The princess disappeared, completely vanishing before my eyes as Fuchsia picked up the other one, positioning his mangled face toward his chest, and started walking away with him.
“Don’t move,” Fuchsia called over his shoulder. His voice sounded eerily familiar, but I knew it was just my brain playing tricks on me. “We’ll be right back, Sie.”
Then I was alone again. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.
I leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes, too exhausted to try and break out of the illusion.
SEVEN
SCOTLIND
“I’msorry I didn’t tell you,” Tezya broke the silence the next morning. We’d barely spoken since Kallon first portaled us back, and other than him telling me to take the bed later that night, this was the first time he was talking to me. He must have sensed with his ability that I needed space, needed time to sort out my feelings, and even though we were alone, I wasn’t ready.
I had thought about talking to him numerous times throughout the awkward silence-filled night. I even played out various conversations inside my head, but I never got the courage to speak.
And when I wasn’t thinking about being alone with Tezya and what to say to him, I was worried sick for Peter and Dovelyn. Kallon should be relatively safe since she was waiting outside the trench—not that swimming in frigid water was easy, even with Dovelyn’s protective shield. But if Peter and Dovelyn got trapped inside the prison, if they didn’t make it out… I couldn’t think about it. It’s the reason Kallon wanted to stay close to them and not just portal back after twenty-four hours. If something went wrong, she needed to know right away.
I’d been sitting on the edge of the bed with my back turned to Tezya since I’d woken up. Even with the sheer curtains pulled shut, I could still make out human figures moving about and starting their day.
I barely slept throughout the night, even though Tezya left the bed empty. He stayed awake, staring at the motel door, just as anxious about what was happening as I was. His sister went in with Peter, and as much as I didn’t particularly care for Dovelyn, I knew she meant a lot to Tezya, and she was risking her life because of it.
I turned my head to look at him. He was still leaning against the far wall with his arms crossed over his chest. His shirt was off and his black pants were rolled past his calves. I had used my abilities to pull the water off of us last night, before changing into warmer clothes, and Tezya had created a small floating fire above us until the embers wore off. But we recovered from the hypothermia of the trench way too quickly. The mortal territory we were stuck in was humid and smothering, feeling more like we were trapped in a ball full of steam than a room. And the worst part of this place was that Kallon told me it was close to the end of winter, meaning it only got worse as the months dragged on. Lux was hot, but without an air user’s shield, the humidity of this place felt like a whole new world.
“Is that really necessary?” I asked him, gesturing to the shirt he had tossed over the bed. Even though it was boiling in here, and my own clothes were soaked through, he didn’thaveto take his shirt off.
“It’s hot in here,” was all he said.
“Aren’t you worried about a mortal seeing you through the window?” His black Luxian markings were on full display, appearing over his skin through the sweat.
“Dove put a shield over the window and door. If anyone looks in, the room will appear empty. No one can see us.”
I swallowed. Hard.
“It’s another reason we’re heading north today. We won’t have to worry about the heat or the constant rain that happens here. The humans will start raising questions if our markings appear out of thin air.”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t know where to begin. I could barely focus without his shirt on—I hated that I couldn’t stop staring, that he looked way too hot half naked and covered in sweat—so I turned back around.
A long moment passed, and I thought we’d go back to ignoring each other, but then he said, “I’m sorry, Scotlind. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” He must have sensed my emotions, had known that my own thoughts were still lingering on him. There were more important things to think about right now than our relationship, or lack thereof. But I couldn’t help it. Being stuck with Tezya all night had my thoughts drifting to him just as much as it did my friends.
“You promised me,” I started, turning back around on the bed to face him. “You promised me no more lies.” My mind whirled on everything he kept from me. I didn’t know if he was ever honest with me—from being the prince, to the prophecy, to what I’d overheard from his conversation with Dovelyn. Had he known the entire time why I was sent to Tennebris? He told me about my real parents after Yule. Had he known it was his sister’s fault that they died?
Tezya’s crystal blue eyes met mine. I could just make out the specks of silver in them from where I sat on the bed. Some days, I swore the specks grew and took over the coloring. “I know, and I regret it.” He rubbed his finger over his palm, over his scab from where we created our bond.
“Do you regret not telling me, or do you regret that I found out?” I didn’t pause long enough for him to answer before I continued, “Would you have ever told me? If you hadn’t neededto use your compulsion to get us past the guards that day, would you have told me the truth?”
“It’s complicated, Rumor.”
“No, it’s really not.” When he didn’t respond after the first millisecond, I added, “Forget I said anything.”
“I don’t want to forget, please. Let me try to explain.”
“No.” I turned back around to stare out the window. “I don’t want to talk to you.”
A moment passed, and I didn’t know if he would press further, but then he sighed, “You can bathe if you want. They have a shower here, not a tub, in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Okay, well I’m showering.”
