Page 202 of Of Masks and Fury

“Not so far.”

“How close are they?” Addie asked, her fingers whitening around her teacup.

“Close enough that they’ll find a weak point in the wards before nightfall.” Trew’s gaze met mine. “We need to leave for Syllavar. Now.”

“No.” Addie slumped back in her chair. “We can’t. Not yet. Fenmark is out there. We need to find him and rescue him.”

My heart squeezed at the desperation in her voice. We’d only just found her, and already she was being asked to abandon the manshe loved to possible death. Her drake chimed a mournful note, echoing her grief.

I reached across the table for her hand. “Addie?—”

“I can’t leave him.” Her eyes filled with tears. “He’s suffering. I can feel it.”

Trew leaned forward, the lines of his body both soft with compassion and hard with urgency. “I understand. Truly. He’s my cousin. I love him like a brother. And if it was Isi out there…” His voice roughened. “But we have twenty-three prisoners who’ll be executed in a matter of days if we don’t rescue them. It’ll take time to return to Syllavar on dragonback, then fly to Caldrith. That leaves us very little time to get a plan in place and execute it. I want to…” He swallowed hard. “We can’t rescue Fenmark yet.”

The conflict tore through me. Twenty-three lives versus one. My people versus the man my sister loved. Each life wasn’t a number to be weighed against others.

“We can’t choose,” I whispered.

“We don’t have to.”

Kerralyn stood, her expression stoic. Keek chittered from where he sat beside her plate. Earlier, he’d been stealing food. Now he looked like he was going to be sick.

“I’ll stay,” she said. “I’ll find and rescue Fenmark. I grew up visiting Syllavar Court. I know what he looks like.” She tapped her temple. “I can outsmart a bunch of mindless Skathes.” Her smile rose but it came shaky.

“Not without me.” Derren also stood.

Lexie rose, nodding. “I’m in.”

“Since you’re a warrior, you’ve probably fought Skathes,” Thorne said. “So you know there’s no way you’ll get close enough to find Fenmark. They’ll kill you on sight.”

“Which is why we’ll go disguised as Skathes,” Derren said, his gaze seeking Trew’s. “You’ve done it before. You created disguises for Fenmark and Addie and for us when we covered for you in the village.”

“Our disguise necklaces failed.” Addie’s voice broke. “They were detected at the breach.”

Lexie braced her palms on the table and gave us all a level look. “Then we’ll stay away from the breach.”

“You were exposed because of the pendant,” I said, the pieces clicking together. “It glowed when you got close to the veil tear. Without that, your disguise may have held.”

“Then this could work,” Kerralyn said, sitting again, her journal out and notes already written across a fresh page. “Especially if Trew’s magic has strengthened.”

“She means through your bond.” Lexie nodded toward Trew and me. “Twin flames bond twice, remember? The weave strengthens.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Trew growled, but his objection held little conviction. Like me, he must see this as our only chance to do two things at the same time.

“We can’t let Fenmark die.” Derren grunted. “Twenty-three innocent people will soon drink ashwine. There are no good choices left.”

“Assuming this could work, how would we find you again?” I asked. The thought of separating from them, possibly forever, made my lungs ache.

“When we find Fenmark, we’ll make our way back through the wasteland. Wait for us here, after the rescue,” Kerralyn said, stroking Keek’s small form. “Our companions can’t come with us.”

Keek scrambled up her arm and pressed against her neck.

“They’ll have to return to Syllavar with you while we search,” she said. “There would be no place to hide them and Skathes would kill them if they were caught.”

“Just, um, don’t lop off our heads when you return and find us waiting,” Lexie said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“And if you don’t find him?” Commander Thorne asked, the practical question no one wanted to voice.