He was right.
Safir wasalwaysright.
Spirits! I hated it.
“Also,” he added with a shrewd look. “Are you so sure you want Isolde to know who she is and come into herpower? What if she realizes she can break your bond? If I were you, I may not be so quick to tell her the truth.”
She wouldn’t…
Would she?
I hated that I wasn’t fully confident in the answer.
Safir returned to his chair and sat, calm and composed.
“The seraph won’t say anything,” he said. Then he grimaced and glanced at Zora. “But… his proximity to Saldrea and her mind-reading-sylph minion is a problem. You said he hasseveral days, how long exactly do we have? What’s your best guess?”
She sighed and went to her own special place, gazing up, lost in thought. Her head cocked a few times before her eyes focused back on us again.
“Twelve to fourteen days. If Vynsiel is sent away from Saldrea, we might have longer. As long as he’s near her, her sylph companion will eventually glean something, enough to know he’s not loyal. After that, it will be a matter of hours as they torture him.”
Safir sighed heavily.
“We need more time! We’re not ready!” he hissed, up again, pacing. “I’d hoped we’d have a couple months at least!”
“I can start coming up with an alternate plan, adjust our timetable,” Zora said, trying to be helpful.
Safir nodded, still lost in thought, plotting.
Finally, he stopped. The fight seemed to have gone out of him. “I’d hoped to be able to get Isolde to safety before we told her and trained her.”
“There is no safe place in this world,” Zora said.
We all knew it.
Safir growled, fists clenching and unclenching. “Sheshould have remained in the human realm,” Safir muttered. “That damned incubus ruined everything!”
“At least here, Izzy can get to know her realm, understand it, see how broken it is and hopefully want to change all of that,” I said.
Safir nodded. “That’s true.”
I’d said something of value. That was rare.
Safir sighed and sat again. “Still, time runs short. We’ll need to find some place for Isolde to train, once she’s ready… and someone to train her, not like that will be easy.”
He glanced my way. “But that’s for the future. Go, protect Isolde, stay close to her. She’ll know the truth in due time.Do nottell her yourself.”
Izzy would know the truth soon enough. That would have to do.
Hopefullysoon enoughwouldn’t be too late.
I nodded, albeit reluctantly and shadow-stepped out of his room to a grove outside the shifter residence. I wouldn’t return to my room. I had everything I needed with me. I’d keep my satchel close from now on, just in case.
But as I crossed campus unseen, shadow-stepping from one dark corner to another, Safir’s words haunted me.Are you so sure you want Isolde to know who she is…? What if she realizes she can break your bond?
I didn’t doubt Izzy was strong enough to break our bond. She was amazing. No one should have been able to break the binding which made her look human, but she’d found a way, worn it down over time and without even knowing who or what she was. Once she was trained… she’d be unstoppable.
And I’d only be an anchor weighing her down.
