No one seems particularly eager to follow, so I step up to the threshold, closing my eyes and holding my breath before passing beneath the layer of liquid. Warmth seeps over my skin and leathers, yet I find neither my hair nor attire is the slightest bit damp as I cross inside. The only evidence it affected me at all is the absence of grime where blood once coated the neckline of my bodysuit.
A petite older woman with bright white hair ushers both Kalden and Niles behind a partition of curtains, permitting Demi to follow as she reaches for Yvonne’s lifeless hand.
A younger male rushes around a glass tabletop to greet the rest of us, blocking the path forward. His eyes widen when he takes in the head-to-toe gear of the others, yet his smile doesn’t falter. “How can I assist you?”
Nobody offers an immediate answer, so I step forward to say, “Uh, we’re here with them.”
“Are you friends of the High?—?”
“Kalden,” Niles says as he circles back to the entryway. “They’re friends of Kalden. Except for this one. He’s responsible for Joss’s injuries, so I’ll be taking him to the holds once we’re done here.”
Gabe flinches as Niles grips his shoulder. “The holds?”
“Temporary confinement.”
Aruna pushes me aside to stand in front of Gabe. “Like a prison cell? You can’t take him away from us! The chancellor’s going to see this and?—”
“There’s no signal,” the mender interrupts to say.
Aruna angles herself towards the younger man. “What?”
His cheeks turn rosy. “You’re from the Shade cities, yes?”
My brows arch at the new term—Shades. Is that what they call those of us who reside within Caligo and its two brother cities?
“This is the latest batch of sacrifices the Shades sent out on the Hunt,” Niles explains, confirming my suspicion.
“I see,” the young mender says, his vivid green-and-gold irises flicking to Aruna’s helmet. “Like those who’ve come before you, I presume you’ve all been equipped with a recording device. These devices typically emit a specific frequency, yet I sense no signal, so it’s doubtful the recordings are being delivered back to your leader.”
Aruna’s gloved hand flies to the tinted lens above her brow bone before she whirls back to Niles. “One of you did this, didn’t you?”
The Sol holds up his palms. “Don’t look at me.”
“If you hurt his son, Chancellor Bren will find out,” Aruna warns.
“Even if that’s true, which I doubt, thanks to these things not working . . .” Niles flicks her helmet. “. . . the chancellor has no jurisdiction here, thank the sun. I also have no intention of hurting his son. All I’d like to do is ask him a few questions about why he attempted to kill us while unprovoked, and what his intentions are with this new weapon.”
Aruna crosses her arms, doubling down. “I won’t let you take him.”
Niles steps in closer, and even though the nightstone’s effects have depleted the enhanced glow from his veins, there’s an intensity in his cerulean gaze that tells me he doesn’t need the boost of magicto best an opponent. “I don’t remember asking for your permission.”
“It’s okay, Aruna,” Gabe assures her. “I can handle his questions.”
Aruna continues holding her ground in front of Niles for several stretched seconds before cowering away from the Sol.
The mender’s polite smile returns. “Are any of you injured?”
No one answers.
Accepting that Sols aren’t the evil creatures we feared them to be is one thing, but I can understand why the others would be hesitant to interact with them, regardless of how kind they seem. Especially since, unlike me, they haven’t spent the past few days warming up to the idea that there’s a positive side to the sun’s power.
“What about you?” the mender asks, gesturing to the tears in my bodysuit.
“Oh, um, Kalden took care of those already.”
His attention shifts to the tiny cuts on my upper arm. “But not these?”
Niles answers for me. “She cut herself with a nightstone blade.”
