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I clear my throat. “While I was in the… Jord… I was forced to sing.”
Trix keeps poking at her knitting impatiently, but something tells me that this is just how she moves and that her patience is as deep as this underground cavern.
“I was singing and something… happened. Almost as if I were able to put them into a trance or something.”
“Ah.” Trix nods.
Silence.
I stand abruptly. Nightmare goes sprawling across the floor, legs kicking to get himself upright. I swear he gives me an annoyed look before bounding straight into the stone wall.
“Well?”
“As I told you the first time, I have had the chance to speak with one Starwatcher before you. Mentor them, even.”
“And?”
Trix sets aside her knitting and slowly makes to stand, a full head shorter than me. “Yes, from my understanding, not only do you have the Sight—observing what the stars have witnessed—but one of your natural abilities is enhanced.”
The organ in my chest quickens its rhythm. “Like my voice?”
“Exactly.” Trix pats her long sweater a few times, looking for something.
Just when one question is somewhat solved, a million more take its place.
“I better get going,” she says, walking toward the door, then she stops suddenly. “Ah, here it is.” She pulls out a piece of dark green fabric.
“My Teller patch!” I run forward and pull her into a hug before my brain gets a chance to catch up. My vision blurs. “Thank you.”
“You would make him proud,” Trix says and walks out the door.
I clutch the stitched patch to my chest and sit on the edge of the bed. Did I tell her about Marrow?
Over the next four days, Atlys doesn’t return to his room. He’s at the southernmost crevasse, closest to the gates of Hel, and where the wards are weakest. Damaris and Cadex check in on me, even Nightmare bounds through the wall to snuggle for a time before leaving once more.
The only thing keeping me company is the small piece of fabric tucked under my chin.
I curl up on the large bed under layers of thick blankets. If Atlys doesn’t return tomorrow, I’ll find him. I only have one last day in Terraguard before I need to travel back to the Watch. I try to keep my patience at the forefront of my mind, but it’s getting pretty fucking hard. He’s the Lord of an entire territory that is on the brink of war and quarantined. He has to be there for his people.
Does that not include me as well?
Nightmare shifts from the spot near my legs where he snuggles. I sit up. “Will you send Atlys a message for me?”
Nightmare just leans forward. I imagine myself sprawled out on this bed, waiting for Atlys under the sheets with nothing on. I tap Nightmare’s nose with the image in mind. He chitters, gives me an awfully judgmental-looking blink, and bounds off into the wall.
I smirk and lie back down in the empty room. That should get him to return.
32
I Want Her to See This
My shoulder presses into the door frame as I stand there, stunned. Akemi is curled onto her side tucked in my bed. The beast inside purrs in delight at the sight of her in my home. My space. She is the most beautiful creature in the world. I take a step closer, careful not to wake her.
Fuck. Even the slight curve of her hips through the blanket sends a jolt of possession through my entire being. I would shape an entire world based on the map of her body, and still never manage to make it as perfect as her.
The early morning chimes ring in the distance half covered by the sound of waves lapping on the shore.
One more day.
