He looked at Valek then at the ground. “It was something Mother said.”
She waited. Ah, she’d learned that tactic from him. Pride swelled in Valek’s chest.
“She told me that you were lost again. And only the brother that had searched for you for fourteen years could find you.”
“Howdid you find me?”
Stocky gestured a bit wildly at his horse. “Kiki had found Topaz in the plains, so I thought, since Rusalka was bred by the Sandseeds, I asked her to find Kiki. And… And…”
“She found us very fast.” Yelena rubbed her arms.
Valek guessed Rusalka must be the name of Stocky’s horse. Was Topaz another horse or someone Yelena knew?
“Why does Perl think I’m lost?” Yelena asked. “And why send you? You weren’t any help the last time.”
Perl must be their mother, but Valek wondered why Yelena was so angry at her brother. What had he done?
Stocky cringed with guilt. “I don’t know why she sent me.”
A rustle of movement sounded and a Sandseed warrior named Moon Man walked toward them. Valek tensed. The last time they’d met, when Valek was hunting the assassin who’d gone after Yelena, Moon Man had tested Valek’s reflexes with a shower of sharp knives.
“A good guy,” Yelena said, touching Valek’s arm.
“This seems to be quite the meeting place,” Valek muttered under his breath. But he held his ground as the big man came closer. This time, he was clothed in a pair of short pants. Scars on his arms and legs stood out against his dark skin. Moon Man’s powerful build reminded Valek of Ari.
“No mysterious arrival? No coalescing from a sunray? Where’s the paint?” Yelena’s words dripped with sarcasm.
“It is no fun when you already know those tricks,” Moon Man said. “Besides, Ghost would have killed me if I had suddenly appeared.”
“Ghost?” she asked.
Moon Man pointed to Valek. “Kiki’s name for him. It makes sense,” he said. “To magical beings, we see the world through our magic. We see him with our eyes but cannot see him with our magic. So, he is like a ghost to us.”
“Another relative?” Valek asked.
A broad smile stretched Moon Man’s lips. “Yes, I am her mother’s uncle’s wife’s third cousin.”
“He’s a Story Weaver, a magician of the Sandseed clan,” Yelena explained. “And what are you doing here?”
Moon Man’s playfulness faded from his face. “You are onmylands. I could ask you the same thing, but I already know whyyouhave come. I came to make sure you keep your promise.”
“What promise?” Stocky and Valek asked at the same time.
She waved the question away. “I will, but not now. We need?—”
“I know what you intend to do. You will not succeed with that unless you untangle yourself,” Moon Man said.
“Me? But I thought you said…” She stopped. “Why won’t I succeed?”
Moon Man refused to answer.
“Do you have any more cryptic advice?” she asked in annoyance, but underneath, Valek sensed she cared for the man.
Moon Man held out his hands. One toward Stocky and the other to Yelena.
Valek huffed. “Looks like a family affair. I’ll be close by if you need me, love.” Meaning, he’d give her his energy or his immunity or anything else she asked for.
Stocky stepped forward and grabbed Moon Man’s hand, shooting his sister a look of stubborn determination. The exact same expression Valek had seen on Yelena’s beautiful face more times than he could count. However, he was smart enough not to voice that comment.
