Page 14

His hope, though? Oh, that was endless as the Northern Dread Falls and their spill from the Serpent Sea. And the sight of those weapons, so purposefully laid, gave him an excess of it.

As obvious a message as he’d ever seen.

There was something mischievous in the calculation of it. The placement. Not the sort of lengths one would go to if the only meaning was to taunt him with their death.

A game was being played, then, and Lyriat intended to win.

Pet rounded a crumbling wall, his gigantic muzzle to the ground. He’d been searching the area for the last half hour, sniffing out every possible clue, but had yet to alert them to any other findings. Lyriat couldn’t decide whether that was a good or bad thing.

“Well?” He straightened, taming the rising nerves so they wouldn’t reflect in his tone. “Anything?”

A flash and Magnus stood before him. Lyriat handed his robe over, impatience a creeping itch at the base of his skull. Thirty days since Nyri and Bal’s disappearance, almost to the hour, but the thought of one more minute without something was almost unbearable.

“Aye, it’s them. Faint, though. Old.”

“Go on.” Lyriat had a feeling he knew what Mag was about to tell him, but he needed to hear the words.

“It’s not the news you’re longing for, but…” Magnus gripped his nape, face turned to the stars above. “Well, they were here—along with too many others to count, so don’t go asking me to pick out someone in particular—but they aren’t anymore. And I don’t mean they walked off, I mean they all gathered ‘round and poof. Gone, like they were lifted into the sky. Fortunately, there’s no trace of the Veil attached to their scents, so I can at least tell you they were alive last they stood in this spot.”

Exactly as Lyriat thought.

“What I’m about to ask is well outside your responsibilities as the Westrealm’s Ambassador Apparent, and perhaps a step too far considering all that’s happening, but I find myself in need of someone I can count on,” Lyriat murmured.

The reason why didn’t need to be said—they were all too aware of Brand laying comatose above, a gaping rift in his place. Asking Magnus to fill it was the height of selfishness, yes, but Lyriat also believed the request would distract his friend from all the shite.

He clearly needed it.

“I’m begging for your assistance with the rest of the search. Aside from the comfort of knowing someone I trust is overseeing it, Pet’s nose could be invaluable. Will you help me?”

“I—” Mag eyed him like he’d sprouted an extra head. “Did you not hear me? The only thing left is the smell of them. What’s there to search for?”

“I understand, but there’s more to be uncovered here. I know it.”

“You seem awfully sure.”

Lyriat locked eyes on Aldiat and Frida’s weapons again. “Call it intuition.”

“Sisters spare me from more intuition,” Mag mumbled under his breath. “Aye, alright. I’ll take the nights with Brand and Lunara, then. If Caius is pissed at my extended absence, you have to deal with him, though.”

Lyriat huffed. “With young Thaddeus finally at his side? He won’t even notice you’re gone.”

He meant it as a jest to lift the mood a bit for both of them, but Mag’s golden gaze shuttered.

“Ach, true,” he said, voice a little too light. “There is that. I’m sure he’s beyond pleased that my cousin is finally settling down. Being responsible. Aye, pleased as pie.”

Damn it. He’d horribly miscalculated that one.

Mag tilted his head as if listening, an animalistic motion. “Right. Pet has reminded me that we found Nyri’s path from the castle. I’m not sure that it matters, but we followed it to the base of the wall around your wee garden. It ends there same as here, so she must’ve jumped from the rampart. I don’t know, though—it’s a long way, even in her rage.”

Lyriat schooled his features into a bland mask. “Do you remember exactly where or anything identifiable about the spot? I’d like to send someone to check that over as well.”

A lie. He wouldn’t be sending a single stars-damned creature.

“Some of your white blooms have escaped and are spreading just there.” Magnus closed his eyes, fingers tracing the air as if to stroke the invisible petals. “A couple were damaged up against the stone, with Nyri’s scent all over them.” He shook himself and sighed, blinking. “Strange place for her to land, but it makes sense if she dangled first and caught the wall going down.”

“Ah. Yes.” Lyriat huffed. “I’m sure that’s what happened.”

It absolutely wasn’t, the cheeky chit.