"What do you want with Syrra?" I ask, moving closer to the bars so I can see the woman.
She turns to me with a cold smile that makes my heart pound in my chest. "We have heard rumors that she recently regained the ability to access her full power and we are concerned."
"Oh," I mumble.
She laughs lightly. "We're not evil Ash, we are simply willing to go to great lengths to keep the world safe," she tells me with a wide grin that reveals a pair of long white fangs.
I don't like her, I murmur.
You don't? Jax snorts.
There's something off about her.
What?
I don't know. I just don't like her, I growl in frustration.
You just think she's pretty, don't you? Jax mutters in annoyance.
What! Where did you get that idea? I scoff.
You're a terrible liar.
I growl. Okay fine I think she's pretty bu
Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump. "Wake up!" Thump thump. "Jaxon please wake up!" Thump thump. "Please wake up." Thump. "Jaxon?" Thump. "Jaxon . . . please . . ." My breath stops in my throat and I gasp and sputter as a metallic liquid fills my mouth. I cough, my lungs stinging and my stomach aching. I slowly pry open my heavy eyelids, spitting out the blood that coats my tongue and dribbles past my lips. I wipe my mouth on my arm and grimace at the bloody streak it leaves on my skin. "Shh just stay still." "What's—" My voice gives out. I cough violently, my entire body convulsing at the force that racks my chest. More blood spatters onto the stone. "Please don't talk—you're going to make it worse." Ash? "I'm right here," he whispers. I can feel his leg beneath my head and his hand gently stroking my hair. What's happening? "The blade has poison in it and he . . . he cut you," my mate murmurs. Am I dying? His sharp inhale pierces my ears like a knife. "Jax plea
I can barely keep my face from showing any emotion. It's like walking into a nightmare.The smell of blood is so strong I have to cover my nose and breathe through my mouth.Ash holds Jax's body, sobbing hysterically as he tries to keep his mate from injuring himself further. He struggles to keep him still as both are completely covered in blood."Immobilize him," I mutter.The guards open the cell and I watch with a clenched jaw as they have to forcefully remove Ash in order to restrain the dragon king. He screams and thrashes, managing to land a few solid kicks on the guards before they throw him back in.They make sure Jaxon cannot move before locking the cell door once again.I step up to the bars, my hand resting on the cold metal. "A healer is going to come by. Let them help, you understand?"He looks up at me with wide eyes. "I wish I could understand you," he mumbles, sniffing hard as he turns his attention back to his mate.
I don't think this can get any more uncomfortable. My gaze flicks between Syrra and Jada—both avidly searching through books on opposite sides of the room.I lean towards my mate with a raised eyebrow. "You know the chance of success would increase if you two worked together."She glares at me. "Well no shit. Does it look like she's willing to work with me though?" She snaps.I look past her to the other side of the library where her cousin is sitting on the floor, her mate standing beside her—I pause. Nix isn't just standing next to Jada, they're standingguard."No it doesn't look like she's willing," I sigh, leaning back against the bookshelves. "So exactly how powerful is she?"Syrra purses her lips in annoyance. "Much more powerful than me with about a century more experience," she mutters under her breath."Then, no offense, but why didn't she just take the throne back from you?" I ask quietly."I prefe
My eyes flicker open when I feel someone shaking my shoulder. "Wha—what? I'm up," I yawn."What is that?" Nix asks."What's what?" I ask groggily, rubbing my eyes.Then I hear it. The high-pitched wail coming from down the hallway. "Oh, that," I mumble."What is it?"I chew my lip as I listen, trying to decipher the sound. I sit listening for several minutes before Nix nudges my shoulder."Why don't you just ask Sorin?" they ask with a heavy sigh.I grimace. "Because then everyone else is going to bother me and get upset that I broke the rule. The stupid fuckers are so jealous and needy it's ridiculous," I grumble."I'm sure they'll understand this one time, I just really need to know if that sound is just some creature being annoying if we should actually go help somebody and it's too far for Zizi to go—and I have absolutely no idea where it's coming from," they tell me."Fine," I sigh. My eyes roll back and t
"What's going on?" I ask, my eyes darting between the two. Both look tense but Jada seems absolutely terrified. "The angels have been using magic to hide their territory. It's her mother's magic—that's why we haven't been able to find it," Nix says. I blink. "I still don't understand." Jada rubs her temples roughly and collapses into a crouch. "My mother is an extremely powerful witch. She's like a thousand years old so she has more experience than even our elders. She disappeared a few years ago, just before Syrra's parents vanished," she mumbles—almost incoherently. "Wait—how do you know it's hers? Do you guys have like a signature or something?" She nods. "Powerful ones do. My mother's magic is cerulean—" "What the fuck you canseethe color of the magic?" I interrupt. She flicks her wrist and colorful sparks burst from her palm making me scramble backwards in fright. Her eyes gleam with a dozen different
The tingling between my shoulder blades is getting worse. I’m not sure how much longer I can handle just sitting in this tiny room.I push my back against the wall and will the irritation to magically vanish. When the pins and needles persist, I let my muscles relax with a heavy sigh.It’s far from the first time I’ve been punished for attacking a superior. At this point, I think it’s fair to call it normal actually. All I can do is hope that there never comes a day where they decide to make my punishment legitimate.It’s extremely uncomfortable, but that’s about it. It doesn’t cause permanent damage—mental or physical—and it’s nothing compared to what I’ve already endured. I’d still rather not deal with this feeling right now though.I throw the ball again and watch it bounce off the floor, then the wall, then catch it when it comes back to me. I move to throw it again, but pause at th
The pain is gone, but the cold is so much worse. Even Ash curled up beside me isn’t enough to warm the ice creeping through my veins.My gaze wanders the cell. I can finally see again but the lights are giving me one hell of a headache.“Jaxon?”I look down at my mate. He stares up at me, his cheeks gaunt and his eyes dull. “What is it Ash?” I ask gently, brushing the hair away from his forehead.“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” he whimpers.“I know baby, we’ll get through this,” I tell him, letting my thumb run along his jaw.A door above creaks open then closed. I frown in confusion.They never close the door that quietly,I murmur.Azazel growls in agreement. I don’t know if she didn’t have anything else to say or if she simply wasn’t strong enough to speak.I shift on the stone floor, wincing at resulting p
“What happened here?” I asked.I heard Sorin sigh. ‘I don’t know,’ he replied.Through my dæmon’s eyes, I could see the barren wasteland over a hundred kilometres away. It used to be dense green forests filled with all kinds of mysterious creatures, but now there was nothing.The trees were gone, all that was left was dirt and small flecks of ash—somehow it had all been burned to the ground without anyone even seeing a flame or trail of smoke. It was just gone.Nothing moved in the vast sea of gray and as far as I could tell, Sorin was the only soul in the sky or on the ground.The air shifted as we came to the edge of the grey. It felt charged with an energy that was far from good; it set my nerves on fire and filled me with dread.Angel territory.“Has it really been right here? All this time it was right here?” I asked, my voice cracking with frustration.My dæmon sighed. ‘It has, you would never have been able to find it Jada, it’s hidden using magic far beyond your own abilities.
My eyes flutter open and blurry colors and bright lights bombard me. It takes several minutes for my eyes to adjust; the strain of it almost makes me fall back asleep. I frown when I realize there is hardly any light at all aside from the red glow that fills the room.It's been quite a while since I was here, but I still recognize it as the healer's home. I feel pressure on my ribs and jerk a little in shock. I look down and my heart stops.Ash lays curled up beside me, his body warm against mine.I suddenly can't breathe. What the fuck is going on? I growl at Azazel.What do you mean? she murmurs.Don't play dumb! I remember everything that happened clear as day—Jax your memory may not be perfect after your trauma—Don't try to tell me that's not what happened! I snarl. Ash was laying dead in my arms and I can still feel the ice in my chest so don't you dare tell me I don't remember!She is silent for a moment, then growls weakly. I could not endure it a second time, she whimpers.W
They’re still gone. I know exactly where they are and I can see them again but they might as well be gone.“I feel like this is actually worse,” I mumble.“What’s actually worse?”I whip around to see one of the women that brought Jaxon and Ash back. I growl in frustration as I turn back towards the fire burning in front of me. “Since when is this spot a tourist attraction?” I grumble under my breath.“My apologies Fara, I didn’t mean to bother you. My name is Aurelia, I just thought you might want to know what happened to your brothers so Lyza told me where you were.”My eyes widen a little. “They’re not my brothers.”She shrugs. “Perhaps not by blood,” she mutters.I feel my annoyance wane slightly and don’t say another word as she sits down on the rock about a meter away. I continue to sit in silence as the woman tells me what happ
“I don’t understand,” Syrra murmurs.I glance sideways at her. “What are you talking about?”She shrugs and shakes her head. “I just don’t get it. They took your brother and his mate only to return them safe and sound months later? It doesn’t make any sense.”“Safe and sound? You’re kidding right?” I scoff.“Well I mean—”“They’re covered in open torture wounds and new scars, they look like they haven’t had food or water since they were taken, not to mention the fact that neither of them have woken up since they got back.”She sighs, putting her hand over mine. “I’m sorry Kaine, it’s just that after everything Jada said, I was almost expecting them to be dead when we finally found them. The angels are a powerful people and we had no way of even attempting a rescue. I didn’t have a lot of hope so this seeme
“What happened here?” I asked.I heard Sorin sigh. ‘I don’t know,’ he replied.Through my dæmon’s eyes, I could see the barren wasteland over a hundred kilometres away. It used to be dense green forests filled with all kinds of mysterious creatures, but now there was nothing.The trees were gone, all that was left was dirt and small flecks of ash—somehow it had all been burned to the ground without anyone even seeing a flame or trail of smoke. It was just gone.Nothing moved in the vast sea of gray and as far as I could tell, Sorin was the only soul in the sky or on the ground.The air shifted as we came to the edge of the grey. It felt charged with an energy that was far from good; it set my nerves on fire and filled me with dread.Angel territory.“Has it really been right here? All this time it was right here?” I asked, my voice cracking with frustration.My dæmon sighed. ‘It has, you would never have been able to find it Jada, it’s hidden using magic far beyond your own abilities.
The pain is gone, but the cold is so much worse. Even Ash curled up beside me isn’t enough to warm the ice creeping through my veins.My gaze wanders the cell. I can finally see again but the lights are giving me one hell of a headache.“Jaxon?”I look down at my mate. He stares up at me, his cheeks gaunt and his eyes dull. “What is it Ash?” I ask gently, brushing the hair away from his forehead.“I don’t know how much more of this I can take,” he whimpers.“I know baby, we’ll get through this,” I tell him, letting my thumb run along his jaw.A door above creaks open then closed. I frown in confusion.They never close the door that quietly,I murmur.Azazel growls in agreement. I don’t know if she didn’t have anything else to say or if she simply wasn’t strong enough to speak.I shift on the stone floor, wincing at resulting p
The tingling between my shoulder blades is getting worse. I’m not sure how much longer I can handle just sitting in this tiny room.I push my back against the wall and will the irritation to magically vanish. When the pins and needles persist, I let my muscles relax with a heavy sigh.It’s far from the first time I’ve been punished for attacking a superior. At this point, I think it’s fair to call it normal actually. All I can do is hope that there never comes a day where they decide to make my punishment legitimate.It’s extremely uncomfortable, but that’s about it. It doesn’t cause permanent damage—mental or physical—and it’s nothing compared to what I’ve already endured. I’d still rather not deal with this feeling right now though.I throw the ball again and watch it bounce off the floor, then the wall, then catch it when it comes back to me. I move to throw it again, but pause at th
"What's going on?" I ask, my eyes darting between the two. Both look tense but Jada seems absolutely terrified. "The angels have been using magic to hide their territory. It's her mother's magic—that's why we haven't been able to find it," Nix says. I blink. "I still don't understand." Jada rubs her temples roughly and collapses into a crouch. "My mother is an extremely powerful witch. She's like a thousand years old so she has more experience than even our elders. She disappeared a few years ago, just before Syrra's parents vanished," she mumbles—almost incoherently. "Wait—how do you know it's hers? Do you guys have like a signature or something?" She nods. "Powerful ones do. My mother's magic is cerulean—" "What the fuck you canseethe color of the magic?" I interrupt. She flicks her wrist and colorful sparks burst from her palm making me scramble backwards in fright. Her eyes gleam with a dozen different
My eyes flicker open when I feel someone shaking my shoulder. "Wha—what? I'm up," I yawn."What is that?" Nix asks."What's what?" I ask groggily, rubbing my eyes.Then I hear it. The high-pitched wail coming from down the hallway. "Oh, that," I mumble."What is it?"I chew my lip as I listen, trying to decipher the sound. I sit listening for several minutes before Nix nudges my shoulder."Why don't you just ask Sorin?" they ask with a heavy sigh.I grimace. "Because then everyone else is going to bother me and get upset that I broke the rule. The stupid fuckers are so jealous and needy it's ridiculous," I grumble."I'm sure they'll understand this one time, I just really need to know if that sound is just some creature being annoying if we should actually go help somebody and it's too far for Zizi to go—and I have absolutely no idea where it's coming from," they tell me."Fine," I sigh. My eyes roll back and t
I don't think this can get any more uncomfortable. My gaze flicks between Syrra and Jada—both avidly searching through books on opposite sides of the room.I lean towards my mate with a raised eyebrow. "You know the chance of success would increase if you two worked together."She glares at me. "Well no shit. Does it look like she's willing to work with me though?" She snaps.I look past her to the other side of the library where her cousin is sitting on the floor, her mate standing beside her—I pause. Nix isn't just standing next to Jada, they're standingguard."No it doesn't look like she's willing," I sigh, leaning back against the bookshelves. "So exactly how powerful is she?"Syrra purses her lips in annoyance. "Much more powerful than me with about a century more experience," she mutters under her breath."Then, no offense, but why didn't she just take the throne back from you?" I ask quietly."I prefe