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Noc grimaced. “No. It never happened under my watch, and I only saw the one when Talmage was guild master. All other accounts were just stories passed down over time.”
Passed down over time.A strange, buoyant sensation bubbled up in my chest. I’d been around the longest when it came to my brothers, but there were a few members in Cruor who’d been around far longer. Decades longer.
Straightening in my chair, I stared at the space between Noc and Calem. “Uma, you’re needed in the guild master’s study.”
The words had barely left my mouth when a maelstrom of shadows exploded before me. In Cruor, the walls had ears—and Uma had already proven to be listening. She stepped out of the snarling void and tipped her head in a polite bow. Her periwinkle gaze was framed by fine lines, and her silvery hair was pulled back in a neat fishtail braid. Hands clasped before her, she took a single step into the study.
“How can I help?”
“How many people have you seen lost to the realm?” I asked.
“Three.” Her answer was alarmingly swift. “You don’t forget something like that.”
“Were they all human?” Noc dipped his chin toward her as the crease between his brows deepened.
Uma nodded. “All the ones I knew. The first person we tried to save. But…” She looked at her hands, a deeply saddened expression clouding her eyes. She curled her fingers inward. “It didn’t work.”
A sour taste coated the back of my tongue. Of course it hadn’t worked. No one had ever been saved from the shadow realm. It was an impossible feat. We weren’t entertaining the notion of rescuing anyone; we needed to prevent it from happening altogether.
“All the ones you knew…” I turned over her words, searching for answers I hoped could help Gaige. “Has anyone other than a human been raised?”
Her lips pursed, and she frowned at nothing in particular. “I suppose it’s possible, but I don’t recall. You’ve seen the bounties that come through. We’re rarely put in contact with Charmers, Sentinels, mages—anything other than Lendrians, really. People with magic aren’t clambering to die to get power when they already have it. Why do you ask?”
My shoulders sagged, and I pressed my back into the worn cushions of the chair. “Gaige’s shadows are just different than any we’ve encountered before.”
Calem shifted from one foot to the next. With a definitive swallow, he forced himself to look at Uma directly. “Those who were lost… Did their shadows act like Gaige’s?”
I’d never feared or wanted an answer simultaneously more in my life. Tension-racked silence enveloped us in a bubble where time ceased. It was the question I’d been asking without really asking, because I didn’t want to hear that Gaige was like all those who’d disappeared. I wanted him to simply be different for absolutely no reason at all. I wanted it just to be a strange reaction to the Charmer magic that had resided in his veins first. I wanted… I wanted him to be safe. I wanted himhere.
“No,” Uma said, shattering the anxiety-riddled air with one simple word. My breath left in a rush, and my body threatened to crumple just from the sheer release of adrenaline. Ozias blew out a breath as well, and Noc’s gaze softened with relief. Calem briefly closed his eyes before opening them again, a slight smile teasing the corners of his lips.
I drilled my fingers on the tabletop, then cut a glance to Noc. “You called on Isla?” When we’d traveled to Rhyne to ally with their queen, we’d been questioned by a mage in the royal guard.She’d used a tool of sorts to observe Noc’s aura and discovered a trace of magic etched into his essence, which proved his intentions were honest. Rather, it’d proved he hadn’t intentionally murdered the queen’s sister, the princess of Rhyne, years earlier and that led to a tentative alliance against Yazmin and Wilheim.
Now, perhaps, her magic could help us learn more about Gaige. It seemed like a stretch, but we needed answers. Fast.
Ozias straightened in his chair as he fumbled for words. Finally, he managed, “Isla?”
Noc raised an amused brow at his brother before meeting my stare. “Yes. I shadow walked to Rhyne a few days ago. What happened to the other mages you knew?”
“I’ve lost contact with them. She’s our best bet,” I said.
Noc nodded. “She had to seek permission from the queen, but I haven’t heard anything yet. I can search for her again and see if she’s already departed.”
“Please. It sounds like we might have a small sliver of hope, considering Gaige’s shadows aren’t adhering to the same patterns as those who’ve been lost.”
“That doesn’t mean he’s in a good way.” Uma’s soft words threatened to douse the spark of hope igniting in my chest. Hands quivering, she fisted the fabric of her dress. “I’m less worried about how his shadows are behaving than howhe’sbehaving. Because that, unfortunately, is what really worries me.”
I barely found the words to respond. “What do you mean?”
A glassy sheen obscured her eyes. “I know what you’re feeling. I know you want to help. But if Gaige doesn’t help himself, he’ll be lost, too. He needs to truly reconcile with his existence. At least, that’s what I think. I can’t say for certain if that’s true—no one knows, of course—but…but that’s what I’ve seen. I’m sorry I don’t have more information for you.”
I stilled, along with Calem and Ozias. For a moment, I forgot I was the guild master of Cruor. I forgot that I was supposed to act with a level head and rationalize the information that had been presented to me. All I wanted to do was run to Gaige and make sure he was okay, guild be damned. How many times had I advised against such actions when it came to Noc and Leena? He’d repeatedly thrown caution to the wind just for the chance to be near her, and I’d never understood.
Now, sitting here in the study with the walls closing in around me, it was all I could think about. With a shuddering breath, I forced myself to meet Uma’s imploring gaze. “Thank you, Uma. That will be all.”
She tipped her chin once and then turned on her heels, stepping into a plume of shadows and disappearing from the room. The empty space she left behind dominated my vision.
“Isla will have answers,” Noc said, but his quiet voice barely reached my ears. The room was suddenly too warm, and my nerves were ablaze, the very feeling of my tunic scraping against my skin an unbearable sensation.
