“Are we ready?” Isla asked the small group.
“I think so,” I murmured, turning to Drys for confirmation.
If he harbored any resentment toward me for failing to transform his caeluma, he didn’t show it, but my mind continued to turn over those threads I’d visited.What had I missed?
Drystan’s blue eyes sparkled against the sun, and he offered a confident smile as he nodded.
Drystan would transfer five of us to Lotrennia, powering up with Kellan’s help between each shift. He’d return with the leaves from the Living Library, and he, Isla, and Ezrich would begin work at the forge to start crafting the múritinne rings.
Kellan released his mother’s embrace, taking her hand and moving it in my direction. His lips quirked to the side as he looked up.
My throat bobbed as I stepped forward, allowing him to place her hand in mine. Naomi’s gaze burned into the side of my face as Mother Eghan squeezed my hand, pulling me closer. I bent down as her other hand reached my shoulder, and her warm cheek pressed against the side of my head.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “For bringing back my son. For bringing my daughter back to life. And for opening my eyes to a gift I’d been blind to all these years… For my grandchildren. You are not without a mother, Lyvia. Please, come back.”
A sob threatened in the back of my throat, and my eyes pinched shut. Tears pricked between their lids, and I took a deep breath of Mother Eghan’s rose-scented perfume as I leaned into her embrace.
The five of us traveling to Lotrennia moved to the end of the pier, and Drystan clasped hands with Kellan and Isla. Their traveling coats billowed against the wild wind ripping from the Crimson Sea. Drystan gave a firm nod, and the three of them disappeared as a thunder-likeclaprippled through the air. My chest tightened as we waited.
A moment later, Drystan and Kellan reappeared, and my heart resumed its beat. I scanned Kellan’s face, searching for any sign of exhaustion as he poured power into Drystan’s reserves. He caught my eye and winked, his lips kicking into a cocky smirk.
Vulcan’s hazel eyes were thoughtful as Drystan held his hand to him. The broody elf stared at his outstretched hand for a moment before whirling away from the group. I cocked my head as he stormed down the pier.
My chest squeezed as he strode with confident purpose and wrapped his hands around Raek’s face before his lips crushed against the pirate’s mouth. Kellan whooped before clapping his hands together and letting out a loud, encouraging whistle. I couldn’t help the grin that stretched across my face as my brother by bond, my ex-War Slayer friend, gave in to his own desire for happiness.
Raek’s arms wrapped around Vulcan’s waist, and the two of them shared a moment of devastating bliss before their foreheads met in quiet tenderness. Raek’s throat bobbed as Vulcan turned and strode back to Drystan.
“That was beautiful?—”
“Don’t even start.” Vulcan cut me off as he clapped his hands with Drystan, and the three of them disappeared.
Tiberius thundered down the pier at their exit, and Tempest landed in a jumbled mess on the nearby hill, her whinny coming out in a frustrated grunt.
Acrack, and Kellan and Drystan returned once more. The three of us piled onto Tiberius’s broad, inky back, and with one last power up from the Conduit, a suffocating pressure squeezed me from every direction before darkness lunged, and we sped through time and space.
I gasped for the muggy,Lotrennian air as Drystan completed the shift and I blinked rapidly against the blinding sunshine. Tiberius staggered, his legs wobbling like a newborn foal, and the three of us slipped off his back and into the lush, green valley.
Saliva flooded my mouth, and I retched into a small patch of ferns. A hand appeared at my back, and Isla’s jasmine scent washed over me.
“Easy, Lyv,” she murmured, reaching her hands to my shoulders.
I scanned the clearing just outside the Eye of the Wood, where we had celebrated last year’s Awakening. Fourteen months ago, I realized, struggling to my feet.
I’m never doing that again,Tiberius snapped in my mind.
Can’t say I enjoyed it either,I murmured.But holy hell…I trailed off as I stared at Drystan in astonishment.
“That was amazing,” I signed when he caught my eye.
He simply nodded his head and turned away. He was always uncomfortable with praise. My fist moved to my mouth as the nausea returned.
Kellan’s hand was at my back at the movement, and I scanned his face. A small bead of blood formed at the bottom of his nostril. My brows narrowed as concern immediately squeezed my chest. I opened my mouth, and he shook his head, relaxing his features into easy confidence.
“I’m fine, Bonscaíh,” he murmured.
“We’d better get going if we want to arrive in Ayla before sundown,” Isla said, slinging her pack over her back. “The Gilded Fortress awaits.”
Memories danced in my mind’s eye as we made our trek from the Eye of the Wood. The familiar, tingling sensation tickled the back of my neck as we strode the ancient path.
