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“Why?” he demanded.
“I don’t know,” Lynx said.
“Bait, I’d imagine,” Damyn said grimly. “Does Kallus know we’re watching?”
“The spies tried to cover their tracks. It’s hard to know for sure.”
“Where?” Damyn demanded.
“Predator territory. Near the border, though. Jaik and Caldren will meet us there.”
“We’re all going to be together,” I said.
“What could go wrong?” Arren asked.
I looked at the men assembled around me. “I can’t shadow travel you all at once. I’ll have to make a few trips. Zehr can help.”
Branok scoffed. “We can leave Zehr behind. We’re going to have enough trouble when we get there.”
“We can’t just leave him,” I said.
“He’s been fine on his own for two hundred years,” Damyn said dryly. “He’ll be fine for a day or two while we find Lucien and Alina and get them out.”
I shook my head. Something wouldn’t let me leave Zehr behind.
Talisyn’s words were a whisper in the back of my mind.“It’ll take time for them to trust him.”
I looked at him quickly, but his arms were crossed over his powerful chest and his face gave nothing away.
“How often can you shadow travel before you exhaust yourself?” Damyn demanded.
“I’ll be fine,” I assured him.
“You will? With a fight when we get there?” Damyn asked. “No, we’ll fly.”
I ran to find Zehr, but he seemed to be nowhere in the cold, beautiful castle. Finally, I found him in the snow outside. He faced the white-capped mountains, and as I padded through the thick snow to his side, he said quietly, “I should go back to the bone castle and visit our Scourge.”
“You should come with us,” I said. “We’re going to find Joachim, retrieve the last stone, and break the curse.”
“Why should I come?” He turned to me curiously. “You don’t need me anymore. Your men hate me.”
“My men hate everyone.”Especially an untrustworthy, unpredictable outsider who I also love.“But they can be won over. When they see how good you are.”
“Good?” He scoffed. “You’re insane.”
I wasn’t going to waste time arguing with him. He needed to believe he was good for himself; I couldn’t talk him into seeing his worth.
I held out my hand. “You’re the other half of this curse, Zehr. We didn’t begin this, but we need to finish it together.”
He took my hand and pulled me into the shadows with him. The two of us surfaced in the command room, and my men scattered, drawing their weapons, when we suddenly phased into the center of the room. They relaxed when they saw me, but kept their hands on their hilts as they eyed Zehr.
“Zehr comes with us,” I said quietly. “He’s on our side.”
I didn’t say the words.He’s mine.But they echoed inside me, and I wondered if they could feel it through the bond.
“Fine,” Damyn gritted out. “But he shadow travels. None of us will carry him.”
“I have no desire to fly ever again,” Zehr said crisply.
