“How do you know?” I whispered into the darkness, feeling the world slipping out from beneath me.
“I don’t. If he has…” She paused, her throat bobbing. “If he has, then he’s forgotten. What she is, what she’s done, whoheis…”
I choked on the small sob forming in the back of my throat and wiped the incessant tears rising in the corners of my eyes. Nerissa sat up and perched her elbow beneath her as she looked at me through the darkness.
“Ifhe’s soulbound, we return. We will remind him whoheis. And you will remind him whoyouare.” She slumped down on the scratchy mattress and turned to face the wall, saying nothing more the rest of the night.
Fed and dressedin thickly lined furs and waterproof boots, the seven of us trudged through the dense snow of the Death Dunes with Lord Astraeus and half of his crew. Despite the clear summer skies, the surrounding landscape was a vast tundra of ice and snow, painted in swaths of blush and orange in the early morning light. Little clouds of breath puffed from my lips as the movement warmed my body. Thank the gods we were here in the middle of summer and not the dead of winter.
A generous offer,Lord Astraeus had crooned as we accepted the tools and clothes needed to join his crew on the hunt for the bone. He agreed to spare our lives after we found the bone, but made no offer to get us back to Lotrennia. We were sorely outnumbered. I recognized a handful of his crew from the Battleof Odessa. Aquila had kept his distance, knowing we couldn’t trust Astraeus and his men.
Vienah patched up Vulcan’s face as best she could, but streaks of blood soaked through the bandages she’d used. I slowed my pacing to match Vulcan’s sluggish steps.
“I’m sorry for what happened,” I murmured, well-aware he despised the pity. I braced myself for the quick snarl that would come.
He merely grunted in reply. “The men of theHydralack imagination.”
I glanced up, and he slid his hazel eyes to me. A blotch of bright red blocked out half the white of his eye near the slice that had taken off his tattoo. My eyes watered at the sight of it.
“Can you see alright?”
He rolled his eyes in response. I nodded.Okay then. We trudged through the open tundra for the rest of the day, only stopping when the setting sun cast a bright, violet shadow across the expansive terrain.
“No sign of dune runners,” Kresida murmured as we crowded around the small fire.
“I’ve got scouts out,” Lord Astraeus said as he approached our small group. “Bonscaíh, a word.” He motioned me to his tent.
“Not alone,” Nerissa cut in, a hard grip on my arm.
Lord Astraeus kept his gaze on me but nodded. “Have you felt it?” he asked, gesturing to the seats in front of him.
We remained standing.
“She’s not a fucking dog,” Nerissa snapped. “And why do you call her that? What isBonscaíh?”
Lord Astraeus ignored her as he raised his dark, auburn eyebrows at me. I lifted my wrist at him, the cuff still glowing red in the dimness of his tent.
“Not a chance.” I shrugged and crossed my arms. He let out a breathy chuckle.
“There are ways to heighten your connection to the Bellator Bones,” he said softly, eyes slicing to a small teapot resting on a crate.
I tensed as those harrowing memories from Stynguard hurtled into view, when I was forced to consume an elixir to heighten my connection to the Obscura Bone. High Priest Helmar’s cruel smile. The kingsguards’ viciousness. Those swirling silver eyes…
Nerissa angled herself toward Lord Astraeus and bared her teeth.
“I’d prefer not to force it down your throat,” he said, as if aware of my history with the elixir. His eyes traced the scar on my neck. “We could start with a small amount.”
“You’re not starting with anything,” Nerissa snapped, stepping closer to me. “Take these cuffs off.”
“You are in no position to make demands,” he clapped back. “You either use whatever connection you have to these bones, and catch its scent, or I will force it down your throat. You are outnumbered here.” Lord Astraeus let out a soft whistle, and six guards stepped into the small tent.
Nerissa hissed as they closed the space between us.
I shifted closer to Nerissa. Wewereoutnumbered… And it was why we’d come.
“Give me until tomorrow,” I said, holding up my hands. We didn’t need any more bloodshed. Not tonight. Not after we’d lost so much.
Lord Astraeus narrowed his eyes, the promise of death lingering in their depths. My heart galloped as I waited for the arms at my side.The hands on my face as they shoved the liquid down my throat…But he held my gaze for a moment before nodding.
