face as he chuckles something to her.

Selene, always astute, flips a piece of dark curls over her shoulder and rolls her eyes at him.

“Glad you both could make it,” I say as I approach.

“I almost peed my pants when that thing jumped through the wall to give me your note,” Gryphon says, voice low and gravelly. I can see why Lord Cadex picked him. Gryphon is essentially the brunette, second-stone, human version of Lord Cadex.

I laugh, picturing a tiny tarthill jumping out of a wall and scaring the shit out of one of the largest Moon’chers at the Watch.

Len, the Master Librarian, coughs and glares from above his glasses.

I attempt to stifle my laugh. “Those are tarthills from Terraguard. They can earthwalk through solid surfaces.”

Gryphon’s unruly eyebrows wiggle as he chuckles and whispers, “Well that explains that.”

Selene lightly punches his shoulder, urging him to stop, but that only results in Gryphon’s wide shoulders shaking even more violently. “It’s rare we see any native Terraguard creatures at all given the strict traveling bans in the treaty,” she says matter of factly.

No wonder Damaris chose her as their champion. Selene is always critically thinking; nothing gets past her. Not only is she an incredible channeler, but she’s gorgeous too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Damaris is as taken by her creamy, dark skin and almond eyes as Ramona pretends not to be.

“Why are we meeting here?” Selene gestures to our small huddle of furniture clustered in the middle of the stacks.

“I think it’s better shown than described. But before I show you”—I step in closer—“you must promise to not tell anyone.”

Selene puts her hand forward. “Fine. You have my word.”

“Fuck yeah!” Gryphon puts his hand on top of hers.

I place my hand on top and whisper-yell, “Go TT!”

“Excuse me, what?” Selene asks.

“Team Terraguard. You know, the TT stands for each of the—”

“Six layers of Hel, Akemi, this is too much, even for you,” Selene criticizes, but her lips are turned up.

“GO TT!” Gryphon yells.

Len slams his book down on the desk and starts walking our way.

“Shit, sorry, got excited,” Gryphon says.

A furry beige blur runs past us to Len. Miki starts meowing loudly and rolling on the floor at his master’s feet. Len stops to check on his beloved cat.

I swear I see a glint of mischief in Miki’s eyes. “Come on, follow me!”

We walk down to the lowest level of the library. Both Selene and Gryphon stay silent until I reach the tapestry and pull it aside.

“No fucking way.” Gryphon shoves Selene aside. “A secret passageway! Akemi, you are my favorite teammate.”

“Hey,” Selene says. “You told me I was your favorite.”

“That was before the secret passageway.”

I guide them through the caves, taking them a different way to the large dome area where Atlys and I have been training.

I avoid the pathway to the springs. Not because it feels like too special of a place to share.

I just… want to keep a place separate from everyone else.

Yes, that’s it. I want to have a place to recover from particularly tough days that’s private.

Well, a place only one other person knows about.

Selene runs her hands along the glowing vines. “Incredible.”

“I wish Lacerta was here to see this,” Gryphon murmurs, his voice softer than usual. The way his words linger in the air make his longing for her apparent. Lacerta, one of the twins that Gryphon argues with every lunch and swears he doesn’t have a crush on.

“Your special someone?” I tease, and he pales. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything to her.”

The ground rumbles beneath our feet, a deep tremor that seems to rise from the very bones of the mountain.

Without warning, Lord Cadex bursts through the stone wall like a battering ram, his massive frame shattering the rock with brute force.

Shards scatter across the cavern floor as he emerges, broad shoulders heaving, black tunic clinging to his carved muscles.

His white-blonde curls fall forward over his brow, stark against the nearly shaved sides of his head, his eyes scanning the room with battle-hardened intensity.

A heartbeat later, General Damaris slips through the stone with feline grace, as if the rock had simply bent to let them pass.

They land light on their feet, lean and fluid, their long, flowing blonde hair catching the faint light like a silk banner.

There’s an effortless elegance to them as they straighten and survey the space with cool precision. Danger wrapped in androgynous beauty.

Then the wall splits open one final time.

Lord Atlys strides forward, impossibly tall and imposing, as if the mountain itself had bowed to let him through.

His pale white-blonde hair is swept back from his face, and his silver eyes flash beneath the glow of torchlight.

Black tattoos coil over his bulging muscles, moving like shadows across his skin with each deliberate step.

“I win,” Lord Cadex says, sticking his meaty hand out to Damaris. “That’ll be one favor.”

“Earthwalking with the grace of a fire monkey under water is nothing to be proud of,” Damaris says.

Selene chuckles.

Both Cadex and Gryphon glare at her. Twins separated at birth, I swear it.

Damaris looks pleased.

Atlys steps forward. “Hello, champions. I assume you know why you are here?”

“The second task is going to be in teams?” Gryphon guesses.

“Correct, and while we do not know the specifics of the task, we are going to prepare you for a few different scenarios. We will plan to meet here each night this week.”

“Let’s start over here,” Damaris says, leading us to the center of the opening where three wooden ladders lean against a giant boulder. Another boulder sits at the other side of the cavern, both clearly too large to be a natural formation and likely hewn by Atlys himself.

“What’s this?” Selene asks skeptically as we approach.

“Your challenge.” Damaris smiles with a little too much of their teeth. “Using only these three ladders, you have to climb the boulder, then cross this ledge to the other boulder.” They point to the other side of the cavern where an equally large boulder sits.

“Without touching the ground,” Lord Cadex chimes in, equally amused by our bewildered faces.

Atlys steps forward. “With our experience in past Summits, if there has been a team task, it’s usually part physical, part riddle.”

I tilt my head up at the boulder in front of us. The ladders barely reach the halfway mark, so we will need to stack them to reach the top, then there is the task of somehow getting across to the other boulder with the other ladders… while not touching the ground?

This is going to be challenging.

We work for what feels like hours before we make it across, only to be met with another strange challenge.

And another.

And another.

Eventually, General Damaris dismisses Selene, and Lord Cadex, Gryphon.

Leaving just Atlys and me. Standing only paces apart. Breathing heavily. Sweating.

The way Atlys’s eyes skim along my body make me hyper aware of the two beads of sweat now trailing down the front of my unbuttoned shirt, dipping between my cleavage.

My intuition screams at me to put space between us, to run, knowing that he is the predator and I his prey.

Yet I keep my feet planted firmly, not daring to move a muscle as he prowls forward.

The silver around his pupils becomes almost wholly swallowed by darkness, and he darts forward, so fast I barely register he’s moved, and pushes me so hard I fall onto my ass.

“Ouch! What the fuck was that for?” I yell, shuffling back, ignoring the white hot pain in my tail bone. I hate him.

He growls and steps forward, looking like death incarnate.

“ Atlys ?” I wince as I stand, rubbing the pain out of my ass.

“Try not to move.” His voice is nothing but gravel and smoke.

I stand rigid as he approaches, eyes raking up from the curve of my hips to the swell of my breasts.

My breath goes nowhere as he slowly circles.

He stops directly behind me. Fear pulses in my veins, freezing me in place while his sweet and salty scent of smoke and ocean breeze tantalizes me.

Why are my instincts calling me to bend into him?

Mold my body to his, yet dart out of this chamber and get as far away as possible at the same time?

This is infuriating and I definitely hate it.

“Tell me something, my Sunrise. Why is it that even the brightest stars are surrounded by so much darkness?” He steps closer, trailing a feather light touch along my clavicle. Wrapping around me, surrounding me.

A spark of energy surges between us, charging the air with anticipation. I arch into his touch on instinct, nipples hardening against my shirt.

He pulls me into him, pressing our bodies together, the evidence of his attraction hard between us. His lips nibble the edge of my ear.

A moan I’ve never made before escapes me as I slowly stretch my neck to the side, careful not to move too quickly, giving Atlys full access.

Small tremors course through the cave as he glides his tongue along my neck. His other hand cups my breast, and I explode with sensations. On fire and ice cold at the same time.

I’m utterly unwound by him.

“Hmm?” he prompts, and I spiral to remember his question.

“Maybe it is the darkness that makes them shine,” I rasp. It’s amazing how quickly fear and hate can turn to recklessness and lust, because stars above, I actually like this right now. I grind my hips, and he releases a deep, guttural sound that has my legs pressing together. “Kiss me.”

Atlys guides my shoulders, turning me until we face one another. His eyes are back to mostly silver. He smiles broadly, sharp canines prominent, then cups my chin and kisses me.

It is not sweet and soft like the kiss from Castor.

It is ravenous, hard, desperate, like we are starved for one another. His hands travel along the side of my body, as if searching for more skin to claim. To devour.

I am floating.

No, wait. We are floating. Or at least the ground underneath our feet is moving.

Tiny pieces of rock and dirt carefully push us to the wall of the cavern.

I can feel Atlys smirk against my lips. He must be doing this.

My thoughts quickly flit away as my back is pressed into the cold stone wall.

Damp vines fall around us, glowing and pulsing to the quickening beat of my blood.

My hands press into the ridged planes of Atlys’s stomach, so hard, like he is made of the stone itself.

I tease my finger along the waistline of his pants, eliciting a deep, primal noise.

My whole body warms at the sound, sending a shock of different emotions through me at the same time.

Pleasure and joy and power and… a deep sense of possessiveness all at once.

What little patience remains disappears as Atlys grabs my hands and places them above my head, pinning my wrists in one hand while the other trails between my breasts, down my stomach, and halts at the top of my pants.

He pauses and looks at me. Waiting.

“Atlys.” My voice is breathless, practically begging.

Any restraint he was holding releases as he kisses me with ravished hunger.

I mold to his movements, responding to every touch with a bend of my own.

A conversation sparked between two bodies.

Despite our differences, we erupt with the energy of two forces drawn together by nothing other than fate.

Lightning and responding thunder. The crashing of waves on a rocky shore.

The impossible place where dark and light clash together.

Atlys steps away suddenly, shoulders rounded forward as he cups my face. “I have to stop now, or I never will.”

My cheeks begin to bruise under his tight hold before he lets go and pushes me back once more. I stumble a few steps and slip on a rock, tumbling to the rocky ground. I scrape my palm trying to catch myself so I don’t land on my tailbone again.

That evil, ruthless fucking underling! I coil in disgust at the thought of what just happened between us.

Atlys just grins, reveling in my shock and horror.

“One day, my Sunrise, we will come together in all the ways I have imagined.” He combs a hand through his white hair.

“And I’ll let you know that I have a very creative imagination.

” Then he turns and disappears into the stone wall, leaving me alone for the rest of the night.

The pile of furs and small fire do nothing to keep away the cold chilling me to my bones as I toss and turn in my makeshift bed. Tomorrow, I’ll return to my room. I don’t know what I was thinking staying here.

I hate him so very much.