He had given me his lifeforce to keep me alive while he took my place on death’s door.
Relief swamped me at the realisation because I hadn’t been at death’s door at all. Sure, my energy was depleted, but I just needed to replenish it. Rest and nourishment were all I needed, and I would have been right as rain in a couple of hours.
I collapsed beside him, my forehead resting on my knees as the sounds of the Fae slicing the creature to pieces, even though I was fairly sure it was already dead, created an ironicallymacabre backdrop for the moment. The Fae woman hesitated for a moment before joining me, mirroring my curled-up pose as she peered over her knees at the scene before us. We sat like that, her watching the Fae while my gaze remained firmly on Phenex, for a long time. Long enough that I didn’t notice when the sound of blades slicing through flesh finally ended.
I jumped when the woman suddenly launched back up to her feet, her posture rigid as someone approached. I couldn’t see much, but there were enough embers still burning from the fireball that I could recognise Evander’s strong build and commanding stature as he strode toward us. A mob of Fae followed a short distance behind him, each of them covered in blood. Their fair features stained in crimson were an oddly captivating sight, and I couldn’t help but admire Evander’s ethereal beauty as shadows danced over his body, grotesquely intertwining with the gore, yet deliciously highlighting the dips and valleys of every muscle.
He was a vision of danger and death, but also of sex and sin.
He exchanged words with the woman, his voice low and harsh, and she scuttered off to rejoin the ranks of the other Fae. She cast one last glance in my direction, curiosity shining through her eyes before she was swallowed by her people and hidden from sight.
Evander took her place beside me, crouching down until we were at eye level. He studied me for a beat before coming to some sort of conclusion. He extended his hand, and my brows shot skyward. If he expected to make a deal with me, he was sorely mistaken. He must have read my thoughts in my expression because his lips twitched in amusement that he quickly covered up. Instead of dropping his hand, however, he patted me on the shoulder the way one would a friend, then rose to join his comrades.
‘Leave this one alone. She saved our lives and Elvina has repaid our debt,’ he said, and I jolted, shocked that I could suddenly understand his words.
‘Evander?’ I called out to him, and he stilled, then turned to face me with an enigmatic expression. ‘I understood that.’
He sucked in a shocked breath, his entire body tensing at my words. ‘I understood you, too.’
A murmur exploded behind him as everyone processed the significance of what he’d said, and it was curious to me how they didn’t seem to understand me as well.
I nodded behind him. ‘Your friends don’t seem to,’ I pointed out.
‘How?’ he demanded in a hard, suspicious tone.
‘I think it’s these trials,’ I mused, then glanced down at my man, still unconscious on the floor, and stroked my fingers through his long, silky hair, skirting my fingers around his horns. ‘Phenex and I can understand one another, but… well, I guess we never got the chance to see how far that extended since we were separated from everyone else.’
‘You should find your people. It is not safe here alone,’ he said, then, as if I was too ignorant to understand the depths of the danger we were all in, as if it was the most important piece of knowledge he could have imparted on me, he turned and strode back to his people without a backward glance. As one, they left without another word, though a few glanced at me and Phenex as they headed in the direction we had come from. I supposed it may have been a little more difficult to pass whatever mess they’d left behind of those creatures, but as he was dismissing me and leaving me to my fate, I decided to let him find out the hard way that he was headed towards a dead end.
I lay down beside Phenex and snuggled into him, struggling with his heavy arm as I wrapped it around my body to enjoy his warmth. I exhaled slowly, releasing all my annoyance at theFae and the stress of the past few days in that one breath. I knew it would come back eventually, but just for now, I wanted to sleep without the burden of the Unity Trials, cryptic clues that appeared out of nowhere, or mysterious prophecies and life-ruining curses. Just for now, I wanted to watch over the man I had decided would be mine forever, and who seemed to agree wholeheartedly.
* * * * *
I felt like I had only closed my eyes for a minute when I was jolted awake by the sound of shuffling nearby. At first, I thought it was just Phenex moving around, but then I nuzzled into his warm body, his arm tightening around me, and I realised it couldn’t possibly be him.
I bolted upright, my eyes wide as I tried to adjust to the darkness, cursing myself for falling asleep. I couldn’t see at all, which was a hint to the sound. That, and the low murmur of voices. People were approaching, and they were using the walls as a guide, brushing against them as they walked.
I nudged Phenex, rocking him awake. He mumbled something unintelligible as he roused, but I smacked my hand over his mouth to shut him up. His hands shot out to feel me, patting me down as if he were reassuring himself I was here, that I was real. Or perhaps it was the other way around, if he’d believed he was giving his life for mine. My heart melted even more for him, and I pressed myself against him again, pleased when he immediately calmed. His breath ruffled my hair as he sighed, and I leaned further into him.
He tensed at a particular loud thud, finally cluing in to what was going on around him. Someone must have stumbled, likely over the person in front of them. I sent out a small, discreet burst of magic to determine who it was, then stroked my fingers lightly over Phenex’s forearm to soothe him. It was just the Faereturning after discovering the dead end. He relaxed minutely but wrapped his arm around me to pull me back into his lap, and then he rose, holding me to him with one arm like he did before. Unfortunately, we weren’t as quiet as intended. He must have miscalculated the distance to the wall and ended up scraping his horns over the rocks, drawing the attention of the Fae.
They stilled, not even a breath to be heard, and then a yell I recognised as Evander’s cut through the quiet, and they sprang into action.
I cursed under my breath, then lifted my finger to illuminate the space again. ‘Lumen!’
They flinched back from the light, covering their eyes from the sudden assault, but recovered quickly. They pushed forward again, Evander leading the charge, only for his eyes to widen with recognition before he could bring his blade down on us. Phenex took advantage of his hesitation to shove him back and crouched protectively in front of me with a snarl.
Evander shouted something I didn’t understand, and the rest of the Fae paused and then backed down. Some sheathed their blades while others kept them out, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. I noted certain looks being sent our way, suspicion and distrust the dominant emotions among them.
Evander said something else to them, and they backed up further, but, again, I couldn’t understand his words. I frowned, unease twisting my gut.
‘Evander,’ I called out, and he angled his body so that he could keep an eye on both his people and Phenex, who was still blocking me from their view. I peeked out from behind him and asked the question that was making me second-guess everything I had thought I’d figured out about the Unity Trials so far.
‘Can you understand me?’
His frown told me everything I needed to know. The magic that had previously allowed us to communicate haddisappeared, leaving us at an incommunicable impasse yet again.
Panicked, I turned and asked the same to Phenex.
