Rise of the Faire-Amanti (The Ascendant Series Book 3) (11 page)

The smile felt disgustingly fraudulent to Kyr, who was still stewing over Ty’s stubborn refusal to confide in her. She made a point of sitting next to Halda in the carriage rather than beside him. Her temper was a hair’s breadth from igniting, and she didn’t feel like testing herself. She knew it was important to put her personal feelings aside to accomplish what they were about to do. She’d figure out how to deal with His Royal Pigheadedness later.

She opened her senses as the trip began. Ty did the same, though he seemed determined to keep a barrier between them. She reminded herself again that she couldn’t shout at him with the Wrym council member in the carriage. They both needed to focus on figuring out the extent of Vycor’s influence in the megai. With so many people to scan, it wouldn’t be easy to pinpoint individuals who had been influenced. They could only hope to get a good estimate.

It came as a tremendous surprise when they didn’t sense anyone under Vycor’s influence among the Wrym they encountered.

“How can that be?” Halda asked in a low voice masked by the clomping of the horses’ hooves.

“I’m not sure,” Kyr said with a puzzled frown. “I can sense that most of the repressions have been removed, but there’s no sign of the Advisor’s unusual mental signature.”

“Has the Advisor ever visited this megai?” Ty asked Halda.

“Not in quite some time,” the Wrym replied. “He was much younger back then. SteffenDane was still the Advisor.”

“I believe Vycor needs to have direct contact with someone to influence them,” Ty said. “If none of these Wrym have visited the palace since Vycor assumed his abilities, they wouldn’t be influenced.”

“But then how did the repressions get lifted?” Halda wondered. “It’s not as though they went to the Vawn or Dane megais to endure a mass Rite.”

“That’s a good point,” Kyr said. “And it would take the work of a number of Mynders to pull it off with this many people.”

Halda sat straighter as though something had just occurred to her. “Well, now, Advisor Vycor hasn’t been here for a visit in a long time, but there was that group of Mynders who came through not long after Syd and Nevyll returned from the palace.”

“What purpose did they offer for being here?” Ty asked.

“They said they were visiting to check the protections along the border to the Dark Lands. I admit to wondering why they suddenly had to be here in person. No one has ever bothered to do so before.”

“That’s when they probably reduced the repressions,” Kyr hazarded. “Do you remember the names of any of the Mynders who visited?”

The Wrym’s brow wrinkled in thought. “Not all of them introduced themselves. In fact, only two of them did the talking, and they did most of it with Syd and Nevyll. Their names were Dibon and Luex.”

Despite her lingering frustration with Ty, Kyr found herself exchanging a brief look with him. Luex had been one of Kyr’s most frequent guards at the palace. Even without direct access to Ty’s thoughts, she knew he had trusted the other Mynder. They both knew that if he had come here with Dibon, a guard closely connected to Shaya, and it had been soon after the council’s influencing, the odds were that he was working with the Advisor.

Luex had guarded Kyr for an unknown amount of time without Ty ever sensing that he was under Vycor’s influence. Kyr remembered many times when he stood guard in her chambers or escorted her through the palace at Ty’s command…which meant he had somehow been able to elude Ty’s ability to detect harmful thoughts.

Had Vycor’s abilities somehow bypassed Ty’s? Had the Advisor learned how to hide Luex’s thoughts from them?

Was that why Ty was worried now?

Kyr stilled as another thought occurred to her. Vycor had learned about the extent of her relationship with Ty from someone, and she knew it wasn’t Gren. The only other guard who she remembered guarding her chambers at times when she might have been with Ty was Luex. He must have been the one to tell Vycor about them.

In fact, she mused, Luex had been present the night that the Guardians found her and Ty in her chambers and all of this had been set in motion. She had to believe he’d played a pivotal part in it all. He was probably the person Vycor had ordered to reveal their secret romance if he was ever harmed, too. Even if Luex was acting under Vycor’s influence, the extent of his treachery made her feel ill.

She didn’t share any of her conclusions with Ty, but she didn’t bar him from her mind, either. As upset with him as she was, she wasn’t going to ruin their chances of succeeding in this battle against the palace by acting like a petulant child.

“Now that we suspect what happened, what can be done about it?” Halda asked, turning Kyr’s thoughts.

“I believe we’re going to have to send Mynders—those outside of Vycor’s influence—here to help protect you,” Kyr said.

Halda didn’t seem pleased with that suggestion. “How will you know who to trust?”

“We’re not without our abilities, Councilor,” Ty said.

The Wrym looked doubtful. Kyr read from her thoughts that she didn’t believe Kyr and Ty were very powerful. How could they be? “Kaya” had light hair and dark eyes, and “Tavin” had the opposite. Both were physical indications of low-level abilities.

Seeing no help for it, Kyr looked Halda in the eye and influenced her. “Don’t believe everything you see, Councilor. We have the ability to stop Vycor. I’m going to ensure he can’t do to you what was done to your peers. Then we’ll send help from the Dane megai.”

Halda didn’t issue a word of argument as Kyr drew on her power and fulfilled her promise to protect her by guarding her mind from possible intrusion.

They returned to the council building a short while later. The horse and carriage pulled up to a private entrance. Halda’s footman opened the carriage door and assisted Halda and Kyr out of it. Kyr sensed Ty trying to get to her first to help her down, but she ignored him.

Everything they had learned that day weighed on her. It came as some relief when Halda offered them her guest suite. Since the daylight was fading and she had much to process, Kyr could only thank the councilor for her hospitality.

Before long, they were alone. Kyr looked at Ty to see if he’d reestablish their connection without her prodding him. She judged by the look on his face that he wouldn’t be open to that idea at all, no matter how much she nagged.

Well, she’d just have to make him open to it. But for the moment, she’d let him think he’d gotten his way.

Why don’t we give Sem an update?
she thought, hoping that a conversation with Ty’s sarcastic cousin would cheer her up.
It’s been a couple of days since we’ve heard from him or Gren
.

All right
, Ty responded.

She took small comfort from the look of regret she saw on his face as he turned and looked at her. Because he opened his mind in order for them to connect with Sem, she knew he felt he was doing the right thing, even if it caused both of them pain. She didn’t have to know what troubled him to understand how he felt.

She still wanted to throttle him, though.

His lips twitched as her stray thought reached him. Then they both focused on connecting with Sem. Kyr was anxious to learn about his progress into the Dane megai, and she sensed Ty was, too.

After a couple of minutes, they exchanged another look. In all the times they had reached out to Sem, they had never failed to reach him, even if he was busy or asleep.

But for some unknown reason, he wasn’t reachable now.

Chapter 13

It took Ty several minutes of trying to connect with Sem before Kyr convinced him to give up. Although they had no way of knowing why, they just couldn’t reach him.

An unwelcome glimpse of his dream—a flash of Sem’s head rolling out of the basket—flew through his mind, so he once again closed the connection between him and Kyr. He noticed she visibly flinched when he did. The sight of it made him utterly miserable, but revealing the dream to her was out of the question.

It had gotten much, much worse since they left the Dark Lands.

“We need to try and reach Gren,” Kyr said levelly, not commenting on his disconnect. “Maybe he heard from Sem and knows what’s going on.”

The idea was logical, and so simple that he was irritated with himself for not thinking of it. The damn dream was screwing with his head. Meeting her gaze, he nodded.

Gren?
Kyr sent out once they were connected.

Hey
, Gren replied in a hazy way that indicated he’d been sleeping.

Sorry to bother you
, Ty thought.
We wanted to get updates from you and Sem now that we’re done for the day here.

And where is “here?”

The Wrym megai.

Ty took the time to fill Gren in on what he and Kyr had learned over the past couple of days.
We tried to reach Sem to update him right before we tried you
, he explained.
He’s not responding.

When’s the last time you heard from him?
Kyr asked.

Not since the last time we all connected
, Gren responded, now fully alert.
Right after you broke through the protections. We’ve been so busy trying to infiltrate the mine that I haven’t had time to think about anything else
.

Ty felt Kyr’s worry blend with his own. Even Gren sounded concerned. There weren’t many reasons that none of them could connect with Sem.

If I hear from him, I’ll let you know,
Gren assured them.
SemDane thinks on his toes. He’ll be fine
.

Thanks, Gren
, Ty conveyed before deliberately turning his thoughts from his cousin.
Have you had any success getting people into the mine so you can try to overtake it?

We’ve made some headway. Jenna and D’arl did a good job of screening prisoners so we know who might be strong enough to help our cause. A few of those we’ve rescued have agreed to go back in so we have more people on the inside. Still, if Vycor descends on us today, we’re woefully unprepared to face him.

Hang in there
, Kyr told him.
I know you’ve got a tough challenge ahead. We’ll do our best to keep Vycor’s attention on us without instigating a planet-wide battle.

She had tried to keep her tone light, but Ty felt her uncertainty and imagined Gren did, too. At this point, they were all walking a tightrope, and it could snap at any moment.

We’ll keep you updated
, Ty thought.
Let us know if you need anything or if you hear from Sem
.

Will do, and same to you
.

Once Gren closed the connection, Ty did the same. He heard Kyr issue an exasperated sigh in reaction as she walked over to the modest-sized bathing chamber attached to the guest suite. Since he had already inspected it, he didn’t worry about her being away from him for a few minutes. Still, when she closed the door firmly between them, he knew it represented to her the door he was keeping closed between their minds.

He would have to live with that.

She showered and cleansed her teeth, then climbed into bed while he visited the bathing chamber. He wasn’t comfortable showering and leaving her vulnerable, so he used a washcloth at the sink to clean up before heading back into the bedroom.

By all appearances, Kyr was asleep. Ty climbed into the bed and moved closer to her, wanting to draw comfort from her nearness. When he reached for her, though, she edged away from him.

He blinked in astonishment. She hadn’t ever pulled away from him.

Of course, he wasn’t a complete moron. He knew she was angry because he wasn’t sharing what troubled him. She was right that he would feel the same way in her place. But he was just as convinced that she would try to keep this from him, too, if their roles were reversed.

Accepting the pain in his chest as his due, he lay on his side of the bed and stared at Kyr’s back until she finally fell asleep. He stayed in the bed for a while, but when his eyes got heavy, he rose and paced. The dream hovered in his subconscious, waiting for the moment to spring. He hated that he was so defenseless against it.

Eventually, though, he couldn’t fight his fatigue any longer. He crawled back into the bed, and since Kyr wasn’t awake to stop him, he gathered her close and closed his eyes.

* * *

“Your cousin Sem is dead,” Vycor sneered.

Ty was aware enough in the dream now that he went immediately to work on trying to free himself. He knew he had a limited amount of time before the Mynders brought Kyr into the chamber. If he had to watch one more time as Vycor—

No
.

Sweat beaded on his brow as he fought his bonds, but like always, they were taut and unyielding.

“He died screaming for mercy,” Vycor said as he laid out the implements beside the altar in the center of the chamber. “He cursed your name, TaeDane. He knew it was your fault that he suffered so long before death claimed him.”

Ty had learned not to speak in the dream. It didn’t stop the events from happening, but he felt less of an impact after he awoke if he didn’t interact with Vycor.

“Don’t believe me?” Vycor asked, unconcerned with Ty’s lack of response. “You haven’t heard from him in some time now.”

The new comment had Ty freezing and meeting Vycor’s gaze. The Advisor wore an unnatural smile.

“Not since your time in the Wrym megai,” Vycor continued. “That was when we started having some fun with SemDane. He lasted a long, long time.”

He waved his hand at the Mynder who walked over with the bloody basket. Ty couldn’t move as he watched the Mynder approach. Somehow, it all seemed more real than usual. He knew it was because he hadn’t been able to connect with Sem before he fell asleep.

That had to mean this was all true.

The basket turned over. Ty watched the head drop at his feet, heard the nauseating squish of flesh and blood striking stone. Saw the gory spatter cover his boots. Felt the bile rise in the back of his throat.