Page 166 of Vameer

I hold his gaze. “Your parents would be proud of you, Vameer. I hope you know that.”

He squeezes my fingers. “I love you.”

We stay like that for a long moment. Just lying together. Until my eyes start to close.

Nix told me that I’ll start sleeping less soon, but clearly, tonight is not the night.

Vameer sits up and reaches for my clothes. “Get dressed. Then tell the druid we are…” He pauses. “I don’t know if the names of these mountains have changed.”

I pull my phone out of my pants pocket. “Good news, you don’t need to know the name because we can’t text him anyway. There’s no service.”

Vameer looks at me, then the phone in my hand. “I don’t know what that means.”

Gods, I really do love this guy.

“We need to be closer to a city for my phone to work.”

He nods. “Okay. Get dressed. Then we will find a city.”

Chapter 93

Somewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere

The people can’t stop whispering.

The one The King has waited for.

He is risen.

A man is running through the streets.

His thin shoes loud against the stone.

He is of the bloodline.

For one hundred years, his human family has been in charge of waking The One Who Waits.

The King.

People watch the man run.

They are too far away, but later they will all swear they could hear his heart thudding.

His task is an honor. And a horror.

The horned guards step aside from the entrance to the tomb.

The man pulls an item from around his neck.

It’s a key. Though it does not look like one.

It fits. And the lock turns.

He presses his hands to his thighs and looks up, giving thanks.

Four guards follow him into the ancient structure. Their presence is thick in the echoing hallway.

Dust plumes up around his feet.