She wouldn’t lose him, too.
“I’m going to get my answers tonight,” Sonara said now. Not far away, a troupe of musicians began playing a joyful tune. The people around them began to shift and move. In the distance, the single entrance to the Garden still flowed with caravans arriving. “I’ll do the job. I’ll be present, I swear. But when I get my chance…”
“You’re going to take it,” Jaxon said. “What are you going to do?”
“Find my answers. Even if they’re on board the ship.”
Surprise filled Jaxon’s tone. “You’re going to sneak onto a Wanderer ship?”
She smiled. “It’s not as if they’re going to invite me aboard. Though I can be convincing enough, should the need arise.”
He frowned. “They’re dangerous, Sonara. Creatures from another world. There’s so little we know about them.”
“They could say the same about us,” Sonara said. She patted Lazaris on her hip. Its pommel was cold and solid. The sharpened blade, ready to strike.
He nodded. “Yes, but… there are too many variables. And are you prepared for what’s to come, if there aren’t any answers to find? It’s been ten years.Years.He’s not going to be sitting on the ship, waiting for you to rescue him with open arms, and—”
His voice trailed off.
His aura instantly flared withregret.
“I’m not a fool, Jax,” Sonara said. She narrowed her eyes as she caught a child eavesdropping at the edge of a tent. “I know the odds. But I also know the odds of that ship having returned. I don’t believe in fate. But perhaps I should. My entire second life has been leading to this moment. To finding my brother and bringing him home. You won’t talk me out of it. You won’t stop me.”
“No, I won’t,” Jaxon said with a sigh. “But at least I can try. And I can be there with you, when the timing is right.”
Duran whinnied suddenly, high and loud, as he caught a view of Sonara through the crowd. She smiled, for his call echoed across the Garden, audible even over the music.
“It’s my mission to find Soahm,” Sonara said to Jaxon. “My burden to bear. Not yours, Jax. Focus on the job. The riches and the freedom we’ll gain once we have the Antheon. I’ll handle my brother.”
Jaxon nodded, his kind eyes watching Duran stare out across the crowd towards Sonara. “Perhaps it’s not my burden to bear. But that’s the thing with family, Sonara. When you love someone… you do whatever it takes to stay by their side.”
“Collecting yourself a nice purse already?” Markam emerged from the crowd, a drink in his hand.
The moment between Sonara and Jaxon broke.
She whirled around and lifted a brow. He hadn’t been there only a second ago, though she sensed thesmoky burnof his curse sighing away on the mountain breeze. “It’s not wise to sneak up on a devil.”
He laughed and put his muscular arm around her shoulders, guiding her away from Jaxon, through the booths and back towards their group.
Jaxon followed, keeping his distance.
“The sword,” Sonara said. “I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me where it is, now that we’ve made the journey here?”
“Dear Sunny, you always did have such a good sense of humor.” Markam laughed. “It’s safe. That’s all you need to know, until we finish the princess’ job.”
She shook her head and sidestepped a man offering samples of fried mountain beast.
“So,” Sonara asked, switching the subject as Markam plucked a sample off the tray and popped it into his mouth. Green juice oozed from it as he crunched down and promptly gave a look of instant regret. He spat it out as they kept moving. “What happened between the two of you? You never did tell me.”
Markam glanced ahead of them, where Azariah was holding up a large black-pearl necklace from Soreia, her smile wide and genuine, sparkling up to her eyes. Thali stood beside her, arms crossed and looking worthy of every strange glance she received as people walked past, keeping their distance.
“Sheisbeautiful,” Sonara admitted. More beautiful than she’d ever dream of being.A princess, worthy of her title, despite the mark of the chain around her throat.
Sonara bristled, thinking of her own once-half-title, if she could even call it that.
“If you must know, Sonara…” Markam sighed as Sonara glanced to him. “She was the target of a high-profile job. I was there, impersonating a palace escort, in hope of gaining her trust and securing access to the royal catacombs, where the king guards the entrance to the diamond mines. I stayed too long, got too close to her, and she discovered the truth about my identity.” He sighed and waved a gloved hand. “The rest, as they say, is history.”
“History that resulted in a broken man,” Sonara said. “It took you months to return to yourself after her.”
