2. Elianna

Chapter two

Elianna

“This is a shitty plan, Lia,” Zaela hissed from beside me as we watched Nox soar out from between the mountain peaks, answering his summons from my high-pitched whistle.

“Well, it’s the only one we have on such short notice, and I won't risk anyone else. Feel free to stay behind if you’re so against it,” I snapped back at her. “My original plan was to go entirely alone with Nox, and if I were to fail, Jace would take you all and flee.”

Zaela let out a cackle. “As if he would ever agree to such nonsense.”

“No sense in not trying,” I said with a sigh.

Jace suppressed a laugh from my opposite side as Nox’s landing rumbled the ground beneath our feet.

“What is the exact plan again?” Gage asked as I made my way to my wyvern.

“Perhaps if you weren’t so enthralled by the princess’ eyes, you would’ve been paying better attention when we spoke of it, Gage,” Jace teased.

My lips betrayed me, and I smirked as I continued walking up to Nox .

“Have you seen her eyes? They’re like pools of honey that I’m just dying to take a swim in.”

“Okay, that’s enough out of you,” Zaela huffed at him.

“For once, I agree. Keep that for talk amongst the men, please. She’s my sister, after all,” I called over my shoulder and caught a quick glimpse of Jace playfully punching Gage in the arm for what he had said. The sound of their laughter echoed over to me.

Nox was staring at me as I stood directly below his snout, looking up at him. I covered my eyes from the sun that had finally decided to make an appearance.

“Nox,” I greeted him, my voice soft. “I’m truly so sorry about yesterday. Whether you ignored my call because of your fear of thunder or you couldn’t hear it over the storm, I will probably never know, but we could’ve used you out there. However, what matters is that we have you now.”

Yesterday felt more like a distant memory. As if it were a lifetime ago when we discovered Nox could scent Kai on Avery and Finnian…but not on me. Proving what Veli had guessed regarding Kai’s true sire being Callius instead of King Jameson. And without a true Valderre on the throne, the realm itself would come undone, for we were the only bloodline that stemmed from the Mother Goddess, Terra.

He lowered his enormous, horn-covered head to my eye level and then nuzzled his chin on my shoulder.

I blew out a breath of relief as I lifted my hand to scratch his chin. “Well, I’m glad all seems to be forgiven. Just don’t try to hurt them anymore, okay?”

He pulled his head back to look at me, and a glimmering golden eye met mine in understanding .

“Good. Now, do you think you can carry the four of us?” I smiled and pointed to the three behind me over my shoulder.

A growl crawled up his throat.

“Nox,” I said in a hushed tone. “Behave yourself, please. Now is not the time. Now tell me, is the desire for revenge against Kai still burning within you?” My lips twisted into a grin.

Nox stood tall, raising his head high as he let out a deafening roar of agreement that forced us all to cover our ears. Even the birds flew out from the treetops in the distance.

“Well, I’m glad we all agree,” I said with a breathy laugh.

“What’s the verdict?” Jace asked, peering up at Nox as the three of them stepped up to my side.

I placed my hands on my hips as I stared them all down. “Hope none of you are afraid of heights.” My voice dripped with wicked anticipation.

“I hate every single one of you,” Zaela grumbled from his side, and I suppressed a laugh.

“Listen,” I started as I stared her down. “I’m not risking the soldiers. They’re exhausted, and many are already injured from last night. Plus, it will take us a day to get to the forest’s edge with an army, and they already have half a day’s head start. It will only take us a few hours by flight.”

“Four against an army. Brilliant idea,” Zaela huffed.

I raised a finger and tilted my head to the side, nostrils flaring. “Actually, no. Four plus a wyvern . He counts for at least a thousand soldiers,” I tried to convince her, reeling in my temper at her need to question me .

Her eyes roamed back and forth between me and Nox for a few moments before she finally let out a breath. “We’re all going to die.”

She stepped out from our side and stomped over to the wyvern, who warily watched her as she approached.

“Fuck, this is going to be so fun,” Gage said as he followed after her.

Jace stepped up next to me as we watched the two of them try to figure out how to get into the saddle.

“You truly believe he can carry the weight of the four of us?” he asked.

My eyes roamed over my wyvern. He had grown significantly since we escaped the Islan dungeons all those weeks ago. It was as if a proper diet and using the muscles of his wings had allowed him to rapidly grow into the colossal, powerful creature he should have always been.

“Of course. He’ll be fine. Besides, I’m praying to the gods it will be a quick victory. None of us are getting off of him,” I said as I took a step forward, but he reached out and grabbed my wrist.

“Promise me, Lia.” His authoritative tone sent a pool of heat between my thighs.

I turned to face him. “Hmm?”

“That you won’t do anything reckless and that you will actually stay on Nox and let him do the work.”

There was no room for argument in his tone.

I leaned up on my tiptoes and kissed his scar that crossed the bridge of his nose. My hand drifted, and I grabbed my bow that he held in his other hand for me. “Come on, let’s go before Nox gets too annoyed with them before we’re even in the air.”

Jace grumbled a retort I didn’t care to listen to as we stalked over to the wyvern. Right after we arrived, Gage had managed to pull himself up using the straps of the saddle that hung down at Nox’s sides. He lowered his hand, and Zaela grabbed it, allowing him to heave her up into the saddle with him.

I halted at Nox’s back foot as he slowly lowered the front of his body down, allowing me easier access to climb onto him.

“Oh, come on!” Gage yelled.

“He couldn’t have done that for us?” Zaela grumbled.

I laughed as I crawled up into the saddle with Jace following behind me. “You should’ve asked him for help.” I shrugged.

“You’re kidding me, right?” Zaela sighed.

I pulled my bow over my head and allowed it to rest over my shoulder as I settled myself into my seat.

“I forgot how enormous this saddle is,” Gage observed, and I turned back to face him. “What have you guys done on here, huh?” He fluttered his eyebrows as he glanced back and forth between me and Jace.

“You think we’ve had a chance to do anything? The second I surprised her with it, it’s been nothing but absolute fucking chaos,” Jace said, annoyed.

“So there were intentions of what I insinuated.”

A snort slipped from me. “You know that thought never crossed my mind, for some reason. Thank you for the idea, Gage,” I said as I turned back to him and winked .

“Anything for you, my lady.”

“For the love of the gods, you two,” Jace huffed at us. I then felt his arm wrap around me as he secured the saddle’s belt for each of us.

“Thank you, Mother Jace,” Gage joked.

My mate sighed, and I knew we were pushing our luck with him at this point, but I couldn’t help but cackle along with the other two, desperately trying to push my nerves down for what was to come.

“Listen, you have no idea how high we are about to be. See those clouds?” He gestured to the sky, and all of our gazes followed. “We are going to be there. Think falling from that is fun?”

Gage went to open his mouth, but Jace cut him off. “On second thought, don’t answer that.”

I glanced down and admired the intricate designs in the saddle as their bickering continued in the background. With my back turned to them, I allowed the mask I had been wearing the past hour to slip.

I imagined what it would be like to finally destroy Kellan and everyone who had ever harmed my family. My need for revenge slickly worked its way through my veins as if it were oil, and my fingertips ached as they traced over the saddle’s stitching, waiting for vengeance to come.

Ignystae .

Veli’s word from the tongue of the gods rattled me. Its power radiated through my soul as I readied myself to put it to use for the first time—praying to those very gods that the witch was right and that Nox would answer to its command .

My breathing turned heavy when I felt the weight of Jace’s hand bearing down on my shoulder and his evident worry for me through our tether. As I turned toward him, his concerned hazel eyes locked with mine. My mask no longer worked on him because of the mating bond, but I would continue to fake the smile with him all the same.

I moved to face forward once more. “Hold on, everyone.” I grinned as I felt all three of their bodies stiffen behind me. “Nox…let’s go for a ride.”

His enormous wings shot out from his sides, and with three booming flaps, we were in the cerulean midday sky.