Chapter Twenty-Nine Garrick
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Garrick
Riela’s magic rose and fell in waves as she tried to replicate whatever it was that had allowed her to slip through the door—twice. I would not have believed it if I hadn’t seen my personal guard with my own eyes.
They were still there.
They were still alive.
How many others had remained? Urgency simmered in my blood, but rushing the little mage wouldn’t do anything but set us further
back. She’d returned because she didn’t have any other options, but she barely trusted me. One more misstep and I’d lose her
forever.
So instead of the door, I focused on her. I’d taken a lot of magic earlier, but she hadn’t voiced a single complaint, and truly, didn’t even seem to notice.
Just how much power did she have lurking in her fragile body?
And why was her magic so strange? Something teased the edge of my memory, some vague familiarity, but I couldn’t quite grasp
it. I needed to do more research, but I wouldn’t leave her alone with the door.
I didn’t trust her not to move on to more extreme “experiments.”
Weariness tugged on my soul. I hadn’t truly slept in three days, and I’d fought more than two dozen creatures in our trek
across my lands. A pack of chuyari had gotten dangerously close—close enough for her to sense. The large, predatory reptiles
would’ve torn her to shreds, and she’d been smart to run.
When I’d found the lone, frozen juvenile, my heart had stopped and hadn’t started again until I’d closed the distance between
us and found her, exhausted but alive.
Now she was here, and she was safe. Some long-buried instinct purred in contentment.
Riela’s gasp broke me from my thoughts, and claws tipped my fingers before I realized what had caught her attention. The moon
had finally risen over the castle walls, and the courtyard shimmered with magic.
But the dais glowed. The silver inlaid in the surface lay still and quiet, but even without the doorway, it was easy to see that the dais was
magical.
“This was why you didn’t want me in the courtyard past sunset,” she breathed.
“One of the reasons.”
Her gaze sliced toward me as her eyebrows rose. “Oh? What were the other reasons?”
“You’re not the only one who enjoys spending time in nature, such as it is.” The courtyard was a bitter reminder of everything
I’d lost, but I loved it all the same. “I spend most evenings out here.”
My magic was more powerful under the light of the moon, and after being away from Lohka for so long, I needed the boost. Shame
and fury wrapped clawed fingers around my throat.
Feylan would pay, if it was the last thing I did.
Riela nodded, then glanced longingly at the softly glowing plants. She bit her lip and her expression closed. “I suppose it’s
past time for dinner anyway. I’ll try again tomorrow. Enjoy your evening.”
She moved toward the stairs, taking a curved path that subtly put her as far away from me as possible. The claws moved from
my throat to my chest, and the words slipped free before I could stop them. “Would you like to join me for a stroll?”