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She nods. “I know it sounds crazy, but there is more out there than we know. This book”—she motions to a leatherbound volume on the mantel—“isn’t from here. And I have a friend I’m convinced knows more about it than she’s saying.” Her hands tighten around fistfuls of her linen dress.
I marvel at her for a little while, letting my eyes linger on the freckles dotting her nose and the barely perceivable flecks of gold pricking her cool irises. Her thick hair has been teased into tangled tresses. Her beauty is wild and untamed. Free.
The longer I look at her, the more difficult it is to resist the longing she ignites in me. It isn’t what I’ve felt in the company of Ketra, where everything about her person was always meant to draw out a very specific response. It’s much deeper than that.
I think it could break me.
Before my heart bursts through my chest cavity, I tear myself away and pace the room. My mind races with all the things we would need to get in place to go on such an open-ended journey. I look around the dwelling, my eyes landing hopefully on the shelves in the back corner.
“Amyrah, if I go into Utsanek to gather some things and get more information from this friend of yours, can you handle packing what you can find here? Anything that would be useful for traveling.”
She cocks her head toward me. Dark circles cushion her eyes. I fight the urge to abandon everything and hold her in my arms again. Not that she needs me to. Even in her exhaustion and pain, I know she is strong.
Her chin bobs definitively. “Yes, I can do that.” She stands and trails me to the door, digging a slip of paper noisily out of a pocket concealed in her dress. “If you follow these directions, you’ll come to a hidden community. My friend’s name is Wehna. Give her my name and explain what’s happened, and I know she’ll help us.”
When I go to leave, Amyrah’s hand catches mine and pulls me back gently. With slow steps, she swallows the space between us and reaches to touch my jaw. Her fingers, at first tremulous and light, tense and draw me in. I follow their lead.
She kisses me only once, slow and gentle, and I forget to breathe as her fragrance fills my senses. Fresh earth and forest blossoms.
It is over almost as soon as it starts, but I lived a lifetime in that kiss.
“Thank you,” she says, breathless, “for doing this for me.”
I trap her fingers beneath mine before they can slip away. “Always.”
A pall of gloom hangs over Utsanek. In the market square, the few people out at this hour of the evening studiously avoid making eye contact with anyone. It sets me on edge, seeing people’s guilt written so plainly in their body language.
I pick up my pace as I approach the fanum. It has always unsettled me, but it’s even worse now. Who in their right mind would want to worship such hideous, murderous creatures? In the wake of the ceremony, the gifts strewn all over the steps look less like offerings of devotion than heaps of rubbish.
As I pass its steps, a hair-raising roar issues from within, spearing the silence. Knowing that I should back away, that I don’t have time for this, I climb the steps and pull the heavy door open a crack.
Myrzeth rampages around the cavernous building, tossing pans of incense and screaming at the towering statue.
“I have done everything you asked of me.” He kicks a pan again, sending it skittering across the flagstones. “You gave me this power, and I have used it as you taught me.”
Who is he talking to?
He paces in front of the idol, thrusting his long fingers into his platinum hair. “Because she lives, your name is mocked. And I look like a fool.” He throws his hands down and addresses the statue directly. “How do you expect me to wield this power if the valefolk think one act of sacrifice can thwart you?”
My blood runs cold. I back away and let the door fall closed, but too late. The Foremost spins around and shoots me with an insane, frozen gaze.
I scramble down the steps and lose myself in the oblivion of the side streets.
“You’re goingwhere?”
My mother pulls her shawl tightly around her shoulders, watching my frantic preparations.
“I’m not sure, but I need to get her somewhere far away from here.”
I lunge up the stairs and burst into the bedroom. Korvin bolts upright, reaching impulsively for a heavy mug on the table next to his bed. When recognition lights his features, he relaxes.
Shemai continues to snore deeply.
“What’s happening?” Korvin says quietly, throwing back the covers and tiptoeing across the creaky floor.
I thrust my arms into my leather jacket, then toss an additional cloak overtop.
“I’m going to be gone for a while.”
