Page 114 of Tears of Gold

Skye shakes his head. “We’ll have that conversation when Erritt is back—and Van. Minus the dragon uncle part, I think. Fuck, a whole unit of elementals? I’ll never get their stench off the cabin.”

We walk in silence, each lost in our own thoughts as the summer sun beats down brutally. Sweat runs between my breasts, and my thighs chafe, but for all the heat, I feel cold and dark inside. My back aches, reminding me I’m in the middle of my cycle. Finally, we reach the woods and find some relief in the mottled shade. Still, I’m slowing down.

“Let’s take a breather,” Harper says.

With a flick of his hand, Skye summons water. “Thirsty?”

Cupping my hands, I drink from the water he drops in. Harper does the same.

“Pretty handy survival skill,” Harper says, wiping excess water across his face to cool his skin.

We sit in silence, leaning against tree trunks, and I close my eyes. My head feels heavy and my body worn, even though I haven’t done anything besides hiding and walking. I can only imagine how weary Skye and Harper feel after being in a real battle.

A rustle in the undergrowth brings them to their feet, and a metallic zing sounds as Harper draws both knives. A large rabbit bounds across the path, and Skye swears.

Harper lifts his damp curls off his neck. “Shit, I’m so wired right now.”

Skye snorts. “Me too. Maybe should’ve accepted Vanrey’s offer. I mean, now would actually be the best time for an ambush—”

“Shut up,” Harper says with a shudder, slapping his hand across Skye’s mouth. “You’ll jinx us!” He crosses his chest with the holy cross.

“What’s jinx?”

Harper and I exchange tight smiles. I lift one shoulder in a shrug. “Never mind.”

“You’d smell ‘em right?’ Harper asks Skye.

“Yeah. Let’s get moving though.” Skye takes my heavy backpack, and I don’t stop him, my body too weary to protest. We trudge uphill to the academy through the trees, and I slip my hand into Harper’s, looking to soothe his nerves and mine. The reality of the forces hunting me has become brutally real once more.

An hour later, we breathe a sigh of relief as we approach the school gates. The guard comes to look at us through the bars. “You’re back early. De Tuan isn’t open yet.”

Skye shakes his head. “We’ve been through hell today. Just open the damn gate.”

The guard wrinkles his nose and pulls open one side of the big gate, releasing a screech of reluctant iron. “What, you’re not just going to go over the walls?”

Harper grins at him. “We can if you prefer.”

“Dragons and rogues.” The guard shakes his head mournfully. His lips twitch with a grin, softening the jibe. Suddenly, he peers at Harper. “Oh hey, is that blood?”

“Yep. Don’t sleep on the job today. Who knows what trouble is following us.”

He peers over our shoulders as if the threat is right behind us. “You better report to the chancellor then.”

Skye waves. “Yeah, after we shower maybe.”

“And eat,” Harper adds. “Can’t have us starving, you know.”

As we cross campus I peer at both of them and notice them smirking. “You’re just going to leave it to Vanrey aren’t you?”

They both chuckle, and Skye fluffs my hair. I shoo him off, then slow as a thought strikes me. “Hey, what kind of being is the guard?”

Harper glances over his shoulder as Skye answers. “He’s a yokai.”

I stare at Skye. “But today, didn’t you say there were yokai—”

Skye nods. “Yeah. But the Davinas are a belief-based group, not race-based. Though I wouldn't have thought elementals would join them, but guess I was wrong about that when you consider Chengan. But that doesn’t mean every yokai we run into is going to be with them.”

Looking over my shoulder at the guard house, I hope that’s true.