Song of Blood and Reign

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Jai's consciousness raced down the mating bond before he snapped back into his own body, lacing fire once more through every part of him. He was left gasping as he bolted upright, eyes still squeezed shut as he clutched at his head. The echo of it continued to remind him of the pain in getting to Lyv before he finally saw her.

A white lace dress, a thinning body beneath it. With that, her face angled out even more, sharper than it had been. Even her hair had lost its glow, hanging in loose curls, the silver streak a seemingly dull grayish white in the dim lighting of her dungeon cell.

But it was Lyv. It was the female he loved so absolutely.

Not the Lyv who the darkness had taken over, the one who had smiled at him with pitch black eyes months before, the one he'd thought he lost forever. The realization that she was still there had him swallowing back the rush of emotion that went through him then.

Someone sat down beside him on the sofa while another knelt down at his other, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Jai?"

He tried to register who was there with him, but was still so focused on seeing Lyv, feeling the darkness and light warring within her...

He finally looked up, seeing all of those worried faces of his family around him. Gideon knelt in front of him, Thia and Allel behind him, and Alberich on Bridget's other side. There was no telling what they were seeing when looking at him, though. Maybe wild, red eyes, more than likely tear stains on his cheeks, how his hands shook as he pressed them against his mouth.

"Mother above, she's still there," Jai whispered, looking at all of them before his eyes finally landed on Bridget, who had sat down beside him. "Lyv's still there. She's not gone dark."

Bridget choked on a sob, reaching over to grasp his hand tightly. "She is?"

"She's there," he nodded. "She looked..." He shivered, running his fingers through his hair. "Gods, we need to get her."

"Did she at least have an idea of where she could be?" Gideon asked.

"Only rumors she remembered, really, especially after Corliss mentioned mountains. Possibly the Camdover Mountains north of Filwey."

Gideon turned his attention to Allel then, though his expression was one of hope and not disgust or anger. "I know you said you really didn't know where they could be, but do you remember anything about that? Anything at all?"

Allel looked at him, though what she was thinking about made her seem a thousand miles away. "Possibly. But I don't know how Corliss would have known about it. Mik's father...well, you know how he has an inn in every Ethran city. He has several houses for their family, too. When we were kids, he had one overlooking the water and it was north of the mountains. We used to call it the Keep because it was just this huge two-story stone house that would have looked like a fortress had Mik's mother not worked on the gardens surrounding it. No one's been there for at least half a century."

"What do you mean, it was?"

"Exactly that. It was destroyed by a fire just a few weeks after we left at the end of one summer. All that's left now are ruins."

"Apparently not," Jai said then, shaking his head. He stood on shaky legs, looking at them all once more. "Or, at least, Corliss might have used dark magic to rebuild and make it her own. No matter what, though...we're going. And as soon as possible."

***Hi guys!  

Sorry it took me so long to upload.  I haven't been in the right head space for writing over the last two weeks, so I just took some time for myself.  I know they're short chapters, but my transition ones always are.  An unofficial end to part one, if you will.  

I'm going to try and get back into my writing groove, especially now that we're getting into a more interesting part.  And one of the chapters I've been waiting to write is even closer.  

And no, it's not the one where Lyv and Jai are finally together again...though I can't wait for that one, too!

Anywho, tell me your thoughts!  Comment and vote!

Happy reading!

- Ansley***