The blood of life of the six and the one combined and set the stone ablaze in an iron rain.
—THE JOURNALOF WARRICKOF LUCERAS—TRANSLATEDBY CADET VIOLET SORRENGAIL
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
So. Much. Blood. “Get to the great hall and tell Ridoc Gamlyn that I need ice now!” I shout at a guard as we pass through the foyer.
“I’m fine!” Brennan manages to say around the handkerchief stanching the river of blood trying to pour down his face. He tests the cartilage and cringes. “Damn it, Mira, I think you broke it!”
“I heard a distinct crunch.” I glare at my sister over my shoulder as we walk into the office where we have history class. It’s set up for cadets, with a dozen chairs surrounding a hastily constructed table.
“You deserve it,” Mira calls out, shaking off the guard who reaches for her. “Don’t fucking touch me.”
“Leave my sister alone,” Brennan orders, sitting back against the edge of the table. “It’s a family matter.”
“Family? Family doesn’t let each other think they’re dead for six years.” Mira leans against the wall to my right, putting me square between them. “The only family in this room is Violet and me.”
“Mira—” I start.
“Lieutenant Colonel?” Ulices interrupts, pushing through the guards, and this time his eye isn’t narrowed on me.
“Lieutenant Colonel?” Mira’s gaze swings from Ulices to Brennan, and she folds her arms across her chest. “At least playing dead for six years earns you rank.”
Brennan shoots her a look before turning toward Ulices. “I’m fine. Everyone can relax. I’ve had worse injuries sparring.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time I broke his nose.” Mira offers a saccharine-sweet smile to Ulices, whose eye narrows on my sister.
A guard squeezes past Ulices, handing me a piece of cloth wrapped around a thick icicle, and I’ve never loved Ridoc’s signet more. “Thank you,” I tell him. “And tell the same to Ridoc, please.”
“Deploy every rider currently not scheduled to scout the Tyrrish outposts as quietly as possible,” Brennan orders Ulices. “We need to know if other riders are deserting, or if they’re surging here in preparation to strike.”
“With all the extra riders we have,” Ulices mutters.
“Switch.” I issue an order of my own to Brennan, holding out the ice.
“What about the new riot?” Ulices asks. “Same procedure as the cadets’
arrival?”
“Riorson vouches for them, according to Marbh, but make sure the dragons do as well. Get them up to the valley.” Brennan nods, and blood trickles off his chin.
Gross.
“Switch,” I say again, waving the ice so he sees it.
Ulices glances at Mira. “You’re sure—”
“I can handle my own sister,” Brennan assures him.
“Don’t be so sure about that,” Mira counters, arching an eyebrow as Ulices departs, leaving the doorway empty but guarded outside.
“I can’t believe you hit me,” Brennan mutters. “Do you know how hard it is to mend myself? You? No problem. Doing it for myself? A giant pain in the ass.”
“Oh, do cry for me, big brother.” Mira scrunches her face as she mocks him. “You know, the way we cried for you.”
And suddenly, I feel ten again, the smallest personality in a room of giants.
“I knew you wouldn’t understand.” Brennan jabs his finger in Mira’s direction and flinches. “Shit, I’m going to have to set the cartilage.”
“Understand? Understand that you let us burn your things?”
“I’ve already had this fight with him,” I assure her.
“Let us watch our mother become a shadow of herself?” she continues over me. “Let us watch our father’s heart give out because your death broke him?” Mira pushes off the wall, and I hold up my hand, palm outward, like I have even a prayer of stopping her if she decides to hit him again.
“Maybe I didn’t go quite that far.” Not that she isn’t speaking the truth, but damn, that’s harsh.
“Our father would understand what I’ve been doing.” Brennan’s voice turns nasal as he moves the blood dam.
“Would you please switch cloths?” I ask, water dripping from my fist to the stone floor.
“And as for our mother.” Brennan stands. “I hope my death haunts her every damned day. She was so willing to sacrifice my life for a lie.”
“That’s not fair!” Mira snaps. “I may not agree with what she did, but I understand how she thought it was best to keep us safe.”
“Us safe?” Brennan’s eyes narrow. “You weren’t killed!”
They’re screaming at each other like I’m not even here. Yep, definitely morphed back into the little silent sister.
“Neither were you!” she yells. “You hid up here like a coward instead of coming home when we needed you!” She gestures at me. “You chose complete strangers over your sisters!”
“I chose the good of the Continent!”
“Oh for fuck’s sake! Stop it!” I shout, silencing them both. “Mira, he was a brand-new lieutenant, and what’s done is done.” Pivoting toward Brennan, I shove the ice into his hand. “Brennan, put the fucking ice on your face before you stain the floors, you stubborn ass!”
Brennan slowly lifts the ice to his nose, looking at me like he’s never seen me before.
“And to think, I used to wish I had siblings,” Xaden says from the doorway, leaned against the doorframe casually, like he’s been watching us for a hot minute.
All the fight within me transforms to pure relief, and I walk straight to him, careful not to slip on the blood Brennan has left splattered all over the place. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Xaden replies, wrapping his arm around my waist and tugging me against him.
My pulse skips like a rock thrown across a glassy pond as I soak in every detail of him. No new cuts or bruises on his face, but who knows what’s under his riding leathers. “You’re all right?”
“I am now.” His voice softens to that tone he only ever uses with me, weakening my knees as he lowers his mouth to mine, giving me all the time in the world to protest.
I don’t.
He kisses me slowly, gently, and I lean up on my toes to get closer, cupping his stubbled cheeks between my palms.
This right here makes everything worth it. The world could disintegrate around us and I’m not sure I’d notice—or care—as long as I have him in my arms.
“Seriously?” Brennan remarks. “Right in front of me?”
“Oh, this is tame for them,” Mira replies. “Wait until they decide to basically climb each other in a public place. You can’t burn that shit out of your head, trust me.”
I smile into Xaden’s kiss, and he deepens the pressure but keeps his tongue firmly behind his teeth—much to my chagrin. He pulls back reluctantly, but there’s more than enough promise in his eyes to make my blood heat.
“So what are the Sorrengail siblings going to do now that you’re all reunited?” Xaden asks, lifting his head to look at my family.
“We’re going to beat the shit out of our brother,” Mira answers with a smile.
“Survive,” Brennan chimes in.
I let my hands fall from Xaden’s face, then glance at my brother and sister.
Everything I really, truly love—everyone I can’t live without—is here, and for the first time in my life, I can protect them. “I need the blood of the six most powerful riders.”
Brennan’s brows fly upward, and Mira’s nose wrinkles like she’s just swallowed sour milk.
“Ever? Or living now?” Xaden asks without batting an eye.
“Why?” Brennan asks, water dripping from his fist.
“In residence, I think,” I reply to Xaden, then turn to face my siblings and take a steadying breath. “I know how to raise the wards.”
Nine of us—the Assembly, Bodhi, and myself—walk out the back door of Riorson House five hours later and start up a path cut into the ridgeline above, climbing the trail in pairs.
“You’re certain about this?” Ulices asks my brother as they walk in front of Xaden and me.
“My sister’s certain, and that’s good enough for me,” Brennan replies.
“Yes, by all means, let’s waste our time catering to the whims of a cadet,” Suri calls up from where she walks with Kylynn.
“A cadet who can raise the wards,” Xaden counters.
No pressure.
Shivering, I shove my hands into the pockets of my flight jacket to ward off the chill as the sun sets behind the mountain. Finally, the trail levels out and we approach a set of somber guards who step aside so we can pass, following the gravel path that leads into the mountainside, becoming a man-made canyon open to the sky above.
Mage lights flicker on as we pass through the chasm, and my stomach flutters with nervous energy. No, that’s apprehension. Nope… nervous energy. Whatever it is, I’m glad I skipped dinner.
“We should be using this time to discuss the negotiations with Tecarus, since we’re all here.” Ulices looks pointedly at my brother.
“Missive arrived today. He wants us to come to his aid when called,” Brennan says. “The seaside drifts are to be armed first, and he says he’ll let us bring the luminary back to Aretia—”
“He won’t,” Xaden interrupts.
“—if he can see Vi wield,” Brennan finishes.
“Looks like we need to seek another luminary, because he’ll meet Malek before Violet,” Xaden says in that calm, icy tone he uses when his mind’s made up. “Unless you’re eager to never see your sister again. He’ll keep her as a weapon. You and I both know it.”
“I can talk him out of any thoughts that direction.” Brennan’s jaw ticks.
“If there was another luminary, don’t you think we’d be negotiating for that one?” Kylynn retorts.
“Then offer him a full armory, because Violet isn’t up for negotiation.” Xaden looks back and levels a glare at her.