Page 80 of A Thread of Breath and Bone

“We know you’re in there. We have an urgent question,” Tate says.

“I told you she’s busy.” Ciara whisper-yells.

Raea groans then laughs.

“Busy doing what? It’s the middle of the night.”

Ciara, clearly exasperated, says, “Exactly!”

I stand, ignoring my forgotten shirt on the floor as Raea disappears into the other room. Once I’ve adjusted myself, I swing the door open, ready to tear them apart. The group freezes. Their eyes travel from my bare chest to the fresh, red lines tracing my skin where Raea’s nails found purchase. Silence falls, thick and awkward.

Leaning against the doorframe, I growl with every bit of annoyance, “You’re interrupting.”

Ciara shoves Tate forward.

“Oh. Um,” he stutters, “We…we needed to just ask—uh—” He scratches his head looking back at Ciara.

She sighs. “Tate has wrangled us into a game. We need more players.”

Annoyed, I respond, “You came here at midnight to play a game?”

Silence. Then Trysten snorts, and Kellan mutters a curse. It’s only then that I realize he’s among them.

Ciara replies with a hopeful grin. “To be fair, we didn’t think you’d be in the middle of—” She gestures toward my chest.

Tate wraps an arm around her shoulders. “What she said.” He points to her nodding.

“Leave.”

Tate swallows. “Right. We were just leaving⁠—”

Raea appears at my side. “Wait! What’s up?”

They all pause mid-step.

“Drinks and a game?” Tate asks, holding up a bottle of some glittering liquid. “I mean, we could die tomorrow, and we only live once…and all that.”

Raea looks at me apologetically.

Godsdammit. I drag a hand through my hair as I sigh.

“We don’t have that much time with you before—” Kellen’s gaze swings to me, then back to Raea, jaw ticking.

I can’t help but smirk. He’s only now noticing the red marks still marring her milky skin along her neck and chest. Trysten mutters something about funerals.

“Well, when you put it like that. Come on in,” Raea says, holding the door open for them. “No drinks though.”

Everyone files into her room. Trysten pats me on the shoulder, muttering an apology as he passes.

Chapter 29

Raea

Ryker and I leave for the Drift right after breakfast. We take one of the smaller pods, which is big enough for four people. Aksel and Ezra weren’t thrilled about staying behind, but we can’t risk the wards around Sgya rejecting us.

If my theory is right, the Drift isn’t a scar in the land.

It’s a doorway.