Violet light fountained under her fingertips, lacing along the rock like a spider’s web. The invisible woven ward silently hummed in response, igniting to reveal a crystalline grid. Threads of power slithered against the stone as Serenna twined Essence around the shield’s knots, unraveling the magic locking the door.
She spared a quick glance at Vesryn, about to ask if it was possible to sever the ward with a slash of rending, but she sensed that he wasn’t in the mood to suffer a conversation.I wish he’d explain what this is about.
Serenna retreated a step when the shield’s remaining fibers disintegrated, crumbling like ash. Waiting for further instruction, her Essence shimmered around them.
Flicking his wrist, Vesryn shoved the rock inward with a pulse of force. Serenna cringed, stone grating against stone as his magic drove the slab away from the opening, sliding againstthe ground. A sudden burst of light radiating from the chamber made her squint.
Serenna’s stomach clenched when Vesryn seized her wrist, his fingertips stronger than steel. He dragged her inside the cell. After several moments of blinking against the blazing brightness, her eyes focused on a hulking figure across the room.
A wraith.
Serenna gasped, terror stripping the breath from her lungs. The monster went wild, snarling and gnashing its fangs. Fear impaled her like a javelin of ice, freezing her mind, shattering any thoughts. Essence deserted her as the sight of those blood-red eyes had her instinctively dashing to flee.
Before Serenna could scamper a pace, Vesryn nearly ripped her arm out of its socket, hauling her back to his side. Panic speared her as she frantically flailed against the prince’s unrelenting grip.
“Calm down!” Vesryn shouted, spinning her around to face the wraith. “Stars, it’s secured.”
Unable to draw in enough air, Serenna panicked as the prince forced her to stare at the creature. His fingers gouged into her shoulders, anchoring her in place. Upon seeing coils of rending shackling the wraith to the opposite end of the stark cell, Serenna slowly reclaimed control of her breathing.
The chained wraith’s bared fangs dripped saliva, as if desperate to shred them with its teeth. Dirty from the squalor of the prison, tattered clothing hung from its gaunt form, clinging to indigo skin. Its crimson eyes rolled, savage and feral, a mindless beast in humanoid form. This wasn’t one of the wraith from the attack.
Vesryn turned Serenna back around, jade gaze boring into hers. “You lost control of your power.” His hands tightened against her. “That can’t happen. Even if you’re terrified.” Serenna flinched, the prince’s sharp words cutting like a blade. “You need to stay in control.”
Shame scalded Serenna’s cheeks, her ineptitude on display once again. She swallowed, her words broken. “Why am I here?”
Vesryn seized the front of her leathers, drawing her up to her toes. “Because,” he snarled in her face, more vicious than the monster in the chamber. “You need to master your power to protect yourself. You almost died,” he raged, shaking her. “Ifeltit!” The prince’s word ricocheted off the stone walls, slamming against her. “And there wasn’t anything I could do!”
The heat of his fury scorched Serenna through their connection, stinging her worse than a slap. He’d never raised his voice like that—so inflamed. The intensity of his ranting had her blinking back startled tears, helpless against the crash of his anger surging through the bond.
“I couldn’t portal without risking a horde of wraith coming through with me, and I couldn’t rend them all fast enough to reach you.” Vesryn’s fists trembled against her leathers. He yanked in ragged breaths, eyes unhinged. “Thank the stars you managed to defend yourself.”
Releasing her, the prince crossed his arms, staring up at the ceiling. Serenna sensed him collecting himself, leashing his emotions, but the rapid rise and fall of his shoulders didn’t abate.
He drew a hand over his face, shaking his head. “I can’t afford to have you be my weakness.” Vesryn sounded like he was talking more to himself than her.
Serenna flinched, his words rattling her like thunder. Her heart skidded to a halt.So he’s finally figured out what this connection between us means—a weakness because of my incompetence.Imagining the likely possibility of him rejecting the bond instead of accepting it fully, disappointment cleaved her chest.He’s giving me one more chance to prove myself, and all I’ve done is demonstrate that he shouldn’t have wasted his time.
Restraining her hands from reaching out, Serenna folded them across her middle. The reassurance of touch would’veonly been for her benefit anyway. She knew she wouldn’t find any until she honed her abilities to the prince’s standards.
Her voice cracked, on the verge of breaking. “What do I have to do?”
Vesryn gathered his power. The radiance of his magic shimmered around them like the sun glinting off of the ocean’s waves. Flicking a hand, the stone door screeched against the floor, ramming shut. Locking them in with the wraith.
The prince jerked his head toward the snarling monster. “You’ve killed them before.” It wasn’t a question, but Serenna nodded anyway. “You need to do it again. Every time.”
“What?” Serenna’s brows jumped up her face. She glanced at the defenseless wraith thrashing against its magical restraints. Her horrified revelation came out as a whisper. “You want me to kill it?”
“No, I don’t want you to kill it,” Vesryn snapped. “Yet.” He scowled at the creature. “I have another use for it. Gather your power,” he ordered, implying she didn’t have any choice.
He grabbed her arm. Serenna tensed, tracking a splinter of darkness spinning from the prince’s palm, aimed at the wraith. When the rending restraining the creature unraveled, Vesryn shoved her in the monster’s direction.
Serenna didn’t even have time to scream before the wraith charged her.
CHAPTER 7
LYKOR
“Stop!”
