“I don’t like it either,” he muttered, confirming he could hear my thoughts. Or maybe he’d read it from my expression. I suspected the former because it was Shade.
Tray cleared his throat, reminding me that he stood at the end of the hallway with Ella beside him. “So. Where’s Aflora?”
“Currently?” Shade glanced up at my brother. “She’s in a paradigm, battling a spell the Source Architect has woven through her mind.”
STARS TWINKLED OVERHEAD, each one tied to an invisible strand that I sensed more than saw.
I studied them, searching for a pattern or some reason for the madness. Zakkai had locked me inside this riddled web, his power potent and breathtakingly beautiful. I wanted to roll i
n his essence and absorb all of it into my senses.
But I refused the inclination.
He’d put me here for a purpose, one I intended to decipher.
I’d successfully removed the invisible ropes suffocating my torso, allowing me to breathe. And I nearly fell into the trap of thinking that was it. But then the blinking had started. It was subtle yet potent. He’d meant for me to find this puzzle. I suspected ignoring it would have left me in a worse state than before.
So I lay absolutely still, my breathing steady as I considered each potential route.
Some stars were brighter than the others. They felt too obvious, so I went for the lackluster orbs, only they gave off a hot sensation, their invisible strands shedding energy that caused the hairs along my arms to rise.
I bit my lip. Which one? I returned to the star boasting the most light and gently prodded it. A zap traversed my spine, causing me to jolt on the bed.
Not that one, I decided, moving on to the next and experiencing the same sensation.
I growled.
Zakkai would pay for this insanity. He’d created a land mine in my head! What kind of monster did that? And to his mate, no less.
Not that I intended to remain bonded to him.
No, I’d find a way to undo that. Just as soon as I figured out this maze in my head.
Each star possessed a heat signature that sang to the dark magic inside me. Zakkai’s magic. He was the source of my Quandary skills. But how? When had we bonded? And why didn’t I remember?
I’d been operating under the assumption that my parents had lied to me about my birthright, that I was some sort of abomination. However, it was his power running through my veins. It felt so deeply rooted, similar to my affinity for earth.
Which made no sense.
I could feel Shade’s power, too, younger in origin. Same with Zeph’s Warrior Blood.
But Zakkai’s essence seemed to be braided to mine, as though our lives were connected by a single thread.
My eyes narrowed as one of the stars glimmered brighter for half a second, as if beckoning me forward with that thought.
It was probably a trap.
Or maybe a clue.
I prodded it inside my mind and braced for the electric zap, only to be sucked into a very real image of my bedroom from my childhood—the one I lived in before my parents disappeared.
What in the fae…?
“Aflora?” a young male voice called, causing me to spin toward the door. Silver-blue eyes met mine, set in a frame of boyish features with long white hair tied back into a low ponytail. “Are you hiding?” he asked.
I frowned. “Zakkai?”
His brow furrowed. “Am I in trouble?”