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The back of my neck prickled as soon as that dark, fathomless presence filled my mind, but relief flooded my chest at the same time. He was back. He was here. He was alright.
Yes, I said, reaching my landing and hurrying down the hallway toward my dorm room. I have news.
Oh?
Even though Coen tried to keep his tone casual, I caught the flicker of hope in that single word and wanted nothing more than to stoke that flame until it burned. But before I could shape my thoughts into a clear picture, I pushed open my bedroom door and found myself facing three people, one monkey, and one mouse.
“Are those peanuts?” Willa asked hopefully.
“What happened to your hair?” Felicity shrieked.
“Did you find Jagaros?” Emelle asked, sitting on the lip of her bed by Lander while Wren paced our room. She must have gathered the two of them here in preparation, knowing what I’d gone to the jungle to do.
Coen, it seemed, had arrived right on time.
I scanned the room, making sure it was just us—no Cilia or spare spiders—before I closed the door and sprinkled the peanuts before Willa on my nightstand. Felicity jumped into my arms, and I held her tight as she began picking twigs out of my hair.
“Yes, I found him.”
“What’d he say?” Wren asked eagerly, eyes gleaming. “Is he willing to do it?”
I grimaced, feeling the weight of Coen’s attention and knowing he was waiting for me to say it out loud instead of forcibly picking the information from my mind. “Yeah… about that.” A burst of laughter echoed outside the room, so I lowered my voice. “I didn’t exactly talk to him. And none of us are going to be able to either.”
It has to be you, I told Coen privately. You’re the only one who can reach him. If the rumors were true, nobody who went in ever came out. But if Coen could use his Walking abilities to bypass the mysterious wall of mist on the northwest corner of the island…
“What do you mean?” Lander asked, his brows creasing. “Why?”
I reeled in a deep breath.
“Because for some reason, Jagaros is in the Uninhabitable Zone.”
CHAPTER
14
COEN
“Are you ready?”
The deck prism reflected orangish morning sunlight as Terrin and Dazmine faced me in my crew’s quarters. They refused to look at each other, gazes locked resolutely on my outstretched hand while my other gripped Old Veracious.
I wasn’t sure if they’d heeded my last order or not, but now wasn’t the time to find out. Not when we were about to Walk straight into unknown territory.
Dazmine’s eyes flicked up to narrow at me.
“Are you sure you don’t want to bring Rayna for this?”
I swallowed. Of course I wanted to bring Rayna. I wanted to bring her everywhere I went, to every beautiful place I’d ever seen—grand Sorronian cities, sunsets from magnificent rooftops, valleys and mountains and isles that would all shine so much brighter with her there beside me.
But not while she was still a branded citizen. Even Terrin’s and Dazmine’s brands on their shoulders filled me with dread whenever I looked at them. As exiled ones, they shouldn’t count as citizens, but neither of their exiles had been official. They’d simply run away before the Good Council could drag them to Bascite Mountain. Did that mean the command applied to them, too?
The magic was too murky for me to know for sure. I hadn’t felt any puppet-like pull to use this sword against them so far, but…
“I’m sure,” I said resolutely. I wouldn’t test it with Rayna, even if she had the strongest connection to Jagaros. The faerie king of old would just have to make do with the three of us.
At that moment, the overhead creaked as some of the crew passed above us, and I stiffened. Even though I ranked above the captain, I didn’t want her to notice us disappear and start questioning why I was bringing these two with me.
“Ready,” Terrin said with a nod.
