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“Of course. Right.” He gripped the back of his neck and tipped his head to the sky. “Noc and Leena left to take care of some things.”
Raven raised a single coppery brow at Ozias before shifting to Isla. “Welcome back. We’ll fill you in on what happened. Kost was just taking Gaige back to their quarters for some rest.”
“Right.” Her stare lingered on Ozias for a moment before she nodded and moved to Raven’s side, signaling her small accompanying troop to do the same. “Need help righting the clearing?”
“Please.” Raven dipped her chin in thanks, and Isla waved her soldiers into action.
The world was dangerously close to disappearing entirely at that point, and I sagged into Kost’s arms. He let out a quiet grunt before saying goodbye and steering me back toward our house. A dull ringing filled my ears, and my head lolled against his shoulder.
“You believed me.”
He gave my side a gentle squeeze. “You made me believe you.”
I barely remembered getting through the door, but I would always recall the way he gently laid me in bed and stripped me of my shoes, only to climb in beside me and drape us in a blanket. No matter what happened next, I’d always have his body pressed against mine, his head on my chest, and a warmth in my soul.
TWENTY-TWO
OZIAS
For several hours, I worked with the Charmers and Isla’s guards to clear out debris, erect new canopies, and put back together the broken mess the monsters had left behind. It was quiet, easy work that required little thought, which of course meant my mind was running wild the whole time. I’d seen Isla and panicked. It’d been weeks since we last talked, and apparently I was still a bumbling, awkward disaster in her presence. I didn’t even say hello.
It was just that she was so… I didn’t know the right word for it. Course I never did, but even in my private thoughts I couldn’t quite figure out what Isla was. Beautiful, absolutely. Remarkable, intelligent, confident. She was a whole array of things, which is probably why I could never pick any one thing to focus on when it came to her.
Even now, she stole my attention. Her blond hair was tied back in a ponytail, her umber eyes lost in the task at hand. She was righting a table and chairs while barking orders at her soldiers to help reclaim the Charmers’ artifacts strewn about the open field. Normally, she wore the clothing of the Queen’s Guard in Rhyne—an olive-green coat and matching trousers—but today she wore simple travel gear. There was something about the close-fitting white blouseand tan breeches that stirred want in me. She looked like she could handle anything.
“You’re staring,” Calem said with a nudge, and I dropped the broken chest I’d been holding. The hinges snapped entirely as it crashed against a stone, and books tumbled into the grass. Heat flushed to my cheeks and raced across the back of my neck.
“Do you ever keep your mouth shut?” Bending down, I gathered as many tomes as I could hold.
“How long have you known me?” He picked up the rest and offered an impish grin. “Relax, Ozias. She’s not that scary.”
But she was, and not just because she was a mage with the ability to summon an orb of sparking magic that hit with the force of a lightning bolt. It was her demeanor. With one look, she rendered me useless. Everything she did brooked no room for argument—it was simply her way or no way at all. There wasn’t a better person to lead the Queen’s Guard of Rhyne, and yet I still couldn’t help but wonder how she’d ended up there.
“How far away is Allamere?” I asked as we walked side by side toward the tent where lost items were being stored.
“Can’t say. I’ve never been, but I know it’s past Galvanhold, and that’s weeks away on a ship.” Calem unloaded his books on a table before stretching his hands above his head.
“Galvanhold…” I set my books beside him, mindful to stack them neatly and not disorganize what had already been gathered. Now I just had to find a way to repair that chest. “The prison island?”
Something dark flashed through his eyes. “Yeah.”
Like he’d said, I’d known Calem for decades and there were still dark spots in his past that I wasn’t privy to. This felt like one of them, and I knew better than to press. He’d just storm away and be in an inexplicably foul mood for days. When he was ready, I’d listen. For now, it was better to shift the conversation to safer territory.
Stepping out from under the tarping, I started in the direction of the broken chest. “How do you think Isla ended up here, then?”
“You know, there’s this weird thing called a question, and you could totally ask her.” All hints of discomfort had fled, and his muted-red eyes were full of mirth. I hadn’t realized how close to Isla and her troops we’d walked, and he stepped around me to holler at her with an unnecessarily loud voice. “Isla! Come here!”
I stutter-stepped awkwardly as my feet rooted to the ground. “Calem,” I warned through a low grumble.
He ignored me and continued to beckon to her. She moved toward us with that same, powerful gait that seemed to hammer anxiety into my heart with every step. When she stopped before us, she placed her hands on her hips and gave Calem a sharp look.
“What do you want?”
I was both thrilled and terrified that she didn’t immediately swoon in the presence of Calem. All the women did. He should’ve been born a Charmer given the way he attracted people, and I envied him entirely too much for the easy way he interacted with just about everyone. So yeah, it was enjoyable to see him falter under the weight of a reaction he didn’t expect. It also was horrifying because if Calem couldn’t charm her, I sure as hell couldn’t, either.
He hid his shock well, though, and offered a disarming smile that made him hard to hate. “You never told us how you ended up working for the Queen of Rhyne.”
“That’s because it’s absolutely none of your business.” A glimmer of magic ignited in her stare, like a flame sparking to life, and we were immediately reminded that she could murder us without much effort on her part.
