Nadia said, “Are you sure it was your father’s order?”
“Fedora gloated about it,” I snapped.
Nadia and Drystan exchanged a look, communicating silently, which irked me.
I raised a hand swirling with shadows. “Tell me why I have this.”
Drystan answered, “I didn’t want to mention it in case it didn’t happen for you; not all riders can harness their dragon’s power. I figured you would have by now if it were possible, but it seems your sulking after losing Nightsdeath might have suppressed it. All it took to unlock was the acute rage of Nightsdeath.”
I looked up at the circling black dragon; occasionally Athebyne dipped through the clouds too. It dawned on me…
“You can use fire?”
“You might have broken that ice yourself eventually, but I gave you a good helping hand,” he said smugly.
“How long have you been able to do that?” I groused.
“Hey, you should be happy for me!”
I had to close my eyes for a moment of sanity.
My brother could use fire magick when Athebyne was around. It was incredible and my sharp irritation was only because of the secrecy.
“Why wouldn’t you tell me?” I amended.
“I was waiting to see if you reached Eltanin’s magick.”
When his reason sank in, I felt like shit. He hadn’t wanted to show off his new power for the sake of my feelings. As if I would resent him for it if I couldn’t achieve the same with Eltanin.
My anger cooled at that.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Eltanin found us, and we thought to make sure you weren’t dead, given how he was wounded,” Drystan explained.
“I appreciate it,” I mumbled. I would tell him about Rastaban and his fight with Eltanin later.
The shadowy starlight circled and primed around me just as it used to, yet instead of anger and resentment, which usually caused the darkness to answer me, all I felt was peace and wonder.
“Do you know where father is?” Drystan asked.
My jaw and fists clenched.
“I’m willing to bet he’s right back where it all started. On the stolen throne that was always his objective.”
And he’s not getting the villain he created this time. To protect Astraea, I’m much fucking worse.
44Astraea
Waking after a battle of water and fire was a torture unlike anything I’d felt before. My entire body was burning from the inside, but I was unable to extinguish it with air when I was drowning. Again.
My panic-clouded mind couldn’t recall how many times I had died like this. My vision was blurry and darkness threatened to pull me unconscious once more. At least the suffering in between was quick.
Right before the light winked out completely, the water released me, slapping me like a wet blanket against unforgiving ground. I spluttered and gasped, but the fire in my lungs wouldn’t extinguish. I never thought I would wish for death just for a period of relief, but the agony was so intense.
“You’re already proving yourself very useful.”
I knew that voice. It made my consciousness weave together faster when being vulnerable in his company could spill a more permanent end for me.
