“Ratharin!” I shouted as I ran to him, feeling how drained he was through our bond. “Take from me, love. Here.” I shoved the power in the other direction for once, giving instead of receiving.
Still, Rath swayed and would have fallen if I hadn't steadied him. “Ember,” he whispered.
Damn it! He was fighting me.
“Take it, Rath.” I smacked my hand on his chest, forcing the energy into him.
Rath gasped, body undulating and head flinging back. When he straightened, he opened his eyes and met my stare.Those glorious lavender eyes didn't merely appear to be glowing anymore. It wasn't a trick of light or color. They were actually alight with power.
Then Rath blinked, and the power settled inside him.
We took a bracing breath together, and he pulled me into his arms. “I think I've earned that reward.” Without another word to me or the others, he faded us away.
Chapter Twenty-One
I assumed Rath was taking us back to the citadel. I was wrong.
We appeared on a wooden platform, our view framed by thick tree branches. I stepped out of Rath's arms and across the planks to the railing. My hands slid over the polished carvings of vines that blended the railing into its environment. There wasn't a lot to see beyond the tops of massive trees, but there were buildings in those trees—some at ground level and more within the branches. Stairs spiraled down from them, around the enormous trunks. Not that the Varraen needed stairs. They could use their Air Magic to simply float down to the ground level of their village.
Leaning over the railing, I peered along the cobblestone path that wound between the trees, uniting homes and shops in a natural fashion. There was a shopping district nearby, but it was small, nothing like the last Varraen city Rath had taken me to. I turned to face him and ask him where we were.
Then I saw the house.
Was it still called a house when it was perched in a tree like a bird? I knew we were in a tree as soon as we arrived. That wasn't what shocked me into silence. It was the grandeur of the home. The elegant exterior rose several levels above me, right into the canopy of leaves. As with the railing, the architecturewas straight out of nature—every board a piece of Varraen craftsmanship, every frame adorned with carvings of blooms and beasts. The great arch behind Rath bordered a pair of glass doors and within the curls of flowering vines carved around its frame, wolves hunted, some of them howling, others more peaceful.
“Holy fucking shit,” I said.
“Do you like it?” Rath asked.
“I mean, the outside is amazing.” I stared up the length of the home, my gaze catching on several balconies. Then I looked back at him. “Um, where are we?”
“The town is called Dellamar. Do you know of it?”
“No.”
“It's on the tip of Krix, the point that stretches toward Raxis. The coast is a mile that way.” He pointed. “Raxis is just across the Suhar Channel.”
“Raxis.” I looked at the wolves and a shiver went down my spine. “Rath, is this your house?”
He took a step toward me. “It's ours if you like it. Yours, mine, and Xaedren's.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered. “You mean, for after the war?”
“Yes.”
“Taroc took me to a place he bought for us too. Did you guys talk about this? Have all of you bought homes?”
“Yes. Xae and I decided to share a home with you. Keltyr and Taroc wanted their own. Since Xaedren doesn't have anyfamily left, he was all right with living in a Varraen village, but he still wanted to be close to Raxis. I think it was more about the climate than anything else.”
“Rath.” I shook my head. “This is incredible.” Then I scowled. “But it would have been nice if you'd included me in the conversation.”
“We wanted to surprise you.”
“I get that, and it's a great surprise, but these are supposed to be my homes too, right? Or am I just the toy that gets passed around?”
Rath's eyes went wide, and he stepped back as if I'd struck him. “That was . . . terribly unfair. And just terrible, Ember.”
“Yeah, all right. But so was buying homes without telling me. So, Kel has a house too?”
