Chapter 20

The dark circles beneath Dessa's eyes only made the sapphire blue color of them brighter as she stared at herself in her bathing room mirror. It wasn't because she and Milena had stayed up until midnight talking and giggling and eating chocolate. It was because of a dream...no, a nightmare...she'd had just before she jolted awake, the sun barely peeking in through her half-closed curtains.

It was one she hadn't had since she was a child. Dessa, standing in what seemed like an endless night, with Cleo and another female beside her. The three of them were radiating with magic, both darkness and light, while a deep male chuckle echoed from seemingly everywhere. The male, though, wasn't Elys as he attempted to slow time around another, every second seeming to drain him of his unique magic more than more, which made Dessa's panic raise in her throat as she fought against her scream. Cleo's shadows were wreathed around them, trying to grab the unknown male, the other female's magic was trying to reach into the male's mind and torture him that way, and Dessa's...

Yes, Dessa had her magic in that nightmare. Magic she'd always wanted and yet seeing it made her very, very afraid when she was little.

Because it wasn't shadows she was surrounded by like Cleo was. It was what she could only describe as shadowflame – onyx flames that surrounded her glittering with silvery light, though were concentrated mostly at her hands. Flames which she could practically feel burning through every part of her since she woke up gasping, sweat trailing down her temples, the smell of smoke tickling her nose.

Now, Dessa was staring down at her hands leaned against the cool marble countertop, turning them slowly palm upward, watching her fingers flex and relax. She imagined that dark flame dancing through them, pooling in her palm and growing in intensity...

A knock on her bathing room door made her jump and spin around to meet Elys's concerned gaze, hiding her hands behind her back.

"You all right?" he asked her, brows furrowing as if he could hear her heart racing in her chest. "I waited a few minutes before coming in. Did you not hear me knocking on your room door?"

Dessa shook her head as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking him over in his tucked in white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and black pants. "No, I didn't hear. I'm sorry. I...I was just lost in thought there for a little while."

He leaned his hip against the countertop beside her, staring intently. "Anything in particular?"

The question made her raise a brow. "Like you don't know already."

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't see everything all the time. I'm able to focus on specifics, of course, and get information when I need to. I'm all knowing and yet not at the same time."

"Seems like a waste of good magic."

"No, just have everyone's respect for privacy as I told you last night."

Dessa sighed and looked at herself in the mirror again, particularly the dark circles under her eyes. Elys continued staring at her, waiting.

"Do you remember that nightmare I used to have when I was little?"

Elys, it seemed, hadn't thought about it in a while, just as she hadn't until she had it again. "I do."

"You're still in it, too."

"And I will tell you the same thing I used to tell you when you were little. If and when it happens, you will be more powerful than you think you are right now. And I will be right there with you every step of the way, just like I've always been and will be."

Dessa's chin drop to her chest as she managed a half smile. "I know. It just came as an unwelcome surprise this morning. I...I haven't had it since..."

There was no need to continue. "You haven't had it since the morning I left five years ago."

She remained silent for a long moment, looking up at him in the mirror. "Why do you think I was screaming for you as you rode away? It wasn't just because you left without even a goodbye. I needed you, just like you'd always been there after I had even the slightest of bad dreams, and you left me."

"You haven't had it since then, though, have you?"

"Are you insinuating you're the one who gives me nightmares. Because maybe you are."

He snorted. "Not in the slightest, actually. I'd say quite the opposite."

Somehow, Elys made her laugh with just that one line, even louder than her one just a few moments before. Not only that, though, but he also had her face flaming at the thought of those good dreams with him in them.

But he was right. The dream she'd had with him in it, the one before her nightmare took over, was definitely the opposite. She wasn't going to tell him that, though.

"That came out completely wrong," Elys grumbled, embarrassed. "And yes, I realized it after I said it."

Dessa patted her hand against his chest and winked. "Of course, you did. But yes, Seer, the only dreams with you in them are definitely good dreams."

This time, Dessa was the one to turn Elys's face bright red. "Got those flirtation skills from Milena, I see. After seeing you two last night and all this past week we've been home, you two are more and more like each other...and I wouldn't say that's a good thing."

At the mention of the night before, a small smile tugged at the corners of Dessa's mouth. "How's your head?"

This time, it was Elys who raised a brow. "You mean am I hungover or is my head still pounding from Lyv's hit?"

"Both."

"A little bit of both then."

Dessa's laugh rang out, which made him flinch at the sound from how loud the echo in her bathing room made it. Almost as soon as she realized, she slapped a hand over her mouth, though her giggles were now muffled.

Mostly, it was just because she was remembering what happened when the two of them finally got to the portside tavern, the way her mother jumped up at the sight of Elys's bandaged hands and stumbling steps. At first, she thought it was because Elys got into a fight...before Dessa revealed he'd had a little too much to drink, broke the bottles he was holding, and the glass sliced into his palms. It took no time to heal him, but she left him with the pounding headache from the alcohol and the one she gave him when she slapped him on the back of the head, much to Gideon's delight since he was usually the one on the receiving end.

"Did you at least get some sleep to ease it off?" Dessa asked him then as she started on her braid.

Elys nodded, watching her fingers, then trailed along the silver streak that weaved in and out of her braid with utter fascination. "I did, though I might have to sneak one of Lyv's tonics for it to go away completely."

She let out a laugh that had him wincing at the echo through her bathing room. "Nope. Don't you dare. This is punishment, just like both she and I told you."

"Yeah, yeah."

She snorted and rolled her eyes, bringing her focus back to her task and tried not to notice Elys still watching her every move.

"Your dream, though," he went on slowly as she tied off the end. "Your magic...is it still the same?"

"What magic?" Dessa sighed, then held out her hands to him. "Because I can't feel anything other than its presence. A curse, remember? Daughter of two of the most powerful beings in our world and yet their daughter can't even manage a flicker of flames."

"You're really being too hard on yourself, you know."

"Am I, though? Because gods know you won't tell me anything."

He reached up, circling his fingertips over her palms, along each and every finger. "Because if I did, you would try your damnedest to not let it happen."

Dessa stared at him as a different warmth spread through her, pooling in her stomach, and radiating outward. "Try it then," she challenged in a whisper.

Elys's eyes flashed white once more as he looked up at her, meeting her gaze. "You'll be all right, Des. I promise you that."

"You know something, don't you?"

But he didn't say another word.

***

Just a short while later, after tugging Elys along by the hand down the hallway away from the infirmary since he thought he could sneak past her, Dessa and Milena stood side by side, grinning like fiends at the three males who were before them in the training courtyard.

"I don't like this look," Elys grumbled to Eamon and Archer. "I don't like this look at all."

Eamon nodded in agreement. "Definitely not. They're up to something."

"Considering the three of us had just a few more drinks last night than they did, I would agree," Archer stated, paused...and then groaned. "And I can't even see what they're planning, dammit."

Elys's eyes flashed white as he tried to look, too. "They've had too much practice with hiding their future motives from the two of us. You see them switching strategies like I am right now and not deciding on one?"

"Yep."

"Can't get anything clear from them?"

"Nope. Just a blur of them and their swords, plus a little bit of blood. Not to mention everyone coming in to watch the chaos unfold."

"Same here...so we're all screwed."

"Definitely," Eamon and Archer said together.

And true to what they saw, everyone did come. Dessa and Milena's parents, Cleo, the rest of the royal family. Even some of the palace guardsmen who wanted to watch the two females they spent so much time training with themselves take on three of the best trained warriors in Dalcaine's army. By the looks on those guardsmen's faces...yes, they definitely knew who they were betting on to win and were already tossing in their coin.

Milena nudged Dessa's side with her elbow as she slid a perfectly manicured fingernail down the blade of her dagger. "So, what do you want to do later while these boys are nursing their wounds?"

"Well, we can do something this afternoon. Shopping, maybe? I've got a date with Fin later and need something to wear."

"And there's yet another tidbit of news you didn't tell me about."

"Because she doesn't."

Dessa wasn't just glaring at one male who spoke up loud enough for all to hear, but two. The first was her father, leaned back against the stone wall between her mother and Gideon. His narrowed eyes, identical to hers, didn't even waiver as she stuck out her tongue at him. Jai merely grinned, tightening his hold on Len, who was seated in his lap. Dessa's little sister wasn't paying any attention to anyone, just looking through her picture book with Silas, Posy, and Jett.

But the second...oh, her glare was one sparked with sapphire blue flames that Elys could practically feel the heat of even a dozen feet away.

"Neither one of you have a say in this, you know."

Lyv piped in then. "You two really don't. If she wants..."

"You're not going out with him," Elys repeated, stepping forward. The first one to broach the invisible boundary between them.

Then it wasn't just Milena who was armed and ready. Ever so slowly, so he could watch the blade glinting in the sunlight, Dessa withdrew her sword from its sheath across her back. Her grip on the hilt tightened until her knuckles went white, palms warming against the leather grip. "And I will say again, you have no say in that, Seer."

Having grown up learning to fight together, Dessa and Milena took no time at all before they surged forward toward the three males, swords already swinging overhead. Dessa went for Elys first, of course, though he was just as quick to unsheathe his sword to block her strike.

The surprise in his eyes had her grinning widely. "Wow, did you see that coming?"

Elys's jaw clenched as he shifted his weight, pushing her back to make her stumble. "Surprisingly not."

Dessa lunged forward, but only to feign an advance. She and Milena did this quite often, a move that had the guardsmen watching chuckling. Because with that lunge, the two of them were back-to-back, circling and swords swinging with every movement Elys, Eamon, and Archer made.

They didn't even have to think about it, the way they knew each other's next strike or block. This was to their advantage, especially with a Seer and a susurrate who would have been able to see their next moves had they decided on them a few seconds before actually making them. While Dessa relied on her strength and skill with her sword, Milena added a bit of her own magic, including fire, which she ringed around the two of them after several minutes of the fight.

None of the males dared to cross, not after Archer tried to jump over it and the flames wrapped around his ankles without burning him.

"Just like I say it when Eamon does it, it's not fair when magic's used when it's supposed to be sword against sword," Elys called out over the circling flames.

Dessa rolled her eyes, sword still gripped in both hands. "You've been primarily fighting me, idiot. And I don't have magic."

Elys held his arms wide, sword glinting in the sunlight. "Then come on and fight back. We'll test you...since I know you've been feeling something as of late. You being pissed off at me over the last week's really helped, hasn't it?"

Was he trying to have her go off on him? Because he certainly was close.

Dessa's eyes narrowed into slits. "Are you serious right now? You want to go there? Because trust me when I say I won't hold back in the slightest. I don't need magic to beat your ass."

Elys met her head on. "Completely. You still haven't showed me everything you've learned in these past five years since I left without saying goodbye."

It wasn't what he was saying, because they both knew he had a reason in leaving like that. But it was his tone that ground against her every nerve, the way his eyes narrowed slightly, taunting.

Dessa glanced over her shoulder at Milena. "Let me out."

Milena's eyes widened, but her flames didn't dissipate. "Dessa..."

"I said, let me out."

Eamon and Archer were already backing away slowly, sheathing their swords as they creeped backward until they were where everyone sat. Out of the corner of her eye, Dessa saw her parents stand just as Cleo did the same. Jai passed Lenora to Gideon, who both looked up at him worriedly.

Dessa was looking at Elys, though, ignoring the fact that he'd rolled up the sleeves of his tunic even more, the sweat that beaded down his temples as he ran his fingers through his hair. Right now, all she wanted to do was let out her anger and frustration on him.

Her grip tightened once more, muscles straining in her jaw as she clenched her teeth together. Heat flared through her body, battering against everything it could. Dessa felt like she was going to crack, especially when that raging heat slammed against the wall inside her, which held back...gods, she didn't even know what.

But whatever magic it held back...she could feel it opening one onyx and silver eye as fire flared within her.

Elys took another step forward, his eyes flashing white for a split second. It was just long enough for her to notice, though no one else would have.

"What?" she ground out. "You trying to look and see what I'm going to do?"

He just shook his head, swinging his own sword in a wide arch. "Nope, just looking to see what I will."

"What happened to no cheating?"

"That's not what I was looking at, Dessa Jai."

"Then come on, Seer."

He took a breath, held it for several long moments, then blew it out as he lifted his sword.

And yet he still didn't see her coming when she lunged forward.

Dessa spun around the same time she lifted her sword, cutting upward along Elys's side close enough for it to catch on the sleeve of his tunic and put a thin slice through it. He didn't see it coming, so he didn't even have time to parry the swing. He jumped back and maneuvered just in time to block her next one, grunting under the force of it.

"Tired already?" Dessa grinned at him.

"You've always been a pain in the ass who wore me out when you were little."

"Well, I'm not so little anymore."

"You definitely aren't."

They continued their dance around the courtyard, sword against sword, glare against glare. Though neither was paying attention to those who surrounded them, it was Dessa's parents and Cleo who seemed the most on edge about the fight as if they knew something was going to happen. Lyv clutched Jai's hand with Cleo standing on her other side, whispering something in her ear.

It was the last swing from Elys that had Dessa's sword flying out of her hand whenever he hit it just right with his own.

As she watched the steel glinting in the sunlight before landing in a clatter on stone, that dark flame inside her began flickering even brighter. Then something happened, something she hadn't felt before as she turned to face Elys just as he threw down his own sword.

Her palms began to tingle with unfamiliar heat.

"These next few moments, Des," Elys began, hands up as he took a step closer to her. "You're going to be all right. Promise."

"Why do you say that?" she dared.

The fiery rage that burned through her all but exploded, slamming into the wall inside.

Making the fissure widen.

And unfamiliar magic spill out.

She wasn't paying any mind to it, though, lunging for Elys once more. He blocked her fist when she aimed a punch to her face, catching it in his hand. Her knee went up, but he easily jumped back, though his hold on her didn't loosen. Instead, he spun her around and pulled her back against his chest, one hand still holding her fist and the other locked around her chest.

"Let go of me, Elys," Dessa ground out through her teeth, trying to wiggle herself free from his hold.

"I can't do that. Just know you're going to be all right," he repeated.

"Hand to hand combat is one of my specialties, so I'd be worried about yourself."

He merely shook his head against hers, lips brushing against her ear to make her shiver. "That's not what I meant."

Dessa realized what he was then as she looked down at her hands as he let go of the one and she held them up.

Onyx and silver flames began to flicker to life in her palms, growing and growing without her being able to stop it.

Her breath halted in her chest as panic rose in her throat, making her choke out a strangled noise. Even as Elys's hold on her tightened, those dark flames were weaving in and out of her fingers, curling around her wrists and up her arms.

"What...? No, no!"

It wasn't just a fissure anymore. The wall inside began to crumble into nothing, the overflow of Dessa's magic slamming into her so forcefully she didn't know how to handle it. Her knees buckled under its weight and Elys tried to keep his hold on her, but when those shadowflames were working their way up her arms, a tendril reached out against his arm and he cried out and jumped back.

Dessa spun around, devoured by the flames as they completely surrounded her, and saw Elys's mismatched blue eyes widen as soon as he saw hers.

"Tell me what's happening!" she begged as tears glistened and fell. "Elys, tell me!"