Her living room was lived-in, with faded hues and worn materials that spoke of a place frequented by close friends and family.
“My markings,” she said eventually. “You were right to tell me to look into them.” Raelyna hesitated before she continued. “My friends and I went searching the Solis Library?—”
“Youwhat?” The word was a snarl of outrage as I stared at her incredulously.
“You aren’t the boss of me, Blackwood. Sothank youfor the concern regarding my actions, but I can look for information wherever I choose.”
Axel laughed from beside me, and I gestured for her to continue on.
“Back to my point,” she stated with a side-eyed glance my way. “You were right. In the library, we found pieces of our history that didn’t add up, timelines and stories that didn’t make sense. Sage even found an entire book that mentions a different story of how The Rift appeared. It had mentions of a different god—one we’ve heard about many times but who we’ve been told since childhood not to believe. Aeternus.”
I nodded at her words, surprised she’d managed to uncover so much in such a short amount of time.
“The information we found is enough to lead me to believethat something far bigger than any of us is occurring in Solis Quarter. And whether I trust you entirely or not, you seem to know more than I do. It’s why you’re here after all, isn’t it?” she prompted. “Something is happening—something big that you’re not telling me about.”
I nodded at her words. “Yes,” I replied, giving her no reason not to trust the words coming from my mouth. “We were sent here to scout out the Quarter—to see what was happening behind The Wall that Lucanus is hiding behind.”
“And?” she asked.
“And we haven’t found anything good,” I answered honestly. “The entire Quarter is shrouded in darkness and corruption—from your ‘gods’ to your marking,” I stated, gesturing toward her markings, the onyx ink stark against her skin.
A softyipsounded in the room, and my gaze shifted as two pointed ears perked up from behind a faded green throw pillow on the chaise Raelyna was currently curled up on.
I narrowed my eyes in assessment as the creature appeared, its silver eyes scanning the living room, tracking between Pierce and me, before slowly shifting its gaze toward Rae.
“Is that a—” Axel didn’t finish the sentence before the fennex fox lunged from behind the pillow, dusty-sand-colored fur flying across the space as it bared its fangs, and a high-pitched scream rang out.
“Shit,” was all Axel could say before the fox landed on him, tiny fangs embedding into his leg.
“Oh,” Raelyna said with a smile as she stood up. My eyes drifted to the bare expanse of skin on display as her cropped green T-shirt rose higher, showing off her bronzed skin. “That’s just how Loxl greets guests.”
She wrangled the fox away from Axel, tsking as she tucked him under her arm and walked him back to the chaise lounge as though this were an everyday occurrence.
Which it wasn’t. Seeing as fennex foxes weren’t known to be pets. “He’s a fennex fox,” I stated.
Her eyes cut to mine, starlight flecks of amusement dancing through them as her nose crinkled. “I’m aware,” she replied with a grin as she settled the fox against the throw pillow, and it keened.
“Loxl,” she sternly scolded. “We have guests. Behave.”
I nearly laughed, only the name threw me off.
“Loxl?” I asked in disbelief, staring at the female sitting across from me on the chaise, positive I’d heard her wrong because there was no way she’d named her pet foxLoxl.
“Yes,” she replied confidently, a soft smirk tugging on her lips, her eyes blazing with a dare to contradict the name as the fennex fox jumped into my lap, nuzzling against me.
“What type of name is Loxl?” I asked as the starlit creature gave a warning growl, its small fangs nipping at my finger as it shifted on my thighs.
“The perfect name,” she replied with a grin as her gaze drifted toward my lap, where the fox shifted around.
“And how, for the love of Aeternus, did you come up with a name like that?”
“Loxl?” she questioned teasingly. “You know, like loxl the foxl.”
And I just stared in disbelief as she continued.
“It rhymed,” she answered with a grin. “What can I say? I was young at the time. It was cute.”
“Afoxlisn’t even a thing,” I retorted, raising an eyebrow at her. “He’s a fennex fox, and not even typically a pet.”
