Letti waved her hands, furiously shushing Felaf.
“Blood?” I frowned. “Is that why I feel so drained? And my skin…” I winced, glancing down at the dark nightgown. The sleeves were long and loose, with the hem of the skirt covering my toes.
Felaf cursed. “Gregorios warned me not to share too much too soon if you woke up without him nearby. It can be a lot to process. I’ll alert him that you’re awake. But I must insist you stay?—”
“Horizontal,” I said. “Noted.”
Felaf nodded, dipping her head gracefully at me before crossing the expanse of the room. I ignored the odd parting gesture. With her gone, I hissed and swung my legs to the ground and examined the room, even more overwhelmed by the burgundy furniture, lavish rugs, and potted plants dispersed across an immaculately black mosaic floor. Candles of all shapes, sizes, and dark colors glowed atop stacks of books and piles of scattered papers and maps. At the center of the room, an ornate golden contraption turned in a circular motion amidst other gadgets, reminding me of the planets and stars in orbit.
Despite my foreign surroundings, I found the room oddly comforting.
“She told you to stay down.” Letti’s first words to me were terse and befitting of her scowling features. “You don’t listen very well, do you?”
I raised my brows in response. “Can you tell me what’s happened?”
She gestured down to my clothed body. “Not very observant, either.”
Anticipation frayed my nerves. My temples pounded as I pushed the sleeve of my right arm back. All I could do was stare.
And stare.
And stare some more.
My arm was littered with lacerations freshly carved into my skin. With trembling fingers, I lifted the skirt of the nightgown to find the same was true for my feet, legs, belly, and everywhere else pain radiated. The harder I stared, the more the scars didn’t appear random. They were celestial, mirroring constellations connected by lines and varying shapes. I’d been too dazed to notice those same formations on my hands after waking up.
“The language of the stars,” I whispered.Glyphs.
The doors to the observatory opened.
My breath hitched as the guardian who uprooted me from my life sauntered in, taking up all the air in the room. Our eyes collided. He’d changed since I last saw him. He now wore a black uniform like Felaf’s, with a billowing cape trailing from his shoulders. His muscled arms folded across an armored vest sculpted to his sharply defined chest, his glyphs unmistakable.
“You’re awake,” he observed.
“No thanks to you.”
“You believeIdid this?”
“I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you.”
He sighed. “I thought we’d moved past this.”
Felaf regarded us with amusement. “Are you certain you’ve sharedallthat’s transpired during your travels, Raithe?”
“I’ve told you all there is to know,” he remarked indifferently. His eyes landed on Letti skeptically. “Nothing else of consequence.”
Felaf lowered her voice. “Speaking of consequences…”
“I will bear the punishment for us both.” Raithe cast his gaze back at me. “You might want to save your energy and stop thinking of ways to rip my head off.”
“I wouldn’t dream of such a thing.” I smiled sweetly at him. “After all, I need you alive, remember?”
“Would you two excuse us for a moment?” Raithe held my stare. “I need a word with this one.”
My revived frustration could hardly contain itself. Every second wasted here was another second closer to something happening to my brother. To my grandparents.
Felaf hesitated before departing, dipping her head again. Letti followed wordlessly, limping out the door. I didn’t have time to ponder her gait. As soon as the door clicked shut, I sprang to my feet. “I’ve fulfilled your request. I’m here now. You promised you’d help find…”
A hot burst of adrenaline rushed from my head to my toes, knocking me off balance. I should have learned my lesson from moments ago. As I prepared to meet the floor, a sturdy arm grasped me firmly upright. Grateful for the catch, I yelped at the contact.
