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Her glare was cutting, but she had no sharp response this time.
The Chaos lord slid onto his welkin’s back with Tenah in tow, and Renton moved over to Aeyis’s winged beast, climbing atop.
Gireth hadn’t budged. “If you think I’m riding with my dick pressed up against either one of you…”
Renton tossed him a look of frustration. “Then sprout wings or pray the sea doesn’t crush you when you jump.”
Gireth remained rooted to the spot, his boots tapping at the ground anxiously. “You know I don’t leave a warrior behind,” he said slowly.
“She’s not a warrior, Gireth,” Renton corrected. “She’s a queen.”
“She’s a friend. One that will be in need of some decent company in a palace of snakes.”
Vesara didn’t cut in with her usual sassiness, and when Renton looked to her in assessment, he recognized the terror in her glacial eyes. She’d faced countless enemies, no doubt, and the thing that struck fear in her was ruling.
Renton gave a nod. “We’ll keep in touch.”
Then they were sky-bound, dropping off the edge of the Kandar Isles.
Chapter49
Tenah
Tenah jolted upright in an unfamiliar bed. She hissed, crisp white sheets dragging across her raw skin. Her body agonized over the slightest movement as she pulled the sheets all the way back. No more burns or scales or spikes. Only sensitive, angry, pink splotches remained.
Someone had changed her into a pair of sage green cotton shorts and a cream tunic with intricate eyelet detailing.
She laid there motionless, inhaling the peculiar scent of salt on the fresh, warm breeze wafting through two open windows. Golden sunlight poured in, casting the white stucco walls and framed, pastel landscapes in a holy glow. She craved that light, feeling as though she’d been trapped in the dark for years with only the occasional comfort of Rama’s touch in her channels as her healing source replenished.
All of Chaos’s voices ricocheting in her mind had slowly dulled to a whisper. Tamed for now but a constant reminder of just how much toxic magic she’d devoured in Firesteep when she’d slain Balhudhal.
Tenah wiggled her bare toes, frowning at the plum shade of polish on her nails. Vesara had painted her nails the same color once, and Tenah instantly pined for her friend. For all of her friends.
She swung her legs around to the edge of the bed. A sharp tug at the crook of her elbow alerted her of a needle and tube running from her arm to a skein of some fluid hanging from the wall.
What in the actual hell?
Tenah ripped the needle free and padded over to the nearest window, nerves soothed by the lapping of crystal waves on a white-sand beach before a mountainside city. The little villa she’d woken in was nearly at the top of the city, providing magnificent views of the coral reefs, shipwrecks, and the bustle of colorful, vertical cityscape.
An oasis, she thought, turning around to reassess her room. Tiny, flowering cacti hung from braided ropes, and chunky, knitted blankets rested at the end of the plain bed. Confusion muddled her brain at how she’d come to be in such a place.
She’d fallen from the sky. Heard the distinct crack of her wings when she hit the ground.
Wings.
Tenah reached a hand back and touched the sensitive, bony protrusions jutting from her skin on either side of her spine. She traced them all the way down to their ruined ends.
She rushed into the connected bathing room, eyes shooting wide at the reflection of her mutations. Muscles in her body went slack, dropping her into a crouch. She braced her head in her hands as the world lurched sideways. How long had she been healing, and still she wasn’t whole?
The urge to rip the deformities from her flesh was overwhelming. She sucked in a long breath and took another look in the mirror.
Movement in her peripheral had her shifting her body to hide the wings.
“It’s okay. I’ve already seen them.” Renton leaned against the doorframe of the small room and folded his arms over his chest. His hair shone like cornsilk, half pulled back. He wore a loose, dark green shirt that suited him. The sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. His black pants hugged his strong legs in a way that sent a shock of heat through her.
He looked surprisingly well, his jaw free of tension, his shoulders relaxed. Tenah closed the distance between them and yanked at the low collar of his shirt. His scar had healed over, faded to a milky white. No pulse of dark magic beckoned from under his skin.
She let her fingers fall away. “How long have I been out?”
