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“Sera,” Manny said between heaving breaths. “When we get back… to Sevhella… you’re moving.” He stood up straight, his hands knotted behind his neck. “I never want to climb another flight of stairs.”
“Seconded,” Sera wheezed as she flopped onto the ground. She didn’t even seem to care about the reddish clay dirt that caked her bare arms.
Elyse straightened up. “Let’s go.”
Manny gave her a death glare while Sera silently pleaded with her eyes.
“Elyse,” Killian said, stretching his back. “One minute won’t kill us.”
But it might. It might just kill Elyse. Every moment that they didn’t have the angel’s blood in their possession, she felt like she was going mad. Once they had the angel’s blood, there was still so much to be done. They had to find Ymaritis—there might be dozens of places to search. How long would it take to track them down, eliminating them one by one? The summer solstice was tomorrow and—
“Elyse,” Killian repeated, his voice gentler. “We’ll get the angel’s blood. We’ll get Ymaritis.”
He held her gaze, his chest still rising and falling with ragged breaths. But there was strength in his eyes, and for a moment, Elyse believed him.
“Okay,” she breathed. “One more minute.”
“I’m ready now,” Jaime announced, readjusting the pack on his back.
Manny muttered something indiscernible under his breath, but Jaime didn’t seem to notice it.
One minute later, they were off, lumbering down a path through the forest that covered the entire island. The trees were so different from those surrounding Sevhella. Their leaves were a myriad of different shapes, and they were all the richest shade of green. Vines wrapped the trunks of every tree, encircling their branches. Yet their beauty went unacknowledged by Elyse, whose attention was focused on driving them forward.
Jaime stayed by her side, walking in sync with her. If she slowed her pace, he slowed as well. If she stopped to tell the group something, he stopped too. He was always there, just within arm’s reach.
It infuriated her.
Manny and Sera chatted with each other most of the way, leaving Killian on his own to bring up the rear. Occasionally, Elyse found herself glancing back at him. Each time, she found his eyes were already on her, before he hurriedly looked away.
“It’s just a bit farther,” she hollered over her shoulder.
When she wasn’t thinking about Jaime’s overbearing company, or the angel’s blood, or her tryst with Killian, her mind slipped back to one thing. Ymaritis. How had he managed to disappear like that in De Vesalis? No one had seen him use a transportation potion, and there had been no blue smoke. He had just… vanished.
It wasn’t supposed to be possible, and yet it was.
“Elyse,” Manny called out, his voice coated in uncertainty.
“Yeah?”
“Where exactly are we?”
Still walking, she shrugged. “I’m not sure. Zubir always magicked me straight to the dock.”
“It’s just…” Manny began.
“It’s the sun,” Killian stated. “It’s setting too fast.”
At that, Elyse paused. She tilted her head up, peering through the thick canopy of leaves.
Killian came to stand beside her, pointing toward a ray of light that beamed low through the trees. “When we got here, the sun was still high. It shouldn’t be this low already,” he explained.
“What are you saying?” Elyse asked, her brows furrowed.
“I’m saying that we have to be very, very far south in order for the days to be this much shorter,” Killian said, his voice flat.
Another shiver snaked up Elyse’s spine. Sera wrapped her arms around herself. It wasn’t just the sun that was eerie, though. There was something else. She could sense it now that her attention had shifted. The forest was calm—too calm. She hadn’t seen a single bird or insect or any other creature. There wasn’t even a breeze, as if even the wind was leery of the island.
“Let’s keep going,” Manny said, marching onward. “I don’t want to hike back in the dark, not if we can avoid it.”
