Gavyn stood, feeling the unfathomable well of power at the center of his being. Blood ran down his back and dripped at his feet, and the massive wings rose over his head in an arch, its tips brushing against the wet, chilled stone floor. The sensation felt like a spear of ice through his gut, and he shifted and lifted the appendage from off the ground.
“I have wings,” he said hoarsely, peering down at the pool of blood forming at his feet. “I thought Darkans healed at a superior rate?”
“The half of you that is Darkan is fighting your other half. You need to accept it,” Tehdra murmured, her obsidian eyes watching him with malevolent cunning.
“Do you feel the beast talking to you?”
He frowned, searching himself. “No. I…I just know I am different…more powerful.” And hungry.
“The connection we have with our demon beast is psychic. It is pure mystical energy with its own cunning and intelligence. You should feel its powers calling to you…seducing you to reach for more of its dark offerings.”
“I do not feel as if there is something inside of me, Tehdra,” Gavyn said, taking a step forward.
She canted her head left. “Then what do you feel?”
"Hunger. Such hunger my mouth waters, and fire of need eats at my mind and dominates my soul."
She dealt him an arresting stare. “Do you know what you crave?”
“Xian.”
A perilous silence fell between them, and she glanced at Acheron.
"There is also knowledge inside of me…one that is dark and ugly."
“And what does that knowledge speak of?”
"If Prince Baku so much as touch her, I will kill him." The words fell cold and implacable from his lips. "My logical mind knows that Ajali needs an alliance with Avindar to combat the might of the empire…the warrior in me knows this…but my heart knows I will kill without impunity if he or any man touch her."
Tehdra lifted her chin. "Though you are half-blood there is still a demand inside of you to mate. Xian is your mate, Gavyn, and the supreme law of the Darkage says no one has the right to claim what is yours. We war for our mates and our king…our king will lend us his might and support."
“Ajali will not—”
“King Gidon Al Shar of the Darkage is my king,” she murmured. “Ajali is my lover and my mate.”
He stared at her. “Are you saying the dark king will accept me into his realm.”
“If you pledge your loyalty.”
Gavyn chuckled darkly. Before he could respond a whisper of warning burned through his veins.
Gavyn…
The voice was a faint caress in his mind, but he stiffened. "Xian?"
Driven by a terrible restlessness, and the disquieting fever burning through his body, he surged to his feet. “I must get to Xian.”
Acheron arched a sharp brow. “Now? I would urge you to heal first. They are days away from completing the ceremony, and this situation needs to be handled with the utmost delicacy. We do not want to offend Avindar when you go for her.”
“I…I…I need to be with her, I cannot explain it, but I must be with her.”
Gavyn stumbled and stepped into a black void. He shook his head, his thoughts disoriented, unable to see anything but the unrelenting darkness. Slowly his eyes adjusted, and he realized with a sense of bemusement he could see with perfect clarity, and everything seemed coated in a wash of moonlight. He could see Acheron looking around, but Tehdra stared straight at him.
“As a Nurian you control the ability to shape fire to your will.”
The darkness around him seem to contract, and she stepped into the shadowed dimension. "As a Darkan, sha
dows, and darkness will be yours to call. You'll be very powerful Gavyn Westk'arr, to be able to control both fire and shadows."