Page 107 of Vardaesia
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 off, 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—andher 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 andthe 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’dused 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.
