Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

Zenith

Our fall ends with an abrupt tumble into a wet heap on the thick carpet of the brothel's small parlor. I huff in a mouthful of perfumed air and hold back a sneeze while I get my bearings.

Wow. Rahz's daring escape through a midair portal worked. We're alive.

Knocked around and bruised, but alive.

Except, wait, why am I the only one who seems to be moving? "Anash?" His tail has gone limp where Talus and I are lying on it. He's too still. "Anash, wake up."

I maneuver Talus onto his side and lay my hand on Anash's chest. When it rises with his breath, I heave a sigh of relief. Just passed out. I can deal with passed out. Passed out is not dead.

Jindal and Rahz look to be in the same state—limp but breathing.

"Help, someone." I cough to clear my voice. "We need help."

"Our healer's been sent for."

I whip my head around. Hiluron is watching from the threshold. "Thank you."

"I sensed your arrival. Rahz used too much magic again, didn't he? This is becoming a bad habit of his."

"They'll be all right?"

Hiluron nods. "With time and rest. Yes, Rahz, Jindal, and Anash will recover. But Rahz must learn not to overextend himself so badly or one day… Well, let's not focus on what-ifs. Is this your friend?"

"Yes. They had him imprisoned underwater." I shiver to think about it. Unable to see, unable to breathe, unable to communicate with the stone.

"Oh my." Hiluron kneels to get a close look.

Talus is awake but clearly confused. He's curled in on himself in a way that runs counter to my every memory of the man. And we had no chance to warn him of our destination. A den of incubi is the last place in Luminia he would expect to be taken to for safety.

"We'll take good care of you, traveler," says Hiluron. "No need to fear."

Talus mouths the words thank you , but no sound comes out.

Incubi arrive with clean towels, fluffy blankets, and hot tea.

I'm not sure who's worse off, Anash, who's unconscious, or Talus, who's afraid of his own shadow. I wrap each of them in a blanket and kneel between them.

And to think that hours ago, I'd said, "Once we free him, he'll be able to help us fight our way out. You've never seen a warrior so great as Talus. We've nothing to fear."

How could I have been so horribly wrong?

It was my talented teammates who freed us. Jindal with his quick mind, his clever knowledge of sailor's knots, and his ability to stay cool-headed in a crisis. Rahz, whose power is so strong as to command darkness itself, and who was willing to sacrifice his own well-being for a stranger's.

And Anash, my sweet Anash, whose bravery shines like Luminia's many faerie lights, diving underwater during a thunderstorm because it was the only way.

I owe the three of them my life and Talus's too.

With the help of the other incubi, we get our four patients moved from the parlor to two private rooms. One for Rahz—who is already starting to wake—and Jindal to recover in, and another for Talus, Anash, and me.

There is only one bed, so we prop Anash at the foot, on a mountain of pillows so I can coax sips of restorative tea into him when he wakes. Talus settles at the head, sitting up and hugging his knees.

"Perhaps it's best if we leave you alone with them," Hiluron says. "At least until Talus recovers some of his strength."

"Yes, that's probably best."

"If you need anything"—he points to a golden tassel on a golden rope hanging through a hole in the ceiling beside the bed—"jiggle that. It'll ring a bell in the kitchens, and someone will be up shortly."

Clever. "Thank you."

He bows, then leaves. Hard to believe once upon a time, his people and my people were at war. A nagging thought fights for attention. Was that war just? Or have I been duped twice?

I can't contemplate that right now. My mind is too full.

I stare at my charges. My mate, so beautiful in his sleep. Peaceful. Though I'm eager for him to wake, I'll let him come to on his own. He obviously needs the rest.

My commander. My old friend. Talus. Who looks nothing like himself.

I pull up a chair. "Have you any questions for me?"

"Zenith."

"Yes, I'm Zenith. Your soldier. You've been in stone form for a very long time."

"Too long." He blinks, slow as a snail, and refocuses on my face. "A brothel?"

I nod. "The war with the incubi is long over. This group has been kind to us, taken us in."

Talus glances at Anash. "You have a mate?"

My lips pull to a smile. "I do. Anash. Half fae, half incubus. All heart."

"Good."

"Are you hungry? I can have them send us something."

"I'm tired."

I have a thousand questions for him. What happened when the rest of us were spelled to stone? Where did you go? Why were you imprisoned? Who did it to you? How long has it been? But I won't risk upsetting him. He's too fragile for questions.

"Rest," I say. "We can talk more when you're feeling better. You're safe here. The incubi will take care of you."

He closes his eyes and burrows deeper into the blankets.

It's become blatantly obvious that finding Talus isn't the solution I'd hoped for. A weight has been lifted off my shoulders, knowing we've won him his freedom, but this isn't my commander and won't be maybe for a long time. Maybe never.

Talus cannot end this war for us.

So I will have to do it myself.