“Forever the voice of reason murdering my excitement,” he said with a crooked smile.
“It’s not a vacation we’re embarking on,” I reminded him, unapologetically.
“Well, I’m personally still going to focus on the feel of the sunlight on my face.”
I acquiesced with a little shrug, trying to appear unbothered—even though the thought of such light had been stirring unpleasant, long-buried memories in me all day.
I was far removed from the life I’d lived in the Above kingdom of Elarith. The Keepers of Light, who had once controlled and judged my every movement were buried deeply enough in the past that I rarely thought of them or the scars they’d left.
But now, here we were, returning to the scene of one of the disasters they’d helped orchestrate.
Questions about their connections to Lorien—toallthe wars we faced—swirled in my head. And if there was potential overlap with the members of that ancient Void Order, as Eamon had said…
What was I walking back into, exactly?
As soon as the question crossed my mind, the crawling underneath my skin struck again. It was accompanied by burning, this time—like the heated ends of a hundred needles prodding, trying to poke through. I fought to keep myself from flinching.
Zayn seemed to notice; his smile remained, but his voice was slightly more serious as he said, “Are you all right, by the way? Any more strange, internal rumblings I should be aware of?”
I’d mentioned the strangeness to him days ago, mostly because I’d wondered if he was experiencing—or had previouslyexperienced—anything similar. But, although we’d both been subjected to similar torture, we seemed to be recovering in different ways. No unpredictable magic plagued him. In fact, though he was still unusually attuned to the presence of it in others, he didn’t seem to possessanyfor himself.
I was glad he didn’t have to carry the weight of it any more. But it only made me more concerned about what was happening to me.
If Zayn had managed a clean break, then why hadn’t I?
What about all the years I’d possessed magic following my first escape from Lorien’s possession, when I was only a child? What if some part of him had actually lodged itself in my soul decades ago and had been poisoning me ever since?
Where did he end?
Where did I begin?
“Aleks? Are you alright?”
I gave my head a little shake. “I’m fine.”
Zayn looked prepared to call me out on the lie, but Eamon joined us before he could.
“A condensed summary of the notes we’ve been compiling over these past few days,” Eamon said, handing me a bundle of twine-secured parchment.
I arched a brow as I took it.Condensed,he claimed; yet, the stack was several inches thick.
Nevertheless, I dutifully tucked it into the bag slung over my shoulder.
“If you do come across Orin, he might be able to give more insights about it all,” he added.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Zayn asked him. “I was looking forward to watching you be entirely too enthusiastic about every rock and tree we encountered in the Above.”
Eamon pursed his lips, looking as though he was considering giving a matter-of-fact lecture about those various rocks and trees we might come across.
Nova saved us from that particular horror, interjecting herself into the conversation as she joined us. “He’s staying,” she said. “We aren’t leaving my brother entirely alone down here.”
“It’s an honor to remain by his side,” Eamon agreed, quickly. “Thalia will be the better companion to you for this excursion, anyhow.” He looked in her direction, watching as she secured the last of her riding gear. He seemed relieved at the sight of her preparing to leave.
We all were, I think.
She’d been missing for most of the day. I’d worried that she would refuse to join us, but it seemed her loyalty to Nova now surpassed whatever misgivings she had about journeying to the Above and facing her father—and whatever else awaited us there.
She caught me staring and threw me one of her typical cold, borderline suspicious looks. Her glare lingered briefly before she exchanged a final word with Bastian, then she mounted her scourge stallion, Uldrin, and immediately trotted toward the gates.
