“Great. Starshoot to your house?” I ask.
They look at each other, then nod at me. In less than seconds, we’re strolling behind Yemi into her front door. The sound of singing reaches our ears, and Thayla covers her laugh with a cough. Her shoulders tense the slightest bit, though, as we enter the kitchen and she peers at where Iric is sitting at the table.
She told us last night she doesn’t know how to feel about his power.
We didn’t push the subject with her. She’ll come around to the idea of him helping her or not.
Honestly, I’m considering asking him for help…
“Well, this is a nice surprise.” Doren cheers as he sets his mug down on the counter and rounds it so he can hug Yemi.
Thayla and I hide our smirks.
“You’re home early.”
“Well, just for a few minutes, I assume. Kyzen would like to talk to you about something.”
“Oh. Is everything okay?” His worried gaze swings to me and I give him a dip of my head and smile.
“Everything’s fine. I’m struggling to locate information on a term and was hoping you may be able to help me. Do you know the meaning of doppia disaccord?”
“Ah, haven’t heard that in a long while. Most times, it means double disagreement. What was the context it was used in?”
He gives me the answer I’ve been searching for days for as though this is something we hear every day.
Fuck, I could’ve saved myself a lot of time.
“I have no clue. Nero asked Amick what it meant. He didn’t know, so he asked me. Now I’m here, asking you.”
The giddiness on his face falls a touch. I catch it, though.
“I see. So you haven’t found any deeper explanations on it?”
“No. You wouldn’t know where I could look for that, would you?”
He knows I know he’s keeping something from me. It’s written all over his face. I just don’t know why he feels the need to do that.
His eyes glow and lose focus on us as his head swivels side to side. He pivots gradually until he locks in on something.
A disgruntled hum vibrates from the back of his throat and his lips pinch into a tight frown when he calls his power back.
“I know where. Unfortunately, the information you need is in a…how shall I put this, less than desirable location.”
“Where?”
“The High Chancellor’s office.”
A crooked smile tilts my lips and I glance at Yemi and Thayla’s small laughs. Doren’s gaze bounces between the three of us in pure confusion.
“Undesirable, yes, but far from impossible. Perfect timing, actually. Today’s Harriseen’s last day in Valveilious. Can you tell me exactly what I’m looking for?”
“Hold on, are you planning on going to his office?” His voice pitches high with panic and Yemi grabs his hand.
“He knows what he’s doing. This isn’t his first time.”
I choke down my chuckle at his flabbergasted gasp.
“That’s quite dangerous,” Iric says.
