It was difficult doing allthis planning and plotting without Ezra and hisseemingly endlesswell of knowledge. It took Laurence and me to map out the majority of Hollis, and Laurence and Matea to map out the best route to get there once we crossed the border.
Getting to the borderwasn’tthe problem. It was crossing it, then going beyond it without gettingcaught,that was the issue.
Next came the debate about who would accompany me.
Matea, asthe only one in our makeshift group that had experience crossing the border, was an obvious pick. Byn, despite coming to trust her more recently, had suggested taking someofficialmembers of theValwaininstead. Quinn had volunteered, and her determination to find Ezra was a fantastic motivator, but I argued that we needed shadow wielders on this journey. Besides, weweren’tentirely positive that Ezra was being held in Gatlyn Castle, anyway.
In the end, the selected group was kept small—only Matea and Drayven wouldaccompanyme on this mission.
The three of us could shadow wield, which was a huge plus. Besides that, Matea knew how to get to Hollis and back, I could navigate inside Gatlyn Castle, and Rayven was an expert on handling missions like this without being seen.In theory, we could’ve used more hands and eyes on this journey, but in reality, it wasn’t practical.The energy it would’ve cost us shadow wielders to carry an extrafaewith us for what could be days on endwouldn’thave been worth it.
Quinn had insisted she was necessary on this mission, but Byn had to gently shut her down.He’dexplained that she had too much personal investment in the outcome of this mission, and wecouldn’tput a loose cannon on the playing field right now.
Because weweren’tjustgoing to talk to mytwin. If we could manage it, we were going to search for Ezra, too, and rescue him if we came across him.
If there was anything left to rescue, that was.
Ihad quickly shutdown the conversation on how to handle Dimitri once we got there. He wasmybrother andmyduty. I wanted to talk to him one on one—to try one last time to help him seereason.
If it didn’t work this time…
No, I thought to myself,it won’t come to that.
I looked around the room at the peopleI’dgrownso close to.Even Callumand Caeliahadstayed and helped us plan, giving us tips on shadow wielding and how to conserve energy for the journey.
Quinn stood suddenly, squaring her gazeonme, Matea, and Rayven.“Bring him back to me,” she said. Her features softened a fraction, and my heart ached for herwhenshe added, “Please.”
“I’ll do my very best,” I promised. I watched as Rayven placed a fist over his heart—a vow to do the same.Quinn mimicked Rayven’s motion,took a deep breath, then excused herself from the room.
I stole a glance at Byn then. I couldn’t imagine the lengths I’d go to in order to get him back—or how much self-control and trust Quinn must’ve had in order to leave this mission in our hands.
Her husband’slifecould be on the line.
“I appreciate how open you’ve been with us, Robyn,” Callum saidas he steppedforward, Caelia right behind him.
Byn nodded. “Of course. We owe you, both of you, after the recent battle.”
Turning to me, Callum said solemnly, “May the Stars watch over you all.”
At that, he and his sister saw themselvesoutof the meeting room. Itwasn’tuntil then that I noticed the sun outside had begun to set, and night wasnearly uponus.
“I’d like a word alone with my wife, please,” Byn said tonobody in particular.
The room paused fora brief momentbefore Matea awkwardly said, “I’ll… go pack for the journey.” Then shedepartedwith Rayven following behind her, likely to do the same.
Teagan caught my eye as she stood and flashed me a look that saidgood luck, beforeshe and Chess left the room, Laurence a few steps behind them.
Laurence stalled by the door, anddidn’tleave until I reassuredhimI was fine, and that he should get some rest. ThatI’dsee him in a few hours, before Rayven, Matea, and I left for Hollis, and the rest of the group saw us off.
When the door shut behind Laurence, and it was finally justme andmy husband, I said softly, “Speak your mind, love.”
Byn sighed, causing me to look his way. He had his chin resting in his hand, propped up on the table before us as he shook his head.
Turning my entire body his way so he knew he had my undivided attention, I said, “Please, Byn, talk to me.You’resafe.”
“Yes, butyoumight not be. Whatwasthat, Aviva? Aren’t we to be a team at times like this?”heasked, looking up at me, distressed.
Shifting to sit on the table before him, I took his face into my hands with tenderness.“Yes, we are. Westillare. Just because we disagreedoesn’tmake us any less of a team. Wearen’talways going to agree—we’retwo different people with two different, messy histories.It’show we react thatdeterminesthe rest,” I said gently, my mismatched blue and green eyes peering into his forest-green ones.
