Linked (Gilded Blood Book 3) by Rachel Rener

Author:Rachel Rener [Rener, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lightning Conjurer Books, LLC
Published: 2023-02-06T16:00:00+00:00

XIII.

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

Somehow, I actually managed to fall back to sleep, only to wake with a start less than three hours later. “Zayn,” I whispered, instinctively reaching out to find empty sheets beside me. His scent still lingered there, along with the memories of the night before.

With a heavy sigh, I brushed my fingers against Biscuit’s tattoo, longing for his company. He appeared on my shoulder a moment later with a big yawn.

“Good morning,” I smiled.

“Morning,” he echoed. “Almond?”

“Not on me, no,” I apologized as I made my way across the room.

Sweeping aside the heavy drapes, I found a ceiling-high, stained-glass window hiding behind them, its colorful mosaic design illuminated by pale morning light. When I reached for the handle to open it, a hidden Unchaining Rune flickered to life and the windows swung open.

I let out a soft gasp at the view outside. “Hoooly…”

“…shiiiit,” Biscuit finished, reading my mind.

Bars of lime green sunlight streaked across a turquoise sky as the sun rose above the indigo mountains, their peaks as jagged as the edge of a torn piece of paper. Directly beneath us, a set of waterfalls cascaded down the mountainside, meeting with churning, frothy waters that eventually smoothed into a glassy blue lake. A grove of cotton-candy-pink trees surrounded the sparkling water, and beyond that, a lush evergreen forest stretched out as far as the eye could see. But in the space between the pink leaves and teal pine needles, a single colossal tree rose from the ground, far larger than any tree I’d ever seen before. With a trunk as tall and wide as a New York City skyscraper, it towered hundreds of feet above the tallest evergreens, its highest branches practically caressing the underside of low-hanging clouds. But what made it even more magnificent is that every single one of its leaves twinkled and glowed, as though the branches were covered in hundreds of thousands of green fireflies.

“What is that?” I breathed.

“Penis Tree,” Biscuit breathed back.

A laugh burst from my mouth. “A what tree?”

“F-F-Fuh,” he sounded out, blowing air through his beak. “Fee-nis tree.”

The bewildered expression on my face didn’t change.

He rolled his eyes, then showed me a picture of a great yellow and red bird whose feathers burned with fire.

“Oh! You mean Phoenix Tree?”

Biscuit nodded excitedly. “Big Feenis Tree.”

“But what is it? I mean, what does it do?”

In my mind, a pile of dead, dry leaves became green and waxy once more.

“It gives…life?”

Seemingly ignoring me, he let out an excited whistle. “Yoo-nee!”

I followed his gaze, frowning. A herd of wild horses had appeared beneath the Phoenix Tree, their coats so white, they looked almost silver in the misty morning sunlight.

Biscuit hopped up and down excitedly. “Yoo-nee!”

“Yoo-nee…corns?” I gasped, gripping the windowsill to get a better look.

Indeed, stunning golden horns protruded from the horses’ foreheads, gleaming against the mighty Phoenix Tree’s swirling, verdant magic. After stopping to drink from the blue pool, the herd – at least ten or twelve of them – gingerly made their

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