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“Go, Sevv. I’ll find you when you’ve checked on Oli,” Odin said gently.
“Thank you,” she whispered again, and stepped out, following the others. Her typical smooth elegance was gone, replaced with the desperation of someone facing the possibility of a horrible loss.
I didn’t know Oli, outside of our mostly-unpleasant interactions. But I knew that Odin loved her just as much as he loved Sevva, and that if something had happened to her, he would mourn fiercely.
My mate had a big heart. He loved people intensely—and I felt privileged to be one of those people.
One of the fae in the room spoke up after a few minutes. “We’re going to assist with the evacuation. We’ll be on the surface, afterward.”
Odin didn’t reply, but he was focused entirely on the land.
I turned my head toward them and nodded, so they knew that we were on the same page.
They left, leaving me with the current and previous kings, and I quieted my mind again for Odin’s sake.
Chapter20
After a little more time passed,I sat down beside Odin and let my mind move to the land, like his. His magic grew stronger when I focused with him, which made me feel useful.
Hours upon hours passed with us in that same place, and we didn’t see another soul. It probably should’ve felt like a lifetime, without food or distractions, but I found myself just as lost in the earth as Odin was.
Though I couldn’t heal it myself, my fire was at my fingertips, and my mate’s fingertips as well. When he needed the stone softened, or the land’s fury calmed, he reached for me, and I reached back.
The earth was in such terrible shape, Odin thought it was a miracle that the entirety of the cliffs hadn’t come crashing down. It would take weeks to heal them completely—there was an entire, massive city within the stone, after all.
When Granite started to sway with exhaustion beside us, I withdrew from the land, carefully setting a hand on the kid’s shoulder just in case.
When I was sure I could catch him if he crashed, I reached back out to Odin.“We need to stop. Granite can’t keep going any longer.”I focused on the image of the kid swaying, and felt Odin’s agreement.
Because Granite was following his guidance as far as magic went, Odin slowly began to withdraw. He made sure the kid followed him. A moment later, they were both opening their eyes and looking around the room.
Granite was trembling, but his eyes weren’t anywhere near as afraid as they’d been when Sevva brought him to us.
“Thanks,” he told Odin, meeting the ex-king’s eyes. “I’m not ready to do this alone.”
Odin shook his head. “They never should’ve asked you to.”
Granite shut his eyes. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Let me train you.” Odin didn’t so much as hesitate. And he didn’t look at me, but I could feel the question he aimed at me, making sure I was okay with it even though he was fairly confident he knew the answer. “Stay with us until you understand your magic more.”
“I can’t,” the kid protested, though I could see the hope in his eyes.
I knew that hope so damn well, because I’d seen it in my own eyes too many times.
“The kings are a family,” I told Granite. “Most of them don’t have anyone else to rely on, so they rely on each other. Me and the other girls have all been dragged into their circle and are being trained by them—let us drag you in too.”
He grimaced, but didn’t say no. And the hope in those eyes had already swelled.
I’d do whatever the hell I had to, to make sure he didn’t lose that hope the way I had so many times.
“They’re going to want you to take the throne again after everything calms down,” Odin added. “If you let me teach you, even for just a month or two, you can avoid a repeat of this.” He gestured toward the stone walls around us. “And there’s still a lot to do before the land is healed. There’ll be homes to build, and cliffs to strengthen, andpeople’s representativesto deal with.”
Granite’s lips curved upward, just the tiniest bit. “Fine.”
Odin held a palm out toward me, and I slapped a high-five on it, grinning widely.
My grin was interrupted when my lips stretched in a massive yawn, and Odin chuckled, dragging me into his arms. “How do you feel about transporting to the surface, Velvet?”
