Ofher. Maybe of what she was becoming.
He realized I’d spotted him. Instead of stepping back, he held my gaze a second too long—silent warning or silent understanding, I couldn’t tell which—then vanished deeper into the cave, soundless as smoke.
Reverie rested her forehead on my shoulder, and I wrapped my arms around her, tucking her close. She didn’t notice the tension winding through me.
I kissed her temple, keeping my voice even. “Get some sleep,” I murmured. “We have a little time before we have to leave.”
As I held her, heat still rising from the spring and the shield pulsing steadily beneath my palm, a quiet certainty settled in my chest; Torren was waiting for something.
Maybe for her.
Maybe for a moment, she wasn’t surrounded by us.
Maybe for a part of her power to surface that even she didn’t know she had.
I didn’t tell her.
Not yet.
Because whatever Torren was playing at—whatever he knew—Reverie deserved one night where she wasn’t looking over her shoulder.
So I gently kissed her hair and watched the shadows instead, just in case they moved again.
When Reverie finally slept.
It took a while—her breathing was shallow at first, like even unconsciousness couldn’t quite pry her away from the world—but eventually her body gave in. She curled into my side, one hand resting over the crimson shield on her skin.
I waited until her breathing became steady before I carefully slid out from underneath her. Pantar had found us a few minutes earlier and stayed close enough to share his warmth. He lifted his head, watching me with glowing eyes, but said nothing.
Oren stood just beyond the glow of Zane’s small fire, keeping watch with that unnatural stillness only he could manage—his shadows roaming the mouth of the cave.
I stopped beside him.
He didn’t look at me, just kept his gaze fixed on the cave entrance. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“No,” I muttered.
He didn’t comment. Oren was many things, but blind wasn’t one of them.
After a moment, he spoke quietly. “You got something on your mind, or are you here to gloat?”
“I saw Torren watching us,” I growled. “Watching her.”
Oren didn’t flinch. “How long?”
“Long enough to know he wasn’t checking for threats. He was checking on her. Waiting for something.”
Oren exhaled through his nose, slow and irritated. “Of course he was.”
“So you know something’s off?”
His jaw tightened the slightest fraction. “I knew it the moment he followed us.”
I stared at him. “Why didn’t you say something to her?”
His eyes finally cut to mine—cold, sharp, fire beneath ice. “Same reason you didn’t. I won’t trouble her until I know what’s going on with him. She has enough on her mind.”
He read me too easily.
