“But I know where to find him now.” Dyna took her hand. “Please don’t leave. You need us.”
“I don’t need anyone.” Lucenna removed her hold. “I’m sorry. Goodbye, Dyna. Be safe.”
She headed east for the trees and cast an invisibility spell, disappearing from view. Zev came to stand next to Dyna and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Cassiel shook his head. He hoped Lucenna would be all right out there alone, but he couldn’t help but feel they had lost a vital part of their team.
“I’ll pray for her safety,” Rawn said somberly as he untied Fair’s saddle from the cage.
“How do we find the Druid?” Zev asked Dyna.
“Keena told me he will be headed for the Willows Grove. There is a portal there by which the fae travel.”
Cassiel had to question it. “Why would she wait until now to share such vital information?”
Dyna shrugged. “She said it was a secret.”
Was that really all it was?
“The grove isn’t too far from here,” Zev said.
“Then we must make haste lest we encounter the Azure Guard,” Rawn said. “Now that bounty hunters seek to capture us, our journey will prove a much more strenuous endeavor. Commander Moreland warned us to avoid the ports. Crossing to Dwarf Shoe by ship is no longer possible.”
Cassiel sucked in a breath. “That means we will have to pass through Troll Bridge.”
Rawn nodded, looking bleak at the prospect. “I admit I have no experience there. I had no need to cross it before, nor did I dare.”
“How dangerous is it?” Zev asked. “Worse than the fjord?”
“Our lives would be at stake, but it may be a risk we have to take to leave Urn’s Chip.”
“I won’t put Dyna in harm’s way.”
“If there is a safe way to cross, my uncle will know,” Cassiel said. “He is the Lord of Hermon Ridge, and he guards the entrance to the isthmus. I could request to have an audience with him.”
“We?” Dyna repeated, bouncing on her toes.
“You have my abiding trust. All of you.” Cassiel smiled, allowing the back of his hand to brush hers. “After we find that damn Druid, it would please me to show you the fourth Celestial Realm. Would you care to join me?”
Her emerald eyes shone like jewels.Oh yes,her heart seemed to say.With you, I will go anywhere.
Chapter 50
Von
Von tried not to limp as he walked through Tarn’s camp. There was a small bulge on his right thigh where he bandaged his leg beneath his trousers. Dry blood coated the hilts of the knives strapped to the crossed sheaths on his chest. It had been some time since he faced an opponent that was an equal match.
This time around, he’d finally recognized the mercenary’s fighting tactics. The dual-blade method was so familiar it was like fighting an echo of the past.
“Who trained you?” Von had asked. He leaned against the alley wall, staunching the blood leaking from his leg.
The mercenary applied pressure to his shoulder. Klyde, Dyna had called him. Lowering his mask, the man’s cool blue eyes had pinned on Von, exposing a face he sensed he should recognize but didn’t.
“Someone no longer alive,” Klyde said.
There was something about the harsh stare. This was more than a simple score.
“I get the sense I wronged you somehow,” Von had said as he pushed off the wall, drawing another knife. “But I don’t know you.”
A harsh smile curled Klyde’s mouth. “That’s all right. I knowyou.”
