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Logan and I walked through the main hall, singed rocks crunching beneath our boots. We found the large obsidian stronghold a few hours after we arrived. Dark clouds rolled across the sky, the atmosphere relentlessly oppressive and humid.
“I thought we would have seen some of Kaden’s beasts by now. There were so damn many,” Logan said, looking around warily. “Where did they go? Where did he go?”
“This realm is a disaster. I am not surprised no one is left after the carnage Dianna unleashed.”
“You should have seen her, Samkiel.” Logan glanced at me. “She moves like you. She told me she trained with you, and I saw it in action.”
“She spoke of me?”
Logan shrugged, smiling slightly. “More or less.”
I longed to ask for more details, but I could tell by the spark in Logan’s eyes I would pay for it with a lifetime of teasing.
“Roccurem and I have this theory that her powers are trying to return, but they’re just buried under so much pain. I understand because it’s how I felt for so long. Kaden fractured her into a million pieces, and I am afraid I may not be able to pick them all up.”
“The fact that you want to, that you're trying, means everything. And it means everything to her, she just doesn't know how to say it yet.” Logan held his light a tad higher. His gaze never stopped moving, searching the half-destroyed remains of Kaden’s stronghold.
I sighed. “I hope you are right. I can understand her grief and sorrow but nothing else. She is confusing at best. One minute she acts as if she cannot stand my presence. The next she seeks it.”
Logan made a rough noise in his throat. “Trust me. If anyone can reach her, you can.”
A brief laugh escaped me. “Maybe I could if she would stop trying to kill me or when she isn’t upset with me or if she would stop telling me she hates me.”
Logan shrugged. “Hey, Neverra has told me she hates me before, but it was for a very different reason. It is a position you will likely experience soon enough.”
“When has she….” My words trailed off when I caught sight of his grin. It was far too wide to be anything but a double entendre, and his meaning slowly registered. “You are about to be forbidden from spending time with Cameron. Actually, I am forbidding him from spending time with anyone. That should be enough punishment. It might actually kill him.”
His laugh cut through the dense air, a sound I had not heard in months. “Hey, I am just saying. Hate sex is a thing, you know? You guys could do what you and the Queen of Trugarum did when you couldn’t agree on that small territory.” He shrugged. “Get it out of your system.”
I stopped so suddenly that Logan spun, searching the shadows for threats, an ablaze weapon forming in his hands. “There is nothing in my system from Dianna that I’d wish to remove. The thought of just being a simple fuck to her makes me wish to get disemboweled repeatedly. That would hurt less.”
Logan held his hands up in mock surrender. “It was just a suggestion.”
“You, above all, know it is not like that with Dianna or me. Even when she is throwing her anger at me, I do not think I could fully have her and not wish for forever.” I paused, the truth washing over me. “Regardless, her feelings for me have changed. So this entire conversation is pointless.”
Logan scoffed, the sound somewhere between a snort and a laugh. “You’re kidding, right?” I stared at Logan blankly until he realized I didn’t understand what he meant and tried to clarify. “Joking. You can’t be serious.”
“Very serious, and I do not wish to speak about it further. We are in Yejedin. That is our focus.”
Logan shook his head but remained quiet and fell into step beside me as I turned and walked down the hall into what had been a large foyer. A rusted railing held back the ledge, keeping passersby from falling to their deaths.
“I don’t think we’ve been inside this one. It doesn’t resemble the last few. I don’t see any weapons here, and there is less of that strange machinery.”
“This may just be an entrance to some other part, not the stronghold itself.” I grabbed the rail and looked down at the smooth, rocky bottom. I jumped over, landing in a crouch. The ground shook as Logan landed behind me.
I summoned a ball of silver light, the orb dancing on my palm as I raised it.
“Yeah, we definitely haven’t been here,” Logan said. His palms lit with celestial energy, and he lifted them high.
A grunt was my only response as we headed further inside, silence falling between us again. Logan still seemed shut off. He was my best friend, and I had known him forever. I had assumed his spark would return once Neverra was back, and it had to a certain extent, but there was still something off.
This quiet was unnerving, and I wondered what waited in it. We reached the entrance to a cavern, and I raised my sword, the flat of the blade clanking against the armor over Logan’s chest, stopping him from entering. I could see the surprise in his eyes, even with the helmet covering almost all of his features.
“What’s troubling you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know you, Logan. You have not been yourself, even since Neverra got back. What is it?”
