He smirks, his face more ruggedly handsome than I remember it. “It’s not that bad,” he signs after setting the rock down. His smile fades when I don’t reciprocate. He smooths his hands over his trousers repeatedly.
At last, he voices the words it seems he’s been fighting not to say. “I miss you, Durvla.”
I clench my fists only to loosen them again. Perhaps it would be polite to say that I miss him too, but the words sound wrong in my mind. “I’m having a hard time forgiving you.”
His jaw tightens. He scratches at his beard, which has grown thick again. “I deserve that,” he gestures.
“You do,” I gesture back. “I understand you wanted to protect your mam and Granny. You know I love them. But I trusted you to look after Taig. I trusted you more than I trusted anyone else in this world. You were my best friend. You could’ve told me the truth. We could’ve figured something out together. Maybe we could’ve destroyed the scrying tether. You didn’t give us the chance to defend ourselves. You took the coward’s way out.”
Surprise crosses his face, deep grooves in his forehead. But then his frown slowly curves upward into a smile, his forehead smoothing out.
“Why on Rhianu’s earth are you smiling?” I sign sharply.
“You’ve changed,” he says.
My brows knit together firmly.
“You would’ve never spoken your mind like that. Although your face always showed more emotions than you intended, you kept your thoughts to yourself. Even when you should’ve spoken up.”
My lips tug down—I don’t know what to say.
“It’s a good thing. And you’re right. I had no excuse. I’ll spend a lifetime trying to make it up to you. Whether you forgive me or not, I’m glad you’re talking to me now. I think you should go to Paramount. I’ve seen you and Tiernan together. I understand why you need to do this.”
I press my fingertips lightly against my eyelids as though it can keep the tears away. Osheen’s hand rests on my arm, and when I open my eyes, he’s looking at me with a familiar warmth I don’t want to remember. I can’t fully let my guard down.
“I don’t want you to come to Paramount,” I say. He frowns and starts to say something, but I interject. “You know too much about the Purists and about everything we’ve encountered. Important information that should be passed on to Dayfyd andChief Badeaux. If all fails, get back to the Verge … Tell Taig about me. Don’t let him forget about me.”
Tears swiftly leak from Osheen’s eyes, and he bats them away. He takes my hand and gives it a squeeze before letting go to sign, “Just stay alive and you can tell Taig yourself.”
I laugh through my tears and nod. “I’ll try my best. For now, I still need to figure things out.”
“I’m sure you will. I believe in you.”
I approach Alys and Haruka where they sit in the kitchen chatting over tea and honey cake. They both glance up at me, weary smiles on their faces. “Everything alright, sweetling?” Alys asks.
“This may be an odd question, but do you know anything about amplifiers?”
Alys looks slightly startled, but Haruka seems intrigued.
“The Lightweaver who trained me back in the Verge mentioned something about them,” I explain.
“Ah,” says Haruka. “I know that usually it requires an elemental or celestial gemstone or something—old magic, but they’re good natural amplifiers. They can even be used to imbue potions.”
Alys’s eyes go wide. “Where did you hear such a thing?”
“Niall. It seems the Purists have a plethora of loopholes for magical use.”
I pull the handkerchief-wrapped moonstone from my pocket and slowly open it in the palm of my hand.
“Gods above and below, that’s …” Haruka’s eyes go wide.
“Dayfyd gave it to me. He said it belonged to my birth mother.”
Haruka doesn’t even bat an eye at that. Of course, she knows the woman who raised me wasn’t the one who gave birth to me.
“Unfortunately, you’d need a Sorcerer to turn it into an amplifier. I’m sorry I cannot be of better help.”
I look to Alys desperately. “Are you able to conjure something?”
