A sudden flood of confusion poured through my bond with Rykr, making my steps falter.
“Where the hell are you, Seren?” Rykr’s voice was edged with irritation and grogginess.
“Good morning to you, too.” The bond between us hummed faintly, a reminder of just how much he could feel. “I slipped out with Amahle and went to talk to my mother.”
“Without telling me?”
My pulse quickened at the possessiveness in his tone. It shouldn’t have mattered, but somehow, it did.
I closed my eyes briefly, savoring the familiar rasp of it before responding again. I wouldn’t miss the attitude, but his voice? That was different. If this bond broke, would I still remember the way it wrapped around me like a spell?
Don’t get sentimental. He wasn’t mine to keep. He never had been. “You were sleeping.”
“Yeah, well, next time maybe leave me a note or something,” he snapped. “Or, better yet, wake me up and tell me.”
There was a pause before he added, softer this time, “I would have come with you.”
That stopped me in my tracks. I couldn’t afford to let him come, but the offer—unexpected and earnest—tightened something in my chest.
“Sounds like you slept as well as I did. Or is the jackass within just stronger before breakfast?” I turned down another alley, no longer worried that my mother would see us. She was moving too fast to look over her shoulder for us.
His silence lingered for a beat too long. “We were being watched last night.”
The worry threading through his thoughts struck me silent for a moment. I forced myself to deflect. “Maybe try trusting me. I’ve handled myself without your help until now.”
I almost regretted the sharpness of my tone. “Be careful,” he said finally. “For both our sakes. I don’t take chances with your life.” The intensity behind his words sent a shiver down my spine.
“Do you see her?” Amahle asked as we searched the alley.
“Nope,” I said to Rykr before I could stop myself, then cringed.
“What?” Rykr’s suspicion was sharp enough to make me wince.
“If you want something to do, ask Ciaran to take you to a swordsmith.” Now I was the one starting to sound irritated. Figuring out how to control this free exchange of thoughts was crucial.
Yet another thing I needed my mother for.
But where had she gone?
As though she’d vanished, the alley ahead was empty.
Maybe she’d turned a corner or gone inside one of the buildings. I stomped my boot. “I should have just called her when I saw her.”
We slowed as we approached the area where we’d last seen her—near an old, sputtering fountain by the city walls, the stone streaked with dark water stains.
This was a dead end. The city limits pressed against the mountain walls. If not for the buildings, we’d probably be able to see clear to the eastern gate.
The only way out was the way we’d come.
Or—
I stepped closer to a circular grate in the wall. Rusted iron bars spanned its opening, large enough for a grown man to fit through if he crouched. The entrance to the sewer.
Amahle stepped to my side, eyes flicking from me to the grate. “You don’t think?—”
“Mother?” I called softly, leaning toward the bars.
“That answers that question.” Amahle scrunched her nose. “The sewer? Really?” She tested the lock. “It’s locked.”
