In the Wake of the Wicked (Veridian Empire #1)

69. Rose

69

Rose

S ilence blanketed the beach. His sister . Everything made sense now—how cryptic Nox had been at the briefing before the tournament started, why he’d never wanted to expose his Shifter form, what his dreamscape in the second trial had meant to him. He was a victim here. A puppet. And Drakorum…they’d found the perfect way to keep such a powerful being under their thumb.

“What do you mean, they have her?” Horace asked.

“When my father lost the challenge, they let my mother live but wanted to take my sister away as well.” Nox rubbed his jaw, his words stilted. “She was an infant, and they wanted to be sure she wouldn’t follow in my footsteps and take the same form as me. My mother nearly lost her mind. She begged them to let her keep her baby, swearing on her life to report signs of her shifting as soon as they emerged. The governor compromised; he let my mother and sister join me.

“Vera was raised in the governor’s household. Her every step was monitored, every movement watched. I had hoped once her Shifter half showed itself and they could see she wasn’t like me, they would let both of them go…but of course, my little sister couldn’t let me have all the attention.” He shook his head and ran a th umb along his bottom lip. “When she was only eleven, Vera created light.”

Rissa cocked her head. “She’s a Lightbender? Born to Shifter parents?”

Smiling wistfully, Nox said, “She’s both .”

“That’s incredible,” I said, my eyes widening as I glanced at Leo. There weren’t many people in the Veridian Empire’s history to be born with two types of magic. Leo was the only person I’d met who had more than one, and his Shifter abilities were…well, not exactly of natural origins.

But what Nox said next wiped the look of awe from my face.

“And then she wielded shadows.” Ice slithered over me as Nox’s features darkened. “When Vera cast her first illusion at fifteen…they locked her away.”

Nobody said a word. Until?—

“How many?” We all knew what Lark was asking. How many types of magic did Vera Duma have?

Another pause.

“All of them.”

My stomach bottomed out. The stillness between us and Nox was thick, no longer full of wonder but of disbelief and suspicion. I didn’t know what to think. His sister bore all six ? It wasn’t just unheard of, it was impossible . Someone with power like that…

They would be unstoppable. Untouchable. A threat to every province, to the entire empire .

Or they could be?—

“Is Drakorum using her, too?” I asked. “As a weapon?”

Nox didn’t answer. Instead, he turned his head to gaze at the water, letting his silence say what words couldn’t.

“I haven’t seen her or our mother since that day. It’s been four years. They give me reports on Vera when I beg, and they’ve delivered our letters to each other. But my mother…the governor banished her from our province once she began to fight back. When she tried to help us escape.” Nox’s voice ha rdened, his jaw clenching. “It was either execution or banishment. A mercy , he said.”

His neck snapped back to us, eyes blazing. “So I do what he asks. If I don’t, my sister pays the price. And there is nothing I won’t do to keep her safe in the hell this world has given us.”

I took in everyone’s expressions, their shock mirroring my own. Leo was the first to speak. “I understand. If it were my sister, I would do the same. I would do anything to protect my family. But how do we know we can trust you?” His question wasn’t unkind, merely guarded. A man needing to put the safety of those he loved first, as did Nox.

“You can’t. Isn’t that the point of all this?” Nox once again fixed his stare back on the ocean. The sight seemed to calm him; his shoulders relaxed slightly as his hands unfurled. “We can’t trust one another. They don’t want us to. But that’s why we must. Because if we don’t, they win.”

“And who are ‘they,’ exactly?” Rissa asked. Her dark, discerning eyes assessed him. The scrutiny of a leader, of someone many steps ahead with a future in mind.

“Anyone who thrives on the division of this empire. Anyone who lets these injustices continue. These people who revel in tournaments and trials and balls, who lock up innocent children and—” his words came out choked, and Nox paused to compose himself. “People are never stronger than when united against a common enemy. I don’t want that enemy to become each other . That’s why we have to trust.”

Rissa didn’t respond. Stepping forward, she scanned him, her blonde hair whipping in the wind. Nox held his ground. His gaze was firm, resolute, unwavering.

Then Rissa held out her hand. “I think I know a group you might be interested in.”

Over the next couple hours, Rissa, Nox, and Lark were inseparable. Nox’s curiosity was boundless once he learned of the Sentinels and their cause, hounding Rissa with question after question about how it began, what their goals were, how their network operated, how he could help in Drakorum.

At first, Leo was hesitant that she should offer any information, worried that Nox may be forced to share their secrets once he went back to his province. But the idea of having someone as powerful as Nox, someone with a similar background as the lost heirs of the empire, and someone just as motivated to make things right…it was an opportunity the Sentinels couldn’t pass up.

Horace, ever the dutiful guard, left shortly after to scout the perimeter of the beach and make sure no threats lurked around the corner. Leo and I went off in search of fresh water untainted by the poisonous storm from the night before. With a couple of containers full of water from a stream we’d found—containers I’d enchanted to banish any spell or magic, so the water would be drinkable—we eventually started to make our way back to the beach.

Shoving a vine out of the way, I glanced over and caught Leo’s gaze, a hungry look in his eyes that sent heat to my core. I laughed and shook my head, biting my lower lip. “The others will wonder where we are, Leo.”

“That sounds like their problem.”

The way he looked at me made me feel years younger than I was, sneaking around in the shadows of trees, stealing these brief moments away from the others in the midst of the chaos. But unlike the past, this wasn’t some fleeting happiness. This wasn’t an excuse or distraction to avoid the demons that plagued me.

This was different. I loved him. I trusted him. And I had a feeling I would long after these trials were over.

Before I knew what was happening, his tail snaked out to grab the water containers from my hands and set them on the ground, his hard body pressing into me as he forced me backward. Twigs snapped beneath our feet and my spine hit the bark of a tree trunk .

“Why is there always a tree?” I asked breathlessly.

He chuckled. “Tell me,” he said, his voice and stubble rough against the sensitive skin of my neck as he roved over it with his lips. “How it’s possible for you to still look this beautiful after the night we’ve had.”

Pushing on his chest, I leaned back to survey him with a smirk. “You know, you’re far more charming on this island than at home.”

He moved forward and nipped at my lower lip. “Home,” he said, his chest rumbling as he drew out the word, letting it flow slowly in the space between us.

“What about it?” I whispered.

“Not the capital. Not Veridia City. You said home .”

The word settled in me, nestling into my bones.

“Not the capital,” I repeated, kissing his cheek. “Not Veridia City.” My lips trailed his jaw. “ You .”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him, my body molding to his so effortlessly I had to wonder if it was real. If any of this was real. The way my heart threatened to burst out of my chest, the way every inch of me was set ablaze, the way he seemed to want me as much as I wanted him. The way he loved me.

I had never known a love like this.

Leo’s hands gripped my waist and pulled me closer, his tongue sweeping against mine, a fire building between us that ached to consume. Devour. A rush of cool wind skimmed my hot cheeks, and I moaned into him.

He froze and pulled away.

Goosebumps crawled along the back of his neck where my hands rested. Blinking away my haze of thoughts, I asked, “What is it?”

His brow furrowed as his nostrils flared. He sniffed the air, and his head whipped toward the direction of the beach.

Another blast of wind met us, but this one was savage, frenzied. Not the sweet kiss of a breeze I’d felt a moment ago. My hair surged around my face, the end of my torn dress tangling in my legs .

“Something is coming,” was all he said before he grabbed my hand and took off.

Wind raced through the forest. Branches creaked with exertion, leaves and dirt and pebbles swirling from the ground and peppering our bodies as we sprinted. Was it another storm? My heart seized at the thought of that poisonous water again, at the void I’d felt when my magic had been erased. But we’d already passed the water challenge. Earth, water, fire?—

Air.

We reached the edge of the forest, where soft grass transitioned to rocks which then faded into dirt and sand. I nearly stumbled when I saw what awaited us.

Beyond the shoreline, across the ocean, was an enormous cyclone.

Water and sand twisted and spiraled in the air, forming a funnel high above the surface. Ferocious waves crashed against the shore, water spraying our skin even at the distance we stood. With every passing second it billowed closer, and the noise of the wind and angry swells became deafening.

Rissa, Nox, and Lark dashed toward us. Their feet kicked up sand as they fumbled to keep what meager possessions we’d accumulated from flying away. Along the treeline, Horace lumbered out. His mouth moved, but I couldn’t make out a word over the uproar.

“...is it. The air trial,” I heard Lark say as they came within earshot. “The final part. We have to get back to the tunnels in the center.”

“Then let’s go,” I said, turning to the forest. “We’re getting off this island.”