Chapter 27

CHAPTER 27

WREN

It felt like something else was guiding them, not the Nox. Something unseen and unheard but almost tangible in the air. There was something like a sigh or a song, a whisper that never quite made itself heard or a melody half remembered on waking from a forgotten dream. Wren followed, and so did Finn, because there was nothing else either of them could do.

Leander would be coming, Wren knew that.

The Nox’s anger fizzed against the back of Wren’s consciousness. This outrage would not be borne, this betrayal. It would not be controlled by a king of Ilanthus again. The power beyond was beside itself with a need for retribution and that was possibly all that was keeping it in check right now and stopping it from taking control.

It…her… Wren wasn’t even sure anymore. The more the power of darkness tried to wrap itself around her, the more it felt like part of her, its outrage, her outrage, its desire so closely twined with hers that there might never be a chance of separating them again. It was part of her now and she was flowing back into it, changing it, both of them transformed by the proximity of the other.

And then there was Finn.

He was Finn again. That was her one relief. And Finn had always protected her and followed her lead when it mattered, unless she was putting herself at risk. Finn was hers.

Claiming him seemed to have transformed him. Her servant, her champion, her beloved… The look he gave her was one of devotion but also tangled with a wildness she hadn’t seen since he had fought for her in the stone circle, subsumed in the power of the Nox, its creature rather than hers.

Now she thought it was both.

Was he even aware of it? Guilt washed through her and she had to push that away. Together, they would have to work it out, to find a way to save both their souls. But not now. There wasn’t time for that now.

The throb of need was rising in her again which really wasn’t helping. Every second she glanced his way, she wanted him. She could feel his warmth in the air, his scent tangling with hers, the need that fired up between the two of them at risk of boiling over in a moment.

And yes, the nakedness was not helping.

She forced herself to think of icy cold water, of plunging into the depths of a pool in Cellandre, but whenever she did, the image of him doing the same thing appeared and that was almost worse.

His hand touched her shoulder and she shivered, her stomach tightening with need.

‘You feel it too, don’t you?’ His voice was a deep rumble in the darkness and did interesting things in her chest.

She nodded carefully. ‘The Nox is strong. Only to be expected here, Hestia said, and the more I lose myself in you the more?—’

‘The more we risk losing our selves forever. I know.’

It was a new kind of torture, she thought, chipping away at her resistance. Need, desire, desperation… But all they could do was journey deeper into the dark caves, where she suspected none of the current sisterhood had ever ventured. There were no names for these places.

The air turned warm, heavy with intoxicating scents. The half-heard song grew stronger and she picked out the way with her othersight, a soft glow of blue-black in the darkness. Deeper they went, and deeper still, Finn’s hand in hers. He let her lead – of course he did – and she hated herself for it. She didn’t know what being here would do to him.

She didn’t know what it would do to her either but that was beside the point. She couldn’t leave him behind. Shadow kin still trailed them both, guard dogs or hunters. She would be as good as abandoning him to them and they were still hungry for him. Perhaps they always would be.

She could almost understand. A taste of Finnian Ward was addictive.

‘Can you hear them?’ she asked.

‘Yes,’ he replied, his fingers tightening on hers. ‘They want us to go on. If we don’t…’

‘They’ll kill us.’

‘No, not that. They’d never dare hurt you. Me…they want me to join them. That’s all they’ve wanted since Cellandre. I realise that now. To serve the Nox and be part of them. To lead them. They thought I had, when Leander—’ He stopped abruptly, both speech and footsteps, pulling her to a halt. Wren turned and found herself in his arms, though they didn’t tighten around her. He didn’t pull her into his embrace. Rather he framed her, cautious and wary. ‘I don’t know how to—’ Finn swallowed hard, and she was aware of the way his throat worked, of the tightness in his muscles, the fear. ‘Wren, did he – did he hurt you?’

This was not a place for lies. Not between them. But she had dreaded this question. She wasn’t sure how to answer.

There was only truth in this darkness. There couldn’t be anything else. She could see his face, just pick out his features, etched in otherlight, and the pain bleeding through them. She knew what he thought, what he feared.

‘Yes,’ she replied solemnly. She had to pick her words with care. ‘But not how you think. He didn’t force me to do anything.’ Finn let out a breath, a rush of relief which was only half-deserved, she thought. ‘He wanted me to be his willingly. He wanted to wear me down. He enjoyed it, enjoyed himself, took lovers – if you could call them that – and tried all kinds of means to break my will.’

‘And you thought it was me.’ That wasn’t a question. He knew the truth. He’d seen it on her face in the throne room.

‘At first,’ she admitted. Finn started to pull away and she wrapped her arms around him, stopping him. Their bodies brushed together, a torture she had to just endure. He needed to know this. ‘I didn’t realise until just before you arrived and the spell broke. And then it was too late. I’m sorry, Finn. I should have?—’

‘Don’t you dare apologise,’ he growled. ‘None of it was your fault.’

Oh, if only she believed that. If she hadn’t tried to control him back in Pelias…if she had just trusted him…so many ifs.

And ultimately everything led them here, to the deepest darkness she had ever known, where only magic could guide them, and behind them lay death or enslavement.

No turning back then.

‘We have to go on, see where this leads,’ she told him. The words I’m sorry were on her lips again but she didn’t say them this time. He wouldn’t hear them.

He kissed her softly, his lips on hers the only comfort he could offer. ‘And I’ll follow you. You know that.’

What else could they do? They descended into the final darkness.