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“Not the dagger the guards took. While that one is closer, they might track it to the inn. You’ll have some time to recover your energy this afternoon.”
Arkimedes sat on the bed and opened his palms to the ceiling. He closed his eyes, and his shadow power deepened, extending like a halo of darkness around his body. Swirls of magic began to resolve into the shape of a longsword in his grasp until the substantial weight of his weapon filled his hands. The air vibrated in response to his power.
He’d done the same in the forest when he’d called upon his first aid kit, but that time, she’d been too out of sorts to really grasp what he was doing.
His sword from back home had made it all the way here. The sweat beading his temple and the fact that he remained seated told her all she needed to know about how much the spell would take from her.
Nava dragged her finger over the cool metal of his blade and shivered when she traced the etched shape of the naked queen’s tree. Her tree. The first time she’d seen this sword, it had been hanging from Arkimedes’s cabin wall. Now she understood the meaning behind the symbol.
Had he known the tree would bloom if she made it here? When she was snooping through his things that afternoon, Arkimedes had been well aware that she was his soulmate—and what the tree meant.
“Why do we need weapons if most people are without magic?” she asked.
“Because of where we are going. We might encounter the blinding spell.”
“I don’t like how that sounds.”
“The Society of Crows crafted it to daze magic users for a short period. Just long enough to allow them to deal with a problematic magic-wielder.” Arkimedes paused and shook his head, as if getting rid of a bad memory. “Years ago, someone leaked the spell, and now it’s available on the black market.”
“And of course, we are going to deal with pirates…”
“Many pirates are deserters, Nava. Former magic-wielders. But the ones that aren’t usually carry crafted spells.”
“Well, on the plus side, I miss my old dagger,” she said with a weak smile and sat on the bed beside him. The light from her spell blinded her, and the familiar cool metal of her mother’s dagger filled her palms a second later. It felt like forever since she’d seen this weapon—let alone held it.
A rapid knock on the door startled them, and Arkimedes was up on his feet, sword in hand, and across the room before her mind had caught up to the fact that someone was there.
“It’s me,” Devon said.
The room spun when she stood on shaking legs, her blood rushing in her ears—a clear sign of how much the spell had drained her.
Arkimedes cracked the door open, and a moment later, Devon strolled into the room.
“I’m not sleeping in here.” He whistled and glanced at the broken glass on the floor and then up at the ceiling. “Seems you two have been busy…”
Nava’s cheeks warmed, but she didn’t dignify his comment with an answer. It was true either way, so she couldn’t exactly deny it.
“Did you discover anything useful?” Arkimedes asked.
“Lots.” Devon paused a few feet away from her and turned to face Arkimedes. He coughed, but the noise wasn’t as terrible as it once had been. “It seems someone followed you two into the castle’s garden the night of the solstice, but they didn’t listen to anything important—or they are smart enough not to divulge it to the crowds.”
“What about the ships?”
“There are a couple of promising leads docked nearby. When I inquired with the local fishermen, they said they’d been docked for a week already, which means we don’t have long to get what we need.”
“Did you see any familiar faces?”
“I’m afraid not.” Devon took a deep breath and promptly choked. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. Then he coughed loudly into it.
“I thought you were feeling better?” Nava stepped toward him, studying his pale face. It wasn’t odd for him to look like this. Nava had met no one as fair as Devon Black.
“It’s dusty here.” He met her gaze evenly, but worry was etched onto his features.
“Don’t lie to her, Devon. It won’t help you.” Arkimedes dropped his sword on the bed before he brought over the sheath and a long, aged black belt.
She sniffed. It was true that the air was musty here. “I can try to heal you once more before you leave?”
“No, save your energy. You aren’t mentally ready to deal with the shifters and the lowlifes we are going to encounter. But you should at least be prepared by keeping some energy.”
