RUIN

"Ruin."

Someone touches my arm, and I force myself awake. I blink the blurriness away and look around in confusion. I'm in a chilly forest with Shatterjaw. It's morning and I have cotton mouth. Yaris is beside me and—

—I inhale sharply. He's in Fae form and looks absolutely awful. His tawny skin is pale and he's breathing rapidly, coated in sweat and what looks like blotches of blood.

I sit up much too fast, everything spinning, but I don't care.

"Yaris?" I prompt. "Sweetheart?"

I touch his chilled face and wonder about making the fire bigger.

Shatterjaw is kneeling close to me, holding out a canteen. I take it and drink.

"What the fuck happened?" I breathe, staring at her for guidance as I hand the canteen back to her. "I was in the dining hall and…"

Everything is blurry after that. With a shudder, I realize that Miguel must have drugged me. He'd done it a few times before and I'm not sure what happened. But there's something else…

I gasp and stare at Shatterjaw.

"He's… dead?" I feel an intense mixture of relief and horror, tears pricking my eyes. "Oh, gods. He's dead."

Shatterjaw nods and squeezes my arm as tears fall rapidly.

"Fuck," I gasp. "Fuck. Why is Yaris…? "

I'm so overwhelmed and she shakes her head.

"I don't know," she says truthfully. "When I found him, he was… being tortured by a blood witch. I think… between that and opening the Veil, he's exhausted. Maybe. I don't know. I'm not a healer."

I nod and suppress a sob. I can't tell where my relief ends, and my horror begins. Relief at Miguel being gone, horror that Yaris killed him, and horror that he apparently was tortured and then used magic that's impossibly high level to make us escape. No wonder he's a mess.

"Yaris?" I whisper and lay down to hold him. "Sweetheart, I'm here. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. This is my fault. I'm sorry."

I'm no healer but I can offer him energy and I do so. Waking up my magic helps clear my head and quiet my soul a bit.

Sparks. I could use your help.

As usual, he doesn't respond, and I sigh softly.

I notice as I feed Yaris magic that Shatterjaw has a fire going. It's staving off the cold and I'm grateful for it. We don't have all our supplies, and it looks like we're going to have to make do. But it looks like Shatterjaw has some dried meat in her bags and passes me some. She's still in full armor and I don't blame her. She passes some over to me.

"Eat," she says. "You need your strength."

I take it and look at it, my stomach roiling.

"Shatterjaw," I swallow. "I'm so sorry to involve you in all of this. You're a fugitive now and that's my fault. I'm so sorry."

"Fuck you, Ruin," she says. "My people have been involved in this for centuries. I'm glad to be finally doing something."

I smile softly.

"True enough."

My stomach perks up a bit and I start to chew on the meat, content .

"You might as well call me Ruin indefinitely," I say with a sigh. "I very much doubt I'm the Grand Maestro anymore."

Shatterjaw rolls her eyes.

"Would you prefer ‘Vessel' or ‘Your Worship'?"

I scowl at that and swallow.

"I'd prefer to not be made to feel like I have to walk around with a rod in my ass due to my station."

Her lips quirk.

"Is that what that feels like?" She asks with a chuckle.

I huff.

"Maybe."

Yaris stirs and opens his eyes. I stiffen and stroke his cheek.

"Hey, handsome," I whisper, all my attention on him. "You okay?"

He swallows and looks at me intensely. When he speaks, it's not a language I recognize and he's obviously disoriented.

It makes me ill.

"Sleep, darling," I whisper and kiss his forehead. "You're safe."

His big pink eyes stare into mine for a long moment before they close and he's unconscious again. I sigh softly. This really isn't good.

"Any idea where we are?" I ask quietly and Shatterjaw nods, looking at Yaris intently.

"Yes. The Anaze Mountains," she says, looking at me. "Yaris brought us to relative safety."

I nod, swallowing.

"We must be close to Magnum the demon then."

She nods.

"Yes. Where your visions want us."

I think about that for a moment.

"Suppose so," I mumble and look at my darling. He looks so ill, but a bit better as I give him magic. I'll probably keep doing that as he's not as pale anymore. I hope, pray, beg the gods that he'll be okay. I shouldn't have let him be tortured. I was a fool. Everything could be contributed to my foolishness. I should have bygone Avaughn as it was encouraged. Fuck.

I'm an idiot.

"What's next?" Shatterjaw asks after we're done eating and I consider.

"We find Magnum and figure out what he knows," I say. "It's rare to find a demon in corporal form let alone a cooperative one."

Shatterjaw nods.

"Makes sense. He must know something if that's where the visions lead."

I hope that's true.

"Tell me about the blood witch," I say, finishing my meat and reaching for the canteen.

Shatterjaw sighs softly.

"I'm… not sure. It was Lady Thanya."

I frown.

"The jewel merchant's daughter?"

She nods.

"The very same."

My frown deepens. I don't remember much about her, but I've seen her at court a few times. She was quiet and withdrawn and I don't recall sensing magic on her.

"…Yaris thinks she's a dragon rider."

My head snaps over.

"What?" I gape at her and Shatterjaw nods miserably.

"Yes. There's so much we don't know about them—about you and… it is possible, if not likely, that you're not the only one. And it's possible that not everyone wants the world put to rights."

I try to wrap my head around that. She's right, unfortunately, but I can't imagine why a dragon rider of all people would want to harm us. Perhaps she's just misinformed.

Perhaps she just hates Fae.

I sigh .

"I regret that I couldn't tell she was one. She probably has a blocking spell up or something."

Shatterjaw shifts and shrugs.

"There's no way of knowing, Ruin. We couldn't have known it was a possibility."

I purse my lips.

"Did he kill her?"

"No. But he tried, I think. He did seem reluctant to harm her, and I think that was a mistake."

"Why?" I don't mean to snap but I do. "She could be misinformed or something. We need to talk to her."

And I do mean talk. If there's another dragon rider around, I have a lot of questions for them. So many questions. Does she know about the magic depletion? Could she help us? Does she talk to her dragon? I have to know I'm not alone.

Shatterjaw sighs softly.

"I know this is hard to understand but there have always been ill-aligned dragon riders. She doesn't strike me as particularly safe or reasonable. She was willing to torture Yaris with blood magic. That says a lot about her character."

I huff.

"Well. Regardless, I hope I can at least speak to her, if only to scare the shit out of her."

Shatterjaw laughs at that.

"Yeah. We'll have to see if that works."

She seems distracted as she looks around, frowning pensively. I watch her for a moment and then realize that something is alarming her.

"What's wrong?" I ask into the quiet of the mountain, suddenly on edge. She shakes her head and bites her lip.

"Nothing. I just—I think there's a crow watching us," she says lowly. "I'm no warlock, but it's been there for a few minutes and something's off."

I squint and look through the trees to the crow. Some sort of magic surrounds it, making its silky feathers glint red. Something stirs in the back of my mind, and I gasp .

"What?" Shatterjaw's gone completely tense, ready to take out a fucking crow.

"I think it's Magnum's," I say, recalling all the animals that surrounded him. "I think he uses animals like Yaris does."

Shatterjaw looks startled.

"Yaris has animal magic?"

I shrug.

"I don't know. All I know is animals like him and speak to him."

I stand and step forward and Shatterjaw pulls at my arm.

"Your Grace, are you sure?"

I inhale softly. I'm not sure, but our situation is dire. We don't have any real supplies, Yaris is deeply unconscious, and it will be hopelessly cold as the night drags on.

"I'm not," I admit. "But we're fucked at the moment, so let me try."

She sighs and releases me. I approach the crow cautiously and there's an intelligence in its eyes that I find myself respecting.

"Hello. I'm Ruin," I say. "These are my companions Nylana and Yaris. Can you tell Magnum we're here?"

The crow cocks its head and looks at Yaris intently before cawing and flying away in a rush. I sigh softly and hope to all the gods that I'm right.

"What now?" Shatterjaw asks, shifting as I sit next to Yaris and rub his arm.

"Now we do what I hate the most," I say with a huff. "We wait."

Two hours later, I'm done waiting. I'm bored, I'm cranky, and Yaris hasn't even twitched despite me giving him magic. It's cold and crisp and I've barely moved, which just makes me colder.

"I hate that you're not awake," I whisper to Yaris, shivering in the mountain air. "Come back to me."

He's as still as the grave and I fight tears. It feels like this is all my fault. If I'd just stood up to Miguel and the king, if I had just told them to fuck off, they would've turned their ire towards me instead of him.

I'm drifting for so many reasons. I've never felt this strongly about someone before and it still awes me that he is not just a Fae, but a Fae prince. It awes me that he's so much older than me but sees my opinion as relevant. And I'm still processing that I'm a fucking dragon rider. I haven't had the opportunity to really think about it—so much has happened—but I've been prepared my whole life to die young. It's what warlocks do. But not me. No. I'm going to live and live long, and I want to live long with Yaris and that shakes me to my very core. I want to spend all my time with him, getting to know him, hearing about all his scars and bruises from just existing in this world so I can kiss them away. I want to spend days worshiping his perfect body, grasping his horns as he thrusts deep into me and moans, looking at me with those fathomless pink orbs. I want to spend long days at every library with him, listening to him tell me about the world and showing me book after book. I want, need, days in the woods with him, exploring and laughing so much that my heart wants to burst.

But none of that will happen if he doesn't wake.

And great Ishta. He must wake.

"Ruin?" Shatterjaw's voice pulls me out of my dire thoughts, and I blink at her.

"Yeah?" I croak and she wipes my tears because I am, in fact, crying.

"We'll save him," she whispers. "He's hearty."

I swallow and nod before stiffening. The magic around us suddenly shifts and I'm on my feet in an instant, drawing on the well of power inside me. Shatterjaw draws her sword as I summon a white hot flame that's green in tint. My fire becomes more and more green as I pour my magic into it and, in this case, I spare nothing to protect everyone. The green flame is haunting and spills out a bright green light. A portal opens in front of us and Magnum steps through .

In person, he's even more beautiful. He's all skin and muscles and piercing red eyes and wavy white hair. He's sporting a very short white beard, and it somehow makes him look even more like a sex god. Because to be honest, even in the plain dark tunic, pants, and boots, he is a sex god. He moves fluidly, as if movement is hardly any effort at all—as if he doesn't belong in this realm and glides over everything like a badass.

He looks around and then at me, eyes widening. He holds up his hands, placating us.

"Whoa, calm down, buddy," he says in that same gentle cadence that I remember. "I'm here to help."

I relax and withdraw my magic. I nod at Shatterjaw, and she puts away her swords.

"Shatterjaw, Pennbrooke, this is Magnum," I say. "And… it looks like through that portal is the fort?"

Magnum nods and gazes at Yaris, worrying his lip. He puts down his hands and strides over.

"May I?" He asks and kneels beside him. I feel a measure of possessiveness, startling myself, but nod.

"Sure. I… I can't fix him. I've tried and…" My voice falters and I have to look away for a moment. When I focus again, Magnum is checking Yaris' pulse with a gentleness that I didn't know a demon could possess. He checks his temperature next and then glances up at me.

"It's depletion sickness," he says. "He used too much magic. And it looks like there's traces of blood magic too."

"What's that mean?" I ask tensely. "For a Fae, I mean."

Magnum considers, cocking his head. It feels like his presence takes up the whole damn forest as he suddenly bends over and picks up Yaris like he's nothing. Yaris is taller than me, but Magnum has a few inches on Yaris and he holds him carefully.

"What're you doing?" I gasp and he shoots me a look that says I'm stupid.

"Getting him somewhere safe," Magnum says. "Come on, wayward spirit. Let's go."

Magnum heads towards the portal and I follow anxiously. It's a strange transition. One moment, we're outside in the chilly mountains, and the next, we're in Magnum's warm fortress. We come out into a room with a sofa, desk, and roaring fireplace. There's a fox in the corner by the window who hurries off before we can say hello. Magnum closes the portal with a thought and then starts to carry Yaris away. I hurry along after him, Shatterjaw behind me.

We pass eerily empty rooms, go up a flight of stairs, and then head into a room with a bed, desk, chair, and fireplace. There's a window on the opposite wall, overlooking the courtyard and then mountain side as it stretches before us. Magnum gestures at the bed and I don't know what he wants, but Shatterjaw somehow does and pulls back the covers. Magnum tucks Yaris inside and I'm worried at how pale my prince is. Shatterjaw starts to work on the fire and I watch Magnum for a moment.

"Can you help him?" I ask and sit on the bed so I can hold Yaris' cold hand. Magnum shrugs.

"I can try. I don't know a lot about Fae physiology or anatomy, but I imagine magic depletion is the same for them as it is for us—rest, potions, the like."

"Do you have potions?" I ask anxiously. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to repay you for all of this. I owe you and I doubt I'm Grand Maestro anymore."

He smiles easily and the knot in my stomach lessens.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it, rider. You're here and you're safe. I've lost a lot of sleep over you. Maybe I'll actually be able to rest now that you're here."

He winks and I open my mouth in surprise. He continues, looking amused.

"Stay here. I'll get those potions."

And just like that, he glides away, his steps barely audible.

What the hells.