Page 78 of Ignite the Infernos

King Noctis still stands at the opposite end, silent, watchful, and the room starts to settle. As always his poker face is exemplary. I can’t gauge if he’s angry, apathetic, or thinking of something that has nothing to do with what’s happening in this room. At last, King Noctis sits and everyone else cautiously follows.

Aeson pulls my chair out and picks up the soft blanket that’s sitting there. He wraps it around me, gets me settled, and then takes his own seat.

“Blood brokers did that to you?” Duke Bleddyn asks from where he’s sitting on the other side of Aeson.

“They did,” I answer the large Thrasher, and I’m not surprised in the slightest when he uses his affinity to test the statement for dishonesty. “I was taken by a group who knew what I was. They hunted me, bled me often, and tortured me for fun.”

An unsettled murmur moves throughout the counts that still remain in the chamber, and a few of the dukes show obvious discomfort in the way they look away from me, or shift their weight in the seats as though they’d like to get up and leave.

“And you bonded with the Scion?” Duke Sato asks, but he doesn’t exactly sound interested; instead it’s as though he’s checking off a list of topics that we’re supposed to go over.

“I did.”

I look over at Aeson and reach for his hand. He threads our fingers together, lifting our palms to place a soft kiss on the back of my hand. The gesture is simple, and steeped with a surprising amount of devotion. My blood starts to blaze, and I can’t seem to tear my gaze away. I know we were supposed to be putting on a show, but my flashback has thrown everything off-kilter and this doesn’t feel like it’s for anyone but us anymore.

“And how is that going?” Duke Anjou inquires, the question tugging me free from Aeson’s gravitational pull.

“Well, our bond would be complete by now if it weren’t for your meddling,” I all but growl, feeling an intense wave of possession come over me.

My gaze locks on Duke Dowzer. The ringleader of this entire disrespectful waste of time.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he counters innocently.

“Exactly what I just said,” I lob right back. “How’s the hunt for my captors going? Any progress?”

His stare morphs into a censorious glower. “I cannot say, as I am not a part of the investigation.”

“Interesting,” I answer pointedly, but I’m distracted by Aeson’s com as it goes off.

He quickly scans whatever message was just sent, and instantly, I know it’s not good news. He looks up at me, jaw clenched and eyes hard with authority.

“Stay with your Wing and with Lorn. I’ll be back,” he orders, and then he’s out of his chair and hurrying out of the room before I can demand to go with him.

I turn to Lorn and then the king, but they’re as locked down as ever. My mind races with a million possibilities of what could be important enough to pull him away. None of them are good, a handful are catastrophic, and one could be the end of our world as we know it.

Chapter 34

Aeson

SECURITY BREACH: STOPPED—NOT ONGOING. Scion Noctis to OpTow IMMEDIATELY. The message keeps flashing in my mind as I race for the operations tower on the west side of the keep.

“What do we know?” I ask Ogdan, who shakes his head.

“They’re not giving any additional information. There’s concern that our channels aren’t secure,” he responds, sounding just as frustrated as I am.

“What the fuck does that mean?” Tove questions.

The answer that pops up in my mind has me pushing even faster. “It means sabotage . . . from within,” I snarl, confirming exactly what we’ve been trying to defend against from the moment Ever revealed that it was dragons, not wyverns, that killed her father.

“Do you think this is a distraction?” Chastain asks. “That we’re being led away from the real target?”

My heart starts pounding harder in my chest like it’s trying to break free and race back to Ever. A cold sweat creeps across my nape at the possibility he’s right.

“Even if it is, she has her own Wing now—” Farrow starts.

“But they’re untested; she barely even knows them,” I argue, suddenly questioning which direction I should be running—back to the chamber and to Ever, or toward an unknown threat.

“Julian and Tharvok are about as tested as it gets,” Ogdan assures me. “I’m shocked they even answered the Call to Arms—nobles have been begging them to be a part of their Wing for decades. Julian approves of each of Ever’s choices; it’s more than a solid team.”