“Or… you cause a distraction…” I say. “At least one of you.”
Daegan still doesn’t look pleased. “I’m going with Elysande,” he announces to the room. “We’re not sending her in there by herself.”
Raef sighs, holding his head in his hand.
“Excuse me,” Kezra chirps in with her melodic, echoing voice. “Alone, she will not be.”
“Right. Well, I guess it’s the three of us then,” he says with authority.
“I’m not sure how they all deal with such obstinance,” Kezra says to Daegan with a sigh of acceptance.
“Fine. It’s settled then,” I say as I rise from my seated position in the corner. My head is held high as I look at each of them. “Now I just need to think about how we’ll sneak in. No problem.”
This room seems so empty now. I glance around and realize… this is it. We’re all that’s left of the order. Two dragon shifters, a Skeldaryn, a sassy fairy, and me, the daughter of a tyrant.
It will have to be enough.
Chapter 54
The cold moisture of the single tear on my cheek is slowly drying. I won’t wipe it. I know she’d be mad at me for crying over her, but I don’t care. She can get over that, wherever she is.
I was almost tempted to sneak out of my room to grab a drink once I felt all the heavy feelings creeping back in, but I resisted. Instead, I’m lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, letting the single tear fall. Somehow, the one tear felt like it carried the weight of a hundred.
I’m excited that we’ve found the next relic, I really am. I want to break through that stupid fucking veil more than ever before, but being together with the group again, plotting and planning without Meela, feels bittersweet. By the time I got back to my room and realized I was all alone once again, the negative feelings took over. I couldn’t help it.
I finally wipe at the last bit of moisture left as I turn my head at the sound of a knock.
“Who is it?” I call out weakly.
“It’s the hair-braiding service.”
My stomach flips.
Did I hear that right? I jump up, look in the mirror and wipe under my eyes even though there’s nothing there, and grab the rusty door handle. Then I freeze. It’s been so tense between us, the last thing I expected was for him to come knocking on my door. I thought he hated me now, after he saw me with Adrian, after what my father did, after I sat in my tower helpless…
I take a deep breath and open the door.
I immediately lock on to his deep blue eyes, which seem so much darker, yet somehow exactlythe same.
A tense moment filled with a million unspoken words hangs between us as we look at each other in silence. Finally, he breaks it by clearing his throat. “May I come in?”
I look him over and realize his hands are resting behind his back. Like he’s holding something, perhaps.
“Are you going to hold a knife to my throat again?”
He lifts a single eyebrow, then his lip curls back as he takes in my smile. His small shard of black emberstone is still there. I wonder how he managed to hold onto it the whole year he was held captive. “Never. I promise.”
My smile fades at those words. “We haven’t been very good at those,” I mutter, averting my gaze as I let him in the room.
I look back when I realized he hasn’t moved.
His face looks… hurt. His jaw twitches like he wants to say something, but then he looks away and steps into the room, clearing his throat again. He faces me, his large, tall frame taking up a huge portion of this small room, and I move my head to try to peek behind his back.
“What is it?” I ask, moving past the tension I created.
“Close your eyes.”
“What?”
