Taavin didn’t hesitate. He set down the food he’d gone to procure, not even bothering to put it away on their shelves, and laid down next to her. He scooped her into his arms. Vi twisted so her cheek was on his chest. Her eyes fluttered closed and she gave a soft sigh.
This was the reason she could keep breathing. Her sanity was held together by his arms.
“I’m so frustrated and exhausted,” she admitted with a sigh. “I’m exhausted of hunting—of this gnawing, needy feeling I can’t shake.” He was silent and let her speak, his arms tightening slightly. “All I want to do is move. And yet all I want to do is stop. Stop it all. Stop this relentless march of time toward an end that I both want and don’t want.
“I can’t explain it. But I’m being torn apart from the inside out.” Vi pressed her eyes shut and pushed her face further into his chest, as if she could fall into him and away from the world.
“I know,” he whispered, kissing the top of her head. “I know.”
“You can’t.”
“I do.”
“How?”
“I see you, Vi.” His arms tightened around her as though he was trying to meld them like clay into one being. “Sometimes, what I see frightens me, or I don’t understand it, or both. But I still see you. No matter how much time passes or what duties are piled on you. I see you.”
“At least someone does.” She smiled weakly.
“I always will.”
“It’s always been you.”
“Vi,” he spoke tenderly, his voice deep with emotion. Vi listened to it resonating through his chest. “When this is over—”
“Don’t,” she whispered.
“When this is over,” he continued. “I hope I’m with you, in some form.”
“I…” Her voice cracked, and Vi couldn’t find words. Luckily, Deneya saved her.
The ring around her middle finger grew hot and Vi bolted upright. Taavin’s arms fell from her and the mantle of duty replaced them. The moment of weakness had passed; Vi almost felt foolish for having it at all.
“Narro hath. Deneya, what is it?”
“They left, both of them. Bring the false axe.” Deneya’s voice echoed in her mind. “I’m going to follow to see where they go.”
Vi stood. “We have to leave.”
“What is it?” Taavin asked as she released the glyph.
“The shop is unattended.”
Taavin was on his feet as well. Vi grabbed the satchel with the shifted axe and they were off. Taavin, luckily, could keep up with her as she sprinted through the Crossroads.
“Durroe sallvas tempre,” Vi said as she skidded to a halt. A glyph surrounded her hand.
“Durroe watt radia.” Taavin grabbed her fingers, making them both invisible.
“Juth calt.” Vi wasted no time exploding the inner mechanisms of the door lock. The storekeeper would never figure out how exactly all the pins broke at once.
Inside, Vi dashed up the stairs. In the upstairs apartment, her eyes landed on a ladder that led up to an attic moments before her hands landed on it and she scrambled upward.
The axe wasn’t there.
She knew it before she began searching. But Vi searched anyway. She tore through the contents of the room and turned over the bed. Taavin helped, but they were done quickly.
“It’s not here.” He gave sound to her thoughts.
