The Bound (Ascension #2)(30)

“Yes. I know it sounds insane.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “It does.”

She laughed hesitantly. “I know. I wish I could show you, but I can’t because I don’t really have access to my powers. They only show up under life-or-death situations—or at least that’s when they have so far. That was the energy rush that you felt when I killed the Braj and Indres.”

“The energy was you.”

Cyrene sighed. “I know it might be hard to believe. I didn’t even believe it at first.”

“That’s because magic is a myth, like the Braj and Indres.”

“Yes. But it’s real, and that’s the full reason I’m going to Eleysia. I need to find someone who can help me control it,” she said in a rush.

“This Matilde and Vera?”

“Yes.”

“How do you know we’ll find them or that they’ll even help?”

Cyrene shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t.”

“Look…I trust you. I’ve trusted you from the beginning, but we’ve risked our lives for this. Are you sure it’s…magic?”

“Absolutely.” She wished that she could explain it better.

“Okay.”

“Okay?”

“Yep. Okay.”

“How are you always so okay with everything?” she asked in disbelief.

He laughed thoughtfully. “I’ve learned to just go along with the flow. I’ve seen and heard things in my village that no one else would believe, and since we’ve been together, I think I’ve seen enough to know when you’re telling the truth.”

“Okay,” she said.

She thanked the Creator every day for sending her someone like Ahlvie who never questioned her motives.

Ahlvie smiled that devious smile that was always on his face and glanced across the boat. “Now, tell me about Avoca.”

Cyrene laughed lightly and shook her head. Only Ahlvie would dismiss her information about having magical powers that allowed her to kill the most dangerous creatures in the world when a pretty girl caught his eye.

“Leave Avoca alone, Ahlvie. She and Ceis’f are involved.”

Ahlvie shrugged nonchalantly. “That’s not the part I wanted to know.”

“She’s not one of your girls that you can drunkenly find at a tavern.”

“I didn’t find her in a tavern, did I? I found her when she broke me out of prison, took out four Byern guards single-handedly, and then helped orchestrate my escape.”

“I orchestrated your escape,” Cyrene grumbled.

“Yeah, but you’re…you.”

“Why, thank you, Ahlvie. You have quite a way with words.”

He continued, ignoring her, “Plus, she’s beautiful.”

Cyrene rolled her eyes. Just what she needed on this already complicated trip—to have Ahlvie and Ceis’f kill each other. She generally thought Ahlvie was smarter than that. In fact, many considered him to be a genius, which is why he had been promoted to First Class and made a High Order even though his entire family was Third Class. At times like this, she wasn’t so sure about his supposed genius status.

“Let’s concentrate on what’s important here,” Cyrene said. “We’re being chased by the entire Byern Guard, we almost sparked a war between Byern and Aurum, and we still need to get to the capital and procure a ship to take us to Eleysia. Not to mention, we need to locate Matilde and Vera in Eleysia.”

“You’ll work out the details,” he said, clapping her on the back. His eyes were distant as he stared across the boat at Avoca. “I have faith in you.”





“So, where do you think Cyrene will go from here?” Eren asked Rhea.

He was hunched over a map in the study attached to the war room in Krisana. He had taken it over, despite the complaints from Captain Merrick, King Edric’s personal Royal Captain of the Guard, that the King’s guards would find more use for it.

Rhea was under the impression that Captain Merrick had no interest in Cyrene’s rescue even though, more than a month later, it was still King Edric’s top priority. Captain Merrick was a man who, first and foremost, looked after his job. That job just didn’t always coincide with what anyone wanted, the King included. Rhea was starting to despise any time she had to be around the man.

“Oh, it’s hard to know where the kidnapper will take her,” Rhea said. She had been staring at Eren’s profile while he worked, and she needed to focus. “Perhaps the capital. They have the largest seaport on this side of Emporia. He could take her anywhere from there.”

“Yes, but so many pieces don’t add up. Why not get a ship out of the Albion port? It’s not as big as Aurum but not insubstantial either. Why take Cyrene across Aurum? Where is the kidnapper headed?”

“I doubt he thought he would be pursued.” She cast her eyes over his sharp cheekbones and up to his focused eyes. When he met her gaze, she glanced away. Her cheeks flamed at his attention.

“He must not have. I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude for the rescue of one Affiliate, but with all the First Class deaths lately…”

He cringed, as he surely must have thought about Zorian, his brother and another member of the High Order. He had died earlier this year on his way to Cyrene’s Presenting, and Eren had taken it hard. Rhea was certain it was part of the reason he had agreed to search for Cyrene.