Lexa flushed and glanced at my mouth, her stare like a physical caress. She leaned down to kiss me just as a massive influx of energy filled the room.
Without thinking, I shoved her behind me and crouched to face the oncoming threat.
Sava appeared.
I glared at the interruption. The look on the Aellein king’s face promised trouble.
“Arim, I —”
“I know about Ravyn,” I said gruffly, standing to an imposing height over him. It wasn’t much, but I was petty enough to enjoy being slightly taller. “And I know what you did and why you did it.” Before Sava could say anymore, I ordered, “Remove the shields. Now.”
Sava waved his hands and mumbled under his breath.
A rush of Light returned to me in the next breath. I sighed with pleasure as I clothed both myself and Lexa before she could protest. Bad enough Sava had already seen her naked. I had no intention of gifting the shifty Aellei more of my intended’s beauty.
“I’m sorry it had to come to this, but you and Lexa are stubborn creatures, to say the least.” Sava’s sadness made it hard to be angry with him. “Words cannot express how deeply sorry I am about your sister. But Arim, even if you’d been there, there’s no way you could have stopped it from happening.”
Blue stepped forward, clad in the Light Bringer warrior’s garb I had given her. She now matched me wearing black boots, black trousers, and a black overtunic with red piping. My signature battledress.
Sava’s brows rose as he studied us but wisely said nothing.
Lexa’s scowl clearly showed her displeasure with the garb, but she, too, remained silent. Both watching me. Waiting.
“It’s time to return home. Together.” I took Lexa’s hand in mine, holding tight and daring her to protest. She said nothing, though I didn’t think she was too happy at my taking charge and holding onto her. But I didn’t care.
The time had come to end this war. I turned back to Sava. “Sin Garu’s time is at an end.”
Chapter 22
Jonas
A Charming Djinn
I helplessly stared at the chaos in the castle around me, not sure what to do. I was having a hard time standing, my battle with the Netharat having taken its toll. Grief at Remir’s betrayal ate at me, as did the guilt that I hadn’t seen the truth and helped my friend sooner.
The knowledge that Ellie might still need my aid had me struggling to teleport to her side. I closed my eyes and locked in on the feel of her Dark energy. In more time than it normally took to move through the Between, I found her.
I stayed in the shadows as I watched the somber group before me, wondering how the Djinn in the northlands fared. During our skirmish with the Netharat, Alor, at least, had managed to break away, working through a gap in the Netharat shield containing them. Sadly, he’d escaped too late to do Ravyn any good.
As I stood in the western kingdom’s central keep, I watched the Storm Lords and their affai circle around the dead body of Queen Ravyn, overqueen of Tanselm no more. Ellie stood protected in Cadmus’ strong arms. Relief filled me that at least she remained safe.
Alor would need to take control of the Djinn in the North to explain the precarious situation they now faced. I knew it was up to me to explain what I knew to the Storm Lords. I had to make them believe the underlying danger to them all. But I wasn’t sure how to cut through the thick layer of grief covering everyone in the tomb-like expanse of the queen’s chambers.
Another wave of dizziness hit me, and I cursed under my breath when I realized I was bleeding, even though I remained in shadow form. A small pool of blood steadily spread out on the floor, drawing the attention of Darius. The Prince of Fire raised a hand filled with orange flame, and I quickly showed myself before I suffered an attack I might not recover from.
“I didn’t mean to intrude,” I said hoarsely as I drew apart from my shadow on the wall and coalesced into a man’s form. “If it could wait, I wouldn’t have bothered.”
A frown replaced the anger on Darius’ face. He, Aerolus, and the others soon surrounded me.
“What happened?” Aerolus asked quietly, the Dark, decadent aura of grief clinging to him like the finest of perfumes.
“You look like shit,” Darius growled, his eyes wet.
“They attacked us in the north. I tried to send Alor to warn you —” I slumped and would have fallen to my knees if Darius hadn’t caught me.
“Sit down, Jonas.” Aerolus turned. “Ellie, he needs you.”
She kneeled beside me. The look on her face tore me in half.
