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Maia jolted hard, coming fully awake. She squeezed his waist, hugging him tight enough to bruise. "What did he say?"
Jaro swallowed, his heart quickening. "That I'm going to need this magic, and to remember you or I'll be trapped in the dark forever." He hesitated before adding, "And we need to go to Venhaus."
"Venhaus, where my aunt owns a half dozen villages, towns, and cities—where monsters just ate people—where the Arahesian diplomat Zamanya's got locked up said there's bad shit happening.ThatVenhaus?"
Jaro winced. "That's the one, love."
Maia held him close, a tremor moving through their bond. "I almost lost you, Jaro. I'm not risking you again."
"I don't think the saints will give us a choice," he said quietly, voicing a worry he'd harboured since the Iron Dove spoke to them: that the saints had a plan for them, that they'd been reborn within Jaro and his family for a reason, and that reason could be nothing good.
"Let's go back to bed," Maia said, side-stepping what he said.
At the pleading look she gave him, Jaro weakened, ducking his head to kiss her sweetly. "Alright, my love," he agreed. "We can worry about this in the morning."
When Azrail found out ... Jaro knew his friend. Knew his first instinct would be to keep them all far from the dangers of Venhaus, but his hero complex and saviour streak would eventually win out. If something dark was brewing across the border, it would seep into the Vassal empire, and no way would Az let that happen.
Whether he knew it or not, he wasn't just a rebel leader. If he put his brilliant mind and deadly magic to the task, he could lead the whole empire. Jaro didn't know if Az would want that, if he'd dethrone Ismene and set himself up as conqueror and king, but Jaro knew the empire would be better off with his brave, self-sacrificing friend in charge. And he knew Az would do everything to protect the city his parents had led and fought and died for,includingmarching on Venhaus and wiping out the threat there.
A training ground,a sharp whisper slid through Jaro's mind, and he tensed, drawing a worried glance from Maia.
"Come on," he said, kissing her to cover up his dread, to drown out the Dagger's voice. "Let's get to bed."
But he knew there was no chance he could sleep.
A training ground, the Dagger had said, but for who? For Jaro and his family—or something else? Something worse?
