26. Twenty-Six #2
“What do you suggest?” Bryn asked, coming to stand beside her.
“I could conjure a portal.” No one spoke. “I could shadow walk and bring you all with me. My father does it. I’m no expert, but I carried you with me,” Nova added, gesturing up and down at Callan’s towering frame.
“Out of the question.”
Nova imagined the look Callan leveled at her would silence any warrior under his command.
Fortunately, she wasn’t under his command.
“You said there’s no alternative, but I’ve given you one.” Nova rested her hands on her hips, unwilling to budge, no matter what justifications he threw her way.
Bryn looked back and forth between the two of them. “You’ve done it, then?” she asked, an edge of excitement to her normally even tone.
“Yes.” Nova turned to her friend. “When the repera attacked. I shadow walked and took Callan through the portal with me, transporting us back here.” She returned her gaze to Callan, arching a brow. “Safely, I might add.”
“I say, let’s give it a go.” Bryn shrugged.
Callan scratched at his beard. “Let’s not rush things here. Nova has only shadow walked once. And it wouldn’t be one extra passenger—it would be two. Plus, three mounts.”
“Who needs horses?” Bryn asked. “You said it yourself; the terrain is mountainous. We’d be better off on foot anyway.”
“And how do you propose we leave the Solar Court once we’ve accomplished our aim?” Callan countered. “On foot?”
“No. If all other options fail, I can fly us out.” Bryn widened her stance, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re a strapping lad, sure. But let’s not forget, I’ve carried you once, and I can do it again. Easily.”
Callan’s nostrils flared at the mention of his misstep at Lotus Lake. Riven’s snicker came from behind Nova.
“And abandon our horses to this wilderness?” Callan held his arms out at his sides, grasping at straws.
Nova bit back a smile.
“Oh, I can see to your precious horses.” Riven joined their huddle, lips curled up on one side, clearly enjoying the communal act of dressing Callan down.
“They’ll be returned to Nivali in one piece—you have my word.
” She placed a fist over her heart and bowed her head, mimicking the Nivalian gesture of respect.
Nova stepped forward until she stood toe to toe with her mate. She lowered her voice, her next words intended for him alone. “I need you to trust me, Callan. I can do this.”
He glanced at the two females flanking her, then met her eye once more, the creases in his forehead relaxing as he released a resigned sigh. Nodding, he murmured back, “I believe you can.” He fished for her hand, raising it to his mouth and pressing a kiss to the center of her palm.
“You best make haste,” Riven chimed in, interrupting the moment. “The Council votes are due any day.”
“We travel light,” Callan instructed, jerking his chin toward the horses. He bent down and gathered the Kinslayer shards from the ground to stow away once more.
Nova sidled up to Shade, throwing open her saddlebag to collect whatever supplies might serve her on the next leg of the journey.
“May the gods watch over you,” Riven proclaimed with a grand salute as she approached her mount. “I’ve done all I can to aid your cause.”
Bryn closed the distance with Riven in a few sure strides, coming to stand with barely a handspan between them.
“Not so. Make your brother see reason.” Bryn’s hand was on Riven’s cheek in a heartbeat, her fingers delving into Riven’s strawberry blond hair.
The kiss Bryn pressed to Riven’s mouth in the next instant seemed to take everyone by surprise—Riven most of all. For all her bluster, Bryn’s display left her stunned. Nova turned her face away, her eyes finding Callan’s briefly.
“I’ll keep you in my thoughts,” Riven said quietly, her tone more sincere than Nova had ever heard it. “Fools—the lot of you,” she added, with a smile in her voice and a blush clinging to her freckled cheeks.
Bryn made quick work of sifting through her own saddlebag and murmuring a goodbye to Strawberry while Riven mounted her horse.
Callan looped a rope loosely around the base of Shade’s neck. “She’s too skittish to roam free,” he explained to Nova as he tied the other end to the saddle on Frost’s back. “But Frost will show her the way and keep her calm.”
Nova nodded, running a hand along her horse’s mane.
Once she’d said her goodbyes, Callan murmured stern instructions to his own horse, ruffling Frost’s snow-white forelock, before gently slapping the animal on the rear.
With a hand raised in farewell, Riven nudged her horse into a trot and let out a sharp whistle, calling for the three other mounts, who trailed off behind her.
Before long, Riven was out of sight. Nova pressed her eyes shut, attempting to banish the heaviness behind them.
True rest had eluded her since they’d entered the Spring Court.
Part of her remained alert even while she slept, forever on guard against sprites and the dark beasts that seemed to stalk her from one territory to the next.
She opened her eyes and shook out her hands; there was simply no time to waste.
Desperate to be free of the unsettling magic of Maedwen and eager to reclaim the final piece of her father’s cursed sword, she nodded at Callan and Bryn, who stepped in close, each taking hold of one of her hands.
As her chest rose and fell with steadying breaths, she called her vision of Sonnend to mind, picturing her intended destination.
Her eyesight blurred as she surrendered herself to shadow, inky black orbs sweeping toward her along the verdant ground, bits of nearby shadows breaking off and gathering around her.
Clinging to her. Cold crept along her limbs, fear climbing in its wake, and Nova fought the urge to abandon her efforts.
Within seconds, the darkness swallowed her completely.