Chapter 15
Ispent a sleepless night in my own bed, tossing and turning as my mind chewed on the various disasters that loomed every which way I turned.
The earthquake preparations were moving along, but not as fast as I’d have liked, and Iannis’s sudden departure wasn’t helping matters.
Thorgana was still nowhere to be found, very possibly in possession of a weapon that could destroy magic.
And Garrett was sniffing at Fenris’s heels like a bloodthirsty hound.
As soon as we heard that Iannis had left town, Rylan and I had sought out Fenris.
He’d been in his room, buried in spell books as he continued his search for spells that could help us with the earthquake prep.
He’d found a few small ones, but nothing terribly helpful.
And his mood had only grown darker when we told him what Garrett had discovered.
“I’m not leaving,” he said to us when we were finished.
“Not yet,” he amended when I opened my mouth, flabbergasted, to protest. “Doing so right after Garrett warned you, Sunaya, would not only be an admission of guilt, but it would also implicate you. I would like to bid farewell to Iannis if at all possible, and I want to make a few more preparations.”
“Fuck the preparations,” I snarled, grabbing him by the front of his tunic. “We can send you whatever you might need. Why are you being so blasé about this? This is your life on the line!”
“So it is,” Fenris growled, knocking my hand away.
His yellow gaze simmered with a multitude of emotions—anger, despair, defiance.
“And as it is my life, I think I should be allowed to decide what to do with it. I am not ready to leave yet, Sunaya.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “If I change my mind, I will let you know.”
I wanted to shout at him that he was being stupid, but the implacable look on his face stopped me dead in my tracks. Nothing I said to him would matter.
“Fenris,” Rylan said in a soft voice, drawing Fenris’s hard gaze away from mine. “The offer I made you earlier today still stands. I have contacts in the South, and the Midwest. Both can help you resettle.”
Fenris nodded. “I may take you up on it. But for now, I must get back to my books.” He squeezed my shoulder, his face softening.
“Don’t worry so, Sunaya. I have lived long and seen much in my lifetime.
Enough to know that, even if I die, this will not be the end for me.
” The look he gave me was hardly a consolation.
I could barely imagine my life without Fenris in it.
He was such an intrinsic part of my inner circle that the idea of being without him very nearly broke me.
Still, this wasn’t my choice and I had to respect his, if only because I knew he’d respect mine if our positions were reversed.
So I’d hugged him hard and held back the tears long enough to make it back to my room before dissolving into a heap on my bed.
Why was life so fucking unfair? Why did Fenris have to face the death penalty for doing what would be a good deed in any sane person’s book?
He deserved so much better. Was the Creator going to strip all my friends from me, one by one?
Noria was slaving away in the mines, Annia was off in Southia, Roanas was dead. Who was next?
My alarm woke me barely an hour after I’d finally managed to fall asleep, and I seriously considered smashing it to bits.
But Garrett had a few more interviews to do this morning, and I couldn’t allow him to go nosing about my city unaccompanied.
So I showered, dressed, and put my game face on.
I wasn’t going to let him see how much our conversation last night had shaken me.
That wasn’t just because doing so would piss me off.
If he knew how much he’d affected me, it’d make his bloodhound senses go into overdrive, and that must be avoided at all costs.
No, it was much better to point him in Thorgana’s direction and let him have at.
I was just on my way out the door when the telephone in my sitting room rang. I debated ignoring it, but I so rarely received calls in my room—what if it was Iannis?
“Hello?” I said, snatching it from the receiver and trying not to sound like death warmed over.
“Naya!” Comenius’s frantic voice burst from the speaker. “I need your help. Rusalia is missing!”
Shock and dismay jolted my system, driving the last vestiges of sleep from me. “I’m on my way,” I said. “Give me fifteen.”
I slammed down the phone, then went across the hall and banged on Rylan’s door.
He opened it, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes with one balled-up fist. When he opened his mouth to ask what in the hell I was doing there, I waved off his words with one hand.
“I need you to meet Garrett and Pillick in the Winter Garden today and go with them,” I ordered. “I’ve got an important errand to run, and I don’t want that asshole tramping around Solantha unaccompanied.”
“What errand?” Rylan demanded. “And who’s going to protect you if I’m not by your side?”
“Com’s daughter is missing. I’ll take Fenris—he’ll be protection enough,” I said sternly when Rylan looked like he was about to protest. “He needs to get his grumpy tail out of the Palace for a little while anyway, and this way I can keep an eye on him. It’s not like I can send him with Garrett.”
“Fine. I’ll tell them you were called away on an urgent enforcer matter. But be careful, Sunaya.” He grabbed my upper arm as I was about to turn away. “For both your and Fenris’s sake.”
I nodded, then dashed down the hall toward Fenris’s room. Part of me worried Garrett would think I was dodging him after our argument, and while he was half right, I would have to risk it. Comenius was more important than Garrett’s feelings.
Fenris didn’t answer when I knocked on the door, so I unlocked it with a spell, then kicked it open.
“What?” he snapped, shielding his eyes against the light as I stalked in. He was in bed, his naked form covered by the sheets, and by the looks of things, he’d been cuddling a book. Weirdo. “Can’t a man get some sleep around here?”
“Not these days,” I growled, shutting the door behind me.
“Comenius’s daughter has gone missing, and I need an escort so I can go help him.
I’ve unloaded the escort duty for Toring on Rylan in the meantime.
I’d really appreciate it if you came with me,” I added, softening my voice.
“I don’t have anyone else to turn to. Please. ”
Fenris sighed. “Of course I’ll come.” He sat up, the sheet sliding down to his hips, and I raised an eyebrow as I noticed how much more defined his pecs and abs were now. “What is that look for?” he asked, a little irritably.
I grinned despite myself. “Nothing. You’re just looking a little less…scholarly these days.” My gaze went back down to his abs.
“My eyes are up here,” Fenris said dryly, and when I met his gaze, I was relieved to see he looked amused. “My sparring sessions with Rylan have motivated me to take better physical care of myself. I was tired of getting beaten so easily.”
“I’ll say.” Lips twitching, I turned around and opened the door. “Cover those muscles up and meet me outside. The last thing I need is all the women in Solantha throwing themselves at you while we’re out today.”
Fenris snorted as I shut the door behind me, and I grinned again.
But my amusement faded when I reminded myself that, pretty soon, the women in Solantha would no longer have the opportunity to throw themselves at Fenris.
He was leaving, and I needed to enjoy what little time I had left with him.
Even if the world seemed to be crumbling around us.
Comenius was an absolute wreck when we arrived—his clothing rumpled, his hair sticking up in all directions from having run his hands through it so many times.
His cornflower-blue eyes were frantic as he paced back and forth in his living room.
Elania was gone—her shop was opening in ten minutes, and she needed to see to her customers.
But she’d left soothing chamomile tea for Comenius before she left, and had made breakfast for Fenris and me to eat while Comenius filled us in.
“I keep thinking about how I could have done better with her,” Comenius said, still pacing.
“How I could have been more tolerant and more understanding. But Rusalia is so outrageously rude all the time that I couldn’t go on ignoring her bad behavior.
She insulted Elania to her face last night after refusing to help her in the kitchen, so I sent her to bed without dinner.
Elania and I were up late discussing how to deal with her constant tantrums, and she must have overheard our angry words.
I woke up this morning to a note on my nightstand from Rusalia, and my bedroom window open.
” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “She must have climbed down the fire escape.”
“I’m so sorry, Com,” I said, not sure what else to say. I wasn’t used to dealing with belligerent children—I likely would have lost my temper with her much earlier, if I’d been in Com’s shoes. “Can I see the note? Maybe she left some clue.”
Comenius dug it out of his tunic pocket and passed it to me. “It’s in Pernian,” he said when I smoothed out the wrinkled piece of paper. “She merely writes that she hates Elania and me, and that she is leaving and will never return.” A tear slid down his stubble-roughened cheek.
“Oh, Com.” Abandoning my half-eaten breakfast, I rose from the kitchen table and enfolded him in a hug. “It’s going to be okay,” I said, hugging him tight. “We’re going to find her, even if I have to tear the city apart.”
“Don’t lose hope,” Fenris said gruffly. “She’s not the first child to have run away, and since she does not know the city at all well, chances are good we’ll be able to track her down quickly.”