Kaelith said nothing more. She didn’t have to.
She was even more wary of me now. I could feel it in the tight coil of her magic, the distance she put between us the moment I dismounted.
She was afraid of me.
I nodded, numb. “Thank you,” I said aloud. But she didn’t answer. She just turned and took off again, disappearing into the twilight like a storm cloud retreating beyond the cliffs.
I made my way back to the barracks in silence, the stone halls stretching cold and empty around me.
When I stepped inside, my squad was scattered in various states of exhaustion. Ferrula cleaning her boots, Naia combing out her braid, Cordelle scribbling in one of his books with ink-stained fingers.
Jax looked up as I walked in. “Everything alright?”
“Yeah,” I lied, offering a faint smile. “Just needed air.”
“Don’t we all,” Riven muttered, tossing me a wrapped piece of bread. “Eat. You look like death.”
I caught it, nodded again, and retreated to my cot. I mumbled goodnights I didn’t mean, and when I finally lay down, the ceiling above me swam with shadows.
I closed my eyes.
Sleep dragged me down fast.
And the blood dream returned.
Dark stone.
Flickering torchlight.
The altar again, carved with runes slick with crimson.
But this time, it wasn’t Zander lying on it.
It was me.
And someone was watching.
Smiling.
Chapter
Fourteen
The scent of spiced oats and roasted rootbread drifted through the dining hall, but I barely tasted any of it.
My bowl sat mostly untouched as I picked at it, my mind still clouded with the echoes of the blood dream. The altar, the crimson runes, the smile in the dark.
They weren’t just dreams. I knew that now.
They werewarnings.
Tae stepped into the room, freshly dressed, his usual swagger dulled just a little, but his eyes clear.
He slid onto the bench across from me, wincing slightly as his arm bumped the table.
“Morning,” I said, setting my spoon down. “How are you feeling?”
“Better,” he said, flashing a tired grin. “I spent the night with the healers. Meri says I’ve got the constitution of a wild dog.”
