Find her, the dragon demanded.
As if I needed to be told to do that. She was my mate—I would not go back to sleep while she was missing in this place of death. Saying as much to the beast beneath my skin, I grabbed my sword and pushed myself to my feet.
Yesterday, we had lost Daegal and the Death Elf princess. I couldn’t lose Aileana, too. If that happened, I would never recover. Already, grief was a never-ending wave, crashing through my mind. How many people in my life would I be forced to mourn? Already, it felt like I had seen more death than was my fair share. Saena. Daegal. My mother. Everyone I cared about, I ended up losing. Aileana and Nonna were the only exceptions.
Not only was the grief poignant, but my mate wasn’t feeling well. She tried to hide it, but I saw the way her face turned as she ate. She woke earlier than normal, which was odd considering she hated mornings, and she was having trouble sleeping. I knew that stress could cause strange things to happen to a body, but this felt different. When we got back to Nonna’s, I would have the witch look at my mate.
I was about to yank on the bond when a sharp inhale came from outside.
Aileana.
My mate said, “I wasn’t sure you would come.”
My eyes narrowed as I moved to the door. Who was she speaking to? Two soft breaths came from the room behind me, so it wasn’t Kysha or Maiela.
Hope momentarily rushed through me, sparking like the embers of a fire. Was she talking to Daegal? Perhaps he had survived, after all.
“You sent a summons,” a familiar female voice said. “I will always come.”
My hope was dashed, replaced by churning anger and a surge of hot, bitter grief. Clenching the necklace containing the pieces of the map—Aileana had given it back to me last night before we went to sleep—I growled, yanking open the door.
It slammed into the opposite wall with a bang.
“What in Kydona’s name areyoudoing here?” I snarled, coming to stand next to my Earth Elf. “We don’t want you or your lying, duplicitous ways here. This is hard enough as it is.”
Myhhena turned to me, her presence incongruous with our bleak stone surroundings. As usual, the Spirit of the Woods wore no clothing. Her bright gaze was piercing in the near darkness as she stared at me. Green leaves swirled around her, joining the twigs and sticks that made up her corporeal form. Myhhena’s back was rigid, and her arms were outstretched. She canted her head in my direction and her calculating, knowing eyes meeting mine.
“Greetings, Son of Aranuil,” she said in her ancient voice.
“Greetings?” I growled. My nails bit into the flesh of my palms and my blood heated. The dragon unfurled within me, and I sneered in the Spirit’s direction. “You think you can swoop in here and ignore everything that happened between us? I know what you hid from us. Youlied, putting my mate all in danger!”
Aileana sucked in a sharp breath. “Elyxander,” she hissed. “Remember who this is.”
“I. Remember,” I snarled, slamming a fist into the stone wall. Dust rained down on me, giving me momentary satisfaction. “I remember how she betrayed us both. I remember that her so-called Sanctuary was a place of death.” Growling, I took a step closer. “I also remember how she didn’t want to help you. She tried to make you remain in the Sanctuary. Remembering her betrayal is not a problem. I willneverforget.”
Myhhena tilted her head, blinking slowly. Her expression remained unmoving, and she regarded me as one would a child who was speaking out of turn.
“Are you, or are you not, alive?” she asked, raising a twiggy brow. “Did your bonded mate not save you and kill the one they called the Crimson King? Have you not reunited the pieces of the map?”
These might have been true, but none of this made her behavior acceptable.
“No thanks to you and your lying ways,” I snarled.
The dragon writhed beneath my skin and red-hot anger pulsed through my veins. It had been present since the moment Daegal and Ryllae didn’t come back, and I needed an outlet.
Who better than the female who had betrayed me and my bonded mate?
A ferocious snarl ripped through me, and I charged towards Myhhena. Grabbing the treacherous Spirit of the Woods by her twiggy little neck, I flung her against the nearest building.
“Xander!” Aileana yelled.
I ignored her, refusing to take my eyes off the Spirit of the Woods. The twigs making up her body snapped, but she simply pushed herself to her feet. Golden ribbons wove around her, restoring her corporeal form as if nothing had happened.
Somehow, that made things worse.
“Do you feel better now, dragon?” Myhhena asked, cracking her neck in an oddly human gesture.
“No,” I growled.