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Chapter 37

Aella

My limbs are heavy now that the rush of energy I’d felt during the fight is gone. I tremble in clothes still damp with black blood.

But I force myself to stand tall and meet the gazes staring back at me.

They’re all here—Kato, Cynna, Silas, Rhaya, and even Titaia—scattered around the room, their faces grim. Lyxander stands at my side, and I take what little comfort I can in the heat of his presence.

No one is speaking. No one moves.

But my mind is frantic.

They saw.

I know they did. I can see it in the way Kato’s eyes won’t quite meet mine, in the tight set of Cynna’s jaw, in the way Silas and Rhaya exchange uneasy glances. They saw the wind answer me, the truth I’ve been so careful to hide. Titaia, at least, simply looks concerned, her gaze darting between faces and our bloodstained clothes. But if she had seen what I did, she would likely look at me differently too.

The image of Ares sprawled against the wall, his eyes dim with pain, flashes through my mind, and my stomach twists violently.

What if I’d killed him?

Heat brushes the back of my hand, and I glance up, meeting Lyxander’s gaze.

His knuckles brush against mine again in the barest of touches. Slowly, deliberately, I force my fingers to uncurl, the tension in my body easing ever so slightly.

“Well, that was…something,” Kato says. “I mean, I’ve seen a lot of things in my time, but that? That was new.”

“You’re not even thirty, and you’ve never left the mountains,” Rhaya says dryly.

“Yes, but I’ve still seen things,” Kato replies. “It’s not every day you see a chimera torn apart like that.”

My stomach churns again as they all turn their stares back on me.

“I don’t know if it’s as impressive as calling lightning down from the sky,” Cynna says.

I choke on a laugh, running a hand through my tangled hair.

I can’t see a way out of this. There’s no lie, no cover story that could possibly explain away what they saw. And if I’m honest with myself, I don’t want to lie to them. I am so tired—tired of hiding, tired of pretending to be someone else, anything else, than who I truly am.

I’ve only spent a few weeks with them, but in that time, they’ve done more for me than most have in my entire life. They’ve worked together to help me emerge, even though no one asked them to. Even though they didn’t have to.

I’m not ready to trust them with everything. But I trust Lyxander. I trust the quiet understanding that’s grown between us. And I trust the bond he shares with his kin, the way it holds them together. Perhaps, for now, that’s enough.

“I’m sure it doesn’t need saying, after what you all saw,” I begin, my voice calm despite the tightness in my chest. “But just so we’re clear, I can control the wind.”

“You don’t say,” Kato responds sarcastically.

Rhaya nudges him with her elbow, shooting him a look.

“How is that even possible?” Silas asks.

“I don’t know,” I admit. “My theïkós awakened when I was thirteen, but I’ve kept it suppressed ever since. I didn’t understand it then, and I still don’t fully understand it now.”

Rhaya’s amber eyes soften, her usual sharpness giving way to something gentler. “Does anyone else know?” she asks quietly.

Before I can answer, Titaia chimes in. “I did.”

“We’ll be summoned soon,” Lyxander says, stepping up to my side. “The queen and the council will want a report of what happened. And we need to decide what we tell them.”