Page 82 of May: Bloom & Bane

The snap at my spine is louder than the rattling bookshelves. My robes shred from the sudden, violent emergence of metal. My skin splits like wet leather being forced apart.

Two massive spans of solid gold arc from my shoulder blades, the metal still slick with the divine substance that serves as my blood. The tips of my wings bite into the ceiling, splintering the wood as I draw myself up to my full height.

Arteus stirs at my back.

New letters pop up across Tellian’s skin.

R

O

S

I freeze, my elauvhe dropping to the floor. My fangs drop slowly, venom sacks already beginning to swell.

“Tellian,” Damon’s voice calls carefully. “Put it away. Now.”

E

L

I

“Tellian,” he urges, “Put. It. Away.”

The last letter -A- settles on Tellian’s skin, pulsing with a gold light that makes my vision swim red.

ROSELIA.

“Therael,” Damon says under his breath. “Pull your fangs back in. You do not want to do something you cannot take back.”

Arteus moves without my permission, uncoiling from my shoulders and slithering over the floor until he finds Tellian’s feet. He winds upward, each coil settling around him with practiced patience.

The squeeze begins, barely anything at first.

“Your charge could not keep his roots from choking Rasen. Neither can you, or your pet.”

Every book goes silent as Arteus’s tongue darts out, finding the air beside Tellian’s ear.

“At leassst,” he hisses, “we know where our mate isss.”

Words begin shooting chaotically across his skin. Books fall from the shelves onto the floor.

“Arteus, enough.” Damon steps forward, his usual charm abandoned. He turns to Tellian, his eyes as dark as pitch. “You used her name. That goes against our code. You do not get to be offended by the repercussions.”

Damon places his hand on my shoulder, the way it has across centuries. “Brother, we need him. You know that. Rein it in.”

My fangs retract painfully, my unused venom sliding warmly down my throat. My elauvhe lifts from the ground one burgundy leaf at a time.

“Find the cure,” I force out.

Arteus uncoils from his body, returning to my shoulders. His tongue flicks once in Tellian’s direction, and Tellian’s hand shoots out over his forearm to cover her name.

“Pull sssomething like that again, Professsor, and I will come back when Therael isss indisssposed.”

CHAPTER 27

this isn’t difficult