Page 168 of Death of a Mortal

“Your vey form is a part of you, as easy to command as your elemental magic. It lives in your heart, too, just a different power to find and use. Once you’ve felt it, it becomes as instinctual as commanding your element.”

We walked into the house, and he started packing his bag with clothes, coats, and small weapons. I watched him strap two swords across his back and a dagger to each thigh, plus a small blade inside his boot. He was terrifyingly, devastatingly gorgeous.

“I had these made for you,” he said, pulling me out of my trance.

He opened a box containing two daggers similar to his, but shorter, all silver with intricate tooling on the handles in a fire pattern. I removed one from the box. The metal was cold to the touch but heated instantly in my palm. “They will respond to your fire if you imbue them. Just a small amount of magic once will fuel them like an extension of your magic.”

“They’re beautiful, Drayce, thank you.” They truly were, and they made me feel as dangerous as Drayce looked. I slid them into their sheaths and attached each to one thigh with a leather strap over my pants. I could feel their comforting heat at my sides.

“And this.” He handed me a much larger leather scabbard.

I grabbed the black hilt and pulled, revealing a dazzling black metal blade.

“Your daggers can carry your fire, but this? Sevrin and I have been working with the blacksmiths on this for weeks. It can be imbued with your shadows to a devastating effect.”

Weeks? That would have been long before we knew this fight was around the corner. Maybe he really had felt for me as long as he’d said last night. I wanted so badly to dive deep into those thoughts, but the present reality called for my complete attention.

I removed the sword entirely and laid the blade across my palm, the hilt in my other hand. It was lighter and colder than I’d expected.It contrasted with the daggers. Where they were sleek, warm, and beautiful, this sword was terrifying, cold, and cruel, like I had to be if we were going to succeed.

“Thank you. Let’s hope I don’t have to use the shadows, though.” I appreciated it so much, but I couldn’t bear to tell him I was still scared of my shadows.

We finished packing in silence and left the house, taking one last look around. Gods, I hoped we’d see it again, I thought with a pang of sadness.

After a few minutes, we joined the rest of the team at the stables, each saddling their own horse except me—I rode with Drayce once more.

There was no slow and leisurely pace. We pushed the horses hard and rode fast all the way to Fallorian, barely anyone speaking on the ride. The trip to the base when I’d first arrived took nearly a day, but this time we made it to the port city in just over half a day, arriving at our ship just after nightfall.

One young girl who rode with us, a stable hand, took the reins of the rest of our horses and turned back for base, leaving us to board the same ship I’d arrived on when all of this was new to me—being fae, Elyndor, sailing the seas. I felt as though I’d lived an entire lifetime since I’d marched to my death in the courtyard at Ashthorn.

I took a deep breath of salty ocean air and realized the scent I smelled on Drayce was the ocean mixed with smoky, smoldering wood. I wouldn’t admit it to him, or anyone except myself, but I loved the smell.

As Drayce spoke with a male on the dock, the rest of us boarded without a word, tossing bags and weapons onto the deck. When Drayce boarded last, Aerie and the other air elementals went to the upper deck and cast their wind into the sails, getting us underway quickly. I brought my bag to the small cabin I’d occupied the last time I was on this ship and unstrapped my sword and daggers.

Back out on the top deck, I joined Aerie, and Noxie flew above us in circles.

He seemed to enjoy the open ocean.

“I do,”he said. “The cold back home made my wings stiff.”

“Still in my thoughts even when I’m not talking to you,” I joked.

“Always, until you can block me out.”

“You still haven’t told me how to do that.”

“And I never will.”

I smiled. I was glad to have him in my mind, and I didn’t care if he knew it when I thought it—he cherished this connection as much as I did.

“Are the odds ever this stacked against you guys on missions?” I knew Aerie would tell me straight.

She dropped her arms from the magic she was casting and thumped the male next to her on the back. “You take the first shift. I’ll relieve you at dawn,” she said to him, then walked over to the opposite railing. I followed. “Typically? No. But wanna know where this particular group thrives?”

I gave her a questioning look, at which she smiled.

“Chaos. That’s where this group shines. The day we got you out of there, not one of our plans had gone right. Well, except Bramick being your escort to the execution. That was about the only thing that went right. But we still succeeded, you see?”

“Yeah, but you lost two soldiers that day. And I can’t bear the thought of losing any of you.”