This was a simple recon mission. Quick in and out. Log the outpost’s size, assess the defences, count heads, then return. No heroics, no fighting. Just stealth, stealth, and more stealth.
At least, that was the plan. But my body still hummed with unease. Logic and reality often differed. I might go in expecting nothing more than to look around and end up fighting for my life. All I needed was to think about last night to remind myself of that little fact. I’d gone to sleep feeling safe and happy, and woken up to a battle that resulted in me burying a friend.
I reminded myself that I was far from helpless. I had my new blade, born from a hell dragon. I had my new shadow abilities and my newfound wings. If Calyx so much as looked at me wrong, I’d bury him six feet under with a smile on my face.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Calyx lifted a brow and nodded toward my back. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Right.
I closed my eyes and called on my magic. Shadows instantly surged forth, and twin pulses of cold flared outward from my shoulder blades. I stretched my wings wide, then turned my head to peer at them. Their sheer beauty struck me speechless. Ghostly and dark, yet with veins of hellfire running through them. My shadow and fire magic brought to life in a way I’d never imagined possible.
Boots crunched behind me, and Rathiel came into view. He stopped just behind my wings, then raised his hand and brushed them with his fingers.
His touch passedthrough, but I stillfeltit, and shivered. A small wisp of shadow curled around his fingers, then released him.
“They’re not solid,” he murmured.
“Looks like,” I said.
Rathiel’s eyes darted to mine. I distantly heard Calyx clear his throat before he mumbled something about being somewhereover there, away from us. He strode to the outer edge of camp and sat on a broken rock, silently waiting.
Once alone, Rathiel reached for my hand, which I slowly pulled back.
He sighed. “What’s going on, Lily?”
I didn’t answer. I knew what he meant, but this didn’t seem the right time for this conversation. Not that he’d give me much choice in the situation.
“Come on, talk to me. Don’t shut me out,” he said. “You’ve barely looked at me since you killed the dragon. And now you’re taking Calyx, of all people, with you on this mission, and leaving me behind.”
“This isn’t about you,” I said, but the words felt hollow.
He exhaled through his nose, and his jaw tightened. “Then what is this about? Don’t lie to me, don’t tell me nothing’s wrong. Something’s different.”
Different?Everythingwas different. Didn’t he understand that? Anger heated my blood. “Are you kidding me right now?” I hissed. “Sable isdead. Don’t you get it?”
His eyes narrowed. “I know Sable is dead. But what am I not getting?”
I squeezed my eyes shut and drew a deep breath, frustration boiling within me.
Why did Rathiel have to choosenowto have this conversation? Why couldn’t he have waited until I returned? My emotions were all over the place right now, and I hadn’t had any time to process recent events.
Why couldn’t he have justwaited? I wanted to plunge my hands into my hair and pull, but I restrained myself. Barely.
“Lily,” he pushed. “Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”
He wanted to know?Fine.
I released my breath, then snapped open my eyes to find him staring at me with a deeply furrowed brow. “Sable isdead,” I repeated, my tone harsher than I’d intended. “She’sdead, Rathiel. And it’s my fault.”
“What? No. The dragon?—”
“The dragon killed her, I know,” I shot back. “But we weren’therewhen the damn thing attacked. And because we weren’t here, that fucking dragon killed her. Do you get it now? It eviscerated her! She was myfriend, and that monster tore her apart like she was nothing more than a meal!”
My voice had risen so high that I’d attracted the attention of everyone else. The camp had gone deathly silent, all eyes on me. And that just made it worse. Damn Rathiel for making me talk about this right now.
“Lily, this is not your fault. There’s no way we could have known?—”
