Chapter 30 -Caylix-
\-Caylix-
The storm still pounds against the palace windows. Lightning flashes white across the chamber. Then Avianna throws the blankets back and climbs out of the bed. My entire body locks instantly. Gods. She is wearing her nightdress, her dark hair tumbling wildly around flushed cheeks while humiliation and frustration crash through the tether.
“Avi…”
“No.”
The word cracks apart halfway through. She starts pacing barefoot across the chamber, anger and panic spiraling together beneath the tether so violently that my own pulse begins matching hers automatically.
“I can’t do this anymore,” she says, voice breaking. “I can’t think. I can’t sleep. I can’t breathe without feeling you anymore.”
Each word lands like a blade directly between my ribs. I force myself to stay still.
“You’re in my head constantly.” Her voice rises higher now. “Every second. Every thought. Every feeling.” She presses both hands hard against her chest like she physically cannot contain it anymore. “I feel you when I wake up. I feel you when I fall asleep. I feel every time you’re exhausted, every time you’re angry, every time you look at me like…”
She cuts herself off as the tether surges. Desperation crashes through it hard enough to make my vision blur briefly.
“Avi.”
“I don’t know how to survive this!” she suddenly shouts.
The words rip through the room. Then she reaches me. Her fists slam hard against my chest once. Twice. Not enough to hurt, but enough to break me anyway.
“Do you understand what this is doing to me?” she demands, voice cracking apart completely now. “I think about you constantly. I hear you constantly. And now, gods help me, I can’t even touch myself without you feeling it through the tether!”
The raw humiliation flooding through her nearly destroys my remaining restraint outright.
“Avi…”
“No!” Her palms flatten hard against my chest now. “I’m trying so hard to keep this kingdom together and all I can think about is you!”
The tether detonates. Every emotion between us crashes together, her fear, my restraint, her desire, my desperation. Then suddenly her hands slide downward.
Gods.
Her fingers drag slowly over my stomach, across the hard lines of muscle beneath my shirt while her breathing stutters through the tether. Like she is drowning and reaching for the only thing keeping her above water. That realization emotionally ruins me.
“Avi,” I whisper roughly.
She collapses. One second she’s standing in front of me and the next her knees buckle hard enough that I catch her against my chest. The second my arms close around her, relief slams through the tether so powerfully it almost hurts.
I want to give in.
Her thought hits me through the tether so clearly it steals the air from my lungs and I freeze.
Let Rhydon marry Charlotte. Let someone else wear the crown. I’m so tired, Caylix.
The words tear through me so completely that I almost stop breathing entirely. Because she means them. My grip tightens around her instinctively.
“Avi,” I say hoarsely.
Her face presses harder into my chest.
“I don’t want to be this weak,” she whispers brokenly.
That does it. I cup the back of her head immediately and force her to look at me.
“Avi.” My voice sharpens hard enough to cut through the panic flooding the tether. “Listen to me.”
Her eyes shine with tears now. I rest my forehead carefully against hers. The contact nearly destroys us both. The tether ignites the second my forehead touches hers. I feel her panic unraveling in real time beneath my hands, every trembling piece of her slowly settling simply because I’m holding her. That realization nearly destroys me outright.
“Avi,” I whisper roughly.
Tears slip down her cheeks. “I just don’t feel strong anymore.”
Pain tears through my chest.
“No.” My hand tightens gently against the back of her neck. “You’re exhausted.”
She shakes her head weakly. “I’m falling apart.”
“No,” I say again, firmer this time. “You’ve spent your entire life carrying everyone around you before yourself. Your people…Your family…This kingdom...” My throat tightens. “And now you’re terrified this hex is going to make you fail them.”
Her breathing breaks. I brush a tear from her cheek before I can stop myself.
“You were born for this, Avi.”
She closes her eyes immediately. “No.”
“Yes.” I press my forehead harder against hers. “You walk among your people because you love them. You listen when others would command. You fight for people who can give you nothing in return.” My voice roughens. “This kingdom will be safer with you wearing that crown than anyone else.”
Emotion crashes through the tether.
“I don’t want him.”
The confession shatters straight through me. Before I can answer her, something cold suddenly crawls down the back of my neck. Every instinct inside me snaps tight instantly and I go completely still.
Avi notices immediately. “Caylix?”
The storm pounds against the windows while silence stretches between us. I move towards the door slowly, every muscle in my body locking into readiness.
“What is it?” she asks quietly.
“I don’t know yet.”
But I feel it. I can feel the darkness creeping up and moving through the hallway outside her door. The sensation presses against my instincts again. My hand moves automatically toward the sword resting beside the door.
“Avi, stay here.”
Her expression tightens immediately. “Caylix…”
“Stay. Don’t open this door for anyone, no matter who it is or what is said. I will come to you from the passageway when it is clear. Open it for no one, Avi, not even me.”
She falls silent at something in my voice. I open the chamber door carefully and step into the corridor. Darkness stretches across the palace halls while torchlight flickers weakly against stone walls. The feeling hits harder the second I leave the room. Something is watching.
My gaze sweeps both directions instantly. I see nothing. The guards stationed outside straighten immediately at the sight of me.
“Get men moving through every corridor and stairwell,” I order sharply. “Now.”
Their expressions change instantly.
“Search everything. No one moves alone.”
One of them hesitates. “What are we searching for, Commander?”
“I’ll know when you find it. Bring me everyone you find.”
That answer clearly unsettles him, but he nods quickly and disappears down the corridor. I continue forward slowly, every instinct straining against the silence around me. The presence feels close one second and distant the next, like smoke slipping through my fingers before I can grasp it. A second guard approaches at a run.
“The king has been alerted.”
“Good,” I say immediately. “Lock down the upper corridors. No servants. No movement unless cleared by me.”
The guard nods before hurrying away. But the feeling is already fading, retreating. My jaw tightens hard. Coward. By the time I reach King Alexander’s study, guards are already sweeping through the palace corridors outside.
“It was here,” I say. “Inside the palace.”
Alexander’s face darkens instantly.
“You’re certain?”
“Yes.”
Agameus looks deeply unsettled beside the fire now. “Dark magic inside royal corridors without detection…” he murmurs grimly. “That should not be possible.”