Blaze’s head whipped around. “Two of what? The dronsian?”
Tomas nodded. “There’s a woman from the island with one. She visits a few times a year. Left early this morning.”
Blaze met Augustus’s eyes, but Augustus couldn’t read what he was thinking.
“The woman,” Blaze pressed Darian. “She was from the Trayterre Isles?”
“She was,” Darian said, eyes narrowing.
Roslyn interjected with an additional question. “Crazy as a loon?”
Blaze put a hand up as if to cut her out, then thumbed the air toward Augustus. “Does she have weird eyes like my friend here?”
Augustus’s muscles turned to stone. “What’s this about?”
The three Bladesworn men took a few seconds to look at Augustus’s eye color, then nodded.
“I didn’t know you were one of them,” Darian said.
“I’m not— Go back,” Augustus said, heart flinging at his ribcage. “A woman with eyes like mine?”
Blaze caught Augustus by the arm. “Not Selene. I’ll explain later.”
Augustus deflated. Of course, it wasn’t her. The woman was mad, apparently—and Selene wasn’t here. She couldn’t be.
Besides, Selene’s dronsian was nowhere near that island or the woman in question. He was currently shifting his weight between feet, his claws pricking Augustus’s shoulder with impatience.
Augustus turned toward the Trayterre Isles. They weren’t far. Only an hour by boat. They were supposed to be uninhabited…
“You smell the other one, is that it?” Augustus asked Gus. If another dronsian had been around that morning, its scent must have lingered.
Gus’s entire neck and head curved down, then up like a wave. Or a nod.
“Fly on over there if you want. You’ve got time.”
Gus’s wings fluttered, then froze at Oskar’s raised voice.
“What? A day, you say?”
Augustus re-entered the conversation. “What’s going on?”
Blaze scrubbed his face—his skin had gone pale. “Thorne left yesterday. We’re only a day behind.”
This news put a rod in Augustus’s spine. A minute ago, they’d been what felt like an eternity from catching up to them. To learn Selene was here only yesterday…
“Did he find them?” Oskar asked Darian.
Find who?Gods, what had he missed?
Gus squawked and fluttered.
“Shhh,” Augustus hissed at him.
Darian said, “Not that anyone is aware of.”
Oskar belted out a laugh and turned sparkling eyes his way. “She’s here.”
The Bladesworn shook his head. “Those girls are not in this city. I would put my life on it.”
