“What the bleeding stars are you doing?”
Jassyn spun to face the prince, snagging the top volume in his cradled stack before it slid off his pile.Could he at least pretend to be winded?Vesryn leaned back on his heels, studyinghim with an unnerving intensity. An uncomfortable silence loomed like thunderheads in the space between them.Distract him so he doesn’t notice anything is amiss.
Jassyn cleared his throat. “I’m organizing your collection.” Tearing free from the prince’s gaze, he squeezed a book in at the end of a shelf. “I don’t know how you find anything—if you even read. Who arranges by size and color?”
“I know where everything is.” Vesryn raised both brows, like he thought Jassynwas the mad one. “You happen to be dismantlingmybookcase.”
Hands slippery, Jassyn nearly fumbled the stack of volumes. “Well, obviously, you’ve spent no time in a library if you believe that this is the appropriate way to file your collection.”
“Fine, MagusMeticulous. Have it your way.” Vesryn toweled off and tossed the cloth to a chair.“Are you going to tell me the reason for your visit? Or are you simply here to molest my tomes?”
Scowling, Jassyn evaded the question, rummaging for something else to say. He retrieved the texts from the next shelf, spreading them across an end table, determining how many he’d have to accommodate.
“I heard the magisters are crediting the training you required of us as the reason we survived.” Mood turning bleak like the storm, Jassyn neglected acknowledging his absence during the assault. However, he believed Vesryn deserved recognition for how thoroughly he’d prepared the magus for a confrontation—not that anyone ever expected one to take place on their island.
First I’m pushing him toward Serenna, now I’m stroking his ego. Stars, something is seriously wrong with me.
Vesryn shouldered on a loose black tunic, his voice muffled before his head emerged. “Thirty percent of our recruits perished at the hands of those beasts.” He brushed away the loose hair spilling across his face. “I failed to keep Centaryasafe. Neither the rangers nor I have been able to locate the wraith.”
Jassyn’s thoughts skittered around the elven wraith he’d saved, having wondered more than once where he’d portaled to.He’s still out there. Somewhere.
“There’s fewer than a hundred dracovae riders,” Jassyn said quietly, while he finished ordering the shelf. “The burden of responsibility isn’t only yours to bear. I simply wanted to tell you that you have the magus’ respect.”
Vesryn wandered to the dining table. “We’ve spent the past three days scouring the realms,” he nearly growled, pouring water from a silver pitcher. Half the liquid sloshed over the side of the glass. “We’re no closer to finding the wraith now than we were eighty years ago when they broke free from the dungeons.”
The prince clenched his jaw before draining the goblet. Jassyn jumped when Vesryn slammed the empty glass back on the table before filling another cup. Abruptly pivoting, the prince prowled in his direction before shoving the water at him.
“Am I supposed to guess why you’re here?” Vesryn demanded. “I find it hard to believe that you came all this way to compliment me.”
Jassyn’s heart battered his ribs as the prince’s gaze swept over him, calculating eyes narrowing, seeing far too much. Opting for silence, Jassyn snatched the offered glass, greedily downing the contents.
“You’re sweating more than me and I have a feeling it isn’t from your spectacular exertion of arranging my shelves.” Vesryn crossed his arms, fingers drumming. “When was the last time?”
“I—” Betrayed by his body, a renewed wave of tremors pillaged control of Jassyn’s muscles, rippling him like a sheet in the wind. He tightened his grip around the cup, his thoughts spiraling too quickly to snatch at an answer.
“You’ve consumed Stardust.” It was more of a statement than a question. Vesryn frowned before realization flickeredin his gaze. “Your mind was clouded the night of the attack when I telepathically linked with you.” He released a disbelieving grunt. “I dismissed it as your typical way of shielding from me.”
Jassyn leaned back as Vesryn raided his space, scrutinizing his face. The prince shook his head, tone tightening. “Judging from all those vessels blown in your eyes, you’re getting close to hallucinating from the withdrawal.”
Locking his knees, Jassyn carefully inched away from the prince. Before losing sensation in the rest of his extremities, he placed the cup on an end table. The empty glass rattled against the ebony wood.
Apprehension soaked Jassyn’s leathers as he anticipated Vesryn’s interrogation and eruption. He swallowed, the acknowledgment coming out as a hoarse whisper, his voice as unsteady as his limbs. “I—I need help.”
The admission wasn’t as freeing as he’d expected since Vesryn wasted no time restraining his shoulder, jutting his chin toward a chair. A command to sit.
No going back now.Jassyn crumbled onto a couch before his knees buckled. Pulling a throw pillow to his chest, he braced himself against an overwhelming surge of guilt.
Pouring another glass of water and setting it beside him, Vesryn drilled him with pointed questions about his habits, likely determining how severe the consequences should be.
“Initially, I took enough Stardust for memory loss,” Jassyn admitted, running a hand through his curls, “but lately—”
“You’ve been blacking out?” Vesryn interjected, voice pitching high. His eyes bulged as he froze in the middle of sitting next to Jassyn on the sofa.
Gripping the armrest, Jassyn scooted to the edge when Vesryn resumed reclining, stealing most of the space. “I know it was foolish but—”
The prince interrupted him. “Stars, you’re lucky you’re notdead.” Vesryn untied the leather strap at the top of his head, shaking his hair free.
“I thought the dust would help…” Words abandoning him, Jassyn knew he had no excuse for indulging. “I only wanted to make my servitude to the Vallendes bearable. But if the wraith return…” Jassyn cleared his throat, regret killing the remaining words on his tongue.
