When It Reigns (Cursed Reigns, #1)

CHAPTER FIFTY

AERYN'S POV

I grabbed my sides as another burst of radiation ignited beneath my skin, and I bent over until my forehead met the cot. I hissed, holding back the screech that was fighting to break free.

"What are...you...talking...about," I demanded as I recalled the Wielder referring to me by the same nickname. I grinded my teeth as the flames were gradually put out by the ruby ring absorbing the heat on my thumb.

"I'll leave the rest for your old...companion to answer now that I know you're going to live," Shade replied, appearing to float over to the door in his floor-length robe.

He ducked out of the room before I could assault him with a barrage of questions. He was replaced by the traitor moments later.

"Aer," Bastion breathed, pausing at the entrance as his eyes roamed every inch of my body in strict examination before he rushed over and occupied Shade's vacant seat.

"What happened to you?" he whispered, pale blue eyes jumping around my face.

"I was bit by a Cursed demon and I'm somehow still alive weeks later to tell you about it."

Bastion took a deep breath and exhaled, blowing his white hair tipped with strawberry blonde strands off his forehead. "I don't even know where to start," he admitted, running a hand through his multicolored hair. His fingers caught on his ivory horns, and he dragged his hand down his pale face.

"Maybe explaining how I didn't turn into a Cursed demon like Misty had, is a good place to begin."

"Misty turned?"

I nodded.

"Shit. Is she..."

"I killed her."

"Shit," he repeated. "The downside to being a pure Draconian is no immunity to the Curse. I didn't turn either."

I narrowed my brows on him. "You're a demon. You were spying on the empire."

Bastion shook his head. "I know you're not going to believe me, but the substance your father used to extract my power also injected me with the Curse as a side effect. It works like a mosquito; it drains our essencethen spits the Curse into our bloodstream. I'm not one-hundred percent Draconian, either."

"I know. You're a demon," I reiterated.

"No, Aer. I'm half-Phoenixian."

It felt like bolt of lightning struck my chest at the confession.

"But they were forbidden from mating with Draconians," I denied. "They do not have any offspring."

"Phoenixians were as strong as they were because they each had two powers. The only demons in this world are the Cursed ones driven by insanity that the Phoenixians defended us against. I have two powers because I gained an essence from my Phoenixian father and one from my Draconian mother whereas pure-blood Draconians receive half of each of their Draconian parents' essences to give them one full power," he explained. "You met Talyse, my mother. She exiled her own son knowing what I'd turn into. The abrasive woman never spoke about my father and now I know why. If my mother, a significantly prominent figure in the empire, was able to disobey the mating law with a Phoenixian man and give birth to me, then imagine just how many others there are who are just like us."

I was quiet for several moments, repeating hiswords in my head in an attempt to make sense of them. Coming up empty, I said, "That doesn't make any sense. My father banished you for treason."

"He banished me because I discovered the truth when I used my powers to read his lies and discern the reality. I knew too much, and I had two powers. No one can be more powerful than Emperor Nepheus."