I blanched, jolting in my seat slightly, but Faylinn seemed unfazed.
“The Bondsmith’s . . . artifact?”
She hummed and nodded. “Seems that way. There’s a few other runes on there that all but confirm it. Life and death, for instance. I had a feeling when you said it was hidden in Alois’ bookshelves, tucked away from prying eyes. It’s not something he’d want anyone to see—even if he didn’t know what he held. It also pulsed with a sort of . . . energy when I held it initially. Energy that felt like mine but different somehow.”
“Wow,” I said rather inarticulately.
Faylinn laughed fully, her body easing into mine with each passing minute.
“Something like that.”
“What are you going to do with it?”
Faylinn was silent for a moment, the flames of the fire dancing in her eyes.
“Can you put it back where you found it for now? I’m not sure what I want to do with it yet, or what I’m evensupposedto do with it. I just know it needs to be kept safe until the time for that decision comes.”
I was nodding before she even stopped speaking.
“Of course, Faylinn.”
She eased into me fully, then, and I opened up my arm, wrapping it around her shoulders and pressing her against my chest. Faylinn sighed, a slow, contented thing I couldn’t help but echo.
“Would you like me to show you Vespera now?” she asked quietly. I tensed but nodded, locking down any errant emotions I felt toward her before opening the Bond. It was like an immense relief to open those gates, like I’d been awake for far too long andcould finally rest.
Faylinn sighed as her own barriers relaxed, the connection between us undulating and pulsing in time with our heartbeats.
“Are you ready?” Faylinn murmured, and I sent her a feeling of readiness down the Bond. A second later, the connection between us was awash with memories.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Faylinn
The speed at which my memories of earlier today—was it truly just today?—rushed down the Bond was nearly alarming. It was like theywantedto go to Rohak, to be shared with someone else who would understand, who could rectify the wrongs that were done.
My wrongs.
I winced outwardly as that thought trailed in with the memories I sent the General.
“What do you mean your wrongs?” Rohak mumbled as the visions tapered off, ending with helping Asha in the healing room where he found me earlier this evening.
I intentionally blocked the feelings that ran rampant when I realized it was him who invaded our space earlier.
Despite his overflowing kindness and casual touches, Rohak still had the Bond locked tight, unwilling to share his true emotions with me. The last thing he needed was to feel my desire for him, especially if it was unreciprocated.
“Faylinn?” Rohak’s voice was soft and tinged with worry.
“I showed Torin how to access the courtyard in Vespera. There’s a small fissure in the wall, covered by vines and nearly indistinguishable. It’s how his army entered.” The words rushed off my tongue to sit heavily in the warm air.
Rohak said nothing for a moment, and I tensed, waiting for the outrage. Instead, he surprised me and opened the Bond a crack—just enough for a trickle of understanding and compassion to bleed through.
My breath caught in my throat when I realized there wasnotinge of blame or disgust.
“You did what you had to, Faylinn. What you thought was right,” Rohak said. I nodded, refusing to meet his eyes. He gripped my chin lightly, turning my face until our gazes clashed.
There was a whirlwind of emotions glinting in his emerald eyes, but I felt no hate, no animosity. The pad of his thumb brushed lightly over my chin, and I closed my eyes, basking in the comfort of the gesture.
“Without Torin and his army, we’d have been overrun by the gods.”
