He nodded, his gaze distant. “The same one I had at the tomb.”
I stroked his back, silently acknowledging what he’d seen. He’d carried Asherah’s lifeless body to the top of Gryphon’s Mount, and constructed her tomb of the white seraphim.
Rhyan started to soften inside me, and gently, with a small noise between his lips, pulled himself out. Rolling onto his side, he slid his pants back up before reaching for me. His knee slid between my legs, as he hugged me against him, and drew his cloak up over us like a blanket.
“I remembered sealing the tomb again.” He spoke lightly, but he tightened his grip on me, his thumb stroking my skin, a line of worry between his brows. “And … I seemed to know where Ereshya’s shard was.”
“The orange shard?” The remains of the light Morgana would have once guarded. My heart thudded. “Where is it?”
There were seven lost shards of the Valalumir. No one had seen them in a thousand years—no one until the other night. When Rhyan was Auriel, he’d buried the indigo shard with Asherah in her tomb, hoping to prevent it from ever reuniting with Moriel. But now, thanks to me, it was with him again. As for the other six, Mercurial knew where the red shard was hidden. But that still meant the other five were lost and unaccounted for. Hava’s violet, Cassarya’s blue, Auriel’s green, Shiviel’s yellow. And Ereshya’s orange.
I’d been so focused on finding the red shard, I hadn’t considered the others. Where they might be, and who might be searching for them. I already knew. Aemon would be after them if he wasn’t already. Which meant that as impossible as it sounded, we had to find them first. We would have to finish what we started a thousand years ago. Restore and harness the power of the Valalumir. Before he did.
Rhyan sighed heavily. “I don’t … I mean …Idon’t actually know where Ereshya’s shard is now. Auriel did, but his thoughts—my thoughts?—I don’t know.” He shook his head in frustration. “The information wasn’t in the dream. Just theknowingthat, at least back then—I—hehad that knowledge. Maybe more of my memories will return now.”
“Or Mercurial will tell us,” I said bitterly. He had plans for me and the red shard. As for the other five, he knew their location, or at least knew how to find out where they were. Afeya knew everything. It was just a question of if he wanted us to know, and what else he desired from us in exchange for such information. Knowing him, such knowledge would not be given freely, but only for him to secure another deal.
Rhyan’s hand swept over my hip, moving up my stomach between us. He pressed his palm between my breasts, to theplace where my contract with the immortal had been sealed. “Has it been bothering you?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Dormant.”
Mercurial had said when it glowed, it was the light recognizing Guardians. He’d told me Morgana was Ereshya. And confirmed that Rhyan was Auriel, that Aemon was Moriel. But Meera had caused it to light up first. According to Mercurial, this made Meera a Guardian. But we didn’t know which one. Three Guardians, Hava, Cassarya, and Shiviel, were still unknown to us.
I couldn’t be sure, but I suspected she was either Hava or Cassarya reborn. The two Goddesses had stood alongside Auriel and Asherah. But Shiviel, Guardian of the Yellow Ray, had become Moriel’s Second in the War of Light. He’d become a formidable monster of his own.
It seemed likely that all seven of the Guardians had been reincarnated. Why else had so many of us found each other already? But that meant we needed to find the others before Aemon did. Right now, we were three against their two. But since they possessed a shard, our greater numbers weren’t working in our favor. Nothing would match Aemon’s strength but another shard, another piece of the Valalumir.
“We’re going to have to do what Mercurial says,” I said, placing my palm over my heart.
“Fuck him,” Rhyan growled.
“Rhyan, I have to claim the red shard to fight back. Between who I am, and my deal with Mercurial, I won’t have a choice. And you know it’s only a matter of time before Aemon goes after the other shards.” Saying it out loud seemed to make the truth of it more real.
Rhyan rubbed his hand up and down the length of my spine, the callused pads of his fingers soothing. “I know that’s what he wants. I can feel what’s coming. And I’ll be with youthe whole time. Fighting beside you. But don’t worry about that tonight.” His forehead pressed against mine, his lips finding mine for a slow, languid kiss. When he pulled back, I couldn’t mistake the worry in his eyes.
“Rhyan?” I asked, reaching to smooth the crease of worry between his brows. “What is it?”
He shook his head, bringing my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to my palm and sighed. “Gods. I hate this.”
“What? What else is wrong?” I asked. His gaze was distant, full of worry and hurt. “Rhyan?”
“My father.” His jaw tensed. “He’s returned to Seathorne.”
“What?”
The muscles in his jaw flexed as he nodded gravely. “We missed him on Gryphon’s Mount by only a few hours that night.”
“But that … that doesn’t make sense. He has to stay in Bamaria for Arianna’s consecration.” I shook my head desperately. “That’s not for another week.”
Rhyan sighed. “I didn’t want to upset you. But when news of Vrukshire reached Imperator Kormac, they moved up Arianna’s consecration—put the Laurel on her head before any other unrest could unfold. She’s Arkasva of Bamaria now. It’s been official for over a week.”
My stomach dropped. Hearing Arianna was Arkasva, that she’d taken the place of my father after she’d murdered him, left a sob rising inside me. She was on my list of enemies. And someone I was determined to hurt. But I pushed my fury down. There was nothing I could do about that. Not yet anyway. But Rhyan, here at this moment, he was in real danger.
I searched his eyes. “If your father’s back, we need to leave Glemaria. It’s not safe for you here.”
“It never was. We’ll leave as soon as we can. But we need a plan, need to figure out where we’re going. And how. Especiallybecause I can’t …” he frowned, “I can’t travel holding both of you at the same time.” He looked away, embarrassed.
Rhyan had never carried two at once as he traveled. When we escaped the Allurian Pass, he’d gotten me and Meera out in two jumps, just to be safe. But now it was confirmed that his vorakh had its limits.
