A rift split the air, opening a dark portal. Serenna gaped, shocked that she’d effortlessly called the talent on her own.Of course the only time I’m motivated enough is when a male is involved.
Serenna wasn’t sure why she carried the decorative container Vesryn had left behind. It might as well be her own stupid heart in the box. She’d just throw it at his head if she didn’t like what he had to say for himself.
Serenna lifted her chin, stalking through the gateway to confront the prince.
CHAPTER 21
SERENNA
Bustling out from the portal, Serenna strode into a wall of shadows. Her body went rigid as she lost control of her limbs to the mob of rending. The box she carried tumbled out of her numb fingers, bouncing to a stone floor. Expecting gravel underneath her boots, she briefly frowned at the silver veins threaded through the polished marble before glaring at the shadows.
Compounding frustration toward the prince had her grinding her teeth.I portaled for the first time and he’s still testing me?
Serenna couldn’t see anything beyond the midnight cloud, but she could perceive Vesryn’s presence on the other side. Alarmed and irate.
Irritably drawing on her experience frompracticingwith the prince, Serenna whipped a gale of her own rending. She sliced through the shadowy shackles, incensed enough to summon the destructive talent without a second thought.
Regaining control of her body, Serenna stumbled through the dissipating magic, running into the longest table she’d ever seen. Her fingertips skidded against the grains of ironwood asshe righted herself. Scattered papers, maps, and figurines—representing what she assumed were cities or armies—lay arranged before her.
Did I portal to the capital’s war room? I thought I was going to the waterfall.
An echo of boots thudded behind her. A deep voice growled something she couldn’t understand, sounding like a threat of distant thunder.I’m sure I disturbed something Vesryn didn’t want me to see.Sensing his furious presence behind her, Serenna whirled to face him.
She met flaming eyes and flashing fangs.
With a shriek, Serenna stumbled backward, hips colliding into the table. Her heart pummeled the inside of her chest as she hauled on her magic, slamming a shield around herself.
Attempting to make sense of this dark-haired stranger who looked impossibly familiar, Serenna’s mind whirred with questions. She stared at his half-wraith appearance, analyzing him while her lungs hauled in air.
“Who—who are you?” Serenna stammered, scanning for an escape, searching for the prince.Vesryn must know him, right?
Her eyes rolled wildly, taking in the foreign surroundings that could’ve been carved from a rocky cavern. Sharp golden weapons festooned the stone walls accompanied by flames flickering in strange, spiraled sconces lining the edge of the room. Empty fireplaces somehow emitted rushes of air, heating the space.
The entire wall at the head of the table was glass, curving halfway around the room. The view opened up to a jagged mountain range where the sun crawled below snowy, desolate peaks. Serenna’s eyes darted across the frozen expanse, gaping at the unexpected landscape.I portaled farther than I thought.
“Where am I?” Serenna asked, her focus hesitantly returning to the elf-like wraith.
Judging from his spiked armor and the cunning lookburning in his eyes, Serenna assumed this male wasn’t like the mindless creature the prince had unleashed on her in the dungeons. The seams of his black leathers cut edges even sharper than his jawline. His trousers, the dark color impossible to discern, shimmered with iridescence in the fading sun.
The male peered at her with the same calculating interest that Naru provided the innards of a rabbit. But Serenna sensed that she repulsed him instead, a cockroach to be crushed under his boot.
Her eyes widened, registering that she could perceive his revulsion. Breath hitching on the revelation, the peril of her situation locked every muscle in denial. Covering her mouth, Serenna stifled a wordless gasp, fully identifying him in her mind.
It wasn’t Vesryn’s presence that had drawn her here. It was this stranger’s. The bond that distance must’ve dimmed, the silver cord now glaringly bright because of his proximity.It’s not possible.Fear had Serenna refortifying her shield, the violet magic protectively flaring around her.
Flicking a wrist, shadows streaked out from the male’s metal gauntlet, effortlessly slicing through her ward. Serenna’s body seized, snared in another bind of rending.
The realization of the bond engulfed her in a mute panic, robbing her ability to launch any counter strike. Chest drumming with paralyzed horror, Serenna helplessly watched the elf-wraith approach her, the heavy steps of his boots ominously echoing against the stone.
The stranger’s gaze dismissively passed over her before a pressure of force whipped the box she’d dropped into his palm. He flipped open the lid. Scarlet eyes reflecting torchlight thinned, veering to her before glancing back at the displayed Heart. He barked out a sudden laugh, the booming noise jarring Serenna’s pulse.
When he rolled his shoulders, it sounded like each vertebraein his spine cracked in half. Brows forming a severe ridge, his searing gaze riveted on her. “I see this stars-cursed bond proved useful after all.”
He knows what’s between us too.Struggling to drive air down her lungs, every fiber screamed at Serenna to flee from that intimidating stare.
Touching the relic, five colors sprang from the prism’s peak, confirming the obvious fact that this male had Essence. He grunted, jerking his head at the Heart. “How did you come by this?”
Serenna’s heart stuttered at his words as shadows continued to billow around her, shackling her in place.
