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Amethyst set the mostly-eaten tart back on the tray and slid off the table, her focus on our mage as he perched a hip on the table. It was only then I noticed the small box in his hand. A messaging stone.
My stomach pitched again, sharper than before. I closed the distance between Amethyst and me, palming the nape of her neck and twisting my fingers into her hair.
“Sutton arrived at the school about half an hour ago with this,” Simeon explained, holding up the box. “And an additional message to alert the school that I will be unable to help with the testing for the next week.”
“A full week?”
He nodded.
“What of Phoebe?”
“Sutton said she is to remain here.”
Damn it.
I tightened my hold on Amethyst for a heartbeat. If Phoebe was to remain here, that meant Amethyst was, too. I kept the trepidation out of my voice.
“Very well. We’ll prepare tonight and leave at first light tomorrow. If you’ll let James know to prepare a set of bags for travel, please?”
Simeon nodded and handed me the box. He offered a small, precise bow before leaving the study room, closing the door softly behind him. The shimmering silence barrier was still intact, so I pulled the messaging stone and activated it before Amethyst could ask any pertinent questions. Simeon wouldn’t have bothered with the spell for the small conversation we had. Some of Sutton’s message must have made it clear that my father’s message was confidential in the extreme, more so than the one he’d been sent with while traveling back from the Rite.
My father’s weathered voice filled the small room. There was more worry in it than before.
“Callum, I’m sorry to disrupt this time with your omega. I have seen Hugh and Elise settling with their own chosen mates, and it pains me to know I must pull you away from yours so soon after coming together.”
Amethyst leaned her head against my hip, the hesitance for physical touch all but nonexistent now. I wrapped a piece of her hair around my finger and traced the shell of her ear with my thumb, thrilling in the goosebumps that sprang up along her skin.
“Another trade ship has been sunk. This one was on its way back to Whiterock from Oakenbell. I fear escalation may be inevitable at this point. I need you to check the training centers of both Frostdale and Oakenbell to ensure the soldiers are ready to move at any moment. While you’re in Oakenbell, I ask that you sit with the governors and assess their level of readiness in the event those responsible for the attack are discovered and retaliation by Senona is the path chosen.”
The stone’s light faded as the message ended. Dread sliced through me, sharper than shattered glass.
“Retaliation,” Amethyst whispered. “That’s war, right?”
“Yes, that would mean war.”
She wrapped an arm around my leg and held me tightly, her nails digging into my thigh. “You don’t think that’s the war from the prophecy? The one that brings destruction to everything in its wake?”
I frowned. “It… could be. I thought the black wings meant Alholím, the way they brought devastation and ruin everywhere they fought during the Great War. It could mean the eagle shifters, though.”
I leaned down and pressed my lips to the crown of her head, luxuriating in the ability to do so without regret.
“Let’s get back to the estate.”
Her hold tightened before she released me and stood up. Worry pinched her mouth and dulled her eyes. I grasped her chin.
“What’s wrong, Sterre?”
I saw her swallow down her first response and then her second. Finally, she whispered, “Part of me doesn’t want you to leave. That… the omega part, I think? It’s scared to be without you.”
Her heat was getting closer if she felt anxious to be away from me. I prayed to Freia that it would subside until I was able to return and complete our validation rites.
“That’s normal,” I assured her. I ran my thumb along her jaw and then did the same with my nose, pressing a kiss just under her ear to scent mark her. “I’ll make sure to leave as much of my scent behind as I can, and that will help ease the fear.”
AMETHYST
Callum being gone weighed more heavily on me than I’d expected even with admitting my anxiety to him in the library. My entire being craved him, yearned for him in a way I’d never experienced before. I slept in his shirt, clinging to his pillow, breathing in the lingering smells of pine and wisteria.
That first morning, Emma explained that the needing his scent was common for omegas who were nearing their heat. It had drawn up a memory of Amaria from when we were in Wolfrest mentioning something similar. So, I’d asked if there was a book about it. There had to be, right? Her eyes had grown wider than saucers, and so I’d explained vaguely that I hadn’t been taught the specifics of what being an omega meant and would appreciate a bit more information if it existed. She’d flushed but assured me she would be able to find a book. And she had. That night I’d learned more about sex and bodies and the Freian rites than two different sex-ed classes in high school combined. It was a miracle I didn’t blush every time I saw Arden in the hallways of Vincent’s home.
