Page 162 of A Thread of Breath and Bone

He scoffs in my head.

“Well, I’m hungry,” Kamden says, brushing a hand over the tight braid atop his head. “I was promised food.”

Just like before, back at school, Tate bends down, allowing me to leap onto his back as we all head for the gateway. Aolyn stays back, still in deep conversation with Carys, but I notice the rest of the field has been cleared for the day.

“She’ll be okay,” Kellan says, walking by our side. “She’s just trying to learn.”

I want to ask more, but it’s a conversation I need to have with her when she’s ready. So I nod instead, wrapping my arms around Tate just a bit tighter.

Chapter 59

Raea

I can’t stop the shiver that rolls through me as Ryker’s fingers trail very close to the apex of my thighs. I hear his breathy laugh in my head. I wiggle my ass in his lap, and it's my turn to giggle when he sucks in a sharp breath.

Two can play this game.

Thank gods our movements are covered by the bubbling waters of the hot spring we’re seated in. Across from us, Tate is animatedly telling us of his awakening…reliving the hallucinations of his skin peeling off. Gross.

Kellan is seated at our right, Trysten to our left. Ciara had vanished her wings away like it had taken no effort at all. She claimed that the Elyndorai’s wings were like an extension of her arm. You can lift your arms, lower them, fold them across your back—the wings follow the motion, the wings came out like a lifting of her arms, and when unneeded, could be tucked away by some magic, folding into nothingness.

It made no sense, but then again, I’m not sure that I can fully grasp all that magic even is. Are there rules? Where does it come from? How do Auralan and the other two systems call upon it?

At home, the magic was tied to the Veil, to the planets’ energy. Maybe it works the same way, just without a Veil.

“...another rune…” Trysten is talking, but I haven’t been paying attention.

At the mention of the rune, my head snaps to him. I tense the moment I feel Kellan’s hands on me. Ryker growls silently beneath me. I can’t blame him, not this time. I feel all eyes land on me as everyone shuffles to look at my back. They could have looked at Ryker’s arm, but apparently, I am to be the spectacle.

Beneath the surface, Ryker is a solid wall of thrumming tension. His left hand cups my waist, his fingers digging into my skin—a silent claim that vibrates through the water. I feel his restraint like a coiled spring as Kellan continues his path. Ryker doesn't move, but the water around him hums with the low, protective growl echoing in my mind.

Ryker places a kiss on my shoulder as Kellan’s hands finally fall away leaving me feeling sick. At one point in time, Kellan had felt like home, and now, his touch feels wrong. Still, he touched me and my runes as if I weren’t mated to another male. Like I’m not seated on said male’s lap.

“So beautiful. I want a mate,.” Ciara coos.

Tate snickers. “You have wings. Your runes would probably have to be tattooed on your head.”

I tuck my lips to keep from laughing as she grumbles behind me.

Kellan moves to the other side of us, where he can at least face me as Trysten and Kamden take his place, inspecting both my back and the matching tattoos on Ryker’s right arm.

My runes are delicate, ethereal threads of light that pulse with a dusting of starlight, climbing my spine like a living vine. Ryker’s are different—bold, jagged strikes of obsidian and silver that claim his skin. They don't follow a path. They bloom where the magic demands, looking less like decoration.

Kellan’s hazel eyes meet mine. “I’m happy for you, RaeRae.” Then to Ryker, he adds, “You too.” Though I don’t think any of us truly believes it. I hate that Kellan is so sad. I miss seeing him smile. I want to talk to him. I want to find a way to get back to the place where he is my best friend and nothing more, nothing less.

Before I can chicken out, I ask if he wants to go to the beach and stargaze with me. Ryker’s irritation is quickly replaced with love and understanding. He knew when we met that Kellan was a part of me and always would be.

Kellan agrees before turning to the rest of the group, who have now fallen back into easy conversation. It’s strange, sitting here in a place with ancient magic, on the other end of the galaxy, so far from everything any of us have ever known.

We have traveled across the galaxy in a step, learned of races that have been forgotten—or purposefully wiped from history, shed our humanity to become one of these beings that live for longer than I can even comprehend, and yet…we are all still us.

Trysten and Ryker have taken up having a side conversation about AerBall and wanting to play it with their new strength and speed. Kamden, Kellan, Ciara, and Tate are laughing over a story of Kamden’s childhood, and for a moment, I can see it.

When the rest of our family passes into the aether, when all that we know has become dust, when this war is finally over, because I have to believe we will win—I don’t see another outcome, or I’ll lose hope. So when it is all done, maybe not for another hundred years, but these people, my friends, my chosen family, we will still be together. And with near immortality, who knows what kind of adventures we will have.

I’ll get to watch all of them fall in love, have children, and one day, I plan to have a large family dinner with not only us, but our partners and kids. I want it to be loud and crazy, and I want to remember this moment.

I sit on the beach staring at the night sky, the waves lulling me into a state of tranquility despite the war inside. The news hits me like a physical blow, shattering the tranquil image of our future.