“I left a spell in place to alert me to Sin Garu’s movements, but I don’t think he cares who knows where he is. He’s suddenly very open to anyone who wants a peek. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he’s waiting for you.”
“Then let’s not disappoint.” Rage flared, and I fed the fiery anger burning within me. Just let that fucking blood-drinker try to touch Lexa again. I would feed him his head in one bloody lump before I’d see Lexa harmed.
“Look, you two, we have to be careful.” Sava’s words dripped with sarcasm. “Arim, you’re supposed to be having a calming effect on Lexa, but it seems as if our bloodthirsty little Dark Lord is affecting you.” He scowled at Lexa’s grin. “With the demon world sapping Tanselm’s strength, you’re both going to have a hard time defeating Sin Garu. I have a few tricks up my sleeve that may help.”
I considered my friend. Though I sensed the ultimate battle would be between myself and Sin Garu, I didn’t have the energy I knew I would need to fight through the Netharat and the demons to conquer the Dark Lord.
“The demons are going to be a problem.”
“You’re telling me,” Lexa murmured.
“Which brings up a good point.” I knew this would be the hardest part of the planning. Convincing Lexa to remain behind. While I realized I had lost significant power, Lexa’s healing had leveled us both off. Now neither of us were at full strength but middling somewhere between. “Lexa, you’re going to have to stay here.”
She stared at me, her gaze chilling. Her rebuttal, when it came, was both expected and brutal. “You’re nothing without me, as well you know. You healed me in a moment of irrational sentimentality, and now you’re paying the price. Healing me as you did degraded your power, something no self-respecting Dark Lord would ever do. Hell, I’d be surprised if you could take Sava down.” Her blue eyes were pale in her already white face, but the glare she blasted me with had the room lowering in temperature.
“Thanks a lot.” Sava shot her a frown and rubbed at his arms. “She’s ill-mannered but speaks true. How are you going to manage Sin Garu at his full strength and then some, courtesy of demon magic? His blood drinking has eroded much of his mind already, but the demons have totally turned him from anything you once knew.”
“And that’s my point.” Why did Sava have to be so obnoxious about this? Having already lost Ravyn, I couldn’t stand to lose Lexa, too. “You don’t seem to realize… Lexa? Where are you going?”
Right in the middle of our argument, she rose from the table and walked away.
“I have to use the facilities. All this foolishness is making me ill,” she said over her shoulder and stalked toward the far wall of the hall. “I’ll be back before you can blink, so don’t even think about leaving me behind.”
She not only looked mad, but a glimmer of hurt lurked in her gaze. As if my wanting to keep her safe and away from danger was some kind of rejection.
“Lexa, love, you have to understand —”
She stopped and turned to glare at me. “No, you have to understand. This is a battle you alone can’t win. Get that through your small, idiotic, Light Bringer brain. Because you’re stuck with me whether you like it or not.” That said, she stalked away, the heels of her boots sparking blue as a trail of anger followed her from the hall.
I sighed with frustration and turned to see Sava grinning like a fool.
The Aellein king took another draught of cinarum. “How the mighty have fallen. As Jonas likes to say, ain’t love grand?”
Chapter 29
Lexa
I couldn’t believe how incredibly stupid Arim was acting. Did he honestly think he could take down Sin Garu? A Dark Lord who had the whole of Tanselm quaking, who had systematically decimated the last generation of Storm Lords and was no doubt working on eradicating the world of another?
I marched out of the commons and down a long stone hall, following the bright ball of light that had alerted me to leave the others in the commons, and which could only signify more trouble brewing on the horizon. I followed the light into a small room containing linens, barrels, and what looked like boxes of domestic supplies.
Closing the door behind me, I stopped, my hands on my hips. “For the record, Ravyn, your brother is a horse’s ass.”
The nimbus of light slowly spread until a form took shape. Ravyn chuckled. “He takes after our father.”
Curious, I said, “Arim’s never talked about his parents. He’s never publicly claimed you as his sibling either, well, until recently. A fact I always found odd. Why did you two keep your relationship a secret?”
“Which, strangely enough, is why I’m here. To tell you a story.”
I sighed, wondering why I’d expected actual help from Ravyn, the queen of “I can’t tell you.”
“The Valens name is an ancient line from a distant world. Arim and I settled here four hundred years ago after we lost the rest of our family.” Ravyn looked sad, her features drawn and washed out even through the pallor of death. “Before we arrived, my family was well-known in Tanselm. I was a young woman on the cusp of maturity, my powers strong with the vitality of youth. Arim was a boy and had barely seen more than six years of a life he’s thankfully forgotten, but for what I’ve told him.”
“And why is that?”
Ravyn stared at me squarely in the eye. “Because Tanselm made him forget. I raised him and taught him about magic. His strength was always much greater than mine, and Tanselm took him in as if he were her own.” Obviously sensing my confusion, Ravyn shook her head. “I haven’t much time, but it’s vital that you know the truth.”
“What truth?”
