“The night is the best!” Evony exclaimed. “The stars are incredible. Being so close, I feel like they are mine.”
I stared for a moment before whirling toward Tiberius.
You’ve been taking her out at night?
Tiberius snorted.
Are you kidding me? I told her I’d keep her safe!
Tiberius pinned his ears as he snaked his head toward me.Are you implying I’d let her fall?
My molars scraped.I didn’t mean it like that…
She’s been underground for months.
I swallowed, turning to Evony, whose eyes hopped between the two of us.
“Are you seriously talking about me in your heads?” she asked, her voice pitching in outrage.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I don’t mean to hover. I just?—”
“You’re not my mum, Lyvia,” Evony said, her temper rising rather quickly.
I blinked. “I’m not trying to be. I’m trying to keep you safe?—”
She bristled before rolling her eyes and storming below deck. My mouth fell open, and Ti blew out a low snort that sounded dangerously close to a laugh.
Evony was ateenager. Was that the otherness I sensed from her? WasIlike that at her age? Gods, what I’d give for a swig of ridecus right now…
“Dathuil,” Astraeus purred as he sauntered up to us, a woody wave of enderleaf smoke wafting with his voice.
I blinked.
“Your word,” he said, smirking as he flicked the joint over the edge of the ship.
I bristled, my irritation growing by the second. “What?”
“Dathuil. Handsome… Dashing… Charming. In old Votruvian.” He cocked his head as he looked down at me. “You asked for a word.”
I blew out an exasperated sigh, doing my best to quell the rising annoyance.
“Evony and I will leave in the morning. They need us at Skyscape to pass through safely.”
We’d talked it through already. Evony agreed her little friends would feel more comfortable letting the group through if we accompanied them.
“No, you won’t,” Astraeus said, authority rumbling through his tone. “That would be foolish. You’d risk exposing yourselves over the Rellenor Fields, where we know Saros’s forces are stationed.”
I straightened my shoulders, doing my best to paint Nerissa’s look of superiority on my face, to look down my nose at him despite needing to crane my neck to meet his gaze.
“Then we’ll take Vienah with us for cloud cover,” I said, matching his tone.
“Vienah’s going nowhere,” Astraeus growled, his voice lowering.
“Vienah will go wherever the hell she wants,” I snapped.
“What’s going on?” Vienah asked as she approached behind Astraeus.
Something flickered in Astraeus’s eyes at the sound, and muscle feathered in his jaw.
