“Light,” Therion states simply, pointing to the end of the tunnel.
“‘Bout fuckin’ time,” Merrik grunts out, wiping sweat from his brow.
The air in the tunnels is stagnant and suffocating, the acrid stench is a reflection of the nonexistent ventilation and festering remnants of smugglers' deals gone wrong. The thought of light, air, and sunshine is a welcome reprieve from the tunnels and my own circuitous thoughts.
“And I’m assuming we can expect another little party of armies, rebels, and pointy things when we emerge?” Ronyn quips nonchalantly.
“Well, now that we know the Lightborne can just blast them, we should be fine, right?” Jax snarks.
I consider biting back, but Jax’s need to provoke me is becoming insufferable. Tiresome. Repetitive. Predictable. Perhaps I’ll blasther. Just a little.
Kael’s head jerks toward me. Eyes wide. Shocked. Like I shouted straight into his mind. He gives me an almost imperceptible shake of the head as if cautioning me from following through on my thoughts. And I know it now—he can hear me, too.
“For the love of all the Stars in the sky, Jax,” Kael wheezes again, his voice barely more than a croak. “Would you shut the fuck up?”
Ignoring everyone’s bickering, Therion gets right down to business. “I can’t sense anything out of the ordinary, but I’ll go out first with Jax,” his tone is all command. He looks at Jax. “Channel from me, and we’ll head out ahead of the group, secure thehorses, clear the area, and ensure we have an exit strategy into some cover.”
Jax has a scowl on her face, and I assume she’s about to argue—that’s what she does—but she gives a tight, reluctant nod and makes her way to Therion.
We all seem to agree that we move silently the rest of the way.
I can still feel him.
The awareness of Kael lingers at the edges of my mind, a tether I never sought, never wanted, but now cannot seem to shake. The realization that he can feel me, too—that he heard me—is something else entirely. A prickle of unease settles at the base of my spine.What else did he hear? How deep does this connection go?
I swallow hard, keeping my eyes trained on the faint light ahead, though my mind is anything but steady.
This... this should not be possible. This is another complication in a tangle of problems I don’t have time to solve.
But the fact remains: I am not alone in my head anymore.
Therion turns around and places a hand on the small of Seren’s back, whispering something into her ear. I notice the way Ronyn flinches at the sight, his lips pressing into a thin line. Okay, I guess we’ll talk about whateverthatwas later.
Seren moves quickly towards the rest of us, instructing us to stay here for thirty heartbeats. We wait, bodies stilling against the background hiss of Kael’s breathing. Therion and Jax surge ahead, and we wait.
No ambush. No fight. No clang of metal.
We edge out of the tunnels, creeping into a small clearing near an abandoned and dilapidated outpost. I turn to look for Kael, when an arrow sings through the air?—
“DOWN!” Ronyn leaps for Seren and me, his body crushing us against the dry, packed dirt.
I look up to see the arrow jutting from the rock, less than the width of a fingernail above Kael’s head.
Kael stands up straight, a smirk kicking up the right side of his mouth.
Within a single heartbeat, he drops the cloak over Nyx and Aurawho become visible in the clearing, and without credence to his injuries and exhaustion, charges into the lifeless trees.
A lone man breaks from the trees, chestnut hair blowing back as he runs, his sharp, fox-like amber eyes meeting Kael’s as they sprint towards each other.
I draw my Starforged Blade and a throwing dagger, about to unleash them when instead of a clash of swords, I hear the clash of chests—an embrace, laughter, levity.
“You missed,” Kael teased.
“You know I only miss when I mean to, ya bastard!” the man taunts, but there is no mistaking the fondness in his tone.
“Time to go,” Therion breaks the reunion with a terse timbre.
“Don’t be like that, ya grumpy ass,” the man chides. “Get in here.” The man pulls Therion into the embrace, and I can see how at home Therion feels.
