“Where is he? He’sgone, Kae.” Eres’s eyes are uncharacteristically angry, his hair wild. “Darian rode out an hour ago. He left with a patrol and went to the fucking Veilspire.”
The room tilts. “That’s impossible. There are no more patrols. I called them in."
“Shadowscouts.” Eres runs his hands over his face. “Kae… one of them just came back. Injured. They were seen, and he’smissing.”
“What?” The word comes out sharp, disbelieving. I’m already on my feet, heart hammering. “That’s not—he wouldn’t—”
“He did.” Eres’s jaw is tight, eyes burning. “It was Beckett and Carmen. He asked to go with them. Eldritch tried to stop him.”
“The Veilspire is full of Lightbringers,” Lyra interrupts. She pushes back the covers, sliding out of bed. “That’s what Elspeth said when she brought Sera in.”
And now—
They don’t take prisoners. They don’t—
My legs almost drop beneath me. I stagger, but force myself upright before grabbing my sword belt. My hands shake as I buckle it on. “I’m going after him.”
“And I’m coming with you,” Eres says instantly. My hands pause, indecision warring with sheer panic. “Don’t argue with me, Kae. Not over this.”
I can’t speak, the sides of my throat sticking together. We move in grim, swift synchrony as we load up our weapons and Eres refills his belt from the supplies he keeps on the shelf in the corner. Lyra watches, her eyes dark.
He’d looked so lost. And I’d let him go, let him think he meantnothing.
“I did this,” I breathe. “If he dies out there—"
I refuse to believe he’s already dead.
“Kaelen.” Lyra’s voice cuts through the chaos swirling inside my head. “You can’t go. Either of you. If they see you, you won’t be able to get out.”
My hands tighten on the belt buckle of my sword belt. With the Lightbringers using quills, I won’t risk being without a weapon. “I have to find him.”
“I know.” Her eyes flicker with fire. “But let me go. I’m the only one who might have a chance of getting through.”
I freeze at her quiet words. “Absolutely not.”
But she’s striding to her boots, discarded beside the fire. “I’m aLightbringer. Their patrols won’t question me the way they’ll question you, and I’ll be able to talk my way around it if they do. I can get closer than you can.”
“You’re barely standing,” I snap. “You burned yourself hollow healing Sera. This is not happening. And I don’t have time to argue with you about it.”
“I’ll manage.” Her fingers curl, faint light shimmering around them. “But if they see you, you know they’re not going to let you walk away.”
“It’s a generous offer,” Eres says swiftly, cutting us off. “Truly. But you need more rest. You need to recover—you’ve already done too much today.”
She runs her hands over her face and takes a breath. “You have no idea what I can do. Kaelen. YouknowI can do this.”
Our eyes meet.
“I waswell trained,” she says forcefully. “I can bring him back. Let me do this.”
“What do you mean?” Eres looks between us. “Kae?”
I can’t risk her too. “No, Lyra.”
Her lips press together, her shoulders squaring. She’s so fast. So fucking fast that I don’t see the hit coming. It smacks into my stomach, winding me, and she’s shifted to Eres before I can do more than choke.
I didn’t expect her to punch me in the fucking stomach.
She steps back, her hands already moving. The light rises up around me, and I pull my erevas up, but it doesn’t matter. The bars rise up too quickly, weaving and wrapping around each other as her hands move, twisting and shaping. She’s not tryingto kill us. Just contain us. They snap into place around both Eres and I, forming a fuckingcage.
