She knows he’s fighting something within himself, but hurt rarely plays by rules of fairness.
“We need to find the dragons,” Elyssara murmurs, voice broken and raw. But she needs to keep going. Because if she stops, she’ll break completely.
Movement is easier than feeling.
He still loves her—doesn’t he?
Jax elbows Elandor in the ribs. He startles with such theatrics his spectacles tumble from his nose and sprawl across the table.
“Ah yes. Th— That’s me, I suppose,” he stammers, plucking the stack of parchment from under his arm, and rifling through them again. “Melders are impossible to track, seeing as they’re unable to Meld at present. But what wehavebeen able to discover is their likely patterns of behavior. Sleeping, eating, climate?—”
“Spit it out, old man,” Jax interjects impatiently, a scowl on her face. Though that’s not unusual.
“Yes, yes. Of course. We’ve deduced their habitat to be somewhere warm with flourishing food supply—their appetites are extraordinary. Any reports we have are quite ancient now, but many reference their affinity for volcanic rock, caves,hot springs. They have been known to lie dormant for long stretches. Of course, our studies on such matters only began at your last visit to Nymeris, so I assure you that our works are far from complete,” Elandor fusses, apologizing for work that he undoubtedly believes is insufficient.
But it’s enough for Elyssara.
“Vyrhal,” she breathes.
Her mind drifts back to the stories Revryn used to tell her. The volcanic forges of Vyrhal. Famed weaponsmiths. Air drenched in ash and sweat. Card games that drained his pockets and his ego simultaneously.
Ronyn’s brows lift.
“Shall we go home, old boy?” he asks Tarrakai aloud, earning odd glances from the others.
Home is not a place I can name. Only something I can feel. Tarrakai’s voice rumbles through Elyssara’s mind.
And Ronyn hears it, too.
And it is notyourhome, vessel. You have not earned the right.Tarrakai grumbles his rejection.
“Tarrakai says he’d be delighted to go home and find his kin,” Ronyn announces, ignoring the disdain dripping from Tarrakai’s retort.
“What do you say, Jaxxy? Come with me? I need to keep working on my tail tricks, if you know what I mean?” Ronyn teases, wagging his eyebrows.
“Every fucking person on the continent knows what you mean,” Teddy grouses, but he can’t hide the smirk that breaks free.
But Jax’s cheeks have flared red. “Do you have to say everything that comes into your head?” she groans.
“You should thank the Stars themselves for the absolutely debased things Idon’tsay, Jaxxy Dewhirst. Don’t worry, I’llwhisper those to you later.” He winks like he’s won, but Jax buries her head in her hands.
“Holy fucking Stars—can we stay on task?” Elyssara laughs.
“Obviously I’m on threvenar,” Rubi announces. “Not like you fools could reverse a complex compound that roots itself in the blood stream.” She kicks her feet onto the table, pulling out a pungent satchel of ground herbs, and dipping her finger in, before smearing it on her tongue. “Nope—that’s for the geniuses around here, right Elandor?”
But Elandor doesn’t move, completely unsettled by her antics.
“Could you do it without having to enter an altered state of consciousness, Rubes? Fuck,” Teddy protests.
Rubi’s face contorts into one of disgust. “Would it fucking kill you to have a good time, Teddy?”
But Elyssara watches his face—the way it falls, the way his shoulders drop. Like maybe, itwouldactually kill him to have a good time. Like joy is something he no longer trusts himself to reach for.
“Roles have been assigned. Seren, you’ll open us Gateways at nightfall,” Kael declares, pushing to stand. “Rest, eat, do what you need to do for today. The realms won’t wait any longer for our action.”
But Seren isn’t done.
“Wait! I made something for us to stay connected.”
