The figure turned, stepping intoclearerview as she passed by the candlelight. Her hair was dark, tied in a neat knot at the base of her neck. Not Farris.
Ezra cursed and rubbed his hands over his face. “He’s hiding her.”
Ididn’tanswer. My gaze swept the perimeter again, looking for movement, for clues. The balcony guard scratched his neck,yawned. The others remainedstill,alert.
The side veranda doorsuddenlyopened, casting a wedge of warm light onto the garden path. Two figures stepped into the glow—Philip, straight-backed and sharp-jawed, and Loma, dressed in a tailored black coat that swayed with the night breeze.
Ezra’s eyes locked onto them, expression unreadable.
“Noone’sseen her,” Philip said flatly. “She left the estate without a trace. Not a guard, not a servant—no one knows whereshe’sgone. I told you Farris would run the firstchance she got.”
Loma’s jaw flexed. “Then she’s hiding. And if she’s hiding, it’s because she’s run to someone.”
Philip’s gaze slid toward the city beyond the gates. “If she’s gone to Ezra…” His voice dropped, cold enough to frost glass. “If she’s with him, I’ll gut him myself.”
Loma’s eyes narrowed. “You kill him, you draw the gods’ gaze. You make it messy.”
“Well then seduce your mate and get a god on our side,” Philip snapped.
I instantly became pissed off. No woman would ever touch me but Elowyn.
“He is too far invested in your mate to want me. Besides, we don’t need mates. Now think, where the fuck would Farris have gone?” Loma asked.
“I don’t know. If she isn’t with Ezra then I have no clue. She has no friends, no family, nothing but the fucking annoying god.”
Ezra scoffed like he was offended.
“Wellshe’s been gone for three days now, so what the fuck are we going to do?” Loma snapped.
“We find the Sword of Wern and take it toGilyxlike we planned.”
Fuck. Thiswasn’tgood.I sighed as they climbedinto a carriage,and we watched them disappear into the city. Ezra turned to me.
“Farris is missing.” He looked concerned. Then a small smile spread across his lips. “She ran away from him,which means she didn’t want to stay.”
Ezra smiled then. A small, tentative smile like he didn’t trust the expression to last.
Something caught my eyes as I stared at him. His soul threads were circling him for the first time in awhile. Pink strands curled around him, calling to me.
The city noise faded around us, the clatter of distant streets dulling to a low hum. The wards along the fence flickered faintly, their magic brushing against my senses, but I barely registered them. My attention had narrowed to Ezra alone—his posture, the way his magic curled inward instead of lashing out, the quiet ache threaded through his soul.
His fate was calling me. It was inviting me to look. It felt odd that it was coming forth now.
But the threads were right there, humming softly beneath his skin, luminous and tangled, brushing against my awareness like they were waiting.
Just a glance. I needed to know that he would be alright…that Farris would be alright.
The world tipped.
Soul threads unfurled beneath my sight, radiant and intricate, weaving outward into a future I hadn’t seen in a long time. Ezra’s fate shimmered, volatile but alive, strands of red and silver braided together with something darker.
Then the vision snapped into focus.
Ezra was laughing.
Not the sharp, deflective humor he wore like armor but real laughter, loose and unguarded. His magic was quiet, settled beneath his skin like a sleeping beast at peace.
He was kissing a woman.
