Chapter 30

Azran

Ishove blindly, aiming for the mass behind me.

My blow finds its target as a body hits the ground, and I whirl around, searching for my assailant. I’m surrounded by four walls and a Fae with both hands in the air in surrender, but there is no sign of my mate.

In what appears to be a small kitchen, faint light streams from a candle on a wooden table, just enough to reveal the busted lip on my aggressor’s tanned face and her dark brown eyes.

A shape emerges from the back of the room seconds later and Ela’s gaze pierces the darkness.

I’m about to lunge towards her when another familiar shape steps into the light and I keep still. Draped in red velvet sleeves, Vesta’s arm is wrapped around my mate’s throat, holding her in place.

“What is—“

“Az.”

My blood freezes as Calen steps out of the shadows and positions himself next to the Fae I don’t recognize.

“Let her go, or I swear on everything you hold dear, I will kill you all.” I bare my teeth at him and get in a fighting stance. “You have three seconds.”

The room falls to complete silence as my eyes dart between them. Three. Vesta’s breathing accelerates when she meets my eyes. Two. Calen’s head turns to Ela. One. Oh, he’s dying first.

Seeing red, I launch towards Calen.

“Az.”

I hold my blow at the last second when my mate’s faint voice reaches my ears, and my gaze snaps to hers.

Vesta’s hold loosens around her neck just as Calen steps forward.

“Brother.” A snarl tears from my throat, but it’s not enough to silence him. “We don’t have much time. We came to help. It was the only way for me to get past Airdan’s suspicions,” he says in a rush. “Az, come on. You know me better than that.”

Sweat trickles down his temple and a vein bulges on the side of his neck as he searches for the right words. He reaches a hand out to me.

“I don’t know what I know anymore, brother,“ I spit out.

“I gave you the signal when I came back down to your cells, Az.” Calen’s arm falls slack to his sides, defeated.

“What signal?” My rage is overwhelming. I’m holding on by a thread. My body might be on the brink of exhaustion and death, but as long as a drop of blood remains in my veins, I will fight to protect Ela, even if it’s the last thing I do.

“Just like we did back in Morilanthe.” He raises his hand, showing four fingers and his thumb tucked in his palm.

I squint at him.

“After months of torture in the dark, you thought I could see this shit?”

Calen stares at me in confusion before his chuckle fills the air. The chuckle turns into full-blown belly laugh, a smile tugs on Vesta’s lips, and even Ela’s shoulders relax.

“I told you it would never work.” Vesta points her finger at Cal.

I stare at the lot of them in complete disbelief until Ela’s snarl tears through the laughter. Her eyes fix on the dark-skinned Fae who’d moved an inch closer to me.

Cal steps between them, raising both hands. “Everyone, calm down.”

Vesta releases Ela, who stands aside, at equal distance from her friend and me.

Calen waves towards the Fae. “This is Rensyl. She’s with us.”

Rensyl steps back, keeping her hands visible.

“You can call me Ren.” She inclines her shaved head slightly. “High Lord.”

“Az, if you give me a moment, I’ll explain everything.” Calen motions towards the chairs around the table, but I don’t move. “Milan left messages in the palace kitchen every other day, notes Ren would pick up. When he didn’t check in, we knew something was wrong.”

Ela’s gaze darkens and her sadness travels down the bond. None of the soldiers who came to Zetrea with Ela or me will ever return to Lóna.

I feel an irrepressible urge to extend my hand to her, kiss the hurt away and banish all remnants of what happened in those cells from her memory. If only I had that kind of power.

Calen’s voice stirs me from wishful thinking.

“Ren was placed in Nyths decades ago, and I reached out to her when Ela went looking for you.”

“After I explicitly told you not to place anyone in Zetrea,” I say, crossing my arms over my chest.

“You’re welcome.” He shoots me a wink, but I don’t react. “It didn’t take me long to realize Airdan was the mastermind we were after. Unlimited resources, ancient knowledge, power, and motive—he has it all. He undoubtedly placed spies in Lóna and has been watching our every move, which is why we couldn’t walk into Nyths without a solid story.”

Cal rests his hands on the back of the chair in front of him, his knuckles whitening under the strength of his grip.

“Seeing you and Ela in that cell and having to pretend like I didn’t want to tear out their throats was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

Calen’s broad shoulders slump under some invisible weight, azure eyes glassy with self-recrimination.

“You have to believe me,” he rasps, his voice cracking. He looks at Ela. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.”

Ela nods before turning to Vesta and extending her arms.

Her friend crashes into her embrace, returning the hug tightly as the tension defuses.

“I was worried sick, L,” Vesta whispers, a sob shaking her voice.

Cal and I lock eyes as he gives me a quick nod. My inclination to kill him on the spot has lessened, but I’m not ready to admit it just yet.

Ela breaks her embrace with Vesta long enough to utter a few words.

“There’s something else you should all know.” She steps back to face the group. “Amrynn was here. She came to visit me.”

“What happened?” A deep frown appears on Calen’s forehead, his eyes holding the same wariness mine did when she told me.

“She asked me to join Airdan’s side.”

Cal’s growl fills the room the moment the words leave Ela’s lips.

“That viper.”

Amidst the chaos of the last distressing hours, it’s good to see that some things remain unchanged. His profound hate for my cousin hasn’t wavered.

“She’s dug her own grave,” I add, bitterness coating my tongue.

My eyebrows draw together when Ela’s presence fades down the bond, and the rest of the world disappears as I try to make eye contact with her.

We lock eyes as she sways on her legs, right before they give out.

“What about—“

Vesta’s question is cut short as I lunge forward with my mate’s name carved on my lips.

I’m with her in a heartbeat, catching her before her body hits the floor.

My blood freezes as I gather her limp body in my arms, her pulse so slow I can barely feel it.

“Are we safe here?” I ask sharply, trying to keep panic at bay.

“Yes, High Lord,” Ren answers without skipping a beat.

Shaken from her torpor, Vesta is with me in seconds while Ren makes for a kitchen cabinet to grab healing ointments.

The red-haired captain extends her arms towards my mate and I pull back instinctively.

“I’ve got her,” she says with a calm voice, but I don’t release my hold on Ela’s unconscious body until she cocks her head in Cal’s direction. “There is still much for you to discuss, but she needs rest.”

The urge to protect Ela tears through me, the energy inside me thrashing and calling for Vesta’s spilled blood, for there is no right or wrong when I’m in its grasp. There’s only survival, and adversaries standing between me and my mate.

When Vesta’s worried gaze meets mine, I find the love we share for Ela in her eyes.

I call my power back as Vesta releases a short breath, and ever so slowly, I let go of Ela.