Page 39 of The Serpent’s Shadow

Off to the side, nestled against a hillside, surrounded by timber, gnarled roots, and peat, was a large cave entrance. It would have been easily missed if Ravinica hadn’t known to look for it.

She turned to me, eyebrows arching. “Are you ready to discover the answers you seek, Corym? Lady Elayina is in there.”

“Are you?”

Her head reeled. “What? I’m not searching for answers.”

With a small hum, I nodded. I didn’t believe her.

“Besides,” she said, waving me forward. “Elayina famously only speaks to one person at a time. So it will only be you she’s speaking with. I’ll stay out here.”

I abruptly took Ravinica’s hand, feeling that thrill when our fingers touched. A small gasp escaped her lips, pale cheeks reddening.

With a small smile, I said, “I think the Ancient One will make an exception for you,lunis’ai.Come on. I’m not leaving you out here in the cold.”

Chapter 14

Ravinica

I WAS CONFLICTED ABOUTCorym E’tar. He was as noble and honorable as they came, yet he had allowed his younger sister and the elder council to bully him into forcing me to stay.

If they had simply asked, rather than demanding, I probably would have agreed without being so aggressive and stubborn. I had a problem with authority.

The way he looked at me . . . it was similar to how Magnus and Grim stared at me. A twinkle in his eye, like he knew something I didn’t—like he prayed to know more about me. There was tension between us, an attraction I tried to fight throughout my time with the Ljosalfar, but had trouble resisting.

I considered Grim Kollbjorn and Magnus Feldraug my mates, after what I’d done with them individually and how close we’d become. The silent stoic one, the emotionless scarred one. Both with tragic histories, much like mine, and both unbelievably alluring.

Training with Corym, learning about him and his people, well, I could see him becoming a mate too, if time allowed.

Evidently, time did not allow it. I hadn’t had a chance to burrow deeper inside the man.

The sorrow I felt at having to leave the elves was unexpected. When I had come here three weeks ago, I used every bit of savvy I had to come up with ways to escape—to resist for the sake of resisting. Again with the anti-authoritative approach.

Now, I was crestfallen thinking this would be the last time the elegant elf held my hand, as he took me into Elayina’s lair.

It was late. Part of me thought the ancient half-elf would be asleep. As we made our way inside, and the luminescent fungi on the jagged walls of the cave came into view, I heard rustling on the other side of a bend in the deep cave.

The neon-blue fungi, mixed with the brilliant butterflies and bugs here that seemed otherworldly, lit our path and brought us to the great hollowed-out tree Elayina used as a throne.

She sat in the same place as last time, as if she never left. As if she waspartof the tree. I’d never thought of that before, but with her knotted hair and gnarled clothes, the stench of earthiness ripe in the cavern, it dawned on me that Elayina might notbe ableto move or leave her post.

The Ancient One had mugs and bowls surrounding her, reaching over to drop spices and herbs into one bowl, crushing them up, and then combining them with another. She hummed to herself as she worked, apparently oblivious to our arrival.

Then her head lifted, the wrinkles on her pale face deep and grooved.

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