I felt the tickle of power against my tunic as shards of his power ripped at my clothing, consuming without thought. The feeling moved to my neck and face, and I screamed in pain as pieces of my flesh were ripped from my body.
Instantly, the heat evaporated, the feeling of claws digging into my body stopped, but the pain remained. I doubled over, palms flat on the dry earth as I heaved shuddering breaths through my lungs. There were splotches of angry, red skin on the back of my hands and a few areas that looked like they were burned beyond recognition, and I wondered what my face looked like.
Fuck, that hurt.
“Lex?” Rohak’s broken voice whispered. “Oh, fuck, Lex.”
The thundering of heavy footsteps sounded next to me, and I was scooped into Ilyas’ strong arms, his ocean scent washing over me in waves, calming the depths of my soul. I clung to his neck with one arm and buried my face into his chest.
“Howcouldyou?” Ilyas snarled at Rohak. I patted his chest to get him to stop, but the pain was wreaking havoc on my system, and I was unable to choke any words out. “You werekillinghim! You need to figure out how to get a lid on that power,General. Or you’re going to regret it.”
Rohak was silent, but I could feel the fury and sadness wafting off of him, my power aching to use his emotions to fill our own reserves.
“Take him to the manor. Use the back door. Third door on the left will be the healer we have on staff. Tell her I sent you and to use whatever she needs to heal him.” Rohak’s voice was wooden and dead, devoid of all emotion.
My breathing came in panting gasps as I fought consciousness.
“It’s . . . okay . . . General . . .” I wheezed and felt Ilyas vibrate with barely restrained violence.
“It is certainlynotokay,” his voice echoed with fury. “Think about what I said, General. You might also want to get that bloody nose looked at. Seems like your power is doing more than just killing other people.”
With that, Ilyas strode fast away from Rohak. My head bumped against his hard chest, and I lost the battle with consciousness.
Chapter 31
Rohak
Once Ilyas was out of sight, Lex’s limp body clutched tight to his chest as one arm flopped uselessly in time to his Vessel’s steps, I fled the training yard. I pulled the hood of my cloak back over my head and bowed my face to the ground, praying I wouldn’t be stopped.
No matter how fast I walked, I couldn’t outrun the feeling of warm blood sluicing down my face and neck, pooling in the collar of my tunic and dripping off my upper lip to splatter on the ground. The sight of Lex’s skin slowly deteriorating before my eyes while my mind was trapped, a slave to my magic, would haunt me until my dying day.
Fuck.
No matter how tightly I held the bridge of my nose, it wouldn’t clot.
My pace quickened, my breaths coming in pants through my mouth.
I’d been on the brink of Mage Sickness for years—always toeing the line between drawing too much and not drawing enough. Vessels were increasingly rare, and a Destruction Vessel powerful enough to hold my reserves without burning out waslike praying for a miracle. It was unlikely any Destruction Vessel would ever present themselves and, if they did, it was even more unlikely that I would feel a True Bond connection with them—something that I valued above anything else, even my life, if it came to it.
So I’d used crystals, in increasing number, over the past few decades and only pulled my magic when I desperately needed to—until my exile in Hestin.
It was a wonder the sickness held out until now.
Fuck. What was I going to do?
The stone obelisk in the very middle of the courtyard was a lone, dark sentinel as I passed, the silence of the upper sector all-encompassing; not even the sounds of revelry from the lower sectors reached here.
I wound my way to the manor gate, quickly slapping my bloodied palm on the Mage Orb. Magical signature recognized, the gates swung open. The Mages on guard took one glance at my stiffened posture and averted their eyes. Even if they saw the blood on my face, they would say nothing. These Mages, at least, were loyal to me.
I hurried through the locking mechanism on the front door of the manor before scurrying through the foyer, avoiding contact with the servants, and took the stone steps two at a time, desperately trying to escape to the safety of my room, where I could dissect this new and completely unwelcome addition to my life.
My head was still bowed to avoid the prying eyes of the crown-loyal servants as I crested the top of the stairs. No sooner had my foot hit the top landing, my legs carrying me to the second set of stairs that would lead to my private floor, than I crashed into another body with anoomph. Instinctively, my hands circled the biceps of the person I ran into, my arms tensing to keep them from falling as my feet shuffled acrossthe stone, my momentum carrying us to the wall opposite the staircase.
We finally came to rest, their back to the wall with my front pressed firmly into theirs. My breath came in erratic, hard pants as I fought to regain control of the situation.
Shit, shit, shit.
I couldn’t let a servant see me like this. They would surely report the situation to Alois, and I’d be forced to take a Vessel tomorrow morning.
