The Bound (Ascension #2)(64)

He had been irritating, persistent, and antagonistic from the start but not evil. She had never thought he was out to kill her. And, now, he was just letting her go. How can I reconcile the man that had tried to save me with the man who had supposedly tried to kill me?

Her head swam, as if she were trapped under Kael’s spell all over again.

“How are you doing?” she asked Dean.

“Hurts like a bitch.”

She bit out a laugh and motioned for Avoca to hurry over. “I’m so sorry about this, Dean.”

“You didn’t ask me to fight him. I thought I had him,” he admitted. “I’ll get him next time.”

“No next time, please. I just want to see you healthy again.”

“I can fix this,” Avoca assured her. “Ceis’f would be better, but I don’t know if he will…”

Dean groaned. “It’s nothing. Just…help me up.”

“Dean.”

“Just help me up. We have to get out of here. Unless you’ve changed your mind, and you’d like to go back after your Prince.”

Cyrene shook her head. “I’m here with the right prince.”

He grinned. “That’s what I like to hear.”

They hoisted him up off the ground, and through a string of curses, he walked onto the ship. Cyrene followed close behind, worried about what would happen to him.

“Ceis’f,” she said, dragging him toward her. “Would you heal him? Please.”

He stared at her, as if she were insane.

“Please. I know you hate humans. You hate us all. You want to exterminate our race, and the only reason you’re here is to protect Avoca. But I say this as her friend. She cares for you but not like this. You are bitter and angry. Maybe you have every right to be—”

“I do,” he spat.

She held her hands up. “I believe you. But…please.”

He ground his teeth and then shoved past her. “You owe me for this.”

She nodded. She knew that. She owed a lot of people for this. She owed everyone.

Ceis’f followed them down stairs and into a room where Dean was carefully deposited on a bed. Once inside, Ceis’f ushered everyone else out, closed the door, and refused to let anyone inside.

Cyrene hurried back out onto the deck just as the Eleysian vessel cast off from the dock. If she squinted hard enough, she could almost see Kael’s retreating form on the horizon. She had to be imagining it. But something yanked at her, called to her, pulled her back toward the shore. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the sight.

Ahlvie clamped a hand down on her wrist, dragging her from her thoughts. “It’s not your fault,” he said.

“What?” she croaked.

“What happened back there is not your fault.”

She hung her head.

“I don’t know about that,” she whispered.

“Well, I do. I don’t understand Kael’s actions though. He won, yet he yielded. That doesn’t sound like him.”

“No, it doesn’t,” she breathed.

“I’ve fought him before, you know. He’s never looked that good,” Ahlvie said. “Kael cared more for flirting than swordplay. Unless he’s been doing something no one else knew about, he’s improved immensely in a very short time.”

Cyrene nodded. “Yeah.”

“Are you going to tell me what it is?”

Something like magic.

Cyrene kept silent.

Ahlvie sighed heavily. “I can accept that you have magic, but you can’t trust me with this thing with Kael.”

“I don’t know. All right? I don’t know anything about Kael. I just had a crazy night. My mind is all fuzzy, and Dean is injured. Kael said that he would let me go, but I’d come back to him, and then everything that happened would be my fault. I don’t know what any of that means, Ahlvie. So, maybe I just want to think through it all.”

“Okay,” he said softly. “It’s been a stressful night all around.” He looked off pensively toward the ocean.

She thought she saw his eyes flash yellow for a second, but when she looked more closely, it was gone.

“Are you all right?” she asked him.

“I’ve been better. We all have.”

Then, Ahlvie pulled her against him. Tears sprang from her eyes and soaked into his shirt. She hated herself for crying, but all she could do was wait and think and worry. Things she was not any good at.



When Avoca let Cyrene know that it would be awhile before they had news about Dean, Cyrene was taken to the captain’s quarters by Darmian where she managed to finally fall into a fitful slumber. He had offered up his accommodations for her on account of her being a special guest of the Prince. She was too tired to even argue how that might come across.

A few hours later, she stumbled out of bed to find a fresh change of clothes lying on a chair. Her heart skipped a beat in panic. She circled the room in desperation.

Where is my dress? Oh no!

The Book of the Doma and the Presenting letter were stashed in a hidden pocket she had sewn into the folds of the full skirt. This couldn’t be happening. She had spent all that time making sure that, even if they were separated from their belongings, her book would always be with her. And, now, it was gone!