Page 32

Chapter

Nineteen

NIKOLAS

V iraxes stared down at us with amusement in his pale eyes.

The expression didn’t fool me for a second. The Sorcerer of Solbarren didn’t have a sense of humor. The curse searing my veins was a painful reminder of that hard-earned fact.

How had he found us? Did he have the sunstone? Or was the stone in the temple a trick?

Ezabell rose, her face defiant as she faced off with him. “Who are you?”

I struggled to my feet even as the curse crawled into my throat and set my tongue on fire. Dain stayed kneeling beside me, a groan spilling from him as he lifted his head. Sickly yellow light throbbed in his neck.

“I don’t answer stupid questions,” Viraxes said.

He walked a slow circle around us, his robes slithering over the obsidian floor.

His hair was as black as the tower, the long strands secured at his nape and left to fall to his waist. I tried to turn with him, but the curse throbbed harder, and it was all I could do to stay on my feet.

Viraxes continued circling, his eyes raking over Ezabell like a predator studying its next meal. My jaw clenched. One step closer and I’d put a knife through his throat.

“You’re a long way from home, Your Highness,” Viraxes said, stopping in front of her.

Ezabell gave him a bored look. “What do you want?”

The sorcerer’s lips curved. “I want what is rightfully mine.” He gestured to me and Dain. “These fools broke something that belonged to me. Something precious.”

Dain rocked on his knees. Sweat dripped from his chin and splatted on the shiny black floor. He moaned softly, and I knew the sound cost him.

My fault. It was my idea to steal the Pyrikion. I’d dragged him into it, just as I’d dragged him into countless heists. And now he suffered because of me. My chest tightened. I ached to touch him, but I didn’t dare. The moment I showed kindness, Viraxes would use it against me.

Ezabell folded her arms, her gaze on the sorcerer. “If it was that important, maybe you should have taken better care of it.”

I bit back a groan. Taunting Viraxes was like waving a torch over a powder keg.

The temperature in the chamber dropped. Viraxes’s features smoothed, his unlined face a perfect, emotionless mask. It was worse than anger. Worse than screaming. Because that was real. This was…unnatural, like a doll come to life.

But he kept his distance, and I held my breath even as the curse’s fire spread over my tongue.

“I mark everyone who enters my tower,” Viraxes told Ezabell.

Shock tripped through me so quickly that I couldn’t stop my flinch.

Viraxes noticed, his smile reappearing even as he kept his eyes on Ezabell.

“Your companions pride themselves on their excellent thievery, but their research wasn’t quite as thorough as it might have been.

Otherwise, they would have known this before they stole from me.

” He spread his hands, the wide sleeves of his robe brushing the floor.

“At first, they were easy to find. But then something blunted my ability to track them.”

Ezabell licked her lips. She moved her head just a bit, and I knew she worked to keep from looking my way.

Viraxes waved his hand, and an image shimmered in the air. The innkeeper from Saldu stood behind her counter, her eyes widening as I slapped a stack of coins onto the counter.

“For the inconvenience,” I murmured, winking. She stared after us as we left. Viraxes waved his hand again, and the same innkeeper spoke to a pair of men in black armor, their eyes glowing ominously behind their visors.

My stomach dropped. We’d been watched. Hunted.

“Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was the heir to the Summer Court blocking my mark,” Viraxes said. Another wave of his hand, and Ezabell and I rushed inside the crumbling village inn and flew up the stairs. The sleeping man at the bar lifted his head and stared after us.

Viraxes waved again, and a lamplighter stood in the shadows outside the inn, watching the window above as Ezabell, Dain, and I joined hands. Light whipped around us in an unbroken circle.

An ache shot across my heart, anger following. That moment was private. It was ours .

Viraxes closed his fist, and the vision disappeared. The look he gave Ezabell was almost apologetic. “I have spies throughout Saldu Kuum. Very little escapes my notice. But you’ve given me a pretty chase, Princess. The challenge has been more invigorating than I expected. I might actually miss it.”

Ezabell’s stare was unflinching. “You talk a lot. Some of the lords on my council are the same. They speak often and say little.”

For a moment, rage blazed in Viraxes’s eyes. Then it snuffed out, and his mask returned. “Your father is dead. You’re after the sunstone, are you not?”

She stared at him stonily. The curse continued to burn through my veins. Dain rocked harder at my feet, his face contorting with pain.

Viraxes looked at us, and his expression turned thoughtful as he continued addressing Ezabell.

“At first, I thought your value lay in your ability to find the sunstone.” He returned his gaze to her, and an unsettling sheen glinted in his silver eyes.

“Now, I think you might be worth more than the stone.”

The curse flared hotter. My tongue throbbed like I’d swallowed a thousand nettle ants. Agony stabbed through me, taking me to my knees. I hit hard and cried out. Dain pitched forward, catching himself on one palm. Smoke wafted from under his collar.

“Stop hurting them!” Ezabell cried.

“Na-preski-na,” Viraxes said.

Magic snapped in the air like a whip crack. The pain stopped.

I sucked in a breath. The curse was gone. For a moment, I couldn’t process its absence. My body still braced for agony that was no longer there. Then relief crashed over me. The fire in my veins extinguished, leaving behind a bone-deep ache but nothing like the torment of seconds before.

Dain straightened beside me, his eyes wide and fearful as he gazed up at Viraxes.

“You unbound us,” he said in a harsh rasp. “Not even the elves use the Old Language unless they have to.”

I hadn’t understood Viraxes’s words, but Dain probably did.

He’d always loved the old stories of the time before the Covenant.

I knew next to nothing about history, but I knew Dain was right.

The Old Language was pure magic, and even the elves feared it.

Raw, undiluted power could behave in volatile ways.

Depending on the speaker’s intentions, even the mildest words could twist into curses.

Viraxes seemed unbothered. “Their debt is paid,” he told Ezabell. Then he raised his voice. “But others must pay their debts, too.”

An elf with long, light brown hair and glittering blue eyes stepped from the shadows.

Ezabell released a choked cry. “Corvus?”

The man who’d usurped Ezabell’s throne strode forward like he expected the room to break into applause. Like most elves, he was tall and handsome, his curtain of hair swaying against a jacket embroidered with golden suns.

Dain got to his feet beside me, his stare leveled on the arrogant-looking elf. He looked ready to relieve the so-called king of a few teeth.

Ezabell looked ready to beat him to it. “First you steal my throne and now you abandon it?” she demanded.

Corvus lifted his chin, his eyes defiant. “I haven’t abandoned anything.”

“King Corvus and I have an arrangement,” Viraxes said smoothly.

“He wanted your father’s throne, but he knew he couldn’t get it without the sunstone.

The Dokimasi makes that very clear. However, he was reluctant to kill you outright.

” Viraxes sighed. “Sentimentality makes fools of men and elves alike, it seems.”

Corvus’s mouth tightened. “It wasn’t sentiment. That damn wisp of sunlight follows her like a shadow. And he’s impossible to kill. He would have told everyone in the kingdom.” Corvus gave Viraxes a pointed look. “If you haven’t found him, you should.”

“The sunsprite will be dealt with,” Viraxes said, irritation flickering across his features.

“You promised you would use her to find the stone,” Corvus said. “Do it, and our bargain will be complete.”

“What bargain?” Ezabell asked.

But I knew. Hatred burned almost as hot as the curse as I looked at the false king. “You struck a coward’s deal. You wanted the throne, so you asked a sorcerer to get you the sunstone. Don’t use Helios as an excuse. You aren’t man enough to kill Ezabell.”

Corvus drew a knife in a blur of speed. “I’ll kill her now,” he growled. “Right after I kill you.”

Viraxes stepped in front of him. “No one needs to die. Not just yet.” He moved toward Ezabell.

Dain and I sprang forward just as bars of light erupted from the floor, forming cylinders around us. We slammed against the bars, both of us crying out as our skin sizzled.

Viraxes seized Ezabell and spun her around. She fought, but he overpowered her, pinning her against him with her back to his chest. Sigils appeared on his neck.

Elfkin. But more than sigils glowed above the collar of his robe.

His skin was a tapestry of glyphs and twisting designs.

Excitement rasped in his voice as he spoke in Ezabell’s ear.

“I knew you would be interesting. Your parents both possessed incredible power. When I heard the rumors about you creating a living being from pure sunlight, I didn’t believe them.

Lord Corvus has confirmed the tales are indeed true. ”

Corvus made a dismissive sound. “The creature is simple. A pet, nothing more.”

“Careful, Corvus,” Viraxes said. “You sound jealous.”

“I’m not jealous,” Corvus spat. “I don’t want to stay in Andulum a second longer than I have to.

Let her lead you to the sunstone, and she can use it to restore the Pyrikion.

Her ancestor created it. With enough motivation, she can produce the same result.

Then I’ll take the sunstone back to Ishulum where it belongs.

” He flicked a careless look at Ezabell.

“And you can do whatever you like with her.”

Rage seared my gut. I glared at Corvus through the bars of my cage. “You’re not fit to kiss the bottom of her shoe, you filth.”

Viraxes released Ezabell, who darted forward and then whirled on him with furious eyes.

“Touch me again, and I’ll kill you,” she growled.

His eyes danced, and my rage solidified into a knot of ice-cold fear.

“You’ll lead me to the sunstone tomorrow,” he told her. “But tonight, you’re my guest. And I’m going to see what this magic of yours can do.”

He raised a hand, and dozens of robed figures emerged from the shadows.

“Bathe all three of them,” Viraxes ordered.