“Ohh. Silent type, huh? I like them usually. Fewer words from a male, the better. Doesn’t seem to be working for you, though. Maybe try to bemoresilent?”
Irritation jumps in my jaw. “You are aggravating.”
She tugs her arm out of my grip as she limps forward. “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t be here,” she lobs back. “So maybe have a little gratitude.”
“Sure,” I reply smoothly. “Unless we’re about to walk into an ambush or I confirm that you’ve lied. Then gratitude will be last on the list.”
“But still on the list. That’s good.”
Annoyance makes my eyes tighten. I can’t wait to be rid of this fae.
“Auren is going to be so mad at you,” she says before pausing and muttering under her breath. “Unless she’s mad at me.”
I whip my head toward her as we turn left onto the road that leads toward the city. “Why would she be mad at you?”
I don’t miss the way her lips tilt down at the corners. “Well…” She suddenly stops and frowns. “What in the realms?”
Following her line of sight, I stop in my tracks when I see what she’s looking at.
“Is that…” I hear Osrik rumble as everyone comes to a stop next to us.
“Oh, shit,” Lu exclaims. “It is!”
“What is wrong with the ground?” Emonie asks, her face scrunched up in confusion. “I know they sent soldiers to burn the city, but this isn’t from flames.”
“No,” I say, feeling a smile break through my face. “It’srot.”
“Rot?” She glances around at all of us. “And that’s…agoodthing?”
“Yep,” I say as I start walking again, quicker this time, filled with rushing relief that’s pushing me to hurry. “Because that means my brother was here.”
My heart isn’t only pounding with apprehension and worry. It pounds with new, leaping hope.
He was here. The evidence is clear as day, with every rotted line singed into the ground.
Please be here.
Please, fucking be here…
We approach an arch made of some sort of purple stone, and then there’s another sight that makes my chest tighten.
Gold. Right there, solidified into parts of the buildings.
“Look,” I tell everyone.
“I see it,” Lu breathes, breaking out into a smile. “Two out of two.”
Rot and gold.
My hope feels even closer now. Like I can almost reach out and grab hold of it. Make it real.
As soon as we get within ten feet of the arch and the tall trees that pillar it, a fae comes walking out. He’s wearing a long robe and has a beard down to his stomach. “Residents?” he asks, but then he looks us over, gaze casting over our ears. “Oh, Oreans? You can—”
He stops and looks at me, words cutting off. “Great Goddess. I thought you were someone else.”
My pulse surges as I take a step forward. “Who?” I ask, all my anticipation riding on the question.
The fae starts to answer, but then his attention diverts. He makes a choking noise, nearly swallowing his tongue when he sees Argo swoop in front of him. “What isthat?”
