“I have something I need to tell you.”
To my relief, she doesn’t look surprised. Instead, she heaves a sigh, sits on the step, and waves me over to join her.
I start with a piece of the truth. “I told you I read your work,” I begin. “On mind walking.”
She nods, laces her fingers together and waits for me to speak.
“I wish I was a faster reader. Or rather…I wish I had come to you sooner.” The words I need to say stick to my tongue.
“You’ve been seeing Zhoric.” A statement, not a question.
My mouth draws into a thin line and I lower my head in an approximation of admission.
Her sigh is heavy and it pains me to feel her displeasure, reminding me of all the times I let down my mother.
“I wish you’d come to me, too. Does Ozias know?”
Relief soothes some of the tension pinching along my shoulders. At least he kept his word. “He does.”
She’s silent for a long while. “How are you doing with it all?”
“The potential we have…it’s strong.” I meet her eyes, showing her every ounce of my strength and determination with the lift of my chin. “But I know my loyalty.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?” she inquires.
“I couldn’t risk you questioning whose side I was on,” I admit. “Not even for a moment. I think…I think Ninon is at risk. I couldn’t have you pulling me from the task because you feared I’d choose him.”
Atlanta’s quiet again for a long moment. “Has it been every night?”
I nod.
“Did you happen to find out anything useful?”
My brows pinch together. I’ve learned so much, but there’s one thing that I learned she would hae most interest in. “You were right.”
Atlanta angles her body towards me more fully. “About?”
“The ravaged. They’re hoarding them. Selnor is keeping them. Dozens of them at least, if not more.”
She grips my wrist. “Do you know where?”
I nod and explain how I followed them from Zhoric’s chambers, the pathway they covered, and the cavern they were sealed in.
She considers this for a long moment. “Did you tell Ozias?”
I shake my head. “It never came up. We’ve been so busy trying to find my elahi – which we did. Finally.”
“What is it?” she asks
“I can…take energy from others.”
“It makes you stronger?”
After my night with Ozias, I know it does something more, too. “And them weaker.”
She blows out a breath. “That’s good. With an elahi like that and such a strong potential…I guess that means you can bond with him at any time?”
“Ozias seems to think so,” I admit. And realization dawns on me as surely as it does on Atlanta. We can endthis anytime we like. I can’t imagine how surreal that must be for her, who’s been trapped here for so long.
