Ren huffed and turned away to walk toward the swarm of fae gathered in the grove. He called over his shoulder, “But my affinity is for nature, not creatures.Especiallynot airborne ones.”
Daimon shook his head as Ren stalked off, his gait already stiff from the ride. It made Daimon huff out a laugh devoid of joy. He remembered how his legs would ache when he first learned how to ride. The legion would have to fly for hours, sometimes entire days from sunup to sundown. They had tofigure out how to fly not only with their wyvern, but as a unit.
“Check the dream orbs again,” a raspy female voice hissed ahead of him, jolting him back to the present. “We need to ensure nothing was missed.”
His eyes roamed over the smoldering branches of the grove. The orbs that stored fae dreams were glowing brightly through the haze. Each one of them held a fae’s subconscious as they slept, watched over by the Nox in the grove to ensure no beasts or darkness would corrupt the dream.
He hadn’t seen them in years. It took his breath away. He stepped closer, seeing familiar faces leaning in close, whispering furiously to one another.
“Maliena,” Daimon said. He cleared his throat.
Maliena turned to him, her slender arms folded firmly across her chest. Her black hair was pulled back into a tight knot at the nape of her neck, showing her sharp features. She froze when she saw him, her blue-gray eyes widening. A look of relief passed over her face and his chest warmed.
“You’re back,” she whispered.
He hadn’t seen her in twenty years, the woman who nearly raised him when he had no parents to take care of him as a boy. She knew his mother before she died and, in a way, Maliena was pieces of his mother that he deeply wished he was able to know. He had never met his mother before her soul moved on to Caelum.
In the blink of an eye, Maliena wrapped her arms around him.
“Any updates on what happened?” Daimon asked as she released him. He noted the way the fae beside her shifted on his feet. Neve, her soulbonded. His hair was just as dark as the twisted trees around them, his eyes as brown.
“Nothing was left behind and nothing seems to be out of place,” Neve said. “It’s good to see you back.”
The warmth in Daimon’s chest dulled with the icy guilt thatnipped at it. They looked just as they had twenty years ago. He wondered how different he looked to them, having gone from the quiet little moppy-haired Nox boy to a commander clad in wyvern-scale leathers and covered in scars.
If he ever got the chance to rise high enough in the ranks to be considered a council member—the highest regard among the fae—then he would be like them. Kind and fair, calm and wise.
Neve motioned Daimon closer. “They never should’ve gotten a chance to be this close to the orbs.”
“Did we lose anyone?” Daimon’s gut twisted as he asked it. Neve was right—the rebels never should’ve gotten past the border. And there should’ve been soldiers patrolling here too.
“Saige and Gracelyn were in this part of the grove when they hit,” Maliena said with a shake in her voice. “We found their bodies near the entrance.”
Daimon waited for more. When the silence stretched, his shoulders sagged in relief. “Only two?”
Maliena cast a wary look at him. It took him a moment too long to realize why.Only two—it was insensitive. But only two was a relief when it came to how many livescouldhave been lost. Daimon swallowed the guilt that stabbed his heart at the thought.
“Where were the patrol when they attacked?” he asked.
“We had to send the group south toward the western coast after the attack near the mountains,” Neve said, regret thick in his voice. “No one knew how far the rebels would make it. They were spread thin.”
Daimon gritted his teeth together as frustration ate at him. Patrols were spread thin for this exact reason, not to be sent away at every distraction. He couldn’t lead the Ridersandtell the ground troops how to do their jobs. How could they have gotten sloppy enough to leave an area unguarded, a weak spot the rebels were able to find?
Especially Nox Grove. There could have been endless reasons for them to attack here. The forest of dreams was precious.Infiltrating a direct link to any number of fae’s minds could be disastrous.
“I should’ve been here,” he said through gritted teeth.
Neve placed a large hand on Daimon’s shoulder. He was massive, even by fae standards, a lean and muscular male who also happened to be a head taller than the majority of the Aegis.
“You can’t be everywhere all at once, Daimon,” Neve said gently. His eyes shone with understanding.
A muscle ticked in Daimon’s jaw. He broke Neve’s gaze, unable to stand the pity in his eyes.
“What about Annora? Is she safe?” Ren asked, returning from a discussion with another Nox.
Daimon knew that their daughter was their entire world. They’d trade their seat on the council in a heartbeat if only to spend more time with her.
“She refused to stay behind when we were told about the attack,” Maliena said with a sigh. Her voice was frustrated but resigned. “She wanted to help any way she could.”
