I led the way out of the temple and into the mountain marketplace where stalls stood abandoned and the silence gaped like an open wound.
Impossible to believe that a day ago this place had been teeming with all the sounds and colors of life.
Kalani walked into the market, her pace slowing by a stall hung with beautiful beads and scarves. She looked back at me, her eyes filled with shadows. “All this time…”
“Yeah, all this time. We need to find everyone.” Truth was I had no idea where everyone would be. Still in the assembly room clearing out the dead bodies? Gods, I didn’t want to go back there.
“Leela?” C’ael materialized a few yards away from us, his gray form solidifying and blooming with color.
Kalani looked at me, one eyebrow raised. “C’ael, I presume?”
I nodded.
C’ael didn’t acknowledge the others, his attention fixed on me, eyes wide, gaze soft, as if I was the one who’d just materialized out of thin air. “You came back.”
The vibration of incredulity in his tone grated. “Of course I came back. I said I would.”
“Yes. Yes, you did.”
“Where is everyone?”
He studied me for a beat, then his shoulders dropped. “In the village hall. You didn’t stop him.”
There was no accusation in his tone, but I couldn’t help the spike of irritation that his statement evoked. I exhaled to quell it and shook my head. “No, and we need to figure out what to do with everyone.”
“You think he’ll come back for us?” He sounded almost hopeful. My stomach tightened.
“Do youwanthim to come back, C’ael?”
His jaw flexed. “Of course I do. Iblees is my maker. My…friend.”
C’ael was connected to Iblees, and it made sense that he’d feel his absence and want him back. But he needed to understand the distinction. “Iblees is your maker, but the primordial evil isn’t. And right now, it’s evil that has the wheel. Do you understand that?” He swallowed hard and nodded. “Good. We’ll find a way to free Araz. I promise.”
Something shifted in his eyes. A shadow of doubt. A knowing that made my pulse quicken. “What?” I stepped closer. “What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”
“I…I can’t feel him any longer. Iblees. I could before. The connection was there. Like a humming thread between us, but now…Nothing.”
My stomach dropped. “That doesn’t mean anything. The distance?—”
“Has never mattered before.” He looked across at me with misty eyes.
Like hell would I let him infect me with his doubts. “No. I don’t believe it. Araz saved my life. He held back the primordial evil long enough for me to escape. The fact that you can’t feel him doesn’t mean that he’s gone. He’s Iblees now. A fucking god. And I know he won’t be destroyed easily.”
I didn’t know any such thing, but I needed to believe it. If I didn’t…if I doubted, then I would lose the will to fight this thing.
“The wards around Aakash Sansaar could be affecting the connection,” Kalani said. “They’re powerful.”
C’ael stood a little straighter. “Wards. Yes. There was a connection until a few hours ago. Was that when the wards went up?”
Wings of hope beat in my chest. “Yes. A few hours.” I exhaled. “Iblees is still alive, and we can save him.”
C’ael nodded, his posture straightening with purpose. “We have to get the people somewhere safe. He let them live because he didn’t have enough poison. Wahida told us that he took all that she was able to make for him. But he will be back to finish the job. I know it.”
“Who is Wahida, and why would she make poison?” Kalani asked.
“She’s the medicine woman of the camp,” C’ael explained. “The primordial evil controlled her mind and forced her to the make the poison that killed the warriors of the devouring force.”
We were defenseless if he came back. Which I had no doubt that he would.
