“Whoa,” Lani exclaimed. “How did you do that?”
I opened my eyes. The vibrant threads of power were the color of moss, cast out around my body like a coat of forest leaves. I glanced behind and saw I wasn’t the only thing inside the net.
“That’s odd,” Lani said. “The pumpkin has disappeared too.”
So I was a little protective of the remains of my pumpkin.
“What can you see?” I asked.
“Nothing. There’s a huge hole, like someone scooped out that entire area. Your Phaetyn powers don’t work like mine for some reason. But you can’t do it that way, Ryn, or anybody who looks into the air will see a black space and know something is up.”
“Anybody?” I glanced around the garden and saw someone lurking, pretending to pull weeds. “Ask that man what he sees.”
The lazy gardner told Lani there was nothing there, but the Phaetyn queen insisted I try again.
“You don’t want to be invisible to just humans, Ryn. That’s not who we’re worried about.”
True. Maybe it had something to do with my mixed heritage. I thought of my net, this time pulling it in tighter to me and my body, and then I thought of how it should reflect the light and appear like I wasn’t there but preserve the rest of the space around me.
“Nice,” Lani clapped her hands. “If you can do that, we should be plenty safe all the way to Zivost, and you’ll be safe on the way back. Just remember, this power takes energy. Like strengthening a muscle, it will get easier the more you do it, but the first few times are challenging. Or at least they were for me.”
Having the added protection of the veil did make me feel safer, but there was someone else who I knew would appreciate the extra security when I left in a few hours.
4
I hefted my pack higher on my shoulders and peeked around the corner into the foyer of the grand entrance of the Gemondian Kingdom. I hadn’t been back down here since arriving with an unconscious Tyrrik in my claws. The high-ceiled chamber around the corner made what I was about to do real in a way nothing else had. I was leaving Gemond, Tyrrik, and Dyter to protect Lani on the journey to save the Phaetyn. She was relying on me. And I wasn’t relying on anyone but myself.
I shifted the pack again and straightened, squaring my shoulders as I set my face into hard lines. I could do this. I would do this. Not just for Lani or the Phaetyn. This was for me, and Tyrrik. For Dyter and the empire. It wasn’t the first step in the rebellion, but it sure felt like mine.
Behind me, Lani’s step was the lightest of anyone in the chamber but only because of her child size. The Phaetyn would-be-queen’s grasp on the battles being waged showed just how mature she was.
“Hold on, I want to do something,” I told her without turning.
Tyrrik could hear what I was saying, and I knew he could feel my presence around the corner because I could feel him. I closed my eyes, envisioning my net, and then pulled Lani under it with me.
“You’ll tire yourself before we leave,” she scolded.
“I’m practicing,” I replied. “And it will make Tyrrik feel better.”
Once sure I had everything tucked in right, I took hold of Lani’s hand and strode beside her around the corner.
King Zakai and his son were talking to Dyter and Tyrrik. None of them stopped the conversation, and I grinned with my success. Crazy-strong Phaetyn mojo for the win.
Until.
Tyrrik frowned. And then grimaced, blinking to clear his vision. “Ryn? You’re fuzzy. And why can’t you hear me?”
The first time, I hadn’t felt any drain from creating the veil, but as I dropped it a second time, relief trickled through my muscles and down my spine. I stood still, ignoring the startled yells of the others as my knees shook for a moment. Tyrrik yelled my name through the bond, and I winced.
Please stop yelling.
Lani leaned in as I regained my footing.
“Told you,” she whispered.
“Would you like to walk to the forest?” I asked sweetly, but my enthusiasm waned with my new-found knowledge. This wasn’t going to be as easy as I’d anticipated.
Her response was to show all her teeth in what could’ve been a smile, on a very bad day, in a very inhospitable place. Or maybe her expression was meant to bolster me due to its creepy ferocity.
Tyrrik’s fading alarm still seared through the bond, and I jolted as the image of me, or rather what I had looked like to him, struck me. My body looked like an apparition, completely transparent, but oddly still here.
That was . . . new. I’d never gotten an image from Tyrrik before. It’s okay, I just had the veil on, I told him. To Lani, I said, “How could he see me?”
She lifted a shoulder before dropping it. “Maybe it has to do with the mate bond.”
I really hoped that was the case and not a sign all Drae could see me.
Tyrrik’s emotions swung from panic to relief to pride. Whoa.
Time for goodbyes. My throat suddenly clogged with emotion, and I strode to Dyter first. Approaching my oldest friend, I fell into his one-armed embrace, patting him awkwardly when he wouldn’t let go. “Love you, Dyter.”
“Yes, well,” he said gruffly. “Don’t forget to . . .”
He apparently forgot whatever it was I wasn’t meant to forget. I smiled at him through the allergies burning my eyes that were certainly the reason for the tears on my face. “I won’t.”
Prince Zared was next, which was easier. I shook his hand and then turned to his father.
“A safe journey, Most Powerful Drae,” the king said with a wink.
I grinned, my heart warming even more to the aged ruler of Gemond. “Thank you, Zakai. Here’s hoping for no turbulence.”
My joke fell flat, and with no small amount of unrelated dread, I turned to the last man in the room.
Dyter drew the others away toward the door, and I waited until there was nothing more I could wait for. A vice clenched my chest, and my steadfast resolve nearly crumbled when I met Tyrrik’s gaze. His eyes were inky black, but I could feel the emotions storming within.
“Make sure you use the veil while you’re in your Drae form until Lani puts the barrier up again,” he said in a low voice. “And use it all the way back, right up until you’re inside Gemond. All the way inside.”
I rested a hand on his arm. “I know, Tyrrik. I’ll take care of myself. I promise.”
He shuddered at my touch and onyx scales erupted on his chest, peeking out from his aketon and spreading up his neck. His voice deepened, turning part Drae when he spoke again. “I trust you, Khosana. It’s everyone else I don’t trust.” Be careful.
Uncaring that the others would see, I wrapped my arms around his torso and lay my head on his chest. “We can trust Lani. I know we can.”
“Lani, yes.”
Standing at the doorway with the others, Lani called out dryly, “I’m so glad. Can we go now?”
I was going for a reason, I reminded myself. And even though those reasons didn’t seem so urgent, now—proximity to Tyrrik made it hard to reason at all—if I stayed, I’d regret it.
Mum didn’t raise no quitter.
I lifted onto tiptoes and planted a firm kiss on my Drae’s hard cheek. “Al’right, I’m off. See you soon, Tyrrik.”
The brusque farewell might have worked if my voice hadn’t caught on every other word, but I turned and strode away, holding it in like a big girl though it occurred to me that bigger girls probably just had bigger tears.
King Zakai gestured for the guards to open the gates, and I’d nearly reached Lani when Tyrrik’s fingers wrapped around my wrist, halting me.
I let him tug me back around and remained completely still as he grimaced, trying to control his Drae. He closed his eyes and pressed his face into the crook of my neck. His forest pine and smoke scent wrapped around me, and he trembled as he pressed his lips to our mate mark.
I felt a sharp pinch as his fangs lengthened, and I gasped.