I moved in with a fresh bandage and salve, and with delicate fingers, I covered the wound, careful not to make any more eye contact in a small room with far too many watching.
“Thank you.”
The words were so soft I almost missed them, barely more than a breath in the space between us. And because I was a fool, I met his gaze and found something there that made it hard to remember why distance was important.
“Don’t thank me yet,” I said. “You still might die from reckless behavior before this is over. The odds are actually fairly good.”
Not the response I wanted to give. But the one that was safer.
With Wickett bandagedand everyone settled enough that nobody looked like they were about to die in the next fiveminutes, we gathered around Eda Mire’s workbench, the map spread out between us. The dagger and talisman sat nearby, markers of our desperate plan.
I walked them through it quickly. They listened with skepticism ranging from Calder’s open disbelief to the Oracle’s serene acceptance of what sounded like a fever dream.
“A lost city.” Calder’s voice dripped with disbelief. “Based on a children’s story that someone’s mother used to read. And we’re supposed to find it in completely uncharted territory far too close to the Erelith that circles this world?”
The look he gave me was hard to witness. He’d always trusted me. Even when it made no damn sense. But this? This was our lives. And I couldn’t fault him for drawing a line somewhere.
I held his gaze, refusing to look away. “We followed the evidence. This isn’t a coincidence. This is a pattern.”
“Or it’s a trap designed by someone who knew we’d follow this exact trail. Or it’s a city that existed four hundred years ago and is now nothing but ruins.” His voice softened. “I’m sorry, Syn. But even I have to question this one. It’s a huge gamble.”
“I know it is,” I replied quietly.
Wickett leaned heavily on the table. “What are our alternatives? We can’t go back to the city. Can’t search randomly. The Ash is too dangerous, too vast to cover before the oath takes us.”
Riot gestured at the blank space on the map. “It doesn’t look like there’s anything but the ocean here. If there were islands, they’d be marked.”
Pip sat on the edge of the table, running her fingers over the blank space. “Maybe that’s why no one’s found it. Because it’s supposed to be hard to reach. Because easy paths lead to places that can’t be secret.”
I picked up the dagger, studying the engraved symbol I’d seen a thousand times. “Vitoria knew about Dyssara. Hadconnections to it. Whoever summoned her at night, whoever gave her these weapons must have been from there.”
“And if she’s running, if she’s desperate and afraid and needs sanctuary, where else would she go?” Lucy added.
Calder and Riot stared at the map in turn. Then Calder scrubbed his hand over his face, exhaustion showing through the cracks in his control.
Calder looked at me with eyes that held too much worry and not enough hope. “Fuck. Fine. We chase the ghost city across ash and ocean and hope for the best. But if we get there and there’s nothing? If it’s empty ruins, or if Vitoria’s not there, or if this whole thing turns out to be a waste of our last days alive, I reserve the right to say I told you so. Loudly. Possibly while we’re all dying.”
“Deal.”
“And you’ll owe me dinner.”
I rolled my eyes when the corner of his mouth lifted. He didn’t like the plan, but he loved me. And that was all that mattered.
“Are we riding dragon-back?” Pip asked, glancing nervously outside.
“I think it’s wise to save time. If the Guardian can carry us all,” Lucy said, raising a brow toward Riot.
His eyes narrowed. “I’m going to pretend that’s not an insulting presumption about my strength. But there will be no dragon riding if the hunter can’t handle the trip.”
“I’m riding with Silas.”
The words came out before I fully thought them through, but the moment I said them, I knew they were right. Silas was mine in all the ways that mattered. If something went wrong mid-flight, if we were attacked or separated, I needed my familiar. Not borrowed wings. Not someone else’s beast.
Everyone turned to stare.
“You’re what?” Calder’s voice pitched higher than I’d ever heard it.
I lifted a shoulder, already moving toward the door. “I’m riding with Silas. I said what I said.”
