Crown of Flames and Ash (Courts of Aetheria #2)

Chapter 54

Chapter Fifty-Four

R eign

A lethal mix of red-hot fury and piercing jealousy surged through my veins, lighting up my entire body despite the cool night at my back. I paced the length of the riverbank, the usual reprieve from standing on Shadow Fae soil doing nothing to quell my temper tonight.

When Gideon sent word he had seen Aelia in the Arcanum dormitories, I’d nearly lost my mind. I was certain he’d made a mistake, that my cuoré would never be so stupid. Imagine my surprise when I’d found her chamber empty and followed her scent to the Luminoc. From there, my shadows had easily found her.

With him .

Ruhl seemed to conveniently pop up everywhere she was lately. It was more than a coincidence; I was sure of it. And what about Aelia? Was she seeking him out too?

My movements grew more violent, more impatient with each lap along the river. Once I’d come to terms with this cuorem bond and then suffered Aelia’s rejection, I had spent hours in the library researching all I could about the ancient Fae binding. It was rare, but in some cases, a familial tie occurred through blood. In other words, Ruhl and Aelia could find themselves drawn to each other simply because of the bond Aelia and I shared. The similarities in the blood running through Ruhl’s veins confused things.

For a sacred gods’ blessed bond, it seemed quite fickle.

Realms, what if she was attracted to him?

Just the thought had another wave of anger rolling over me. I’d rip his head off if he so much as touched her.

The hair on my nape prickled, and my gaze swung toward the tree line adjacent to the Citadel. A familiar figure emerged from the gloom, her arms knotted across her chest and a swirl of my shadows as her entourage. A male appeared behind her, and I tensed for an instant before recognizing the dark-haired Fae.

“Gideon,” I breathed. If he hadn’t spotted her, who knew what sort of disastrous evening would have ensued.

Aelia stomped toward me, a tangle of rais and nox emanating from her strained form.

“How could you be so irresponsible?” I barked when she was still a few yards away.

“Oh, stop it, Reign,” she snarled right back. “There are countless Light Fae initiates roaming the halls of Arcanum because of the Umbral Trials. My life was hardly at risk.”

Gideon stood behind her, lips pursed, but it was impossible to ignore the spark of amusement in his dark gaze.

“Thank you for accompanying her, Gid. I mean it, I am forever in your debt. Now, feel free to show yourself back to the Citadel.”

“And miss this?” He chuckled, dark navy streaks of hair glowing beneath the moonlight. “I don’t think so.”

“Gideon,” I growled.

“What? Is it so wrong for your best friend to want to meet your cuoré?”

Aelia’s eyes widened, the silvery-blue twinkling beneath the moonlight. “You told him?”

“Yes,” I gritted out. “As I’ve told you before, Gideon has access to an entire library I do not at Luce. Since you’re so adamant about severing the bond, I required some assistance.”

“ Me ? I’m not the one that wants to break the gods’ forsaken bond, Reign, that’s you !” She closed the distance between us and glared up at me.

“No, you just expect me to stand by and watch and wait for disaster to unfold.”

“Why does it have to be a disaster? Why can’t we forge our own fate?”

“She makes a valid point,” Gideon interjected. “You always assume gloom and doom.”

I glared at my friend over Aelia’s head. “Oh, be quiet, Gid, before I loose my shadows on you.”

Aelia jabbed her finger into my chest, drawing my gaze away from my now former-best friend and down to her fiery one. “You never even tried to fight, your answer was simply to run. I’m only asking for a chance to avert this oncoming oblivion.”

“There is no stopping it.” I clutched her shoulders, desperate to shake some sense into this stubborn female who was filled with foolish hope. There was nothing more dangerous.

“Well, then, that’s the difference between you and me, Reign of Umbra. I don’t give up when the situation seems hopeless. I only choose to fight harder. Do you think it was easy growing up with the knowledge that at the age of twenty I would be sold off to a Fae lord? Should I just have given up back then, too?” She paused, searing me with that piercing gaze that could reach all the way down to my soul. “The day you found me you told me I had two options: rise to the occasion and succeed or do nothing and spend the last few months of my miserable existence being tortured at the hands of both Light and Shadow Fae.”

A rueful smile crawled across my lips as vivid memories of the day I’d saved her from the clutches of Lord Liander coalesced.

“And what did I choose?” She slapped her hands on her hips, defiant as all the realms.

“To fight,” I gritted out through clenched teeth.

“Say it again, professor, I don’t believe our friend Gideon heard.” She canted her head over her shoulder to where my friend stood watching us, completely enthralled by the show.

“You chose to fight,” I growled in frustration.

“So fight with me, Reign, damn it.” Her hands slid off her hips and found mine, weaving between my fingers. “Please.” Her eyes were filled with so much damned hope I couldn’t bear the thought of denying her.

Gods, the odds were stacked against us, but she was right, they’d always been against her and somehow, she had survived. She always survived.

“So what do you say, my prince?” Gideon flashed me a smirk, knowing good and well what my decision would be.

“I. Will. Fight.” I echoed the words Aelia had spoken all those months ago on that fateful day in Feywood.

As soon as the last word slipped past my teeth, Aelia’s mouth was on mine. It was a swift kiss, no more than a quick brushing of our lips, but gods, the fire behind it sent heat racing down my breeches.

“And, that is my cue to leave.”

I barely made out Gideon’s declaration over the sudden wild pounding of my heart. Forcing my scattered thoughts from the blazing sensations, I glanced over Aelia’s head at my best, arguably only, friend. “Thank you, again, Gid.”

He waved a nonchalant hand. “If you keep thanking me for saving her, I will have to take advantage of you.”

“Well, it seems as if you’ve found my weakness.” I curled my arm around Aelia’s waist and drew her into my side. My shadows buzzed in relief at the feel of her body pressed to mine.

“I promise not to use it against you.” Gideon winked and turned toward the looming shadow of the Citadel. He took a few steps before spinning back, navy irises bouncing between us. “I wouldn’t be your best friend, Reign, if I didn’t say it. You two are a perfect match, clearly destined for each other. Don’t let something as fickle as fate stand in your way.”

I nodded slowly, unanticipated emotion tightening my throat. I never doubted Aelia was the female for me; despite my reluctance to admit it, I’d always felt it in my soul. But we had bigger problems to contend with—my brother only the first in a long line of many.

I watched in silence for an endless moment as Gideon disappeared beneath the shadows of the Citadel. Once his footsteps fell away, I turned to Aelia and blew out a breath.

“Why did you come here tonight?” I whispered, attempting to keep my temper from rising.

“Mostly for Rue. She needed an escape, and somehow, Arcanum seemed like a valid option at the time.”

“Mostly?”

She shrugged, gaze pinned to the fortress towering over us. “Ever since I discovered the truth about my mother, I can’t deny I’ve felt more drawn than ever to the shadows.”

“Mmm.” I paused, holding my breath before I gathered the courage to ask. “And drawn to Ruhl, perhaps?”

An interminable moment passed before she tipped her chin up, brilliant irises meeting mine. “I don’t want to lie to you, Reign.” She chewed on her bottom lip, expression pensive. “Maybe, a little… Why do you think that is?”

“I fear it is because of the cuorem bond. Whatever is tying us together, it is also linking you to my brother.”

“That makes no sense.”

“I’ve told you before, some say the cuorem is practically sentient. Its only purpose is to make a connection. With the tie incomplete, it searches out another, the closest link.”

“Well, I suppose it kind of makes sense.” A deep groove formed between her brows, and I wondered how profoundly her feelings had taken root.

I dared not ask for fear her answer would compel me to snap my brother’s neck.

“The gods certainly do like to test us and watch as we fumble and flail, don’t they?” Her gaze was pensive as she fiddled with her fingers.

“It seems pretty twisted if that is the case.” I ran my hand up and down Aelia’s shoulder, reveling in the feel of her. “It should only be temporary, princess. If the bond is completed, all the other side effects will vanish.”

“Just like that?” She glanced up at me, shards of moonlight alive in her eyes.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s do it, Reign, please. I want to complete the cuorem bond. I refuse to believe that tying myself to the Fae I love would lead to the downfall of our entire realm. I need something good and genuine in my life, something to cling onto, to carry us through the challenges ahead.”