Page 97 of Ocean of Silver

But I still couldn’t speak. I still couldn’t find the words to describe how I was feeling. I didn’t know where to start, what to think. Peter groaned as Tezya repositioned him in his arms.

“I don’t understand,” I finally managed. “How?”

“My mother fell in love with a Tennebrisian. He was high up and frequently visited Lux by a work visa.”

Things were clicking in my head. Tezya said over and over again how the Lux King wasn’t his father. He never referred to him as anything but the King. “Dovelyn and Arcane?”

“Are my half-siblings.”

“Do they know? Does the King know?” I asked.

“Dove knows. She used to have visions about me, of what I could do. Arcane and the King don’t know.”

I thought back to when Kole compelled Tezya to stab himself. Compulsion doesn’t work on someone with a rank in Tennebris. That meant Tezya had to act compelled, had to pretend. He had to willingly stab himself with that dagger.

His warning for me to stay away from Sie came to my mind next. “You told me about the prophecy. You made me believe it was about Sie and me, but this whole time—”

Peter’s green eyes fluttered open as he adjusted to the light from being outside.

“Am I dead?” he croaked. He looked up at Tezya, who was still cradling him against his chest. “Damn, I was really hoping that red hair and boobs would greet me in the afterlife. This is highly disappointing.”

“You’re not dead, Peter.” He stirred in Tez’s arms and turned toward me, squinting against the beating sun. Tezya gently set him down on one of the other chairs. He sagged, barely able to hold his head up.

Tezya frowned as he slid the door open to the condo and disappeared behind the glass.

“If I’m not dead, then where the hell am I? And why is Prince happy-pants with us?” He grunted in pain as he pointed in the direction that Tezya went. I didn’t answer. I still couldn’t process everything.

Tezya came back with a platter of food. “You’ve been starved. Eat. You need to regain your strength because I’m not carrying you everywhere we go.” I finally took a look at my friend and he seemed better. I was relieved because when I first saw him hanging from that ceiling, I didn’t know if he was going to make it. I caught a glimpse of his back when Tezya helped him into the chair and it was mostly healed, but there were still a few open gashes going up the length of it. He looked bruised and beaten and had lost some weight from the two weeks he’d been captured, not to mention all the blood he lost from the whip…

“So,” Peter drawled as he clapped his hands together, looking between us. “Who wants to tell me how we escaped?” When neither of us said anything, he added, “Because the last thing I remember was being chained in a dungeon cell by this guy’s family,” he gestured toward Tezya again. “And now I’m unchained and in broad daylight with him.”

Tezya and I still didn’t comment. I refused to look at him. I couldn’t.

“I mean, not that I’m complaining,” Peter continued as he took three croissants off the plate. “But a little information would be great. Like starting with where we are?”

Tez finally spoke up, not touching any of the food for himself, “We’re in Florida. It’s a place in the mortal territory, but we can’t stay here long. It’s only a matter of time before they figure out we are gone. We have to move fast.”

“Uh-huh. Okay, so we are running away. Fugitives then, good to know, and who are we running away from?” Peter asked in between bites. His dress rode up his thighs as he crossed his legs. I tried not to stare at the blood staining his skin.

“The Lux King,” Tezya replied. A piece of the croissant fell from Peter’s now-open mouth. “When my brother wakes up, there’s a chance he might go right to him, and this will be the first place he looks for us.”

“Um, no offense, but if this is the first place he is going to look for us, why the hell are we here?” Peter asked.

“Because,” Tezya growled, “you were unconscious and in horrible shape. We can’t travel in the mortal world with you passed out and wearing a bloodied and torn dress without making a scene. The humans don’t take that sort of thing lightly.”

“Travel,” I spoke for the first time. “Travel where?”

“We’re going North to Maine.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I snapped.

“Whoa,” Peter drawled as he leaned back in his chair. Then winced as his back hit the cold metal before he readjusted. “I missed a lot. Since when do you hate him?” he asked as he nodded to Tezya. “I mean, I’ve always hated him, so I’m totally on board with this newfound information. Just wondering when this all happened.”

Tezya glared at Peter, which wiped the cocky grin off his face. “Since I was saving your ass in the dungeons. Now go bathe. The both of you. This is the last time you will be able to for a while, and you can’t walk around here covered in blood. We leave in an hour to go North.”

Peter cleared his throat. “Okay, and then what? I’m gathering from whatever happened we are probably walking targets. What is your big plan then, Fire Prince? Are we going to live together in exile wherever this Maine place is? Will we sing songs while making dinner together as a new-found family?”

Tezya rolled his eyes. “No.”

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