by Lynette Noni
Alex wasn’t a fool—she knew the city of Meya was Ground Zero for Aven’s entire army. Facing him there would result in nothing but death. The only hope her friends had was a stealthy escape, something she alone could offer.
“That’s not entirely true,” Kaiden disagreed quietly, and his meaningful look had Alex gasping with the realisation that he was the exception. Relief washed over her at the knowledge that she wouldn’t have to go in alone, even as fear shook her bones at the risk they would both be taking.
“Kaiden’s right,” Hunter agreed. “He’s been trained since infancy to protect his mind from gift manipulation. Not even Signa Zu can get a read on him.”
Signa Zu—the strongest mind reader in Aven’s army. At the Soori Outpost and later at Sir Oswald’s dinner party, he hadn’t been able to read Kaiden’s thoughts—both places in which Hunter had been ghosting them during their overnight SAS trip.
“But he’s not the only one,” Hunter said, holding Alex’s gaze.
His pointed expression had her belatedly realising that the only way he would have been able to watch over them that weekend—while using his gift of perception and awareness to monitor their progress—was if he’d been near enough to jump in should things go wrong. That meant Signa should have noticed his presence, wherever he’d been hiding.
“Your mind is protected?” Alex asked, her eyes wide.
He answered with a single nod, but he didn’t give further details—not that Alex expected him to, since his whole life seemed to be shrouded in mystery.
“Then the three of us will go in together,” Kaiden said.
Alex’s relief grew at the thought of their Stealth and Subterfuge teacher being with them on the mission, his expertise increasing their odds of success significantly—even if those odds were still alarmingly low.
“You still don’t have a way to get in,” Darrius said, his voice full of concern. With Lena Morrow nullifying his gift of wisdom, Alex realised his confidence must still be in tatters. But at least he was no longer point-blank saying she shouldn’t go. Not that she would have listened. While she valued his opinion and guidance, the lives of her three best friends were at stake. Nothing would keep her from trying to save them. Nothing.
“As Hunter said, our only option is to use the Valispath,” she replied.
“But as you said, as soon as anyone other than you three gets close, Aven will know,” Declan returned, clearly frustrated that he would have to remain behind.
Alex sent him a compassionate look, but there was nothing that could be done about it. No one could go with them unless their mind was protected—and that meant Meyarins as well.
“I have an idea, but we have to go to Draekora first for it to work,” Alex said, feeling the pressure of the clock beating in time with her strained pulse.
Intrigued eyes turned her way, but she wasn’t willing to verbalise her plan just yet. Mostly because the very idea of it was turning her stomach.
Pushing down her trepidation, Alex looked at Mayra and said, “As soon as Fletcher has stabilised Soraya, can you bring him up to Draekora? I’m going to… need his help.”
Mayra’s eyes flashed at whatever note she heard in Alex’s voice, but she nodded her agreement.
“While we’re gone, you’ll need to raise the alarm,” Alex continued, looking between Darrius and Karter. “Make sure everyone is preparing for—for—”
For the end.
Because Alex knew that was what they were facing.
Her aim was to get her friends to safety, but after that, the time would be at hand to confront Aven once and for all.
“We’ll contact the allied armies,” Karter promised with a brusque nod. “You just focus on the rescue, then we’ll deal with the rest once you’re all back safe again.”
‘Safe’ wasn’t something any of them would be, even if they managed to pull off their coming mission. No one was safe— and they wouldn’t be, not until Aven was defeated. If that was even possible anymore.
‘Screw the prophecy,’ Niyx had told her. ‘Forget what it said—both versions of it. You go and make your own destiny.’
Bolstered by the memory, Alex rose to her feet. “We need to go.”
“Wait—Alex—”
With a groan, she turned to Darrius, but before she could again argue that time was of the essence, the look on his face caused her to pause.
“There’s still that—that last thing you need to know.”
Alex had never seen him look at her as he now was. Apology, regret, despair, compassion—she couldn’t get a read on his expression, but it was enough to send a shiver of apprehension down her spine.
He moved until he was right in front of her, his face pale. He was hesitant, alarmingly so. Until finally, he spoke.
“Two weeks ago, Sir Camden came to me. He said—He said—” Darrius shut his eyes tightly before reopening them to hold her own. “I’m so sorry, Alex.”
Alex had no idea what he was apologising for, no idea what the animated suit of armour might have told him. And yet, dread clenched at her insides as she asked, “Sorry for what?”
Darrius’s throat bobbed. “Two weeks ago, your parents left the Library in search of you. Sir Camden tried to warn them not to go, but they hadn’t heard from you, and they were worried.”
Alex’s body stilled.
“The timing was… not good. They walked out just as a small group of Meyarins attacked the campus. But there were also others amongst them, one of whom was Marcus Sparker.”
Jordan’s dad—who was a strong mind reader.
No.
“There was nothing to keep Marcus from discovering who they were—and who they were to you,” Darrius whispered.
Alex didn’t know when Kaiden’s arms had closed around her, but they were now all that kept her on her feet.
“Darrius.” She breathed his name through trembling lips, a plea for him to not be saying what she most feared.
“He took them, Alex,” Darrius continued whispering. “I don’t—It’s been two weeks, and we haven’t heard anything. I don’t know if—if—”
If they’re still alive.
He didn’t need to say the words for Alex to hear the doubt in his voice.
But that wasn’t all she heard.
Because echoing through her mind were the screams from the future vision, the sounds of her parents being tortured, their deaths being dragged out slowly—so agonisingly slowly.
Trapped in the nightmare of her worst fears coming alive, she barely felt the light touch of fingers caressing her face; she barely heard Kaiden whispering into her ear, telling her to breathe— telling her that Aven would have made it known if he’d killed her parents, that he would have crowed it triumphantly just to devastate her.
His words managed to penetrate the screams still reverberating through her mind, silencing them enough for her to draw air into her lungs. She focused on Kaiden’s face just inches from her own, his gaze steady on hers, his arms strong around her, grounding her in the present. He was right—Aven would have announced it if her parents were already dead. And as long as they were alive, there was still hope for them, no matter what horrors they might have faced in the two weeks since they’d been taken.
“We have to get them.” Her words were barely a breath of sound, but Kaiden nodded, silently promising that they would.
She looked from Darrius to Karter to Mayra to Declan, then finally to Hunter and back to Kaiden before inhaling deeply and repeating her earlier statement, “We need to go.”
The steadiness of her voice seemed to shock everyone other than Kaiden and Declan, both of whom had seen her overcome trial after trial during the past week, both of whom had witnessed what she was capable of under pressure.
“I’ll meet you in the Library,” Hunter said, eyeing her warily, as if waiting for her to burst into hysterics. When she didn’t, a hint of approval shone in his gaze. “I just need to grab a few things first.”
He took of
f, and Alex turned to those who remained, repressing all thoughts of her parents, determined to believe they were alive and would soon be reunited with her. She would not yield to her dread, she would not surrender to her fear. Her parents—and her friends—needed her to be strong, needed her to be focused.
After reminding Mayra to deliver Fletcher to Draekora as soon as possible, and again telling Darrius and Karter to send word to the mortal armies, both Alex and Kaiden gave Declan tight hugs and promised with quiet but hopeful optimism to see him again soon. Then they hurried towards the Library, their urgency tangible and only increasing when they stopped in the now lit foyer to wait for Hunter.
With the Lockdown no longer in effect, Alex sought to distract herself by perusing the walls as she jigged impatiently from foot to foot, trying to keep her mind off everything that was about to happen by focusing on the ever-changing paintings.
The waterfall she’d once fallen through had rotated back into view, along with the image of the fire-lit bedroom she’d once visited for an afternoon nap. There were also real-life, uninhabited depictions of cities she’d ventured to, perfect representations of Graevale, Maroo, Mardenia, Dupressa and the underwater Nialas. Meya was also there, its spiralling Myrox towers somehow glowing with an inner light even in portrait form. But it was the illustration of Tryllin that caused her eyes to well, knowing what had befallen the once vibrant human city and many of those within it.
Sensing her distress, Kaiden turned her from the walls, his arms drawing her close.
Alex leaned into him, just allowing herself to be held. She didn’t need to tell him how scared she was—he already knew. Just as he knew how grateful she was to have him with her, even if she hadn’t said the words. He’d already followed her to another world; she knew without a shadow of a doubt that he’d follow her to the ends of this one, too, if it came to it.
Suddenly overwhelmed with all that she felt for him, she pushed back slightly and his arms loosened, presuming she wanted to pull away. But instead, she reached up and curled her hands around his neck, drawing his head down to meet hers as she pressed her lips to his.
The kiss was tender and sweet and perfect. It was everything Kaiden was to her, and everything she hoped she was to him. But it was also over too soon, because with a pointed cough, Hunter made his presence known—something Alex would have noticed sooner, had she not been so caught up in the moment.
“Good to see you’re both making the most out of the situation,” Hunter said dryly.
Alex ignored the heat that prickled her cheeks—and Kaiden’s low chuckle—as she cleared her throat and asked, “Did you get everything you need?”
In answer, the teacher handed over two daggers complete with thigh holsters, one for Kaiden, the other for her. There was nothing special about them, but just as Alex was about to point out that she had A’enara and Kaiden still had the sword he’d used in the skirmish—now strapped to his back—and thus they didn’t need extra weapons, Hunter explained.
“They’re both coated in Hyroa blood,” he said, and Alex immediately gripped hers with considerably more care— and not a small amount of unease—since she was almost as susceptible to the effects of the blood as the Meyarins were. “Only use them as a last resort, since unlike this”—he held up a small sphere that looked like a Communications Globe and sat in the palm of his hand—“the blades don’t come with a built-in antidote.”
Alex squinted at the sphere. “Is that…?”
Hunter nodded. “The very last one. I’ve been saving it for an emergency, and while I’d rather not use it unless we have to, if we do end up in a worst-case situation, the spray will dose anyone within a twenty-metre radius.”
Herself included, Alex realised, but at least the weaponised Hyroa blood contained a cure—unlike the dagger she was now cautiously strapping to her thigh.
Seeing that they were all set, Alex didn’t wait a moment longer to summon a doorway right from the foyer. No one was around to watch her display—whether that was because it was long after curfew, or because there was some other new security procedure in place thanks to Aven’s relentless skirmishes against the academy, she didn’t know. Even if there had been witnesses, Alex still wouldn’t have cared; she was beyond the point of worrying about who knew she was Chosen.
“Let’s go,” she said, leading the way from Akarnae straight through to Draekora.
The sun was beginning to rise upon their arrival, yet another indication that time passed differently between Tia Auras and Medora, since while the feast in the world beyond the stars had lasted long into the night, it hadn’t been that late when they’d finally been able to leave. Now that the night was fading into day, Alex felt an increased desperation to get to her friends, to get to her family.
Hurrying through the slowly dawning settlement, she subconsciously noted that it had changed little in the seven weeks she’d been gone, other than to have begun thawing from winter into spring, just like the academy campus. And yet, there were still no wildflowers, still none of the untamed beauty it had once possessed. Alex only hoped that after Xira and the draekons returned, so too would the vitality of the floating islands.
Ignoring the startled murmurs of the few early-rising Meyarins, Alex swiftly led Kaiden and Hunter through the sleeping settlement to the Myrox tent in the centre of the camp, not hesitating to open it and step inside.
Through the curtain separating the room, she could see the outline of Roka’s still comatose form, a weight settling upon her at the sight. But her attention was quickly snared by Kyia and Zain, both of whom were already awake and had stilled upon her entry, their faces filled with shock—as well as relief so acute that it was painful to see.
“Stars, Alex,” Kyia said, blurring over to her with immortal speed and pulling her into a tight hug. “We thought—We thought—”
Before Kyia could finish, Alex was out of her arms and swept up by Zain, his grip verging on bone-crushing as he whispered in a hoarse voice full of emotion, “Little human.”
It took everything in Alex not to burst into tears at the nickname she’d once loathed.
“I’m okay,” she whispered to them both. “I promise—I’m okay.”
“Where have you been?” Kyia demanded once Zain finally released Alex. The female Meyarin’s eyes flicked to Kaiden and Hunter who were waiting silently in the background, before she returned her focus to Alex and continued, “All our memories came back—everything you told us about, everything from the past with you there as Aeylia. And then we heard that Aes Daega had been killed in the battle at Graevale, and we knew what had happened.”
“We also heard that Aven came straight for you afterwards, knowing exactly who you were—who you are—and that Niyx stepped in front of a kill stroke to save you,” Zain said, remaining close to Alex, as if he feared she’d disappear the moment he took his eyes from her.
His protective behaviour aside, she was just relieved that he no longer sounded bitter at the mention of Niyx, whom he had once considered the worst kind of traitor. She wasn’t sure if his new attitude was because of the last time she’d seen him and how she’d declared that Niyx was innocent, or because she was only alive today since Niyx gave his life for hers, but either way, it eased a burden in her heart, knowing that her beloved friend was no longer scorned after his years of sacrifice.
“But after that—after what happened with Niyx,” Kyia said, her words careful, having come to realise—and remember— just how much he had meant to Alex, “no one could tell us anything. You just… vanished. We truly feared you were dead.”
“I’ve been in Tia Auras, trying and failing to get help,” she said. When their eyes widened comically and their mouths opened with what she knew would be a thousand questions, she held up a hand to stop them. “I wish I could explain right now, but there’s no time. I just learned that my parents were abducted two weeks ago, and tonight Aven’s followers took Jordan, D.C. and Bear as well. We”—she gestured towards Kaiden and
Hunter—“are the only ones who can get into Meya without his mind readers noticing, so we’re on our way to rescue them.”
If anything, Kyia and Zain only looked more incredulous. But thankfully they understood the urgency of what Alex was facing, and they managed to repress their questions.
However, both of them were strategically minded enough to understand the difficulty of sneaking into Meya, so it was Zain who asked, “How exactly do you plan on doing that?”
With her pulse beginning to pound at what she knew was coming, Alex said, “I plan on using the Valispath.”
Both Kyia and Zain’s brows furrowed, and the latter said, “You want one of us to take you down there? You know they’ll sense us—you’ll be discovered instantly.”
Alex shook her head. “No—I plan on using the Valispath.”
Her emphasis was unmistakable, causing their confusion to grow, along with that of both Hunter and Kaiden who stepped up beside her.
“You’re not in the past anymore, Alex,” Kyia said slowly. “You no longer have access to the Eternal Path.”
Alex willed her knees to stop shaking. “That’s because Aven’s blood is still invalidated,” she said. “As long as Roka is alive, he’s considered the rightful heir to the throne.”
“Which means the Valispath isn’t an option,” Zain pointed out. “Not for you.”
Alex drew in a trembling breath. “It can be.”
No one in the room was able to comprehend what she was implying.
“Alex,” Kyia said, her impatience growing, “how—”
“We need to kill him,” Alex whispered. She forced herself to meet their eyes and repeated, “For my plan to work, Roka has to die.”
Thirty
The reactions to her statement were just as she had imagined they would be: furious outcries followed by fierce opposition. Even Kaiden and Hunter balked at her idea, neither of them understanding how murdering the rightful king of Meya and handing Aven the throne on a silver platter would help anyone.