“We’re doomed,” Nabil declared.
“Not if we destroy it,” I reminded them, but I fixed my attention on the Cirestian woman when a phrase she’d said jarred something loose in my mind. And I knew, then. My suspicions weren’t simply a hunch. “You saidthe glass itself.Were the gates both made of glass?”
Nianjia nodded. “There have been others made since. It’s how we travel between cities at home. Walk through one glass gateway and out another.” A network that could carry you anywhere. The thought made me breathless, triggered that aching desire to explore, to set off on an adventure and travel the entire world. Only now I yearned for other worlds, for cities I’d never even dreamed of.
“They’re always glass?” I pressed. “But they’re not always windows, are they?”
“No,” she confirmed, not understanding the gravity of her reply, or why I’d focused on her like a hawk on prey. “Sometimes the backs could be painted silver, so they appeared to be mirrors.”
I nodded. Looked at the page, the map, and the woman beside me. “Nabil,” I said slowly. “What is the old name for Willow Green?”
I knew, but I needed to hear it, to know I wasn’t going mad.
His eyes were wide, his mouth parted when he looked at me. “Shar,” he breathed. “Gate.”
“The gate is here,” I said, wetting my dry lips. “It’s in the tower of the Fortress.”
CHAPTER 43
AMEIRAH
“This isn’t necessary,” I complained, but the covetous stroke of my hand over the hammered red dragon scales that made up the tunic Varidian offered me told a different story. The scales were practically indestructible armour, but so fine to the touch and so lightweight. “Varidian, I can’t take this.”
Yet he was already draping it over me, guiding my head carefully through the gap. “You’re forgetting that I’m utterly enamoured with my lethal wife, and this armour will turn you into a sexy killing machine.”
My stare flattened. We stood on the doorstep of the Fortress, just about shielded from the sheet of rain that fell from the sky. Behind us, in the foyer of the Fortress, people rushed back and forth, carrying supplies to the camp, or commanders returning from ferrying in more fighters from across Ithanys. Varidian’s gaze never once wavered from me as he tugged the wyvernscalearmour down my arms, then fastened my red leather jacket over it and nodded in satisfaction.
“I assume this came from one of the Silverstorm trunks,” I drawled.
“It did.” Varidian’s eyes simmered as he assessed me, even with the hubbub around us. “I claimed it before Kamaal could give it to someone else. I thought it would suit my dangerous mate, and I was right.”
I melted a little when he called me that and couldn’t keep the smile off my face. “Your mate.”
His hands smoothed over my hips, and his voice lowered. “All mine.”
“Varidian,” I chided, even as my palms wandered over his wide chest, his leathers becoming slick as the rain came down harder, bouncing off the stones, the grass. “We’re in public.”
“Have you forgotten how much fun we can have in public?” he purred, his touch slipping lower to squeeze my ass. “I thought you’d remember the tree—”
“Varidian,”I hissed, tugging on his knot of hair and shooting a glance around to see if anyone was paying attention. A few were, and that wasn’t surprising. Not only was Varidian a prince, he’d also been the subject of gossip for years,andhe was now the lightning soul.
He chuckled, but returned his hands to my waist, squeezing as his mouth slanted over mine in a slow, thorough kiss.
“I need to know you’re safe,” he admitted against my lips. “I swore when I got you back, I’d never force you from my side again, even if it was the only way to keep you safe. I’m trying, Ameirah. To not be a domineering, controlling bastard.”
I nodded, stroked my hands up his neck. “Save that for the bedroom.”
He choked on his next breath. “Dearling, we’reinpublic.”
I gave him an unimpressed look. He winked in reply.
“This is the compromise, is it?” I mused, jerking my chin at the glint of wyvernscale beneath my leathers. “Keeping me safe without me murdering you when you try to send me away again?Trybeing the operative word, because I willneverlet that happen again. Even if I have to kick you in the crown jewels or stab you somewhere soft and vulnerable.”
He groaned. “Keep going.”
I laughed, and fully intended to elaborate on those threats, but rain kicked up from the grass when a bulky blue wyvern landed, its rider leaping from her seat and racing towards us. Relief settled over her dark features when she spied Varidian.
“They’re moving,” she said breathlessly. “Their army is marching from the river. They’re coming in this direction.”
