Page 21 of A Legacy of Wrath and Reckoning

Zylah smiled at the thought. “Rin, Nye, they’re alright?”

Kej rumbled an affirmation. “Two days south from here. Daizin and I went on ahead to follow Kopi’s trail as soon as he found us.”

“The other wolf,” Zylah mused.

The Fae made a shocked sound. “Dee won’t like you referring to him as the other wolf.” A bemused tone edged her friend’s words.

Zylah wished she could see Kej’s face in that moment, see a warm smile. “Are there more of those things?” she asked as the adrenaline from fighting began to wear off, wounds making themselves known with stabs of pain.

“They’re all very dead at your feet, Zylah. Daizin’s running a perimeter check, I took out a few, and you and your friend here made short work of the rest.” Another whine sounded from the wolf.

“Where is he?” Zylah asked, her voice trembling. So many shadows at her feet, and something told her one of them was the wolf.

Kej’s fingers curled gently around her elbow. “Here.” He led her a few steps, then tugged her down beside him.

“How bad is it?” she whispered, dread coiling in her gut as her fingers curled in the wolf’s fur.

“Bad,” Kej said softly. He didn’t ask if she could heal it the way she’d healed Rin back at the Aquaris Court; it would have only taken one look at her to know she lacked the ability she’d once possessed.

She couldn’t see anything other than the dark expanse that was no doubt fur matted with blood, but she knew that yellow eye watched her, just as its mate’s had. “Go and be with her,” Zylah told it gently. The wolf whined, his breaths rasping, heartbeat slowing.

She knew the moment it stopped beating, whispered her quiet thanks as she stroked its fur.

Kej rested a hand on her shoulder. “We need to get out of here.”

The cyon wolf had watched Rhaznia tear out its mate’s heart and kept fighting anyway. Fought until it’s very last. Zylah staggered to her feet, warm tears trailing down her cheeks and blew out a breath. She offered her friend a nod and let him quietly lead her away from the shadows at their feet.

Chapter Thirteen

ZylahvaguelyrecalledKejleading her to a cave, Daizin lighting a fire and both of them tending to her injuries, then they’d bundled her in blankets and insisted she rest.

Fitful sleep had consumed her, nightmares filled with shadows and Rhaznia’s legs caging her. Venom, black and shiny. And pain. Always pain, pulling her in and out of sleep, the warmth of the fire and the quiet murmur of conversation dragging her back under each time. Whatever Ranon had done to her, whatever using her blood had meant, the pain always seemed to find her when she slept.

Female voices woke her. Zylah recognised all three, though she still couldn’t see.

“Rin, Nye, is that you?” Zylah rasped, pushing up onto her elbows.

“We’re here, Zylah.” Rin’s voice. An arm draped over Zylah’s shoulders in a sideways hug.

They were no longer in a cave, Zylah guessed, though she still couldn’t see much. Light danced off white. Not snow, but canvas, perhaps, and the lingering smell of damp no longer filled the air.

A hand closed around hers, and someone pressed a cup gently into her palm. “Drink, then let’s take a look at those eyes of yours.”

“Deyna?” Zylah asked. The healer from the Aquaris Court, the woman who’d removed the vanquicite from her spine with Holt’s help. A different kind of pain coursed through her to the one that had haunted her dreams. The memory of Holt’s embrace. His comforting scent. His firm body against hers.

“Your friends have been worried,” Deyna said, her voice soft, pulling Zylah from her thoughts.

“But not you?”

“You’re made of strong stuff.” The cup tipped towards Zylah’s mouth as she made to pull away. “All of it. I know it’s awful, but you need it.”

Awful was an understatement. The scent of incense and spices drifted from Deyna, and it reminded Zylah of her father’s apothecary. “Kej told me you were two days away,” she said quietly. He’d explained that it was Kopi who’d led them to her, but Zylah had been too exhausted to question him further.

“We were.” Nye’s voice, at her other side. “We just got here a few hours ago. It’s really fucking good to see you, Zylah.”

Another hug, and Zylah let herself be held as she made sense of everything she felt. “You too. What I can see of you.” Relief, mostly. So much relief she was lightheaded with it.

“And what is that, exactly?” Deyna asked.

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