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Ariana swallowed hard and nodded. Eirik once again turned away. The moment he did, Tate reached out and touched her hand.

“Ariana, you know we can’t bring him to the scroll piece. Right?”

“Tate, I—”

“You can’t do it,” Tate insisted, holding her gaze. “There is more at stake here than the punishment he describes.”

“But…you’re the one he’s going to punish,” she whispered.

“I know.”

Bertram sat among the branches of a tall tree, watching the Mercesti gathered around the old, abandoned cottage in the jungle. He observed one of the Mercesti—a female with golden-brown hair—enter the cottage not too long after the Kynzesti went inside. None of the others approached the structure.

It was difficult to believe that this place was their goal. After all, it had taken quite a bit of time to work through the complex ecosystem of the jungle. In Bertram’s opinion, there should have been some kind of amazing prize at the end. Seeing it was nothing more than a derelict building was beyond aggravating. If this was the location for the supposed ransom exchange, it was an exceedingly odd choice.

He and Tycho had split up upon entering the jungle, seeing that these Mercesti were uncommonly cautious when it came to their travels. Bertram knew that in order to maximize their chances of catching the female Kynzesti without a guard, they needed to expand their coverage area. As it was, it had required quite a bit of moving and maneuvering on his part to avoid the Mercesti patrols on his own.

Just then, the cottage door opened. Bertram wished he was close enough to hear what was said as the Kynzesti and Mercesti females emerged, but he couldn’t. He caught a glimpse of a small male in a toga beyond the door. Because it wasn’t anyone he recognized, he reasoned that this wasn’t actually where the ransom exchange was going to occur. Maybe they stopped at the cottage for supplies or something.

He had no way to know. All he could do, he decided, was follow the group as they departed. So he did so with the belief that the next time they stopped, he would have the Kynzesti in his grasp.

Tiege struggled not to sputter as he absorbed Zachariah’s statement. “
Brother?
” he repeated. “That’s ridiculous.”

Zachariah crossed his arms over his chest. “Even presented with visual proof that I have avowed with your sister, you doubt it?”

“My second power is the power of illusion,” Tiege countered, glowering at the cool-toned Mercesti. “I question everything I see. It isn’t possible to undertake an avowing without touching the other being. More importantly, you have to actually
love
someone to avow with them. That means that you…”

He trailed off. Seeing the other male’s bland stare, he wondered if this was really a direction he wanted to take this conversation, especially with commander Harold and a number of Waresti standing only a few feet away. But this was about his sister.

“The kind of emotion required to create an avowed pairing is unparalleled,” he said at last. “Two beings have to love each other unequivocally. They have to be willing to commit their entire existences to each other…die for one another.”

“Do you think me ignorant of that?”

“No, I think you incapable of it.”

In the long pause that followed, Zachariah’s expression never changed. Tiege waited for him to argue, declaring his love for Tate. Only after a couple of minutes passed did he realize that would never happen.

Anger festered, tightening his throat as he fought the urge to shout or punch Zachariah in the face. “This isn’t like a Gloresti sacrificing himself for someone else out of a sense of duty and instinct. An avowing can only happen when a being feels as though his life is complete only if his avowed is a part of it. You’d have to—”

“Tate and I exchanged vows while connected in our dreams,” Zachariah interrupted. “Our pairing carried through to consciousness. While I should think that this offers you enough clues on the subject, my feelings are none of your concern.”

“None of my concern? Tate’s my sister. I’m going to look out for her—especially when it comes to protecting her feelings—whether you like it or not.”

“Tate is my concern now.”

The words struck Tiege. A keen sense of loss hit him hard enough that he staggered back a step.

Zachariah stiffened. He lowered his arms and looked away, his gaze unfocused. Then fury darkened his expression.

“Fight, damn it,” he snapped.

Tiege realized that the Mercesti was talking to Tate. Whatever he saw in his mind had him responding to her in more than just thought.

“What’s going on?” Tiege asked, fear quickly replacing his anger.

Zachariah didn’t reply. After a moment, he nodded to himself. Then another look entered his eyes…a look that had Tiege’s heart dropping like a stone.

“Is it Tate?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “Tell me!”

Not responding, Zachariah turned so his face was no longer visible. He clenched his hands into fists at his sides, bunching the roped muscles of his forearms. Then he made a sound in the back of his throat. He suddenly extended his wings and took flight.

Tiege caught Harold’s eye and brought forth his own wings. Confusion and alarm cycled through him as he rose into the air. He knew something was terribly wrong.

It was only a small consolation to realize in that moment, after seeing the first real emotion enter Zachariah’s expression, that the Mercesti really did love his sister.

Ariana realized that the Mercesti numbers had grown while she and Tate slept. Once again, Eirik had rallied his supporters to his cause.

She carefully avoided looking any of the Mercesti in the eye as she walked around and handed out bowls of stew. She had cautioned Tate to do the same and was relieved to see the other female acting docile and submissive as she also served the stew. Eirik’s eyes moved between the two of them. He didn’t speak and the group seemed eager to finish the meal and depart, which gave her hope that they would manage to escape this place without incident.

Even as that thought entered her head, a large hand swung out and knocked the last bowl of stew she carried. The hot contents splattered over several nearby Mercesti. Their loud curses filled the night air.

“You spilled the stew, Lekwuesti,” said the male who hit her. “You need to clean us up.”

Although anger burned her cheeks, she responded, “Yes, sir,” and waved her hand, using her power to clean up the mess.

“I meant for you to clean it by hand,” he said, grabbing her upper arm and turning her so that she had no choice but to meet his red gaze. “Now you must pay the pr—”

He cut off abruptly and turned to look behind him. Ariana spotted Tate and realized the other female must have tapped the male to get his attention. She held a bowl of stew.

“Here you go,” she said. “No harm, no foul.”

“Stay out of this,” the male barked. His hold on Ariana’s arm loosened as his attention shifted, but she didn’t try to pull away.

“Hey, I’m doing what I’m told,” Tate said with a small shrug. “We were ordered to feed you so we could get moving. I figured you didn’t want to anger your leader by holding things up.”

“You figured wrong,” he said.

Then he released Ariana and used his fist to knock the stew out of Tate’s hands. The rest of the Mercesti started edging closer while Eirik remained seated on a fallen tree. Ariana’s heart pitched in fear. She saw Knorbis looking from Metis to Tate, indecision on his face.

“Don’t fight, Tate,” she warned. But it was too late.

What had seemed like an uneven match between a towering hulk of a male and the younger, smaller Kynzesti ended in astonishingly short time. He made one attempt to strike Tate. She evaded it, then took him down with five well-placed blows of her knees and elbows. Within seconds, he was an unconscious heap in the center of the group.

Unfortunately, that left the others. And Ariana knew they wouldn’t let Tate’s victory go unaddressed.

“Our turn,” said another male as the Mercesti soldiers surrounded Tate.

The next few minutes were among the most horrifying of Ariana’s existence. She and Knorbis were restrained before they could intervene. The male with mental dampening abilities stood close to the elder, his red eyes shining as he exercised his power to keep their thoughts and powers contained. They could do nothing but watch events unfold.

Ariana didn’t realize she was screaming until someone stuffed something in her mouth to silence her. All she heard were the brutal sounds of the Mercesti’s retaliation against Tate. Before long, Deimos started making his terrifying noises as he strained for escape, evidently scenting her blood.

“They’re going to kill her!” Knorbis shouted at Eirik. His eyes glowed as his stronger mental powers overrode the dampening of the Mercesti. “Stop them, damn you!”

Eirik didn’t even look at the elder, but he did raise a hand. A soft popping sound emitted from somewhere behind Ariana. She watched with her heart in her throat as a dart landed in the elder’s neck. He dropped to the ground as his captors released him.

Eirik’s gaze remained focused on Tate. She was now on the ground, trying to protect her head and midsection from the fists, heavy boots and weapons that rained merciless punishment on her. One of her wrists was clearly broken. Ariana had heard the snap of several bones so far. Blood glistened on Tate’s pale skin. Hot tears coated Ariana’s cheeks.

And then a dark shadow briefly blocked out the stars. A sinuous tail swept through the night, striking a number of the males hurting Tate. Those Mercesti hit the ground, instantly paralyzed.

Nyx had arrived.

Ceasing her struggles, Ariana watched the Mercesti stop their attack on Tate and turn to address this new threat. Eirik rose. He signaled again to the soldier with the blow gun. Ariana looked behind her and realized he was reloading with a different kind of dart.

When she whipped her head back around, she saw Eirik walk over to Tate and grab her hair, pulling her head up. Both of her eyes were nearly swollen shut. Blood from a likely broken nose covered most of her face and upper body. Still, she managed to look defiant rather than broken, something that Ariana knew would infuriate Eirik.

“Your pet kragen may have saved you once,” he said to Tate, “but I am prepared this time. And you will be the reason the creature dies.”

Ariana’s eyes widened. She watched as Nyx made another pass, targeting Eirik. A second popping sound had Ariana issuing another muffled scream even as Nyx screeched in pain and protest.

The kragen vanished over the trees. Seconds later, there was a distant crashing sound as she hit the earth.

Ariana’s heart wrenched over the expression that came over Tate’s face. Although the kragen had always frightened Ariana, she knew the creature meant a great deal to both Zachariah and Tate. More tears blurred her vision over their loss.

With a fierce scream, Tate struck Eirik in the face with her unbroken hand. The punch had enough power that his head snapped back. She managed to yank one of his cursed krises from their harness as he recovered from the blow. Even as she got in a strike to his arm, however, he slammed his fist into her jaw. She fell and didn’t move again.

The Mercesti holding Ariana released her as Eirik approached. Frozen and numb, she didn’t even bother removing the gag from her mouth.

“You will get us to the scroll piece today,” he said, his words striking her like blades of ice. “If you do not, the kragen will not be my only victim.”

“Do not disturb anything in the jungle,” Alexius warned Quincy and the others as they began their journey through the dense foliage leading to Hoygul’s cottage. “Many beings have entered here never to return.”

“Guess that’s another reason why Hoygul didn’t really feel like he needed extra protections around his home,” Clara Kate mused.

Quincy nodded in agreement as they carefully navigated the thick brush and tall trees overgrown with clinging vines. It was especially challenging in the dark. He supposed there were any number of reasons that Estilorians didn’t make it out of the jungle. The area contained hundreds of wild animals, poisonous insects and even deadly plants. One misstep could easily lead to harm. Without proper medicines or the ability to heal, an Estilorian taken off-guard by one of these things would likely not survive.

And then there were the stories of other, more mysterious elements of the jungle. Stories that humans had long ago chalked up to myth because the creatures tied to those stories transitioned with the Estilorians to this plane.

Although Quincy walked with his short sword in-hand, he didn’t use it to clear a path or otherwise impact the environment. He knew the importance of heeding Alexius’ words. Still, he had to be prepared to defend himself if needed. As his eyes scanned the trees and the ground in front of him, he kept a sturdy grip on the weapon.

It made him again think of Sophia out there somewhere, alone and unarmed. The thought squeezed his heart. When he glanced at Ini-herit as a matter of habit, the elder shook his head.

Still no word.

Sighing in frustration, Quincy returned his focus to the jungle. He saw a Waresti point to a low-hanging branch on a tree, so he glanced over and spotted the dim outline of a long python resting there. They all gave the serpent a wide berth.

Ini-herit’s healing ability came in handy. A Waresti female was bit by a spider. A male brushed against some poison sumac. Another came into contact with a poison dart frog.

They had just resumed their trek after the last round of healing when Clara Kate tripped over a lapuna tree root. Quincy heard her gasp as she fell, but he lost sight of her behind the enormous tree’s trunk. As he hurried forward to see whether she needed any assistance, he heard her shout.

Breaking into a run, he reached the other side of the trunk at the same time as Ini-herit. They watched as Clara Kate used one of her blessed butterfly swords to cut a vine that had somehow wrapped itself around her neck. The sharp blade scored the tree trunk as the vine fell loose.