Cassiel had always been skilled at maintaining pretenses, but he couldn’t quite hide the misery on his face when it came to her.
Lucenna strode over to him and blocked his view. “You did it to yourself.”
Cassiel only blinked at heridly. “I did.”
She scowled. Being mean to him wasn’t fun if he agreed.
Then Lucenna noticed the large tear on his shoulder where the Other had nearly taken his arm. Dried blood still stained the dark fabric. “Why haven’t you changed yet?” Looking at him more closely, his face was gaunt, and his eyes were shadowed. “Have you even slept?”
“No…” Cassiel answered dismissively, glancing past her to Dyna again.
“Have you eaten?”
“I will later.”
“What is wrong with you?” she snapped. “You drove yourself to exhaustion when the Shades came, then you put yourself in harm’s way with the Other. It was reckless.”
Lucenna had always known him to be the cautious sort. But yesterday he could have died.
Cassiel blinked at her outburst. “There wasn’t much of a choice when people stood to be killed. My abilities were better served in that situation.”
“Perhaps you think yourself invincible now, Celestial, but you are not immortal. Your actions fall on Dyna, and that includes your lack of self-care.” Magic crackled around Lucenna’s hands. “I won’t have you disrupting her sleep any longer.”
His brow furrowed with confusion. Dyna had not slept either and was hardly eating. It was clear why.
“I can feel how tired she is…” Cassiel looked back at where she was. “And her magic is spent. Why?”
“How do you think you survived your fight with the Shades?”
The question left him astonished. Of course, Dyna kept it from him. When Cassiel had collapsed, she ran outside to him without hesitation and unleashed a tidal wave of green fire upon the Shades, killing them all.
But Lucenna was too worried about her now to keep it a secret anymore. “She can’t sleep.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s having nightmares, Cassiel. They started after you left and became worse when you returned. The bond may be broken, but you are still connected. Rest, so she can rest, too.” Lucenna jabbed a finger towards the cook’s tent. “Now go eat something.”
Cassiel stared at her mutely before walking off without a word.
Klyde chuckled. He was a few steps away, building a tent while Tavin gathered firewood. “Was that your way of saying you’re worried about him, too?”
“She is ice cold on the outside, but soft as dough on the inside,” Keena teased.
Lucenna ignored them. “Where is Zev?”
“He’s keeping to the woods,” Klyde said
That was probably for the best, though she hated to admit it. Lucenna searched the trees for any streaks of black. He needed to eat, too.
In the morning, Dyna had healed him before he vanished into the forest. To follow the convoy at a distance.
“I heard the elves whispering about him,” Keena said worriedly. “They called him a demon.”
“I am.” They all turned at the rumble of Zev’s voice.
Lucenna spotted his glowing yellow eyes first. He was a large shadow in the dim brush of the forest, wearing only his trousers. A sheen of sweat coated his chest, his dark hair windblown. He looked exhausted, but much better than he usually did after a full moon.
“Zev, how are you feeling?” Lucenna went to him. She handed him a waterskin, and he tilted his head back as he drank it all. Up close, it was clear he had not suffered any new scars since he had spent the night without his silver chains.
