“I’m not the one who needs a towel!” His voice came out bordering on shrill.
“Huh?” She glanced down, suddenly realizing her clothes were gone. “Wait, this wasn’t just a mind meld thing?”
“Maybe a hallucination?” Fenn carefully pulled an arm out from underneath Kaelith, trying to sound casual.
“A delicious hallucination,” Kaelith drawled, lounging back on the cold floor in a lazy stretch, his arms tucked behind his head.
“So fucking gross.” Taren wiped the back of his mouth with his sleeve, glaring at the trio. “Rynna! Guide Fenn! What the hell were you thinking?! With him?!”
Fenn blushed furiously, scrambling to his feet. He fumbled for words, then extended a hand to help Rynna up. “Well…you see…”
“Wait.” Taren’s eyes widened, his voice dropping to a whisper. “You’re…you’re alive?”
“Certainly seems that way.” Fenn smiled awkwardly, patting his front as if confirming it for himself. He looked around the room. “Now I just need to find some clothes.”
“I thought you were dead.” Taren paused, wringing his hands.
“Well…” Fenn began, checking himself again, but he didn’t get to finish the thought.
Taren moved quickly, crossing the space between them in a few strides before wrapping Fenn in a tight hug, his eyes squeezed shut. “I thought I’d never get to apologize for leaving. Never get the chance to make up for it or show you that your training wasn’t in vain. That I was listening, even if it didn’t seem that way.”
Fenn froze, his arms hovering for a moment before he softened, slowly pulling Taren closer. “We missed you, too.” His voice was calm, though Rynna noticed the faint tremble in his lips. “When Rynna told me you were back…” He paused, swallowing hard. “I was very glad to hear it.”
They held the embrace for a moment longer before the hug broke, both men stepping back, their eyes flickering away, until Taren suddenly blinked, his focus shifting.
“Whoa!” He stepped back. “What’s with the teeth?”
“Huh.” Fenn paused, raising a thumb to his new fangs. He pressed lightly, feeling the point, then shrugged. “Part of the process, I guess.”
“The process?” Taren turned, looking to Rynna for answers.
“You really don’t want to know,” she muttered, casting a glance down at Kaelith, who was still sprawled on the floor, looking smug as ever. She rolled her eyes. “How long is this gloating going to last?”
“At least another fifty years,” Kaelith purred, stretching his arms luxuriously before finally crawling to his feet. “There should be some healer robes in that cabinet.” He pointed to a tall cupboard behind them.
“And how would you know that?” Taren asked.
Kaelith shrugged. “Skarn tried to copy everything about me. It’s where I would have stashed fresh linens.”
“Let’s get dressed, then.” Fenn took Rynna’s hand for a brief second before letting go.
Kaelith walked past her, his fingers grazing the small of her back as he walked by and opened the cabinet, pulling out a bundle of clothes and tossing some to them both. “This should do.” He winked, slipping into his own tunic as his eyes took her in. Rynna gave a small laugh, catching Fenn’s eye as he tugged on his shirt.
Once they were all dressed, they turned to Taren, who had been standing a few steps away, purposefully facing the wall, clearly trying to give them some space.
“Were you able to eliminate Skarn?” Fenn asked.
“No, unfortunately. The bastard is slippery. He sent the horde after the Alliance headquarters and retreated back to an old lair. They’re less capable without his oversight, but their numbers are so large now that many will die.” Taren crossed his arms. “We’ve got to catch him and deal with the true threat once and for all.”
“Agreed. We should regroup with the Third and connect with Lady Takara to determine next steps.” Fenn frowned, tearing a sleeve of his healer's tunic. “And maybe find fresh uniforms.”
Rynna adjusted the healer’s tunic, the fabric rough against her skin but familiar enough to keep her grounded. She glanced sideways at Fenn, whose new fangs gleamed briefly as he considered the makeshift mask in his hands, then dropped it to the floor. His dark hair, still tousled from their surreal encounter, fell across his face, covering the one silver eye,no longer clouded. Seeing him alive, truly alive, should’ve eased the storm within her, but instead, it swirled into something more complicated.
Kaelith stood on her other side, back leaning against the wall, arms crossed in that casual way of his, eyes tracking every subtle movement in the room like a coiled snake waiting for the perfect moment to strike. His presence was both stabilizing and unnerving, the weight of what they’d just done still lingering in the charged air between them.
Rynna swallowed hard, pushing away the flood of emotions threatening to overwhelm her. There was no going back now, not for any of them. What she had shared with Fenn, the deep bond they had forged through blood and pain, hadn’t disappeared. And Kaelith…Kaelith was no longer just a shadow from her past, no longer a man on the fringes of her life. He was here now, woven into the very fabric of her existence. The same blood that beat through her veins flowed through his, just as it did Fenn’s.
Her fingers twitched, the phantom sensation of Kaelith’s serpentine touch still ghosting across her skin. She squeezed her hands into fists.
