The light of the moon and stars hid more now than it had before, the clouds heavier here than at the entrance to the mine. But it wasn’t quite as black as inside. Faint light illuminated the edges of Pheolix’s bare chin and neck, though under his black drone’s cloak, he remained invisible.
We crawled out from under the tree.
“All my money was with my horse,” I said, suddenly realizing I’d left more behind than just my transportation.
Pheolix knelt in front of a stone almost as big as he was. He fit a shoulder against it and heaved, rolling it up against the incline. “I know the location of at least three Rivean shipwrecks,” he ground out. “You don’t need it.”
“What are you doing?”
He stopped, the boulder obstructed by a thick root. Adjusting his weight, he stood and lifted it, vanishing under the pine tree’s low branches.
“Pheolix,” I snapped, certain he might hurt himself. “Can I help you?”
“Nope,” he grunted, letting the rock fall into the small cave we’d just climbed out of. The ground vibrated under my feet as stone grated against stone, but the unmistakable solidthunka moment later informed me the boulder had stuck fast not far below where we stood. Pheolix emerged from the tree, his cloak plastered to his face with rain. He dusted his hands. “You already did.”
He felt down my arm, finding my hand once more, weaving it together with his. Then struck down the trail.
“Should we drop more rocks down?” I asked, throwing a backward glance behind me.
“Maybe, but I’d rather not waste our time. The other tunnels lead out near this.” He stopped suddenly, pulling me up short. “Where’s your sister?”
I’d known the question would come. But it caught me off guard anyway. I opened my mouth and closed it, fumbling for words. “She’s gone.”
“What do you mean?” Heat flared from him under the heavy rain, staining the earthy mountain air with a hint of fired metal. “What happened?”
I tried to answer him, but the back of my mouth cinched shut with a sharp and painful choke. I hadn’t told anyone yet. And here, on the secret side of a mountain in the middle of the night, I suddenly wasn’t ready to. My forehead fell forward instead, colliding softly with his collarbone as I began swallowing profusely, trying to control the well that threatened to flood my throat.
Cebrinne had wanted to go. Had fought with me for the chance to leave.
Why was it an overhanging sense of guilt that took her place in my heart?
Why, after finally accepting what she wanted, did I feel as though I’d failed her?
Pheolix didn’t press me. Perhaps he might have, had he not been convinced we needed to make a quick evasion. But he no longer burned with urgency as he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me in, kissing the top of my head.
I let him tuck me against himself for a full minute. Until my body surrendered a rough shiver under the rain. “Come on,” he said, feeling a calloused hand down my arm again. “Rivea’s military base isn’t far from here.”
Something mischievous lurked in the tone of his voice. I pulled away, forcing him to stop. “Rivea’s military base?”
Under his hood, he smirked. “We need horses.”
“You say it as though you’re planning to steal some.”
White teeth flashed even wider.
I snorted. “Why worry about Thaan when we can provoke an entire army into chasing us through the mountains?”
He grabbed my hand again. “Exactly.”
“I’d rather find Sylus Lake and follow it east to the ocean. Maybe hide in Paria for a few months. Xiane might take us in.”
His thumb drifted across mine. “I assumed you’d want to head north. To find your Polaris Lights. Your escape.”
“I seem to remember someone wanting to spend their life cooking sausages on the beach and dancing with women out of their league.” I shivered again. “Besides, I have twenty-five years to find my escape before I have to be back.”
He tilted his head. “Before you have to be back?”
I exhaled, promising with the stroke of my fingertips against his knuckles to tell him everything later. Pheolix nodded. “To the east it is, then,” he said.
