It made him terrified to learn about the fate of Talon’s parents—people Emmeric loved as if they were his own family.If anything had happened to them, he didn’t know if Talon would survive it.And if he lost three of the people he loved most in the world all at once, Emmeric didn’t know howhewould survive.
A twig snapped behind him, causing Emmeric to whirl around.Nothing was there, other than a bright red cardinal sitting on a snowy branch.Iyana had been feeling more paranoid lately, jumping at any little movement.He’d asked her about it, and she said it felt like they were being followed, but she was never able to see anyone.She tried to laugh it off as anxiety, but Emmeric had made sure to keep a closer eye on things since then.He hadn’t seen anything out of the ordinary, but the paranoia had rubbed off on him.Emmeric narrowed his eyes at the bird, briefly wondering if stars were capable of shapeshifting like Kaz.Just in case, he shooed the cardinal away, and it chirped angrily as it flew off.
“Let’s head back to the others,” Zane whispered.
Emmeric nodded, and they began their trek back.They had left the other three members of Team Save Arinem about an hour outside of the city and had given them a twenty-four hour limit.If the two of them weren’t back within that time frame, then the rest of them were to continue on to Istoria.Talon and Iyana had both argued against the plan, but eventually acquiesced.Although, Emmeric had sensed Iyana’s insincerity as she had promised to leave them behind, and he knew that she never would.The thought of her coming to his rescue made Emmeric smile.
When they returned, the relief was palpable.Talon embraced Zane for a long time and even kissed him lightly.It was fantastic to see those two working things out in their relationship.They both had been through some serious shit and deserved every happiness.
They stayed where they were for the night, with the plan to move into the city after dawn.The safest course of action would be to find an abandoned building in the outer ring and reassess the situation, then try to get to the middle ring from there.That would be the most difficult part, as the houses were more spread out and there were fewer places to hide.
Emmeric woke Iyana as the sun rose and hid his grin when she yawned.She was gorgeous when she first woke up, with her sleepy eyes and tousled hair.
Leaving the horses at the tree line, they very carefully made their way into the outer ring of Athusia.Iyana continued to cover their tracks in the snow so that if someonewasfollowing them, it’d at least be slightly more difficult.It was eerie how quiet it was.Typically, this outer circle was always full of shouting and children playing.Even early in the morning or late at night, there was always something happening.A couple times, Emmeric swore he saw somebody peeking out of their curtains at them, only to swiftly shut them again.It was an age-old custom of the outer ring—if you didn’t see anything, then you couldn’t say anything.Emmeric couldn’t blame them, especially now.
Zane was leading the way, and he suddenly ducked into an alleyway.The rest of them followed him down the tight space and through a small crack in a wall.They entered into an abandoned living room of sorts.A fine layer of dust now coated everything and there was a stain on the floor in the corner that looked suspiciously like blood.Iyana picked up a ragged doll that had been left behind, and she turned to him, her eyes wide.
“What happened here?”she whispered.Emmeric shrugged.“The child who owned this doll…Em, do you think they’re okay?”
Emmeric’s heart almost broke right alongside hers.“Oh, Mouse.”Tears welled in her eyes, then spilled over.“Come here.”
He held out his arms for her, and she strode forward without argument.Emmeric held her tightly against him.The answer to her question was most likely not a happy one, and he knew he didn’t need to say it out loud for Iyana to understand.
“Why are you here?”a voice asked from a shadowy corner of the room.Emmeric had Iyana behind him in less than a second, with both of his swords drawn.Zane and Talon had their blades at the ready as well, and Kaz had shifted into her leopard form.
“Show yourself,” Zane commanded.
A tall, imposing figure stepped free from the darkness and into a beam of light created by a hole in the ceiling.Emmeric heard Iyana’s sharp intake of breath and felt her shock and fear spiraling to him in a torrent of emotions.
Altair.
“You have exactly two seconds to leave,” Emmeric said, malice lining every word, “before I run you through.”
The fucker had the audacity to roll his eyes.“As if you could, Sullane.”
Iyana stepped out from behind him, and it took all of Emmeric’s willpower to keep himself from shoving her back.Silver magic crackled around her fingers and wound up her hands and wrists.
“No, but I could,” she said.
Altair looked her up and down slowly, his vision pausing on the display of magic.The corner of his lip tilted up.“Yes, you could, astalle.”
“Don’t,” Iyana snapped, “call me that.You lost that right.”
Altair’s eyes flashed a bright gold in the dimly lit space.“Oh, but you can call him ‘Em’ now?”
“Emmeric didn’t try tokillme!”
“Ast—Iyana, you have to know I had no choice.”
A deluge of rage flowed through the bond to Emmeric—more than he thought any one person was capable of.He was angry with Altair also, and would happily stab him through the heart, but the look on Iyana’s face…
She wanted to rip Altair into pieces.
Chapter 25
Iyana
TheonlyothertimeIyana had felt such a murderous rage was when she had first tapped into the Aztia’s pendant and lost sight of herself.But now, she couldn’t blame this anger on an influx of magic that she had no control over.No.This was all her.
