Darian and Lyra are far ahead of us by now, and possibly far ahead of any help they might need. If they don’t come back, either of them, I willneverforgive myself.
We take the stairs two at a time, shoving through the doors of the healer’s quarters. I almost run into Eres’s back. Stepping out from behind him, I take in the sight of Valcor and several guards, positioned at the end. “What’s going on?”
Eres ducks past me, already making his way to his shelves as Valcor approaches. “The shadowscout, Beckett. He’s a spy.”
My brows scrunch. “What?”
“It was the Lightbringer.” He shifts back, as if sensing that my temper is close to the verge of eruption. “She burst in here and went to speak to him. I don’t know how she knew, but she’s right. He hasn’t stopped talking.”
My heart turns over. “She left?”
He nods. “Kaelen… he’s saying that he shared information we thought came from Raedyn Veyr.”
Eres comes up beside me. But I can’t move. “Kae. We have to go.”
Valcor’s gaze swings between us. “You’re going after her?Now?”
Raedyn Veyr wasn’t a traitor, and this is the proof. After six months of suspicion hanging over Darian’s head, his father’s legacy tainted by perception, this is the confirmation we needed. And Lyrafoundit. “How long ago did she leave?”
“Three hours, give or take.” His gaze swings between us. “We’ve been looking for you everywhere.”
“I was tied up.” I take the antidote from Eres’s outstretched hand and swallow it. “Yes, we’re going after her.”
“But—”
“Not a word,” Eres says quietly. “Not a single fucking word, Valcor. Not after what’s happened. After what she’s done for you today.”
“She asked me to let her go.” He straightens. “As payment for a debt.”
For fucks’ sake.“Next time, bring her a fucking gift basket.” I run my hands down my face. “Find out as much as you can.”
“It would help if we had Nythen for interrogation.”
He just doesn’t learn. My eyes open, and he blanches. “We’ll make do.”
As the antidote works through my body, my erevas rushes back to my hands in a surge, and I nearly stagger from the sensation as we make our way to the courtyard.
Eldritch is waiting. “We seem to be losing a lot of people tonight. Darian. Lyra.”
“We’re going,” I snarl. “Don’t try to stop us.”
But my old instructor steps into my path, blocking the archway to the stable. “We need you here, Kaelen. You know that. We won’t last an hour if the Lightbringers hit early.”
“They won’t hit early,” I snap, though I don’t know that. None of us do. “They’re still probing the Veilspire.”
And Darian and Lyra are in the middle.
“And if they commit?” Eldritch’s voice stays calm, infuriatingly so. “Umbraxis falls. Everyone dies. You. Lyra. Eres. Darian. The council. Every darkwielder still breathing, and the whole reason for our position. You’re not justtheirs, Kaelen. You’re the hinge this entire defense turns on, and we need you here.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” My voice rises to a shout. “I can’t leave them out there!”
Eldritch’s jaw tightens. “Darian chose to go. Lyra too.”
Darian chose to go because I hurt him.
A shout from the ramparts comes from above our heads. “Rider!”
My head snaps up. Rider.
