Onyx Storm
by Rebecca Yarros
Published by Red Tower Books
Book 3 in the Empyrean Series
After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons.
No more time for uncertainty. Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.
Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.
Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything. They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth. But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.
Genre
Triggers
Violence, Death, Murder, War, Poisoning, Animal Death, Injury Rehabilitation, Grief
If you haven't read Onyx Storm yet, head over to my spoiler free review of Onyx Storm.
If you have, welcome.
There are spoilers ahead, as well as theories. If you want to know my thoughts on the writing, overall character growth, etc, you will find that over on my spoiler free review of the book.
Here I will dump all my thoughts and theories I've developed after reading Onyx Storm.
Violet
This book was really centered around Violet's reluctance of being leader, but showcases what makes her such a great one. It's not just because she doesn't want the power. Not just because she is a skilled fighter. We've always know Violet is smart, but Onyx Storm really brought her intelligence to the forefront.
Although, we can't pretend that Violet's mother was wrong when she said that despite how smart Violet is, once she gave her heart away, that was it. And I get it. I wouldn't give up on a loved one in that situation either. But there were moments that Violet was willfully ignorant when it came to Xaden's new condition.
That being said, I love how healthy their relationship is in this book. Violet's support for Xaden NEVER wavered. Better yet, Violet's insecurities are gone. She loves him. She knows he loves her. That's all the matters.
Out of all the theories I've seen regarding Violet's second signet, I gotta say, I wasn't expecting her to be a dreamwalker. That being said, I love it. I'm going to talk more about it in my theories, but I'm excited to see where it's going.
The things we learn about Violet through their travels is what interests me the most, and slightly confirms my theory about her being connected to the gods. It led to more questions than answers, but I do have thoughts about this in my theories ...
Xaden
How is it that despite being venin, Xaden is more romantic in this book that ever? Seriously, every time he was on page, he was showing Violet his devotion. Despite there being less sex compared to the last book, the intensity and tension made their relationship hotter than ever.
His overall arc was definitely the most interesting in the book, and I wish we got some chapters from his POV. It's funny, because the last two books make you think that venin are emotionless. I think by just observing Xaden, that isn't true. It's almost like their emotions go from what extreme to another. His feelings are so intense - his love for Violet, anger at others, jealousy. But he can choose to bury it in the ice, and feel nothing. What Rebecca did here I felt like I could connect with it. As someone who suffers from anxiety every single day, and occasional bouts of depression, I understand why Xaden would want to bury those bad feelings. He has the weight of the world on his shoulders. It makes sense.
I'm very interested in how strong his signets are getting. I have a theory on that, so I will discuss later.
Ridoc
Ridoc was so fucking funny this book, but also got hotter? When that flier said he doesn't "do second-years" and Ridoc says "he fucks like a third" I was dead. I loved his relationship with Aotrom. I also loved his serious side. Violet needed a ride or die outside of Xaden. Rhi has to put the squad first, because of her position. Sawyer is going through the trauma of being an amputee, healing, and deciding what he is going to do, and how to do it. Ridoc is the perfect person to be by Violet's side, and not only support her, but call her out when she needs to be called out.
Asher and Lilith
Lilith's journal entries and letters to her husband showed more of her heart. She has always been portrayed as heartless - except for the end of Iron Flame, where she made the ultimate sacrifice for her children. While we have learned a lot of Asher and Lilith, I feel like we only hit the tip of the iceberg. They trust no one. No one. Besides the obvious with the political landscape of the Continent, why?
Mira
When Theopanie cut her throat, I lost it. I was not expecting it. I'm curious to see where her arc goes from here, considering she was going through some things with her place in the family, and her role in it.
Beside that, I need Drake and her together, stat. The enemies to lovers feels are strong with these two.
Imogen
I was LOVING the banter between Garrick and her. We learn in Fourth Wing that she is secretly in love with him. I felt like that was put on the sideburner in Iron Flame. I loved the interaction between them, and Ridoc's inside thoughts calling out the tension between them.
Quinn's death at the end had me a wrecked. Seriously. I will not pretend I was in love with Quinn. She is a side character that wasn't really focused on. But when Quinn is dying in Imogen's arms, and tells Imogen that "it was a good one", and the memory of Quinn telling Imogen that they would make their friendship a good one (since most likely one of them would die, and it would be a short one) had me BAWLING.
Garrick
I get why Imogen loves the guy. He is loyal to a fault. He stuck by Xaden's side despite him being venin, but his obvious worry for Violet is what really showed me how great he was. I totally wasn't expecting him being a distance wielder, but I love it.
Dain
I said it before, and I will say it again. I don't understand the hate Dain gets from the fanbase. Rebecca says it herself - he is a 21 year old guy who makes mistakes. Yes, he is overprotective. So is Xaden! He saved Violet's life. Landed a killing blow on Varrish. Has been disowned by his father. Tirelessly helps Violet, and supports her. He. Is. A. Good. Guy.
Dain and Sloane needs to happen. I could read a whole book on them, because oh my god. The tension.
Aaric
Aaric has always been such an interesting character to me, but I really loved him in this book. I hated that he had to out himself in this book, but at the same time, I loved that because of it, we got more of him, and the benefit of having him on Violet and Xaden's side. And that is before you add in the power of his signet, which is insane.
Sawyer
I felt like Rebecca was very respectful when is comes to a person coming to terms with being an amputee. I felt like his arc felt very real. I love how he connected with Violet when it came to working around his injury.
Cat
It's so funny how I go from being irritated with her existence to liking her. She is funny. Headstrong. I hurt for her when Trager was killed. Trager just got to be with her, too.
Theopanie
Her character was a trip. She kind of felt like your typical overly chatty villain. While I found her annoying, I liked what we learned from her. That the venin also have signets. That the signets they have determine the signets of the riders, in an effort of balance. She also was one of the inspirations of my theory on venin, and their emotional state. Well, her and Xaden.
General Aetos
Poor version of Varrish, in my opinion. He wanted to be the villain like him, but honestly, he did not live up. What a gross person.
Jack Barlowe
I honestly thought he would have more of a presence in this book, but he didn't. I think that is coming though.
Halden
THE WAY I MENTALLY SCREECHED WHEN WE LEARN THAT VIOLET DATED THE HEIR TO THE THRONE! Yeah, he was a douche, but jealous Xaden was a little fun.
Tairn
Tairn felt different in Onyx Storm. He is more angry. More tense. He obviously is reliving the trauma that he endured when Naolin turned (that is, if he did, but I'm sure he did) through Sgaeyl bond with Xaden, and Violet's bond with him as well.
It also felt like Tairn was more vulnerable than ever before. His moments of injury (that one in the first third of the book shook me). But also in his role with Andarna. While she has been collectively raised by the elders, Tairn and Sgaeyl are who she is drawn to the most, and takes on parental roles with her. When Andarna scolds him when she is meeting the other Irids, he flinched. Tairn is usually so stoic, but in that moment, he was hurt.
At the end of the book, Tairn is in a deep sleep, due to his mating bond being broken. I suspect we will have a very angry Tairn in the next book.
Sgael
I was heartbroken for her and Xaden in this book. Her silent treatment towards Xaden hurt, but she didn't abandon him. When Xaden's mother reappeared, she was physically agitated and destraught on his behalf. She is angry. She loves him. Obviously. She broke the bond with Tairn (I think, I will have to reread that chapter) to stay with Xaden. Which makes me think there is a plan, because she wouldn't have switched sides just for Xaden. And Xaden loves her, considering that he sacrificed the rest of his soul to save her.
Andarna
Poor Andarna. I understood her need to know more about herself, and hopefully find some relatives. I was not expecting her to leave like she did, but I understood. But I am curious as to how and why she came back when she did.
Second Signets
I know some people are moaning and groaning online that it seems like second signets aren't as rare as they are supposed to be, but they are. We are immersed in a story where the main character surrounds herself with marked ones. And we learn that it isn't the relics themselves that give them this rare ability, but the dragons themselves. Tairn tells Violet that the dragons seeked out the marked ones, knowing what they were doing. More signets mean more power, and they wanted an army. I find this very cool. We know from what little Tairn has said about it, that there is a divide amongst the dragons. Those that are more of a "let it be" mindset, and those who wanted to fight. So it makes sense that those who wanted to fight waited for the marked ones to enter the quadrant, and seek them out to build an army to fight venin.
Irids
Interesting that they are different from other dragons, as they are magic, and the other dragons source their magic. Their ideology is interesting, as well as their explanation on leaving Andarna behind. I'm not sure what they were expecting. They essentially left a baby behind as an experiment. While the small amount of time we see other Irids on the page was interesting, so far, I'm not impressed with them.
Isles
Loved the differences between the isles and the Continent. The different cultures, and politics were a lot of fun to read, and how each of them centered around a different god or goddess. I hope we go back to them in future books.
Isle of Hedion
These chapters that they were on the Isle of Hedion were some of my favorite in the book. Learning more about Xaden's mother, and what happened ... ugh. Poor Xaden. Violet was the highlight of those chapters though, because we get to see how her mind works. She was a step ahead at all times, and seeing that in action was delicious to read.
Panchek
Honestly wasn't expecting him to be working with the venin. Interesting.
Theories & Predictions
Xaden
We know there will be a letter left for Violet because of the quote on page 99. To me, that proves that even though the only soul he has left is now with Violet, he isn't a mindless zombie to the sage. We don't know what happened in that 12 hours other than the wedding, but he obviously had the time to write a letter to Violet, and put unknown plans into motion. I do suspect that Xaden will be around Violet as much as possible, without her even knowing. We know his intrinsic ability is getting stronger, so I wouldn't be surprised if his shadows got stronger as well. At the end of the book, when Violet wakes up, there is a mention of shadows, which makes me think Xaden was there and watching to make sure she wasn't killed. Perhaps he can turn into the shadows themselves?
Violet will find the cure for venin with her ability to dreamwalk
Violet being a dreamwalker is going to be how she finds a cure for venin. How? Well, think of the Sage. He is obviously a dreamwalker. Violet is his balance. He can not only enter Xaden's dreams whenever he wants, no matter the distance, but he can control them. The only way Violet will be able to communicate with Xaden will be through dreams, so I guarantee she will be strengthening that signet to more easily do that. With more control over her dreamwalking signet, she can enter the subconscious of anyone.
"I don't have all the answers, Ridoc. I just know that I have to find them whether they're in a forgotten book or some dark wielder's head, because I lost Lian and now Trager and my mother to this war, and I'm not giving up on the man I love!"
She says this before she even knows what her second signet is, but I will take this as a clue. She will search for the cure by entering into a dark wielder's dreams and digging deeper.
Xaden and Violet
I think they are fated mates. Perhaps not like we are used to when it comes to fantasy involving fae and the like. But this book, even if they are not on the page, has brought the gods and goddesses a more prominent light in the story. It's as if certain riders have been touched by the gods themselves, in order to fix a wrong with the world. If Violet and Xaden are blessed in some way, perhaps they are fated through that. But they are both aware, both of their souls have changed because of their love for one another.
Brennan & Naolin
We now know that siphoning doesn't leave a rune scar behind. It doesn't leave anything. While I do think that Naolin became venin to save his life, I think the rune is something similar to what Xaden did at the end of the book. Tethered the last piece of his soul to Brennan. I don't think there is anything particularly suspect about Brennan. I think he knows that Naolin is out there, but that is about it. I suspect one of the reasons Brennan spends most of his time with Tyrrendor is because he doesn't want to be put in the position where he finds Naolin and have to make a choice. That is why he was so understanding when Xaden told him the truth. Why he was helping to look for a cure. If he can save Xaden, he can save Naolin.
Broken Compass/Empty Glass Box
While these are gifts from the god of luck, I actually think these items really represent Xaden and Violet's upcoming arcs. An empty glass box, to me, visually represents the loss of his soul. Empty. The glass representing how easily he can break. Violet's broken compass represents how lost she will feel in the next book. Losing Xaden, and being thrust into a position she never wanted. Commanding an army. I know others think that the compass will lead to Xaden, but I don't think so. Despite it being cheesy as hell, it's too easy.
Bodhi or Garrick
There are fair arguments out there for why either one of these guys could be Xaden's venin brother, but I'm going to tell you why I think it's Bodhi. At first, it was just a feeling. Garrick, while drained, wasn't in dire circumstances when we leave Imogen's POV. Yet other's often remarked that Bodhi was in danger - despite him being told he was not allowed to fight. Then, as I thought more on it, what cemented it for me was Xaden and Violet's last minute marriage.
This whole book, Xaden has been trying to keep Bodhi out of trouble. Xaden knew the possibility of him becoming full venin was more likely than not. He is unmarried. He has no heirs. Bodhi, as his cousin, is the next, and only one left, in the line of succession. He brought this up repeatedly throughout the book.
Why marry Violet and give her to Tyrrendor, if Bodhi is alive?
Because Bodhi is now in the same boat as Xaden. He is venin.
Rebecca further confirmed this theory in an interview when asked about the new brother, and she said that it's the one who felt like he didn't get what he wanted. She tried to backtrack and say that this is the core of all venin (which is true), but I think she realized she gave it away with that answer.
Bodhi has been butting heads with Xaden this entire book. He didn't want the Tyrrendor throne. He didn't want the responsibility. He is also one of the few marked ones who doesn't have a second signet. We don't know, but perhaps that made him insecure?
God & Goddesses ... and the Six
It's amazing how prevalent they are in these books, without them actually being around. While I don't think we will ever see a god, I do think they do what they can to help the world as a whole when needed. Let's look at Violet and how her father attempted to dedicate her to Dunne. Even though the process wasn't complete, she was "touched" by Dunne. Those who dedicate their lives to Dunne have physical changes from doing so, which, to me, shows that there is some magic at play connected to the goddess herself. That she exists.
Which brings me to the six, and their signets. It's been said that the most powerful signets haven't manifested at the same time since the six. I wonder if they were all "touched" by a god, which lent to the power and their signets, when they knew that the world was at danger and needed them. The six (perhaps seven if there was a rider with an irid that has been erased from history) failed, going for a save themselves mentality instead of solving the actual problem. The power went to their heads and they became corrupt.
Let's fast forward to the present.
I think now that venin are becoming more powerful and are invading the continent, the gods and goddesses are trying again to save the world by blessing certain riders. I think they carefully selected those they would bless more carefully than they did in the past. And this is who I think is connected to which gods and why:
Violet is connected to Dunne (Goddess of War). I think during that 12 hours, she finished her dedication to Dunne. When Violet wakes up in Tyrrendor, when Brennan see's her, his eyes bulge. I think it's because her hair is now all silver. Another reason I think she is connected to Dunne is because Dunne requires a lifetime of dedication, as war changes the soul. The only other god that requires this is Loial, because love also changes the soul. Both Violet and Xaden agree that their very souls have changed because of one another. The Priestess mentions that she also has another God looking out for her, and I think that is Malek. Who knows why, but he sent Liam to her when she was being tortured as a gift. Even if he was just a hallucination, why would Violet conjure up Liam claiming it was a gift from Malek, when she herself believes Malek would never do that?
Xaden is connected to Loial (Goddess of Love). Xaden's capacity of love is unmatched. Love was a big theme in this book when it came to Xaden, right down to him calling Violet "Love" several times. Aside from that though, when Xaden loves someone, he puts everything into that relationship. Love is the reason he is venin. He turned initially to save Violet. He fully turns to save his first love, Sgaeyl. His soul has, quite literally, changed for love. Another reason why I think that is the case, is because Xaden isn't your typical venin. Jack and Theopanie both state that venin cannot feel love. Xaden does, and I think that is because he has her blessing.
Ridoc is connected to Zihnal (God of Luck) - Let's be honest, Ridoc has had some lucky things happen to him. He survived being shot with an arrow to the chest because Brennan happened to be nearby. He survived the attack by the chef on the island of Hedeon. And when quest squad was receiving their gifts when on the Isle of Zihnal, his gift was a kiss on each cheek, which to me, is a greeting equivalent to "welcome home". Ridoc also says Zihnal is his favorite god. While his signet isn't rare, he is more powerful than others with his signet.
Rhiannon is connected to Amari (Queen of the Gods) - Rhiannon is not only a squad leader, but she is one of the most skilled riders in her squad. She is a natural leader. Another hint is that when Violet first meets Rhiannon, she describes her as beautiful, looking like the rendering of Amari. Rhiannon's signet is also more powerful, with her being able to retrieve items as big as a person, and through walls.
Brennan is connected to Malek (God of Death) - Brennan was literally brought back from the dead - or at least from the brink of death. Considering this, could it be possible that Brennan has been blessed by Malek? Absolutely. His signet isn't just rare - it's incredibly strong. It took all his power, plus some of Dain's, to save Mira from death. Malek blessing Brennan could be why he gifted Violet Liam when she was being tortured.
Aaric is connected to Hedeon (God of Wisdom) - Aaric is an interesting character. He is quiet, and observant, taking in all the information before acting. We also know that now he has a gift that has never been heard of - precognition. This quote screams at me: Â "I prefer keeping my mouth shut until I understand the rules of whatever game is aiming for my throat. Helps me judge the character and acumen of my opponent."
He looks at each of them in turn. "Honestly, I find you lacking, and I'm not sure I want you for an ally. You have no army and your stingy with the very thing that should be free to all - knowledge."
Jack Barlowe
He will be important going forward. I don't think he will redeem himself. I think he will die venin. But he obviously has important information, which is why the venin wanted him dead, that could take down the venin. Jack is selfish and self-absorbed. I wouldn't be surprised if he gives the information willingly after his attempted murder.
There is a weird theory floating around that Violet is pregnant, and this is shown by all her dizzy spells and near fainting several times. Besides the fact that Rebecca herself has debunked this rumor, it just would not align with either Violet and Xaden's character's if this were to happen. As Rebecca says, neither of them would want to bring a child into the world when everything is so uncertain and dangerous - no matter how much pressure is put on Xaden to make an heir for Tyrrendor. More importantly, Xaden would never do something like that to Violet without her consent. Violet isn't the type to forget her dose of whatever they use for birth control (I honestly forget).
Violet: "I already know what Tairn thinks, and the possibility of fighting both of you is exhausting, so please, for the love of Amari, be on my side."
The bond between us shimmers.
Andarna; "All right."
Violet: "Really?"
I pause, on the stair, splaying my hand on the wall to catch my balance.
Andarna: "I am as unknown as he is, and you still trust me. I will not be another battle you have to fight."
Xaden is mine. My heart, my soul, my everything. He channeled from the earth to save me, and I'll scour the world until I find a way to save him right back.
Violet: "Every possible path may require breaking a few laws."
Andarna: "Dragons do not answer to the laws of humans,"
she counters in a tone that reminds be of Tairn.
Andarna: "And as my bonded, as Tairn's rider, you no longer answer to them, either."
Violet: "Rebellious adolescent."
Andarna: "Your wings won't hold the weight of this ice,"
Andarna blatantly mocks him.
Andarna: "And yet yours miraculously carry the burden of your ego."
Tairn: "Go find a sheep and let the adults work."
Violet: "Well that was graceful."
I herk my goggles to my forehead.
Tairn: "You fly next time."
Andarna: "Bring their bodies outside once you're done killing them so we can roast them for fun."
Ridoc: "Great."
Ridoc rolls his neck.
Ridoc: "Down the stairwell to the torture chamber where an untold number of freshly fed dark wielders wait. Good times.
Xaden: "Tell me something, Violence."
A muscle in his square jaw ticks as he stares down at me, rippling the tawny-brown skin of his stubbled cheek.
Xaden: "Why is it always you?"
Ridoc: "You know, that whole slay-them-in-darkness thing was badass"
-Ridoc lifted his finger -
Ridoc: "but I totally had him."
Xaden: "You didn't."
Xaden strokes his thumb over mine, and Garrick's shoulder shake with a quiet laugh as we descend the final flight of steps to the main entrance.
Ridoc: "I was about to have him,"
Ridoc argues, shaking that finger.
Xaden: "You weren't."
Violet: "Do you still love me?"
I hurl the inquiry at him like a weapon.
His gaze snaps to mine.
Xaden: "What kind of question is that?"
Violet: "Do. You. Still. Love. Me?"
I enunciate every word and lean right into his space just to prove that I'm not intimidated by him.
He cups the back of my neck and pulls me within inches of his face - close enough to kiss.
Xaden: "I could reach the rank of Maven, lead armies of dark wielders against everyone we care for, and watch every vein in my body turn red as I channel all the power in the Continent, and I would still love you. What I did doesn't change that. I'm not sure anything can."
Violet: "See? You're still you."
My gaze drops to his mouth.
Violet: "Telling me you're capable of horrible things while still loving me is pretty much your idea of foreplay."
Sometimes I worry about Violet. She has your sharp wit, quick mind, and steadfast heart paired with my bullheaded tenacity. When she finally and truly gives that heart, I fear it will overrule the other gifts you've given her and logic will cede its voice to love.
And if her first two liaisons are any indication of what we might expect ... Gods help her, my love, I'm afraid our daughter has atrocious taste in men.
-Recovered, Unsent Correspondence of General Lilith Sorrengail
General Melgren: "Cadet Sorrengail, the Senarium is ready to recieve you."
His gaze darts to Garrick, then Xaden.
General Melgren: "Alone."
Xaden: "I'll be right out here."
-Xaden's tone slips into menace-
Xaden: "deterred by these wooden doors that hang an inch off the ground."
Violet: "Subtle."
I fight the tug at the corner of my mouth.
Melgren gestures me inside but doesn't take his eyes off Xaden.
Xaden: "Never going to be."
he replies as I walk into the hall.
Xaden: "How do you want me to take you, Violet?"
His brow furrows as he adds his thumb against my clit, and the energy gathering within me vibrates.
Xaden: "Here on your back with me above you? Before me on your hands and knees with your ass in the air? Against the wall so I can drive harder? Astride so you can control the pace? Tell me."
Violet: "Are you going to go all broody and try to pull away from me? Because fair warning, I'm not going to let that happen."
Xaden: "Are you fucking kidding me? Neither of us has even used a bathing chamber yet."
Ah, there's the hard-ass everyone else gets. I don't fight the urge to smile.
There's a huge part of me that likes that I'm the only one who gets his softer edges.
Violet: "Who is it?"
I ask, grabbing my flight jacket off the back of the chair.
Brennan: "You're in there with my little sister and you're asking me if I'm kidding you?"
Brennan snaps back.
Brennan: "Usually, I consider myself pretty understanding about the fact that you sleep in her bed, and I look the other way when you two attach yourselves at the face, but we have a meeting in thirty minutes and I need to talk to you before then."
Imogen: "She needs to fucking sleep."
She cocks her head to the side at him.
Imogen: "Given how rested you look, I'm guessing you got plenty of that in Nine Shrensour's bed last night. How disappointing for her."
Bodhi: "Damn."
Bodhi fights to smother a laugh.
A slow smile spreads across Garrick's face, and a dimple pops in his left cheek.
Garrick: "Careful, Imogen. You sounds a little jealous."
Violet: "Aby chance you have an affinity for public speaking?"
I ask Aaric, undoing the first button on my flight jacket as the heat builds.
Violet: "It certainly runs in your family."
Aaric: "Was it the shunning of my birthright in favor of a high probability of death that gave me away?"
Violet: "'Rebel' is so ... outdated. We prefer the term 'revolutionary,'"
I inform Aura, taking a measured step in her direction and welcoming the crackle of sizzling power in my fingertips.
Violet: "And if you're going to wield, then it's me you'll be dealing with."
Aura: "You dare -"
Aura turns to fully face me, yanking off her other glove.
Violet: "I dare."
Rhiannon: "Violet,"
Rhiannon warns softly from my right.
Ridoc: "Shh, it's more fun when she blows shit up."
Cat: "I can see it sometimes,"
Cat says, pulling up her hood as she walks ahead of me.
Cat: "Why he chose you. Nice speech. Took you long enough to step in, though."
Violet: "You're welcome,"
Ridoc: "I feel so protected."
Ridoc puts his hand over his heart.
Ridoc: "Nurtured, even. Wouldn't you agree, Violet?"
Dain: "You pretty much described how Violet was raised."
Ridoc: "Now, I love you like a brother, and I get that you lost your leg, and we respect however you're feeling about that, but you're still one of us. You're still a rider, with all the benefits and shit that come with wearing black. So with all the love in my heart, put your fucking uniform on, because we need you."
Violet: "Xaden's going to be so pissed,"
I whisper so the others don't hear.
Bodhi: "Which is why you're going to be the one to tell him when we pull it off,"
he answers with a grimace.
Bodhi: "He won't kill you."
Brennan: "This little venture tells me you've been hanging out with Riorson too long."
Xaden: "What happened to not getting into trouble?"
Violet: "I never promised that."
Violet: "You look tired."
Xaden: "Just what every man wants to hear from the person he loves."
Xaden: "Brilliant, reckless woman."
Xaden: "Tell me you didn't do this for me."
Xaden's chair creaks against the stone floor.
Violet: "I thought we promised never to lie to each other."
Xaden: "You endangered yourself -"
His tone tightens.
Violet: 'And I have no regrets."
Violet: "Ahead."
Tairn: "Yes, I, too, have eyes."
Violet: "I need you to slow down. I can't tell if those are people or trees."
Tairn: "You ask for speed and then complain when I provide it."
Tairn: "If you remove that belt, I will unseat you over the river and let your meager gods sort you out."
Violet: "Drop me, and I'll kick you in the face."
I grit my teeth through the pain. I'm not dying today, and neither is Tairn.
Garrick: "Let's be honest. You're not kicking anyone with that knee."
Violet: "Your head is bleeding right above your scar from Resson."
Garrick: "Good. Hate to damage the other side of my perfect face."
Garrick: "I've never seen him like that."
Garrick shoots a worried look my way.
Garrick: "Ever. I don't even want to think about what he would have done if he'd been out here beyond the wards, because I thought he was going to rip the stones from the wall. He's always prided himself on control - he has to when he wields that much power - and I'm telling you, he lost it when he heard you were crossing the border, Violet. He's ... not himself."
Relief pricks at my eyes, and my vision wobbles.
Tairn: "Do not dehydrate on my account."
Violet: "How about you go get me a set of crutches, and I'll -"
Xaden: "How about you get down here,"
Xaden says, standing where I'd expected to find Brennan. My heartbeat jolts. Gods, he looks good, staring up at me with the kind of intensity that used to rattle my nerves when I was a first-year. He lifts one arm, and shadows rush up from beneath Tairn and solidify as they wrap around my waist.
Xaden: "Now would be preferable."
He crooks his fingers at me.
Xaden: "I would do the same for any wounded rider."
Violet: "I somehow doubt that."
I slide down Tairn's leg, and the shadows tun me sideways at the last second and lift me into Xaden's waiting arms.
Violet: "My, my."
I brush a lock of dark hair off his forehead, then hook my arms around his neck and settle against his chest, ignoring the throbbing protest of my knee as it bends.
Violet: "What else can you do with those shadows, Lieutenant Riorson?"
Xaden: "You brought arinmint out of Aretia?"
Xaden glowers at my brother.
Violet: "Breaking the law in front of the duke."
Violet: "I own my decisions."
Xaden: "Well-the-fuck-aware."
Rhiannon: "We completed your punishment."
Ridoc: "And we'll do it again."
Ridoc kicks back in his seat, throwing his feet up on the table.
Ridoc: "And again, and again."
Aeto's face flushes.
Aeto: "I'm sorry, cadet?"
Violet: "He'll said we'll do it again."
I lift my chin and note the shadows creeping across the stone floor towards Aetos.
Violet: "We'll make decisions as a squad. We'll take whatever punishment you want to give us as a squad."
Xaden: "Get out,"
Xaden orders without looking away, but I'm more than aware he isn't talking to me.
Everyone stills.
Xaden: "Let me rephrase,"
Xaden says slowly.
Xaden: "Everyone get out now. And close the door."
Ridoc: "Good luck, Violet."
You might be angry when you realize I didn't wake you to say goodbye. But it's only because I no longer fully trust my ability to walk away.
-Recovered correspondence of His Grace, Lieutenant Xaden Riorson, Sixteenth Duke of Tyrrendor, to Cadet Violet Sorrengail
Xaden: "I would have killed anything and anyone in that moment to reach you. No exceptions. I would have channeled every ounce of power beneath my feet without hesitation if it would have landed me at your side."
Xaden: "And that's good enough for you?"
His gaze heats as it wanders over my body.
Xaden: "One kiss. No hands. Fully clothed. That's what you want from me from now on?"
What a loaded question, especially when my body is still humming for him. But every instinct tells me to treat carefully.
Violet: "I want whatever you're able to give, Xaden."
Xaden: "No."
His scarred eyebrow rises as he slowly walks back to me.
Xaden: "You forget that I know your body as well as my own, Vi."
His thumb ghosts across my lips.
Xaden: "Your mouth is swollen, your face is flushed, and your eyes ..."
He skims his tongue over his lower lip.
Xaden: "They're all hazy and leaning more toward green than blue. Your pulse is racing, and the way you keep shifting your weight tells me that if I were to strip these pants off you right now, I'd find you more than ready for me."
I bite back a whimper. If I wasn't before, I sure as hell would be now.
Xaden: "A kiss isn't enough. It never is with us."
His fingers find the bottom of my coronet braid, and he tugs, tilting my face toward him.
Xaden: "You want me the same way that I want you. Wholly. Completely. With nothing but skin between us. Heart, mind, and body."
He brushes his mouth against mine, stuttering my breath.
Xaden: "All I want is to lose myself in you, and I can't. You are the only person in the world with the power to strip me of every ounce of my control, and the only person I can't fathom losing that control with."
Violet: "I won't lose you, not even to yourself."
Violet: "Am I talking to the man I love? Or the Duke of Tyrrendor? Either way, this could be really embarrassing."
Heat creeps up my neck. If I sound a false alarm, I'll look like a fool.
Xaden: "Both. I don't want to be different people to you. Anyone else? Fine. Just not you. You're stuck with all of me, and all of me is quite capable of keeping your confidence. I'll use Tyrrendor to protect you, not you to protect Tyrrendor."
Imogen: "How did that go for him?"
Imogen asks, her brow scrunching.
Violet: "Tairn removed a dozen of her neck scales, and Andarna left teeth marks in her tail."
Andarna: "We'll collect enough next time to make you new armor,"
Andarna promises.
Violet: "Do you really think this is the only room where I've felt tormented? Pain isn't new to me, Jack. She's an old friend I spend most of my days with, so I don't mind if she sings to you."
Four minutes later, we emerge from the staircase and find Rhiannon, Ridoc, and Sawyer waiting in the tunnel.
Imogen: "For fuck's sake, can't you four do anything by yourselves?"
Rhiannon: "What?"
Rhiannon shrugs and pushes off the wall.
Rhiannon: "We didn't tag along while Violet played inquisitor. We respect boundaries."
Sawyer: "Do we give you shit about whatever you have going with Tara? Or the fact that Riorson and Sorrengail fight like an old married couple?"
Sawyer glares in our direction, then Ridoc's, but there's no hiding his immediate blush, even in the mage lights.
Sawyer: "Ridoc bedhops like a fucking frog, but no, let's give me crap."
We make it a few steps before none of us can smother our laughs.
Ridoc: "A frog?"
Ridoc grins from Sawyer's left.
Ridoc: "That's the best you can do? A frog?"
Rhiannon: "But he's right, you and Riorson bicker like you've been married fifty years and neither of you wants to do the dishes."
Violet: "That's not true,"
I protest as Sawyer nods.
Ridoc: "Agreed. And it's always the same fight."
He lifts his hand to his chest.
Ridoc: "I'll trust you if you stop keeping secrets!"
He drops his hand and scowls.
Ridoc: "It's my secretive nature that attracted you, and why can't you just stay out of harm's way for five fucking minutes?"
Rhi laughs so hard she nearly chokes.
I narrow my eyes on Ridoc.
Violet: "Keep talking, and I'll plant my dagger somewhere that prevents all frog-like activity."
Ridoc: "Relax, Violet,"
Ridoc takes the seat next to Sawyer.
Ridoc: 'It's not like the fate of our world rests on you finding whatever's left if the irids."
He rubs the back of his neck.
Ridoc: "Do you guys think it's short for iridescent?"
"Yes."
the three of us simultaneously I reply.
Ridoc: "Damn. Let's go back to picking on Sawyer."
Violet: "Do you need me to bury bodies?"
I ask, my hands moving quickly to sign.
Violet: "Because Andarna will happily roast some scribes if they're acting like assholes."
Andarna: "Gladly,"
she chimes in gleefully.
Tairn: "No,"
Tairn rebukes.
Tairn: "Don't encourage her."
Rhiannon: "Dain? Xaden shows up and you're talking to Dain?"
Rhi puts the back of her hand to my forehead.
Rhiannon: "Just making sure you're not running a fever."
Xaden: "Violet."
Xaden ignores Dain and his cousin, his voice sliding over my skin like velvet.
Xaden: "A word in private?"
Violet: "Not a good idea."
I shake my head slowly.
Xaden: "I'm certain I've had worse ones."
He holds out his hand.
Violet: "You're now a professor."
Clutching the straps of my pack keeps me from reaching for him.
Violet: "I'm a cadet."
Xaden: "And?"
Xaden glowers at me.
Dain: "Oh shit,"
Dain says quietly.
Dain: "Article Eight, Section One of the Code of Conduct."
Bodhi: "Wait. You two broke up?"
Bodhi's voice rises.
Violet: "Yes."
Xaden: "No,"
Xaden says at the same time, glaring at his cousin, then jerking his gaze to mine.
Xaden: "No."
Dain: "I mean ... if you're our new professor, then the Code applies. At least for as long as you hold the position,"
Dain muses.
Dain: "And I can't think of a single piece of Codex that overrides it."
Xaden: "No one asked you, Aeto,"
Xaden warns.
Dain: "Don't blame me. I didn't write the Code."
Dain backs into the hall with his hands up.
Dain: "Nor did I accept the job."
Xaden tenses.
Bodhi: "Well, I have class, so good luck handling this one."
Violet: "We live by the Codex -"
I try again.
Xaden: "I live by you. When have I ever given a fuck about the Codex of the Code of Conduct?"
He cradles my face and leans down, resting his forehead against mine.
Xaden: "I am yours and you are mine, and there's no law or rule in this world or the next that will change that."
Aetos: "Your attachment to Cadet Sorrengail gives me the perfect excuse to kick you off my Campus, and I will joyfully take it should you break the Code of Conduct, Professor. It may be General Melgren's army, but it's my school. Do you understand?"
Gods, I fucking hate him.
Xaden: "That you're an asshole? Absolutely.."
Xaden holds up his finger.
Xaden: "And insulting you isn't against the Code of Conduct. I checked."
Violet: "Just so you know who to hate,"
I say over my shoulder once I'm in the hall,"
Violet: "Xaden didn't kill Varrish. I did."
Violet: "Have to say the casual flex of power is pretty hot."
Xaden: "Don't. I'm barely keeping my hands to myself as it is.
Violet: "I've always loved watching you on the mat."
Xaden: "I know."
Xaden rolls his neck.
Xaden: "I've used it to my advantage a few times."
Ridoc: "I'm either completely in love with your boyfriend or utterly terrified of him,"
Ridoc says, under his breath.
Ridoc: "Not sure at the moment."
She puts up her hands, and the shadows fall, dropping the blades to the mat.
Xaden: "Point made?"
Xaden asks Neve retrieves her blades and steps back into line.
Xaden: "I never need to draw a sword because I am the weapon. I'm just good with blades for the fun of it."
Aaric: "And you're going to teach us how to defeat you?"
Aaric asks from behind us.
A corner of Xaden's mouth slowly curves upward.
Xaden: "I can teach you to try, but there's only one person capable of taking me down one day, and it isn't you, Graycastle."
Xaden: "No exceptions, Sorrengail."
Caroline: "Now this is what I've been waiting to see."
Caroline bounces on her knees like a child.
Violet: "Do me a favor,"
I say to Xaden, unfastening the conduit's leather strap at my hip and hooking it over my wrist so the orb fits comfortably in my palm. Then I take three steps forward onto the mat and open the door to Tairn's power with a hell of a smirk.
Violet: "Don't let me hurt you."
Xaden: "Arrogant, are we?"
His flash of an undeniable smile is there and gone before i Can fully succumb to its knee-wobbling effect.
Xaden: "Let's see how you do in the dark."
Violet: "Why only me?"
I repeat, more than aware of the other cadets staring as I find my balance, studying me as if hoping to discover a mark, since Xaden walked away unscathed.
Violet: "Xaden!"
He doesn't so much as pause his ascent.
Xaden: "Because you're the only one capable of killing me."
My brightest light, I meant to prepare you but only had time for half the lessons you need, half the history, half the truth, and now time runs short. I failed Brennan the day I watched him walk the parapet, failed Mira when I could not stop her from following, but I fear my death will fail you. Your mother and I trust no one, and neither can you.
-Recovered Correspondence of Lieutenant Colonel Asher Sorrengail to Violet Sorrengail
Violet: "Not sleeping well?"
I ask him, noting the circles beneath his eyes. Abandoning our coats, my squad heads for the edge of the mat, mirrored by First Wing.
Xaden: "A certain hazel-eyed rider kept me up last night talking."
He turns and says something to Garrick, who nods.
Xaden: "Which I didn't mind, since my bed is too cold without you physically in it and too quiet without you screaming my name."
Oh, he wants to play?? A corner of my mouth lifts.
Game on.
Violet: "I miss Aretia, miss sleeping next to you. Find a way to sneak me in and I'll keep that bed at precisely the right temperature for you to get some ... rest."
I roll my shoulders and stretch out my arms, just like my squadmates are doing.
Xaden: "If I find you in my bed, there's no resting, trust me."
Xaden turns toward the front of the mat, bracing his feet apart and folding his beautifully toned arms.
Xaden: "Lieutenant Tavis here is an incredibly powerful wind wielder - Violet: "Don't forget I know exactly how to knock you out for the night -"
I drop my arms and Xaden shoots me a warning look, but the edges of his mouth curl up.
Xaden: "-and has agreed to let you try your best to bring him -"
He full-on smirks.
Xaden: "Knock me out? You're usually the one begging for mercy a few orgasms in-"
Violet: "Want to see begging? All I have to do is swirl my tongue around the top of your-"
Xaden coughs like he swallowed a nonexistent bug, and Garrick glances sideways at him.
Xaden: "Down."
he finally finishes.
Xaden: "Lieutenant Tavis is willing to be your sparring dummy."
He rolls his neck and chances a look in my direction.
I simply smile.
Violet: "You started it."
Xaden: "I'd give anything to be able to finish it."
Garrick: "You ready to join in, Second Squad?"
Garrick asks, cracking his fingers directly at Imogen.
Imogen: "You don't want anything to do with these."
She lifts her hands.
Garrick: "Why don't you put them on me and we'll see?"
A corner of his mouth tilts and a dimple pops in his cheek.
Ridoc: "Oh gods, just stop flirting and fuck already."
Every head slowly turns in his direction.
Ridoc: "I said that out loud, didn't I?"
he asks me in a hushed whisper.
Violet: "Oh yeah, you did."
I reply, patting him on his back.
Violet: "Garrick's going to blow you off the mat."
Ridoc: "Now that I might enjoy, depending on the method he chooses -"
Ridoc winces.
Ridoc: "I'm going to stop talking now."
Garrick: "Hate to tell you, Sorrengail, but not only did you leave yourself exposed, you also missed."
He grins.
Violet: "Did I?"
I look pointedly to the smoking hilt of his melted blade behind him, and he follows my light of sight, visibly tensing when he spots the ruined dagger.
Violet: "If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."
Xaden: "By Malek, I fucking love you."
Halden: "Seriously, though."
Halden tsks.
Halden: "No hello? Not even a compliment on the tailoring of my uniform? Or the fresh haircut? I'm heartbroken, Vi."
Violet: "You'd have to own a heart to break it."
I immediately counter.
Violet: "And the only hair I remember is your professor's covering your face when I walks in on her riding you. It was auburn, right?"
Violet: "I am in love with him."
I bristle.
Violet: "I haven't so much as thought about you in years. Don't chase just because you like a challenge. You'll lose."
Xaden: "Let's get three things straight, Your Highness. First, I have remarkable hearing thanks to the shadows at your very feet. Second, I don't control Violet. Never have. Never will. But third, and most importantly -"
He lowers his voice.
Xaden: "She really, honestly hasn't thought about you. At least not since the second she set eyes on me."
Violet: "Holy shit."
My hands fall from his jacket.
Violet: "You're actually jealous."
Xaden: "Yes, love, I'm jealous."
He splays his hand over the small of my back, and tugs me toward him.
Xaden: "I'm jealous of the armor that holds you when I can't, the sheets on your bed that caress your skin every night, and the blades that feel your hands. So, when the prince of our realm walks into my classroom and starts talking to the woman I love with what can only be considered intense familiarity, and then has the audacity to ask her out right in front of me, naturally, I'm going to get jealous."
Violet: "Yes. And I get it."
I cross the distance between us.
Violet: "It's really hard for me to see you anywhere near Cat -"
Xaden: "I never loved Cat."
Xaden's head whips up.
Xaden: "Sure, the idea of"
-he swallows like he might puke-
Xaden: "Halden putting his hands on you makes me want to put him back into the wall, especially given the fact that he can touch you and I can't, but knowing he's been here -"
Xaden puts his hands just beneath my collarbone.
Xaden: "Has me considering murder so there's no chance of him worming his royal ass back in."
Violet: "He can't touch me."
I lift his hand and press a kiss to the center of his callused palm before putting it back above my heart and holding it there.
Violet: "This will only ever be yours. You could leave me or even meet Malek, and it still would be. I've made my peace with knowing there's no getting over you."
Gods, if I channel too much while attached to him ...
Tairn: "He's been a great deal closer when you've wielded,"
Tairn reminds me, and -
Nope, not thinking about how he knows that.
Markham: "Searching Aretia is the first logical course of action, considering it is the only area we have no information on-"
Markham starts, his cheeks leaning toward ruddy.
Violet: "You don't speak,"
I snap, meeting his gaze for the first time in months.
Violet: "Not to me. As far as I'm concerned, you have the credibility of a drunkard and the integrity of a rat. You dare complain about missing six years of information on Aretia when you've hidden centuries of our continent's history from public knowledge?"
Halden's brows rise, and Mira shifts her hand to the pommel of her sword.
Markham: "You cannot speak to a superior officer, let alone the commander of a quadrant, with such disrespect!"
Markham roars, coming out of his chair.
Violet: "In case you missed it when I crossed the parapet, I am not in your chain of command."
Aetos: "But you are in mine,"
Aetos warns.
Aetos: "And I speak with the authority of Melgren."
Fury gets the best of me.
Violet: "And I speak with the authority of Tairn, Andarna, and the Empyrean. Or did you forget that two dragons also lost their riders?"
Xaden: "If I wasn't in love with you already, I would be now,"
Xaden says, crossing his ankles.
Halden sits back in his chair and looks at me like he's never seen me before.
Tairn: "He hasn't. He no longer knows you."
Duchess of Morraine: "He led a rebellion!"
She slams her hands on the tabletop.
Xaden: "My father led a rebellion,"
Xaden says without taking his eyes off me.
Xaden: "I took part in a revolution. There's a difference in the words, from what I'm told."
Halden: "If I give my permission."
Halden retorts.
Wrong move, Halden.
Xaden: "I ask permission of one person on the Continent, and it sure as Amari isn't you."
Xaden slowly turns his head to look down the table at Halden, and breathing becomes irritatingly difficult.
Halden: "I speak in my father's stead,"
Halden bites out through gritted teeth.
Xaden: "Right. Because he's the one I defer to."
Xaden's gaze swings to me.
Xaden: "When would you like to go?"
Violet: "No snide remarks,"
I say to Ridoc with a quick smile.
Violet: "I'm proud of you."
Ridoc: "I kept the inside thoughts inside,"
he replies with a flash of a grin as Xaden approaches.
Violet: "You really had to prick his temper?"
I ask as he reaches us.
Xaden: "No,"
Xaden's gaze flickers to my mouth.
Xaden: "I did that just for fun."
Mira: "Drake Cordelia?"
Mira shouts, and the three of us turn as she charges across the room toward Drake.
Mira: "As in the nightwing drift?"
He gives my sister a charming yet cocky smile.
Drake: "You've heard of me?"
Mira: "You were instrumental in bringing the wards down in the Montserrat offensive last year."
Her eyes narrow.
Drake: "I was."
His grin expands.
She knees him right in the groin.
Oh gods.
Ridoc: "Ooh."
Ridoc winces.
Ridoc: "He's going -"
Drake hits his knees, and Cat gasps.
Ridoc: "-down."
Ridoc finishes.
Drake: "You must be Mira Sorrengail."
Drake manages to say, pain etched in every line of his face.
Mira: "You get once chance to form your own squad, and you choose your ex, your current lover, the quadrant's resident smart-ass, two people who have tried to kill you in the past year - one over said current lover - and whatever Dain is? These are your choices for the most important mission any rider could possibly undertake?"
Tairn: "I'm glad someone said it,"
Tairn: "It is safer that I carry it,"
Tairn reminds me, dipping his shoulder impatiently.
Violet: "It means you can't detach the saddle."
I don't want him uncomfortable.
Tairn: "As if I would disparage my family name by being unprepared should the enemy -"
Violet: "Got it."
Andarna: "Can I take mine off?"
Andarna asks, swiveling her head to gnaw on the metal strap across her shoulder.
"No!"
Tairn and I shout simultaneously.
Andarna: "No,"
Andarna mocks.
Andarna: "Fine. I seek sustenance."
Tairn: "You will wait until our welcome is assured,"
Tairn orders, and Andarna huffs a breath of steam in his direction, then sits on her back legs and glowers.
Tairn: "Pick your tail up off the ground right now. Where do you think we are? The Vale?"
I adjust the straps of my pack over my summer-weight flight jacket and bite back a laugh when Andarna blasts a short stream of fire at Tairn's back leg as she rises to all fours.
Tairn: "I'm not dignifying that with a response."
Violet: "Don't let her eat anything - or anyone - she isn't supposed to."
A bead of sweat drips down my spine, and I adjust the weight of my pack on my aching shoulders again, cringing at the slight slip I feel in the right joint as my head starts to swim in an annoying wave of dizziness. Exhaustion, dehydration, and heat are never a winning combination for my body.
Andarna: "You are such a centenarian. Perhaps my kind will not be such killjoys. Perhaps they will feast as they see fit. Perhaps they will - Ooh! What is that?"
Tairn: "A Mammoth Red-Horned Tortoise and absolutely not! The shell will embed between your teeth, and I will not carry you and a festering tortoise shell - Get back here!"
Violet: "Still all right over there?"
Xaden: "It would help if your fucking ex kept his hands to himself,"
he hisses, the shadow firmly gripping my hip.
Xaden: "So, I'm not here with the authority of a professor,"
Xaden clarifies, masterfully ignoring Halden's blatant insult.
Halden: "You have no authority,"
Haden seethes, color infusing his cheeks as he steps toward Xaden, his boots nearly reaching mine in the process.
Halden: "I am the ranking officer here."
Violet: "Xaden, he's going to blow. He'll swing."
Walls. Mirrors. Tables. Breakables. Whatever's close, really. There was a reason guards never volunteered to be assigned to Halden. The same reason Alic had been such a bully, and Cam - Aaric - had avoided them both as much as possible.
Xaden: "So, not a professor."
Xaden's brows narrow, and my whole body tries to sway, held up by Xaden's shadows.
Halden: "No!"
Halden's shout echoes down the hallway.
Halden: "Not a fucking professor -"
Xaden: "Just wanted to clear that up,"
Xaden interrupts, then lifts me into his arms.
Xaden: "We'll see you once we're rested."
Xaden: "I knew you needed to get off your feet and lie down, and I could have just given you my room, but selfishly ..."
I look up at him.
Xaden: "I'm done sleeping in a bed that doesn't have you in it."
Andarna lifts her claw and shakes it beside me, sending grains of sand flying in a cloud as the others land in a flurry of activity around us.
Andarna: "It's going to get between my scales."
Tairn: "And now you understand why I didn't let you eat that tortoise."
Andarna snorts, then prances off toward the water, her wings tucked in tight.
Tairn: "Do not go any deeper than your claws!"
Tairn lectures, his tail nearly taking out a tree when he pivots to watch her go.
Tairn: "I swear, if you get in over your head, I'll let you drown."
Xaden: "Aretia is the second most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
He hands me his reins, turning those gorgeous, gold-flecked onyx eyes into weapons capable of melting the underwear straight off my body as he looks up at me.
Xaden: "And my home is the first."
Unh. Yeah, I flat-out liquify.
Xaden: "Good job, Aetos."
Dain: "Was that a compliment? What the fuck is going on?"
Violet: "I miss the bond."
I whisper before I can think better of it.
Xaden: "Me too. But you don't have to say what you're thinking for me to know."
he whispers, his hands slipping from my waist to my hips.
Xaden: "I can read it in every line of your body. Your eyes are a dead giveaway, too."
Under my fists, his heartbeat accelerates.
Xaden: "Always has been. You have no idea how many times I almost fucked up on the sparring mat when I caught you watching me."
He says this now? When I can't just drag him into the nearest room and lock the door? Suddenly, the last six weeks feel like an eternity.
Mira: "I swear to Amari, you two get one inch closer and I 'm going to throw a bucket of water on you,"
Mira warns, breaking the spell.
Xaden: "You don't want to do that."
Xaden shakes his head.
The guy shouts a battle cry, then draws back his right arm, and I flick my wrist. The dagger lands in his shoulder, and the man howls as crimson streaks down his white tunic and his blade falls to the floor.
Xaden: "I warned you,"
Xaden says as the man hits his knees.
Xaden: "Your error was changing you assessment to targeting me as the threat and letting your eyes off her."
Xaden: "Staying down is a safer bet for everyone involved."
Xaden warns him.
Xaden: "She only wounded you, but I'll kill you if you take another step toward her, and it turns outs that's bad for international relations."
I glance his way as someone descends the steps, and he arches his scarred eyebrow.
Xaden: "I'm giving diplomacy a try. Not sure it's for me, though."
Narelle: "That you, young man,"
she says to Xaden, then gives him a second look before glancing at Dain.
Narelle: "My, the continent does have some fine looking men."
Narellle: "I hear you saying you'd kill my grandson if he took another step toward your beloved, young man. How illogically, toxically romantic of you. Have to admit, that kind of confident violence isn't what I pictured when Asher talked about you, but the brown hair, those ... I guess they're brown eyes, and how utterly smitten he predicted you two would eventually be for each other? Well, he described you almost perfectly, Dain Aetos."
Oh, fucking kill me now.
My mouth opens, then shuts.
Xaden raises both eyebrows, and presses his lips between his teeth.
Dain rubs the back of his neck.
Mira snorts once, covers her mouth with her hand, then doubles over laughing.
Mira: "I'm sorry,"
she forces out and straightens, quickly masking her face and clearing her throat, but she slips again, her shoulders shaking.
Mira: "I can't. I just can't. I need a second."
Xaden: "Everyone assumes she'll wind up with you, but it's my last name she ends up wearing on her flight jacket in formation."
Narelle: "What made you leave the prince?"
She tilts her head to the side, and her eyes light up like we've gathered for tea and gossip.
Violet: "I'm sorry?"
I lean forward, like it's at all possible I could have misheard her.
Narelle: "The prince?"
She clasps her hands together.
Narelle: "Your father knew it wouldn't last, but I'd like to know the final straw."
Violet: "Any chance you want to swoop down and set this shop on fire?"
I ask Tairn.
Tairn: "As the Dark One said, it doesn't bode well for international relations."
Xaden: "Good,"
he says against my ear, and I gasp with surprise as he grabs hold of my waist and turns me to face him.
Xaden: "Because I'm done being polite."
Xaden: "There's no magic here,"
he says again, lowering his head, ghosting his lips over mine.
Xaden: "I can fuck you as many times as we want, as many times as you can take, and I can't lose control."
Violet: "Oh."
My whole body draws tighter than a bowstring, and my breath catches.
Xaden: "Oh."
Xaden: "Me holding back as been purely for your sake, not mine, trust me. I want you from the second I wake until the moment I fall asleep. I dream about you."
Xaden: "Are you sure? You know what I am,"
he says slowly, and a flicker of something that looks like fear crosses his face.
Violet: "I know who you are."
He grins, but it slips when I swivel my hips and he groans.
Xaden: "Fuck, you feel so damned good. I'm never giving you up. You know that, right? You had your chance to run. You should have run, Vi."
He punctuates each claim with a harder, deeper thrust that has me straining for breath, for reasonable thought that goes beyond more and yes as wood creaks beneath us.
I pull his mouth down to mine and breathe through the keening pleasure that's building within me again, deeper and hotter than before.
Violet: "I'm never running. It's you and me, no matter what."
Violet: "You can't answer the door like that,"
I hiss at him, covering myself and bemoaning how long it will take to get my clothes on.
Xaden: "Neither can you, and I'm sure as fuck not offering the sight of you in a towel up to Aetos after hearing that your father basically planned you wedding to the asshole."
Xaden: "Yes, the table is broken. Now, what do you need?"
Ridoc: "You two totally broke it, didn't you?"
Ridoc asks on the edge of laughter.
Ridoc: "Like that armoire no one was supposed to notice getting hauled out of her room during first year?"
Xaden: "What could be so fucking important that you're trying to ruin my one evening?"
Xaden snaps.
Dain: "A messenger came. King Courtlyn has decided to keep Halden."
My stomach pitches.
Xaden: "Too fucking bad for Halden."
Xaden shrugs.
Tairn: "Andarna shows no sign of trouble. I am inconvenienced, annoyed, and cut off from my source of power, strength, and my mate's thoughts, but I am still Tairneanach, son of Murtcuideam and Fiaclanfuil, descended from -"
Violet: "All right, yes, I get it. You are superior in all ways."
Violet: "We could really use Dain right about now,"
I whisper.
Xaden: "I could live the rest of my life without every hearing you say that again."
Xaden: "I'm trying really hard to be diplomatic, since that's the role I've been handed, but let me put this in term you'll understand. Your king kidnapped our asshole of a prince, and there's a large part of me that wouldn't mind him staying here and annoying the shit out of you for the rest of his miserable life, but that would make things difficult back home for someone I have ... complicated loyalty toward, so I'm going to need the prick back."
I draw my blade the same second Tairn drops his haw and roars, the sound shattering every glass orb within a dozen feet of us and leaving my ears ringing.
Violet: "Was that really necessary?"
My right ear won't work for a month.
Tairn: "No, but I found it amusing."
Blue Sash: "And you are?"
Well, shit. My mouth opens -
Xaden: "My consort,"
Xaden replies casually.
Xaden: "Violet Sorrengail."
What the actual fuck? My jaw snaps shut so hard my teeth click. I want our bond back and I want it back right now. He can't just announce things like thar without at least a discussion.
Tairn: "Are congratulations or commiserations in order?"
Tairn lifts his head.
Violet: "Shut up."
Courtlyn: "Navarre, or Tyrrendor? Lie, and this discussion is over. We've fared quite well without the Continent."
Xaden tilts his head, studying the king.
Xaden: "Violet."
My heart skips into double time.
Xaden: "My loyalty is to Violet first above everything, everyone else,"
Xaden says.
Xaden: 'Then Tyrrendor. Then Navarre in the moments it's worthy - usually when Violet is in residence."
The panthers leap onto the dais with an ease that speaks to nightly routine.
Tairn: "I will not stand for you being devoured by a house cat."
Xaden: "Try not to kill anyone,"
Xaden says, even as the first of the guards charges up the steps between the panthers.
Xaden: "International relations and all."
Violet: "Do not overreact,"
I warn Tairn, hoping it's not my final request.
Violet: "We still need this deal."
Tairn: "I resent the implication that I am given to melodramatics."
Courtlyn: "Shira ..."
Courtlyn cries.
Violet: "You see, that's my little one."
I pivot toward Courtlyn with a grin, wrinkling my nose.
Violet: "Raised her from a juvenile - well, Tairn and Sgaeyl have, really, but you get the point. Now, Andarna doesn't eat our allies - it's a whole thing her elders are trying to teach her - but you know how adolescents are. Never really know if they feel like listening on any given day."
I shrug.
Violet: "So we can negotiate, and I will give you the rarest treasure found anywhere on this world and Shira will walk away in need of a good bath, or I can call Tairn and Sgael in here, and they can all have little panther snacks before we fly back to the Continent. Your choice."
Flyer: "Could you keep it down?"
A brown-haired flier with a Cygnisen shoulder patch and third-year rank turns around and glares at Sawyer, and though I hate his scowl, I have to admit, the glasses really work for him.
Ridoc: "Turn back around -"
Ridoc starts, then pauses to appreciate the flier.
Ridoc: "Well, hello Cygnisen. Have you been properly welcomed to Basgiath yet?"
He cranks up a smile I've seen enough times to know he'll be coming out of someone else's bedroom tomorrow morning.
The flier scoffs.
Flyer: "I don't do second-years. Ridoc: "Good thing I fuck like a third."
Xaden: "More worried you're going to fuck something up again,"
Xaden remarks, and I pivot to see him walking toward us with Garrick out of the mist.
Halden's spine stiffens.
Halden: "You don't get to talk to me like that, Riorson."
Mira: "Oh, good. I was wondering when you two would start arguing."
Violet: "This isn't what you want,"
I remind him.
Violet: "Don't let your brother's actions force your hand"
-I swing a pointing finger at Dain -
Violet: "and don't you let him do it!"
Dain puts both hands up, palms outward at his chest.
Dain: "How in all that's holy am I to blame for this?"
Andarna: "Do you ever tire of your own voice?"
she questions, soaring a little closer to Sgael.
Tairn: "Never,"
he assures her.
Andarna: "That was embarrassing to listen to. Could you make it any more awkward?"
Andarna chides.
Violet: "Go hunt something."
Andarna: "I would like to try an Unnbrish horse,"
Andarna muses.
"No," Tairn and I answer simultaneously.
Andarna signs down the bond.
Andarna: "One day I'm going to stop asking nicely."
Dain: "Are you fucking serious?"
Dain snaps.
Dain: "Why didn't you tell us you're fluent?"
Aaric: "You never asked."
Priestess: "Tell me, did you choose this path yourself?"
The priestess brings her weathered gaze to mine.
Violet: "My mother -"
I start, but then I remember every time Dain tried to get me out of the quadrant, and I face forward as he and Xaden approach their opponents to negotiate weapons.
Violet: "I chose my life."
Marlis sizes me up as I approach, then huffs a laugh as she rolls her shoulders.
Violet: "I've taken down bigger."
Drake: "It really would,"
Drake says to her with a grin that would probably charm anyone else but just seems to enrage my sister.
Drake: "You pull a two-pronged Pelson flight formation -"
Mira: "And a wyvern would pick you off twice as fast for dividing your forces in that environment."
Mira shakes her head.
Xaden and I slip our jacket back on.
Drake: "You clearly don't understand Pelson."
Drake lifts his hand toward his cousin.
Drake: "Tell her, Cat. In a contained environment, a Pelson maneuver -"
Cat: "I'm not telling Mira shit."
Cat shakes her head.
Cat: "It's like arguing with Syrena."
Drake: "Oh, come on. Maren? Someone be on my side here,"
Drake pleads.
Maren winces.
Maren: "Have you seen her right hook?"
Drake: "I have," Drake admits.
Violet: "What I need is for Xaden to be all right. If that means setting this house on fire and leaving without accomplishing anything else on this isle, then I'll hand him a torch."
Waves crash against the beach below, and Sgael turns, pacing back toward us.
Violet: "You should see if she'll hunt with the others,"
I suggest to Tairn.
Tairn: "Feel free to ask. I'll watch. Be sure you're near the water so you can put yourself out when she sets you on fire,"
I miss the heightened rush from our signets, his shadows flaring, my lightning cracking, the intimacy of lowering every barrier and hearing his voice fill my mind. I need to feel him unravel under my touch. Losing control is part of what makes us ... us.
Xaden: "I'm aware in the moments I lack emotion. You and Garrick don't need to share little oh no glances. I already feel it. It's like sliding over a frozen lake while a shrinking part of me screams that I'm supposed to be swimming in those pieces I've bartered away, and those feelings are right beneath the surface, but fuck is skating faster and a hell of a lot less messy. This shit?"
He swings his finger back toward the house.
Xaden: "It's messy and painful and infuriating, and if I could choose to give this portion of myself away, so help me, Malek, I would. I get it now. It's not just the power that's addicting; it's the freedom to not feel this."
Violet: "Don't barter it away,"
I beg as he stares at the sea, and the words spill out of me faster and faster as his eyes harden and he resurrects the defenses it took me a year to break past.
Violet: "The pain. The mess. Give it to me. I'll hold it. I know that sounds ludicrous, but I'll find a way."
I lace our fingers.
Violet: "I will hold everything you don't want to feel because I love every part of you."
Andarna: "Are we scheming? I do enjoy scheming."
Cat: "For gods' sake,
Cat mutters, abandoning her silverware again.
Cat: "I said yes, he said no. He met Violet, and now they're ... them. They happen to be two of the most powerful riders on the Continent, so in that way, his alliance with her is perhaps wiser. The two of them could break and reshape the Continent if they chose to."
Nairi: "A contract marriage would be most wise,"
Nairi agrees with a nod, ignoring Garrick's words.
Nairi: "We could have the legalities performed in the morning at temple, and then hear what will, no doubt, be a plea for our assistance in their war tomorrow afternoon."
Wood creaks behind me.
Xaden: "Draw up the papers,"
Xaden says, gripping my chair.
Bile rises in my throat. What the fuck is he doing?
Cat's head snaps in our direction, Mira and Garrick both gawk, and Aaric continues eating.
I want the damned bond back now.
Faris: "Ah, there we go!"
Faris claps twice.
Faris: "What an excellent decision. SHall we go with three or four years?"
Xaden: "Lifetime. Anything less is unacceptable."
Xaden slides his hands to the back of my neck.
Xaden: "And her full name for the papers is Violet Sorrengail. Two Rs."
I'm torn between throwing a dagger at his chest and kissing the shit out of him.
Xaden: "You may question our knowledge, test our honor or dedication as riders and fliers. Serve up riddles, fake scenarios, chess games for all I care. But if you think I'm going to leave the only woman I've ever loved to contract marriage with a woman I do not get along with, then the lack of wisdom is yours, not mine."
Talia: "It's only three years,"
Talia begs, panic rising in her eyes.
Talia: "And then you'd be back together. Surely the potential of our alliance, of sharing our knowledge, would make the sacrifice worthwile. Think of Tyrrendor."
Xaden leans forward, and his hand slips from my neck.
Xaden: "You cannot contemplate the things I have sacrificed for Tyrrendor. I lost my father, my freedom, my very -"
He cuts himself off and I glance vat the floor, half expecting to see shadows swirling at his feet.
Xaden: "Violet is the only choice I've made for myself. I won't sacrifice her for three years. Not for a single day. You would know that if you hadn't abandoned me, if you knew me at all."
Mira: "The interview ended before it began,"
Mira says, twirling the stem of her goblet between her fingers.
Mira: "You don't care that Violet is the smartest person in this room. Or that Xaden tore apart Basgiath to save her, then returned to fight for Navarre because it was the right thing to do. OR that Cat lives in the most hostile environment possible to help her kingdom. You don't care that Aaric had to step into the light he hates so we'd have a royal representative, or that Garrick has stood by Xaden's side no matter the cost. We proved our lack of wisdom be coming here in the first place. You were never going to share your knowledge or ally yourself with us."
Nairi: "You're rather quiet for someone who seems to know so much,"
Nairi remarks.
Aaric: "I prefer keeping my mouth shut until I understand the rules of whatever game is aiming for my throat. Helps me judge the character and acumen of my opponent."
He looks at each of them in turn.
Aaric: "Honestly, I find you lacking, and I'm not sure I want you for an ally. You have no army and your stingy with the very thing that should be free to all - knowledge."
Aaric: "Nobility doesn't play into rank, at least not for me. Aaric glances my way.
Aaric: "Andarna chose Violet, and though there are four superiorly ranked officers with us, it's Violet's mission. She's in command. And with the exception of her rather questionable taste in men, I've trusted Violet's wisdom since childhood."
Faris: "Is this the part where you draw a weapon?"
Faris asks me, shifting in his seat.
Faris: "Threaten to kill me if I don't tell you what your hasty friend ingested?"
Violet: "No."
I lean my hip against the table where Talia should be sitting.
Violet: "This is the part where I tell you I've already killed you."
I wish you and Sawyer were with us, but I'm grateful to have Ridoc, even if his sarcasm is wearing on Mira's last nerve.
-Recovered Correspondence of Cadet Violet Sorrengail to Cadet Rhiannon Matthias
Ridoc: "Asshole!"
Ridoc shouts, and I pivot to see him plow his fist into the cook's face.
Ridoc: "I have four uniforms, but only one fucking flight jacket, and I"
-punch-
Ridoc: "hate"
-punch-
Ridoc: "sewing!"
Ridoc: "Good."
Ridoc gestures at the door, and we both head back toward the dining room.
Ridoc: "And I want a patch for this shit, Violet. A quest squad patch. Understand?"
Violet: "Loud and clear."
Violet: "Now is when you pray that Garrick wakes in the next few minutes,"
I whisper to Faris as Roslyn cries softly on the floor.
Violet: "You pray to Hedeon, or whoever will listen, that you were not as clever as you thought you were, because that's the only way he's going to let you out of this alive.
Faris's purple eyes narrow up at me.
Faris: "Why would I pray for him to and kill me?"
Violet: "Not Garrick."
I shake my head.
Violet: "Xaden. Sgaeyl is widely known as one of the most ruthless dragons in Navarre, and she chose him for a reason."
Violet: "Get off the ice,"
I whisper.
Violet: "Pull your shit together and come back to me because I need you. Not this. You."
Faris: "How did you do it?"
Now that's progress.
Violet: "Arinmint looks just like regular mint, which is why its export is outlawed. By itself, steeped in milk, or turned into tea with lemon or a little chamomile, it works wonders for sleep and healing. But when you combine it with some other pretty ordinary herbs, say the shredded bark of the tarsilla bush, it becomes a deadly poison, and tarsilla grows all along your beaches."
I lean down, careful not to jostle my ribs, so I'm at his eye level.
Violet: "Ask me why we're going to fly out of here without you saying a single word."
Faris: "Why?"
he grinds out.
Violet: "Because you love your sons."
I smile.
Violet: "That's why you sent them out of the house tonight."
Fear widens his eyes.
Violet: "Ask why there are only six dragons outside."
I lift my brows and wait, but his breaths start coming alarmingly fast.
Violet: "If you're going to be dramatic, I'll just give you the answer. It's because the seventh currently sits next to the window at your parents' house, where your boys sleep - where she'll stay until she knows we're out of range of any weapons you might be hiding."
Approval floods the bond, and I imagine Tairn's chest puffing with pride.
Faris: "That's impossible."
Faris shakes his head.
Faris: "Someone would have seen."
Violet: "Not when that dragon is an irid."
Violet: "Everything good with Sgaeyl?"
Xaden: "She's yelling, but I'll take it over silence any day."
A muscle in his jaw pops as he reaches my side, then turns to face the crowd.
Xaden: "Pretty sure she's spent the last week or so cataloging every one of my missteps, given how quickly she listed them."
Xaden: "This discussion isn't over,"
Xaden warns as we turn our attention to the field.
Violet: "Happy to win the fight again later."
I squeeze his hands one last time , then let go as a woman in an orange tunic and matching scabbard walks toward us, carrying a cone-shaped object half my height.
Violet: "I love you."
Xaden: "So fucking stubborn."
He sighs.
Xaden: "I love you."
Dain replies slowly from my right, the words coming out like he's in pain.
Aaric sighs from beside Xaden, then proceeds to speak like he was freaking born here.
Dain looks ready to murder him.
Mira: "I don't care if she hands you a steaming pile of goat shit,"
Mira lectures down the line.
Mira: "No one complains. Got it? Smile and thank her. This is our last real chance to secure an ally."
Ridoc: "What if it's cow shit? That's considerably heavier."
Drake: "No complaining,"
Drake snaps from the left.
Ridoc: "Fuck, it's like traveling with my parents."
Drake receives the orange tabby with both hands, then thanks him and bows.
Xaden: "What the fuck are we going to do with that thing for the rest of the trip?"
Xaden questions.
Violet: "Keep Andarna from eating it."
Xaden: "The best leaders are the ones who never want the job. This is your mission because Andarna chose you. Tairn chose you."
His hands rises to my face.
Xaden: "What they never tell us in the quadrant is that rank is well and good, but you and I both know that the moment we fly onto the battlefield, it isn't the humans giving commands. I hate to break it to you, bit you were selected by a general among dragons. You can choose to step into leadership, or he can drag you. Wither way, you're going to end up in front."
Xaden: "Imagine who you'll become when you finally learn to not just embrace that confidence but live it."
Violet: "You?"
I force a smile.
Xaden: "Better than me."
His thumb grazes my lower lip.
Xaden: "You have to be. You promised to help me protect Tyrrendor, remember?"
Violet: "I remember."
I nod.
Violet: "I meant it. I'll stand by your side."
Exhaustion slows my breath and weights my eyelids.
Violet: "And between Andarna's kind and the research we're compiling about dark wielders, we'll cure you."
My eyes give in, sliding shut.
Xaden: "There's no cure for me.
He presses a kiss to my forehead.
Xaden: "That's why you have to become better than me. There's only you."
Mira: "Give me that."
To my surprise, Mira takes the kitten, not the map, cradling it against her chest with one hand.
Drake: "Her name is Broccoli, not that,"
he mutters.
She looks at him like he sprouted whiskers.
Mira: "You named a kitten Broccoli?"
Drake: "No one really wants Broccoli, but it's good for you, so seems fitting to me."
Garrick: "Just you and me today, honey bear."
Garrick swings his arm over Xaden's shoulder.
Garrick: "Don't worry,"
he leans in and whispers,
Garrick: "I'll take good care of you."
He flashes a dimple.
Xaden: "I mean it when I say you own my soul. You're the only place I feel completely like me anymore."
Violet: "She'll be back tonight."
Tairn: "I'll say the same when you've been unable to communicate with your mate for weeks and are then deprived by choice,"
he grumbles, stalking into the woods. Swaying trees mark his passing.
Violet: "Humans don't mate!"
I call after him.
Tairn: "Another sign of your inferiority."
Aotrom skids to a halt ten feet from Ridoc, driving his snout into the shallows and creating a wave that rushes up the beach and over Ridoc's shins.
Ridoc: "Why are you such a dick?"
Ridoc flings his arms out sideways.
Ridoc: "I brought one pair of boots -"
I halt in front of where Andarna sleeps along the tree line. Like hell am I getting near the water. Not when Xaden already wrapped my ribs today.
Aotrom lifts his head, then sprays water through his teeth, completely soaking Ridoc from the tips of his hair to the toes of his boots.
Yikes.
Ridoc: "Damn, this breed apologizes,"
Ridoc signs, lifting his brows.
Ridoc: "Maybe I should have held out."
I roll my eyes.
Violet: "Everything I've done over the last few months, from securing the deal with Tecarus for the books to searching for Andarna's kind has been in service to the Continent, but also to find a cure for him, and hearing from the most likely source that there isn't one?"
I shake my head as the heat rises within me, growing exponentially with my panic.
Violet: "I don't know what to do with that yet. I don't have all the answers, Ridoc. I just know that I have to find them whether they're in a forgotten book or some dark wielder's head, because I've lost Liam and now Trager and my mother to this war, and I'm not giving up on the man I love!"
Violet: "I will save him."
My throat tightens.
Violet: "And not just because I can't fathom living without him. I'm selfish when it comes to loving him, and maybe a little self-destructive lately -"
Ridoc: "You think?"
He gestures to the tree.
Violet: " - but if I don't save him ..."
My voice drops.
Violet: "If I don't cure him, and he ..."
I can't say it.
Violet: "I keep serum in case of emergency, but Ridoc, we have to keep him on our side, or this war is already lost. There isn't a rider alive capable of stopping him at full power now, let alone what he could become if he truly turns. And don't say that I can, because the truth is that I won't. Even if I hone my signet to his level, which would take the years he had, I could no more hurt him than he could hurt me. He is ... everything to me."
Violet: "I ... I can't imagine not loving him."
I bring my hands up to rest on his forearms.
Ridoc: "I never said you couldn't love him."
He squeezes my shoulders gently.
Ridoc: "You can still love someone after you let them go. But you have to tell me there's a line where you will let him go. Because if there isn't one, it's not just him we're going to lose, Vi."
Ridoc nods, then rocks back on his heels and takes a deep breath.
Ridoc: "Oh, and just so we're clear, that strike up there wasn't"
- he gestures between us -
Ridoc: "you know. Us."
He flinches.
Ridoc: "I mean, it was us because I pissed her off, but it wasn't us ... us, if you know what I'm saying."
I fight to keep from rolling my eyes.
Xaden: "Well aware. First because I trust Violet, and second"
-he glances at Ridoc in a dismissive once over -
Xaden: "it wasn't a big enough strike."
Xaden: "So yeah, I think the abomination comment - and what it represents - requires taking a moment of space for us both to consider the undeniable fact that I am the worst possible thing for this mission, for my province, and for you."
My heart hurts for him, for how guilty he feels over something he can't control.
Violet: "All right."
I fold my arms across my chest and debate whether to fight or comfort him., then decide to go a different route.
Violet: "Facts are considered. I don't need the moment. You would have been on this mission regardless of our status because of Tairn and Sgaeyl. It's ridiculous that they passed judgement on you without even hearing you speak, but that's a statement on their character, not yours. And if you need some space to sort that out in your mind, fine."
I tilt my head at him.
Violet: "But it doesn't change a single thing about the way I love you."
His hands flex.
I turn away from him and start back toward camp.
Violet: "Let me know when you're done brooding and we'll see how big my next strike is."
I think I started falling for you that night in the tree when I watched you with the marked ones, but I began tumbling the day you gave me Tairn's saddle. You'll give some self-serving excuse, but the truth is your kinder than you want people to know. Maybe kinder than you know.
-Recovered correspondence of Cadet Violet Sorrengail to His Grace, Lieutenant Xaden Riorson, Sixteenth Duke of Tyrrendor.
Tairn: "I am precisely where I belong,"
he counters.
Violet: "Kind of wish you were a gryphon so we could have sat this one out."
Tairn: "Kind of wish I'd sat out Threshing two years ago."
Violet: "Sometimes I forget just how nearly perfect Bodhi is at everything,"
I say to Xaden. No one thought of him during Battle Brief yesterday, and he should have been the first name that came to mind. Countering signets might not be the best offensive tool, but damn if it isn't a hell of a defense.
Xaden: "He's my cousin,"
Xaden replies, locking eyes with me.
Xaden: "Of course he's exceptional."
Violet: "Hmmm. Just like you, but without the arrogance."
I cock my head to the side.
Violet: "Maybe I fell for the wrong -"
Xaden: "It would be a shame to kill my last living relative."
Violet: "Unless you're still brooding."
Xaden: "It's a full time occupation at the moment."
Tairn: "Wait for the last second so you don't embarrass us."
Violet: "So encouraging."
Xaden: "What are you doing?"
Xaden growls.
Violet: "Busy right now, my love."
Xaden: "I fucking love you."
Violet: "How could you not?"
Xaden: "That was fucking terrifying to watch."
Xaden's gaze bores into mine.
Xaden: "And magnificent."
Violet: "I feel that way about you everyday."
Violet: "Happy birthday."
I whisper against his lips.
Xaden: "I love you."
He lifts his head, and his hands slip from my cheeks like a caress.
Xaden: "But I'm only going to get worse. You really should run."
Not done brooding. Message received.
Violet: "Come find me when you're ready to accept the fact that I won't."
I back away slowly.
Violet: "I never will."
When this is all over, we should take as much leave as they'll give us and spend it in Aretia. We can figure out how life is supposed to look like without the daily threat of death. You can govern the province you love during the day, then slide into bed with me at night. Or I can always join you in the Assembly chamber. You do some of your best work on that throne.
-Recovered correspondence of Cadet Violet Sorrengail to His Grace, Lieutenant Xaden Riorson, Sixteenth Duke of Tyrrendor.
Halden: "I forbid it."
Halden strides into the hallway, followed by two guards.
He's here, too? Oh, this is bad.
Xaden: "I don't give a fuck."
Xaden pivots so he can see both men.
Ridoc: "And boom, it's a show,"
Ridoc whispers.
Xaden: "You are a prince, not the prince. Bring your troops into Tyrrendor, and Aaric will suddenly find himself first in line for the throne."
Fuck.
Guards draw their swords.
Violet: "Get off the ice,"
I shout down the bond, and scalding power surges within me.
Halden: "Not smart to threaten a prince. And Cam?"
Halden's gaze swings our way.
Halden: What does my little brother have to say about this?"
Aaric: "Aaric," Aaric corrects him.
Aaric: "And I'm on his side."
He gestures to Xaden.
Aaric: "Aretian, remember? And unless Riorson here is going to sign another provincial commitment, I believe I'm under his chain of command now, as are probably a third of your troops."
Halden's jaw flexes once. twice. Then he glares at Xaden.
Halden: "You've been warned."
Xaden: "And you've been informed,"
Xaden replies in a tone that makes me fear for Halden's existence.
Violet: "What happens to me if you turn?"
My hands curl at my sides.
Violet: "What happens to Tairn and Sgaeyl if you give in?"
Xaden's jaw flexes.
Violet: "Do venin get once-a-week visits?"
I take a step closer and lift my chin.
Violet: "Does their bond survive you turning? Does ours? You and I are tethered for life, Xaden Riorson. Am I expected to turn with you? Is that the only way to keep our dragons alive if you give up?"
A thousand emotions flit across his face ... and then they're gone.
He's on the ice.
My stomach flips.
Violet: "Stay,"
I demand.
Violet: "Or meet me in Aretia. The man I love stays. He fights."
Xaden: "Xaden comes first for me."
It comes out so self-sacrificial that I half expect my mother to appear and smack me upside the back of my head.
Violet: "Just so we're clear. But I will never stop being the woman he fell in love with in order to morph into whatever doormat you think he requires. We're already balanced because we're both strong for ourselves and each other. He needs me to be me, and I'm telling you I promised to help keep Tyrrendor safe, but not at his expense."
Ridoc: "Sawyer! Look at you!"
Ridoc runs forward, his arms up in victory.
Sliseag swings his head and snaps his teeth shut a few feet in front of Ridoc.
Ridoc: "Look at you from a distance!"
Ridoc retreats, his arms still held high.
He scoffs and gestures down the hall.
Bodhi: "You have a room. It hasn't moved."
Violet: "It's his room."
I correct him quietly.
Violet: "And he's all broody."
Bodhi: "We;re home, Vi. Act like it."
He grins, then turns around me, walking backward down the hallway on the right.
Bodhi: "Sleep in your bed. He'll just brood harder if you don't."
Xaden: "We were beyond the wards, but I didn't reach for any form of power because even in that state, I knew it could take me back to day zero, and day zero doesn't give me you."
Xaden: "If I loved you in the way you deserve to be loved, I'd ignore that you're the only form of peace I've ever known and put a thousand miles between us because stable isn't whole."
His gaze drops to my mouth.
Xaden: "Instead, I'm here plotting, thinking of every possible way to mitigate the threat I pose so I can tear this very translucent silk from your incredible body and bury myself inside you."
Xaden: "I need you to give me the one thing you love breaking."
I force my brain to work through the haze of lust he's creating.
Violet: "Control."
Xaden: "Control."
He nods.
Violet: "Don't touch you. Got it."
Xaden: "Do you?"
Bands of shadow stream over his shoulders to wrap around my wrists, and a heartbeat later, my hands are anchored to the wall above my head.
Xaden: "Is this something you can take if I need it?"
The shadows flow over my palms and through my fingers in a continuous caress that steals my breath.
Violet: "yes."
I swallow hard.
Violet: "It's disturbingly hot, actually."
While most deities allow temple attendants to choose their timeline of service, only two requite a lifetime of dedication: Dunne and Loial. For both war and love change souls irrevocably.
-Major Rorilee's Guide to appeasing the Gods, Second Edition
Xaden: "You're fucking soaked for me,"
he growls
The tantalizingly light touch rouses a surge of power that only adds to the crackling heat gathering low in my belly.
Violet: "Well-the-fuck-aware."
Xaden: "My power, my body, my soul - it's all yours."
Xaden: "Violet. Love. I can't-"
Violet: "You can."
My hands move to the sides of his neck, and I drop my forehead to his.
Violet: "My body. My soul. My power is all right here. You love me. You will never hurt me. Let go, Xaden."
Violet: "Are we going somewhere?"
I hold on even though I know he's more than capable of carrying me.
Xaden: "Bathtub,"
he says with a devious grin.
Xaden: "Then the dresser. Then the bed."
I completely ignore the homework I have yet to finish.
Violet: "Excellent plan."
Xaden: "I love you more than this city. Do not die defending it."
Tairn: "It's been ages since I've honored the color of my scale in such a manner,"
Tairn declares with a pitch of pride.
Andarna: "You blended in with the night."
Andarna scoffs.
Andarna: "Hardly an accomplishment."
Violet: "I love you and I want you to feel complete,"
I tell her and she slowly meets my gaze.
Violet: "I want you happy and safe and thriving. I want you to live."
My voice breaks.
Violet: "Even if it's not with me."
Brennan: "I wanted you to get her out of bed."
Brennan gestures at me.
Brennan: "Not crawl into it with you."
Mira: "I've been here less than half an hour and she's already speaking, so I think my methodology is pretty sound."
Brennan: "What did she say? What were the priestess's exact words?"
Mira twists the bracelet, then looks me straight in the eye.
Mira: "She said the heart that beat for you - or within you - would do the wrong thing for the right reason, reach for unspeakable power, and turn dark."
My lips part.
Brennan: "Within her or for her?"
Mira: "Isn't it the same thing?"
Mira challenges.
Mira: "Violet's at risk of turning, and with power like her's -"
Xaden: "Stop,"
Xaden says, and my head snaps in his direction.
Xaden: "It's not Violet. It's me."
"No!" I shout down the bond, fear grasping me so tight my head lightens.
Xaden: "My heart beats for her,"
he tells Mira without so much as flinching.
Xaden: "I reached for unspeakable power. I turned. I'm the dark wielder she warned your father about, not Violet. Stop treating her like she's a liability. I'm already the problem."
Violet: "Harder. Rougher. I can do that."
I nod, then reach into my Archives and yank a strand of Tairn's power loose.
Ridoc: "I'm sure you can, considering who you're sleeping with,"
Ridoc teases.
Xaden: "The Assembly wanted me in that chair, and now you'll deal with my decisions while on it."
Violet: "And how does Sgaeyl feel about me endangering Xaden?"
I scan the clouds as best I can for the outline of wyvern, but the cover is tick and we're moving too fast to be thorough.
Tairn: "Had she not agreed, she would still be in Aretia, and your Dark One would be walking."
Dain: "Eyes here,"
Dain says, and Sloane looks his way.
Dain: "Pull from the excess you feel in me, and push to the deficit in him. You're not a weapon of destruction. You're not venin. You're the artery power chooses to flow through. You're life."
Her brow knots and Dain flinches.
Sloane: "I'm going to hurt you."
Dain: "Gods, don't I know it."
Dain rises to stand and offers his hand to Sloane.
Sloane: "Fuck off, Aetos."
She rocks forward and up to her feet.
He pauses like he's counting to three.
Dain: "Get back across the wards, Mairi, and stay there."
She turns on her heel and stalks toward Thoirt, lifting a middle finger.
Bodhi snorts.
Dain: "Fucking first years,"
Dain mutters as she mounts.
Bodhi: "Now that the Duke of Angst is gone,"
Bodhi says, his voice rising,
Bodhi: "we have a problem."
Violet: "If I leave, everything falls apart. Dragonkind protects its own, even above a bonded rider,"
I remind him.
His eyes narrow, and steam billows from his nostrils.
Tairn: "Do not lecture me on the laws of my kind or you will learn how comfortable I am breaking them."
Feirge: "Second-guessing your choices makes me do the same regarding Threshing."
Violet: "Sgaeyl?"
Sgaeyl: "You are an inconvenience for which there is no adequate measurement,"
she snarls, flying west as the clouds churn above us, darkening with an abysmal quickness.
Sgaeyl: "But you have done an excellent job keeping the Maven occupied."
Imogen: "Are you kidding me?"
I heave myself into the seat, then lock into a position my muscles are more than familiar with, sword still in hand. Red flashes by on the right. Cath,
Glane: "Did you fall off? No. I did not bond a whiner."
Quinn: "Imogen,"
she whispers, and her eyes flutter shit.
Quinn: "I'm right here,"
I promise, but I can't force the words any louder as my throat closes.
Quinn: "We made it a good one."
Riders don't run. We fight.
Tairn: "Now, preferably,"
Tairn remarks.
Tairn: "If you're done accepting ours deaths."
Violet: "Not accepting, just calculating."
Violet: "You have been the gift of my life,"
I tell Tairn.
Tairn: "It is not over!"
