“Did you open it?” I asked, looking at my best friend.
Eden shook her head, her red curls bouncing with the motion. “I wanted to, but then I thought it might be private…personal. Then I wanted to burn it because screw Marissa Bane and anything she touches. But it’s yours to decide what to do with. I thought it might upset you so soon after what happened, so I wasn’t sure when to give it to you.”
I nodded, appreciating that. Reaching out, I slipped the note into my backpack. “I’m not ready. I need to focus on Ariyon. I don’t care about anything else.”
Eden reached out and squeezed my gloved hand. “Totally agree. How can I help today?”
Eden had become my fellow researcher. We met every day in the library whenever we had free time. Ayden came most daystoo, but now that he was the queen’s sole living heir, he’d taken over a lot more official duties.
“I need more information on how a Maven healer transports to the Realm of Eternity. Can they do it by themselves or only by carrying a dying person’s soul?”
Eden nodded, pulling piles of dusty, leather-bound tomes onto her lap and starting her research.
While she did that, I was going to look more into the magic of the House of Ash and Shadow and what being a Nightling really was all about—the rules, the powers, how they were created. I wanted to know more about this apparent series of fights that Ariyon might be going through right now.
An hour into our reading, Ayden showed up and plopped down beside me. “Sorry I’m late. How can I help?”
I handed him a book titledShadow Magic, and he started reading without complaint.
More time passed before Yanric landed on the table.
‘Your dad said dinner will be ready soon,’my familiar announced into my mind.
I slammed the book shut and peered out the window to see that it was getting dark.
“We should call it quits for the day. Find anything good?” I asked our little group.
Eden yawned. “Maven healers are so rare, we don’t have as much info as we would like, and what we do have on the Realm of Eternity and the Grim, all deals with a person dying.”
Great.
“‘A Nightling must drink blood to keep their magic alive; otherwise, it withers away,’” Ayden read, pressing his fingers across the page.
I perked up. No wonder they fed on blood. It wouldn’t help us get Ariyon back, but it was interesting. “Anything about Nightlings and the Realm of Rebirth?” I asked.
He shook his head and shut the book, rubbing his eyes. Our normally sunny Ayden had been reduced to a depressed shell of his former self. Without his twin, he was lost, and the guilt of that rested on me like a thousand-pound stone.
Reaching out, I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Ayden, I’m so sorry—”
“Stop, Fallon; it’s not your fault. We’ve been over this. You saved him.” Ayden looked at me with determination.
Though we’d tried not long ago to have a romantic relationship, Ayden and I had fully moved into best-friends territory. Eden, Ayden, and I hung out constantly and were there for each other in every way, but there were zero romantic feelings on my end. I was a hundred precent Team Ariyon.
“Okay. I just feel awful,” I told him. Though Ayden was right—I did save his life.
He nodded. “I know, but we’ll get him back.”
Ayden stood, looking at Eden. “Your mom working late at Hummingbird Inn tonight?”
Eden nodded.
“Wanna grab dinner?” he asked.
A blush crept up her cheeks, and she peered at me. I gave her a grin and a subtle nod.
“Sure!” Eden smiled easily at him, and they both wished me good night and left.
Hayes, who Eden had asked to the Winter Belles Ball and who had then ditched her at the last minute, didn’t deserve her. And as weird as it might have been for a minute, I really liked the idea of Eden and Ayden together, mostly because I trusted each of them not to hurt the other. Not on purpose, anyway. Sometimes, despite how much you cared for someone, you ended up hurting them.
