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Soraya’s knees wobbled. Her eyes were suddenly sweeping across Illieck. Was Ma’varea living in one of those burrows? He clearly wasn’t a fairy, but he could’ve been any of the Dar’rak guards that’d been moved here in the last few days.

She searched her memory, trying to recall if any had looked a little too long at her balcony when she’d been peering outside. Nothing stood out. Although she supposed that didn’t really mean anything. He was good at blending in, going unnoticed. He’d never have survived being the spy this long if he wasn’t.

Golla returned a little while later, yawning as he laid a tray of fish and purple vegetables and cheese by her side. Soraya ate every bite, her jaw aching with the effort of keeping the smile off her face by the time she was finished and the stone creature disappeared.

Because for the first time in weeks, she was not alone.

She had an ally in this world of festering rock. Her people were coming to steal back their piece of the Arch, and they were taking her with them.

35

“How’s things?”

Sliding down the wall at his back, Theron lay on the floor, cupping the back of his head with a hand, and said into his bracer, “I’ve been better.”

Given his location, there was a fair amount of static in Raina’s voice, but Theron could just about make out her reply, “What’s it like down there?”

Theron glanced to the never-ending black to his left, then the same to his right. “Dark,” he said flatly.

He was an idiot for contacting her. In the interest of preserving energy, the agreement when they’d left the base days ago for this covert mission he and Ma’varea had come up with was that he would only be in touch with Command to check in every other day. He wasn’t due for a call until tomorrow, but Raina had been so angry with him when he’d told her of this plan. She’d gone ballistic, called him every foul name he’d ever heard, and stormed away, muttering that she needed time to cool down and she’d cut his balls off if he tried to follow.

He hadn’t had the opportunity to tell her that time was one of the things they didn’t have that afternoon before she disappeared into her classroom, or to make up with her before he’d needed to climb into a jet.

He should hang up, but the thought that their last conversation had been one of anger, that that was how she’d likely remember him if things went badly down here, had been pressing on his chest like a dumbbell since he’d left.

He checked the power gauge on the side of his bracer. Two minutes. He’d allow himself two more minutes to talk to her, apologize, and then he’d lock back in.

“Are you all right?” Panic sharpened Raina’s voice. “Has something happened? Are you hurt?”

“Relax, Raina. Everyone’s fine. Just wanted to hear a friendly voice.”

“Gods, I miss you,” Raina breathed.

No one would see it, but Theron smiled into the darkness nonetheless. “Miss you too. How’s Deimos?”

He heard something clatter softly on the other line. She was in her classroom then, likely rolling pens from one side of her desk to the other. “Misses you like crazy. He wanted to come with you, you know.”

Oh, Theron knew all right. That was yet another item on his list of things to apologize for if he ever got back home. “Tell him he can come on the next one.”

“Will do.” For a moment, the only sound was the soft scrape of her pens. “You know you’re not supposed to be contacting me, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So why did you?”

Well, he couldn’t ask for a better opening than that.

“About before … I’m sorry for how I left things. I wanted to find you, but the team was leaving and—”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” she quickly cut in. “I understand why you’re doing this. I don’t like it, mind you, and I don’t know if I exactly trust this Ma’varea, but I understand.”

Theron’s shoulders slumped, the tension he’d carried since he’d left the base finally easing. “Thanks, Raina.”

There, he’d said what he’d needed to say. A smart man would end the call now and reserve the Light for another check-in. He was about to, but something about her voice just then, the slight change in pitch at the end … “Are you all right? You sound …”

“Lovely? Intelligent? Beautiful beyond comparison?”

Theron frowned down at his bracer like he could see her. “Stressed. What’s going on?”