“I’ve already checked.” Jassyn waved for Vesryn to follow.
His attention hooked on a patrol of Kyansari’s soldiers, white plated armor clinking. In his sweep of the warriors, Jassyn registered the blank look in their faces that Vesryn had mentioned. They didn’t even acknowledge or salute the prince.
Holding his breath, Jassyn couldn’t shake the unsettled feeling stirring in his gut while they passed. He’d have to relay this to Nelya—at the prince’s request, they’d begun organizing a ring of trusted magus to track anything unusual.
“What do you mean you’ve ‘already checked?’” Vesryn asked, ignoring the squadron and lengthening his stride to return to Jassyn’s side.
“I assessed you after thatexcitementin your bathing chambers.” Rounding the empty Rending Field, a soft breeze whispered through the Infirmary’s line of lavender hedges. “If youdon’t remember, it’s probably because you were busy going stupid staring at Serenna.”
“I was impaled. Multiple times,” Vesryn bristled, shooting him a scowl. “And don’t you find that a little invasive?” Igniting his power, the prince blasted the Infirmary doors with a pulse of force rather than bothering to push on the handle.
“Like you’re someone who has any right to speak about personal space,” Jassyn hissed, lowering his voice so as to not to disturb the few menders closing the healing wing for the evening.
Winding through the Infirmary’s alcoves, Jassyn skated in front of the prince when they arrived at the magister’s office. He intended to knock on Thalaesyn’s door to give his mentor some type of warning, but Vesryn shouldered past him, charging through.
The room revealed its chaotic state—scattered research amid a jungle of clutter. Jassyn’s attention darted toward his cousin.Vesryn isn’t going to know what to rummage through first with all the debris in here.
Surprisingly, the prince remained focused on Thalaesyn, sitting behind his desk. Vesryn plowed around precarious stacks of books on the verge of teetering over, waded over the crumpled scrolls bunched into waves of paper on the floor, and avoided an overflowing wastebasket ringed by a puddle of ink stained into the tile.
The magister rose and saluted the prince with a hand over his heart. Out of his typical robes, his loose tunic hung over a pair of soft breeches. Jassyn assumed their arrival had disrupted his evening routine. His attention drifted to the sofa, unable to comprehend why Thalaesyn preferred to spend his nights on the tattered couch rather than in the Spire’s comfortable apartments.
Thalaesyn’s gray eyes sharpened on them. “Prince Vesryn.”
Jassyn noted his mentor’s bloodshot gaze as he closed thedoor, hesitantly joining his cousin. He began clearing off the tomes and papers drowning the chairs across from the magister’s desk.
“We have some questions,” Vesryn said. Flicking a hand, a wave of Essence shimmered, unfolding into a portal in the only empty space.
“We can have our discussion here,” Jassyn protested, stacking the volumes on the floor. Wincing at his mentor, he wanted to avoid giving the impression that this was an interrogation. He suspected going to Vesryn’s office might put Thalaesyn on the defensive before they had a chance to gather any information.
“I’m not risking any of the menders walking in.” Vesryn slanted his head to the rift, commanding the magister to go through.
Igniting his magic, Jassyn tossed a hand toward the exit, hastily shielding the door. “Now we have privacy.”
Thalaesyn’s eyes volleyed between them before he drew himself up, tucking a strand of golden hair behind a pointed ear. Vesryn blew out a breath before scruffing Thalaesyn by the back of his shirt, steering him through the portal.
Jassyn blinked as they disappeared.Did he seriouslyabductthe magister?
CHAPTER 16
JASSYN
Jassyn rushed through the gateway, gasping as icy rain pelted him from every direction. Sheltering his face, he wiped the pouring water out of his eyes. Having expected Vesryn’s portal to transport them to the Spire, Jassyn spun around, orienting himself with the surroundings.
Lightning flashed over an endless expanse of churning waters, momentarily stealing his sight. The gateway behind him faded as his focus landed on the prince.
Standing under an overhang dangling from a husk of a building, Vesryn clutched the magister’s arm as if expecting Thalaesyn to open his own rift and flee. Desperate to curb the prince’s rash behavior before another reckless impulse struck him, Jassyn darted across what looked to be the ruins of a deteriorating stone dock.
Waves from the surrounding black ocean crashed over the ledge, surging around his boots. Dashing toward the prince, Jassyn reined in his confusion as he slid over the algae clinging to the slippery surface.
He raised his voice to be heard over the thunder warring with the wind. “Why didn’t you portal us to your office?”
Every frantic heartbeat doubled his questions and dismay. To combat the darkness, Jassyn flared globes of illumination, the wisps of light nearly swallowed by the night. He flinched as another charge of energy gathered in the air. Toppled towers flashed through the hazy mist, outlined by a spinning barrage of rain. Thunder rattled the crumbled stones, the proximity of the storm rippling a shiver across his spine. The lip of the ancient tiled roof hardly offered any shelter from the ocean’s raging spray.
“You can’t abduct the magister,” Jassyn protested when Vesryn just shrugged, despite knowing that no one regulated the prince. Every hair on his neck lifted in alarm before a strike of lightning blasted into the sea, the explosion of crashing waves drowned out by the thunder’s roar. “Where in the bleeding stars are we?”
Vesryn swept away water dripping down his face and released his hold on the Thalaesyn. He vaguely waved a hand around the ruins, ignoring the magister’s tight-lipped fury. “What’s left of this isle is the remains of Halaema’s first capital. It collapsed into the sea during a quake centuries ago. No one will find us here. Although…” Vesryn studied the brewing tempest. “We have little time. The Maelstrom seems to hunt Essence wielders on its waters. You have until the storm gets closer to evaluate Thalaesyn.”
“Evaluate?” Thalaesyn fumed, yanking his tunic straight from the prince’s jostling.
