Archie buries his nose into her shoulder, voice shaking in a way that gnaws at something raw inside my chest, because I know exactly how he’s feeling right now.
“Rowan—Rowan, please tell me you’re real,” he breathes, words muffled against her. “Tell me I’m not hallucinating again.”
She lets out a soft, gentle laugh—one of relief, not amusement—and threads her fingers through the thick fur at his neck. “I’m here. I’m okay.”
Archie pulls back just enough to scan her face, frantic and searching. “You smell like blood and magic and terror, so excuse me if I’m not convinced.” His voice cracks on the last word.
He presses one of his paws to her chest. “I thought I lost you. Every hour. Every night. Ithought—” He chokes on the words, then huffs sharply, trying to force himself back under control. “Don’t do that to me again.”
Rowan runs a calming hand between his ears. “I didn’t really have a choice before, but I’ll do my best not to let it happen twice.”
Archie makes a low, trembling sound before he straightens, still pressed protectively against her side. His voice steadies into something a little more himself.
“Good enough for now,” he mutters, eyeing Marius with suspicion and then flicking his gaze back to me. “Who’s your brooding friend?”
Marius bristles, baring his canines. “I could tear you in half.”
Archie doesn’t blink. “You’re welcome to try.”
Rowan shakes her head, her slight grin softening the air around us. “Easy, Archibald. He’s my dad.”
“Nice of you to finally show up.” The ferret eyes him cautiously. “It’s been a long time, Marius.”
Interesting. Archie knows him. Though I think I remember there being mention that Rowan’s mother had Archie before she was even born. Marius seems to finally relax as well, and I’d bet he’d never seen the ferret in this state before.
Archie exhales hard, then finally turns toward me. His eyes—normally bright and mischievous—are fierce and haunted.
“I don’t know about you, but I got so close,” he says. “That place…the air felt wrong and twisted. There were layers of spells—disorientation, memory bleeds, and sensory traps. You’d walk toward it and end up behind yourself somehow.” He shudders. “I’ve never felt anything like it.”
I feel Rowan flinch beside him.
Archie continues, voice dropping low. “I almost didn’t make it out. I kept following your scent, Rowan, but it would fade before reappearing in the other direction, tearing pieces of reality apart so you couldn’t be found. Until suddenly, my mind was clear again. I knew exactly where you were.”
Which means Malrik probably knows where we are.
My jaw clenches. “The same thing happened to me, but let’s discuss this after we’ve left this place behind, yeah?”
I pull Rowan back toward me, needing her touch again before we leave the cave. She comes to me willingly, her body almost too warm. It has me looking closer at her and not sure if I like what I see.
She has muscles she didn’t have before, and there’s an energy vibrating through her that’s new. Not dark, but not my Rowan. At least not the one I knew before.
“Are you the reason we were all able to find you?” I ask her since she doesn’t seem as worried as the rest of us.
Her nod is subtle enough that I know she doesn’t want to talk about it yet, so I don’t push. But I do remember that Archie and I weren’t the only two people looking for her.
“We need to find Liz and Elias,” I tell them. “They were with me, but we spread out, and I haven’t seen them in over a week, I think.”
Rowan tenses. “Liz is out there?”
“I’m sure she’s okay.” I rub her shoulder, but that doesn’t lessen her concern.
Archie squares up. “I’ll go after them, and you can get Rowan out of here. I can?—”
“No,” Rowan cuts in sharply. “We stay together. No more splitting up.”
Firm and steady, her tone is different.
So much so, it has the rest of us taking pause. An action she seems to notice.
