Page 60 of Draekora

Hardly daring to hope, Alex asked, “How did—How did they Release them?”

Aven looked at her curiously, almost like he could read her barely restrained desperation to hear his answer. “From what I understand, the bond allowed the creator of the connection to issue mental and verbal commands to those who they had performed the ritual on. All the creator had to do was command the injured party to accept their freedom from the bond after their shared energy had healed the wound, and upon acceptance, the link was severed instantly.”

Could it possibly be as easy as that? Could Jordan be freed from Aven by a single command?

“Of course, that’s why it was so important to outlaw the ritual, since there were cases where those who performed it became consumed by the power they had at their fingertips and refused to Release the will of whom they had bonded with.” Aven shook his head in sadness and disgust. “What they did was reprehensible. To steal someone’s will… That would be a fate worse than death. I can’t imagine the kind of monster who would inflict such suffering on another.”

Oh, dear sweet irony.

Aven shook off whatever dark path his mind had wandered down and focused on Alex again. “I’ve truly not heard of any Meyarin surviving the taint of Sarnaph blood withoutMenada dae Loransa. And since it is forbidden, I know you can’t have undergone the ritual. So how is it that you stand here today, Aeylia?”

Thinking quickly, all Alex could come up with was, “The mortals I was staying with, they had a really good doctor—healer, I mean. I was lucky, the blade was only lightly coated with the Sarnaph blood, so barely any entered my system, just enough to make me very sick for a few days and stop the wound from healing as quickly as it should have. The healer used herbs and poultices on me, kept me hydrated and got me through it.”

Aven made a derisive noise. “Herbs and poultices.” He shook his head, anger blazing in his eyes. “Mortal methods. You’re fortunate they didn’t kill you out of ignorance.”

“They’re not all bad, Aven,” Alex whispered, even knowing it was of little use. Seeing his eyes darken, she tried for a more jovial tone when she said, “Let’s face it, if someone like me can manage to survive as long as I did with them, then they must havesomethinggoing for them. Don’t forget, you’ve seen me on theValispath.”

Aven’s expression lightened as humour filled his features. “You do seem to have a surprising lack of grace for one of our kind.”

“Hey!” she cried with mock indignation, mustering her courage and punching him lightly in the bicep, just as she would Jordan or Bear. “We can’t all move like we’re floating on air.”

“And yet, the rest of our kind do, so clearly wecanall move like that,” he returned, a grin on his face. “You appear to be the single exception to the rule. Congratulations.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex muttered, acting playfully grouchy. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be now? Someone else to bother?”

His grin only widened further at her fake attitude. “I do, but so do you.” When she looked at him blankly, he reminded, “Dinner with the council. I’m presuming you’re attending?”

Her eyes widened as she wondered how much time she had lost with Aven and how long before they were both due downstairs. Then her eyes roamed over his unkempt appearance and she reacted automatically.

He uttered a startled chuckle as she spun him around, placed both her palms flat against his back and forcibly pushed him towards the door.

“You need to clean up, like, right now,” she said, shoving him forwards. “Your mother will die if she sees you like this.”

Aven chuckled again. “I should hope not, since I visited her before coming to your room.”

“Then I’m guessing she was too happy to see you to notice you look like a deadbeat. If you turn up at dinner as you are, I doubt your luck will hold.”

There was a pause. “I admit, I’ve learned much of your language in the past week, but the term ‘deadbeat’ is beyond my comprehension.”

“It’s a—You know what, never mind,” Alex said as they reached the exit to her room. She took her hands from his back and opened the door, tapping her foot impatiently when he just looked at her, highly entertained.

“I find you fascinating, Aeylia,” Aven said, golden eyes lit with humour.

“That’s fantastic. But how about you maybe do that later instead of right now? Otherwise we’rebothgoing to be late.”

Aven laughed lightly and, catching her off-guard, reached out and affectionately stroked her cheekbone before activating theValispathand disappearing from sight.

Alex stood frozen to the spot for a moment before she shuddered and closed the door again.

This is what I need to happen, she reminded herself, pushing aside her unease.

If her plan to soften him towards mortals was going to be effective at all, they had to be friendly enough to share their opinions. To do that, she had to get over herself and accept the Aven ofnow, rather than the one she knew in years to come.

Friends with Aven, she thought, shaking her head as she proceeded to get ready for dinner.I must be crazy.

All she could do was hope that it would be worth it.

Twenty

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