A thin strip of silver eather appeared before me, crackling and hissing as it lengthened and widened. The smell of dampwood and soil mixed with Cas’s and drifted from the tear. And his scent? The crisp pine scent now mingled with something darker than the hint of spice that always clung to Cas. Something that reminded me of fire but wasn’t smoke. I couldn’t place it, but I felt like I’d breathed it in before.
Hands fisting, I walked through the tear. My entire body did that tingling thing I hated, and then there was that split second where it felt like my fucking body had come apart and pieced itself back together. It sounded insane, but that was how it felt.
The glow of eather quickly faded, letting my eyes adjust to the gloom of the overcast skies. My gaze flickered over the meadow now blanketed in white. Snow was piled along the sharp, jutting outcroppings of rock on the side of the Elysium Peaks that led toward the highest elevation and weighed down the branches of the nearby elms.
“Thought you were afraid of shadowstepping?”
The voice came before I even laid eyes on him, and when I did, my chest clenched.
Casteel sat at the cliff’s edge, the wind ruffling the inky waves of his hair. Surprise rippled through me.With that hood almost always in place, I hadn’t seen it for any real length of time, so I hadn’t noticed how much it had grown.His hair was as long as it had been when he’d returned from Carsodonia without his brother and Shea.
I swallowed the sudden thickness in my throat and got my legs moving. “You thinking about jumping?”
Cas didn’t answer for a long moment. “Why would I do that without an audience?”
I smirked at the almost expected response as my boots stirred up snow.
He waited until I was halfway to him before speaking again. “How’d you know I was up here?”
“What you mean to ask is how I knew you were here when you had thenotamclosed off to me again.”
He didn’t respond to that.
“I’m assuming Reaver saw you.”
“Fucker,” he muttered.
The corners of my lips tugged up. Since he didn’t say some insane shit, I kept walking. As I neared the cliff’s edge, the wind turned more biting and came at me harder. It didn’t bother me that much. Not when my body ran even hotter now.
Reaching him, I lowered myself to sit beside him, letting my legs dangle as the snow rose up from the void below.
Wait.
My eyes narrowed. “Is it just me, or is the snow rising?”
“It’s not just you.”
Twisting at the waist, I looked behind us. The snow fell like, well, normal—because of gravity.
“It’s only happening here.”
“Why…? You know what, I’m not even going to try to figure it out.” I faced forward without looking at him. After he’d returned from Carsodonia, he hadn’t liked eye contact and that kind of shit. Not sure why I figured that was the best way to proceed, but I went with it. “We received news of an unexpected visitor today.”
There was no reply.
I looked down at the jagged tips of the frosted rocks, the silent, frozen waterfall, and the distant crowns of the snow-covered elms. As messed up as the history of this place was, it was actually quite beautiful. “Ty is en route.”
The reaction was minimal, but I felt the sudden shift, the way his muscles tensed. “He shouldn’t be here.”
“I know.” I sighed.
The breath he let out was barely audible. “How is Perry?”
I didn’t let the relief I felt at hearing him question that show. “Sad. Angry.” I had to force an even breath in. “Naill has been hanging close to him.”
“Good.” That was all he said for a few moments, and I hoped that wasn’t the only thing he’d say. “I assume you spoke with the fuck?”
I knew exactly who thatfuckwas. “I have.”
