Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Navan was only a few paces behind me, his eyes terrifyingly blank. I peered farther down the tunnel, and the sight that met me filled my heart with hope. Just in time, I skidded to a halt on the edge of a glittering lake, forcing my body to twist off to the side as Navan barreled past me, plummeting into the ice-cold water below. Panting heavily, I crawled up to the lip of the lakeshore, peering into the dark water, watching the center of the ripples that flowed outward.
“Navan!” I shouted, my voice echoing off the walls.
A splash followed as Navan rose to the surface of the black lake, spluttering as he swam upward, his teeth chattering. If he was cold, I knew the water had to be utterly freezing. He turned as I called his name again, his slate eyes no longer shrouded in that peculiar, milky white veil.
“It’s f-freezing!” Navan gasped, his whole body shivering as he swam to the edge of the lake.
“I’m sorry!” I said. “You were in this crazy… trance. It was the only way to snap you out of it.”
“It’s okay. I just need to warm up,” he said shakily. Finding a suitable grip on the lake’s shallow ledge, he pulled himself out of the water, his body dripping as he stood.
“Here,” I said, handing him the emberstone.
“Thanks. What’d you mean by ‘trance,’ anyway?” Navan asked. He looked around at the tunnel, obviously noticing that we weren’t in the same place we’d started. “Was I chasing you?”
“Yeah, but… I got away.”
His expression darkened. “I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No, I’m fine,” I said, resisting the urge to rub my shoulders where Navan had gripped me. My skin would probably be a little black and blue, but I didn’t want him feeling guilty about something he couldn’t have controlled.
We sat on the ground together, Navan holding the emberstone between his hands, until he felt ready to attempt the cavern again. Now that we knew what we were up against, we at least had a chance of stopping it.
Plucking two small wads of moss from the wall of the cave, Navan shoved them into his ears, hoping it would help to block out the siren song of the monster. It was a good idea. I just prayed it would work. I didn’t think my nerves could cope with the stress of another hypnosis.
As we reentered the cavern, the monster was ready for us, its beady eyes turned in our direction. It immediately lifted its head and sang its sad song, but this time, it fell on deaf ears. I glanced anxiously in Navan’s direction, but the sound didn’t seem to be affecting him. I doubted the moss cut the noise out entirely, but it must have been muffling it enough.
Spurred on by this success, we stretched out our wings and lifted into the air. Navan went first, divebombing the creature as a distraction, while I plucked the fruit from its back.
The creature wasn’t stupid, however. Each time I swooped low to try to snatch up the fruit, it lashed its long tail, or turned suddenly, keeping it just out of my grasp. It was only as Navan skyrocketed downward with all his might, landing on the creature’s head with a dull crack, that I got the moment I’d been looking for. With the monster utterly bewildered, I grasped for the fruit, plucking it away in one fell swoop before turning and rushing out of the cavern, my wings beating rapidly. Navan followed in hot pursuit as a sad cry rose from the beast.
The song followed us out into the fresh air as we came to land on the ridge at the edge of the cavemouth, catching our breaths before we took off again. I looked down at the plump fruit in my hands, noticing that the golden veins had ceased their glowing. But it didn’t matter now. All that mattered was we had it, and we could use it. We had succeeded.
Chapter Nine
The journey back to Nessun was far simpler than the journey to the Fazar Mountains. I took a sip from the second vial of wing serum before we left the cave entrance, to make sure we didn’t end up landing in a vampiric butterfly-infested swamp on the way, and put the fruit in the burlap sack Navan had slung across his shoulders.
We landed in the warped garden at the back of the palace just as the sun was coming up and casting its faint, cold light across the city. I was exhausted, my wings hanging limply behind me as I caught my breath. I might have had Vysanthean wings on my back, but I didn’t yet have Vysanthean stamina.
“You okay?” Navan asked, putting his arm around me.
“Just tired,” I said, suddenly aware of eyes on us. Knowing exactly who that burning stare belonged to, I quickly slipped my arms around Navan, as if I were cuddling him to me. Delving my hands into the burlap sack, I grabbed the poroporo fruit and stuffed it down the front of my shirt, under my armpit, before turning back around. I knew my arm looked strange, dangling stiffly by my side, but I hoped Pandora would put it down to the weakness of my species, thinking me unable to handle a simple flight to the midnight market and back.
Navan kept his arm around me, shielding the fruit from sight. We looked up at Pandora, who was lingering in the doorway of the forgotten palace exit. It wasn’t clear how long she’d been waiting there, but she looked almost happy to see us.
“Good night?” she asked as we moved toward her.
“Pretty good,” Navan replied, with a shy smile. I grinned in response, looking up at him with loving eyes, both of us playing the mood just right.
“Must have been, if you’re only just getting back,” she said, with a hint of a nudge and a wink in her words. “Anyway, spare me the details. Did you get the things I asked for?”
“It’s all here.” The strange expression on Navan’s face worried me. It was the same one he’d had at the market, when he’d frozen, purchasing the last item on the list.
“Thank you. Really, I appreciate you going to the trouble, even if you did bring it back a little later than I was expecting,” she remarked, her tone not exactly warm. Then again, I wasn’t sure a woman like Pandora knew how to be warm. She always seemed to be on guard, her mind always on the job. I almost felt sorry for her, hoping she found time to let her purple hair down once in a while.
“Sorry, we got carried away,” I chimed in.
Pandora smiled, though it seemed forced. “You two should be getting back to your apartment. If you’d be so kind as to return my key, I’ll leave you to run along before someone catches you,” she said, holding out her hand.
“Could you do one thing for Riley, if it’s not too much trouble?” Navan asked as he handed over the silver key, the black device, and the sack of ingredients.
Pandora frowned. “You’re asking me for a favor?”
“In a manner of speaking,” Navan replied evenly. “With her new wings, she keeps ripping her shirts. I was wondering if you could ask Brisha to send some with wing-slits since you’ll see her before we do.”
“That is a favor I can do,” she conceded, shouldering the sack of ingredients.
With an awkward nod of goodbye, we ascended the interior staircase, coming out through the abandoned storage closet. I kept expecting Pandora to follow us, but no echo of footsteps sounded on the stairwell. In the courtyard, she had seemed off somehow, in a way I couldn’t pinpoint. Maybe our lovey-doveyness had made her uncomfortable. Interspecies romance wasn’t a crime in Northern Vysanthe, but that didn’t mean everyone approved.
Pushing the negative thoughts away, knowing they were coming from a tired mind, I slipped my arm through Navan’s and leaned against him as we returned to our chambers. With the coast clear, I removed the fruit from my armpit and held it tight, keeping it tucked under the edge of my shirt. Only when we got back to the room did I set it down, hiding it in the drawer of the side table next to our bed for safekeeping.
Never in my life had a bed looked more appealing. After the long journey, exhaustion finally hit me, my shoulders burning, my back twinging, my neck stiff and aching. And yet, as Navan snuck up behind me and slipped his arms around my waist, his lips nuzzling at the curve of my neck, I wondered if I might find a second wind somewhere inside me… Where the trip had sapped me, it seemed to h
ave reenergized Navan.
I turned around in his arms and stared up into his heated gaze. He leaned down to trail kisses along the sensitive skin of my neck, sending shivers all the way to my toes. His hands rested on my hips, his fingers wandering along my waistband. A flood of warmth filled me, and I pressed closer to him, until our bodies were flush against each other. I could feel how much he wanted me, could imagine us undressing and moving onto the bed. This was it. We were really going to do it.
My stomach fluttered with nervousness at the thought. A million questions raced through my mind, and, for an instant, my body tensed.
Navan pulled away, the heat in his eyes replaced with a questioning look. Without saying a word, he wandered over to the fireplace, adding more silvery logs to the blaze. He crouched there, staring into the flames, lifting one palm to check the heat. Somehow, I felt both disappointed and relieved.
“Is this how it’s always going to be?” I whispered. “We get so far, and then… we stop?”
Navan didn’t turn as he replied. “I don’t want to rush into anything because you think it’s what I want.”
He sounded almost guilty, as if he’d been pressuring me into it—even though that couldn’t be further from the truth. “But I… I want it, too,” I said, a blush heating my face.
Navan looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes darkening as they flicked down my body, making me blush even harder. The feeling of his attentive gaze made me crave more.
He stood and shook his head, as if to clear it. “You’re not quite ready yet. I can see it in your eyes. There’s something holding you back.”
I swallowed hard, amazed that he could read me so well. “It’s just that… I have no idea what I’m doing.”
“Riley.” Navan stepped toward me, and my heart pounded. He rested his hand gently on my cheek. “I want it to happen when the time is right. I want it to happen when you are ready for it to happen. When there are no reservations left in your mind. And if there’s ever anything you want to know, just ask.” His voice was low and full of understanding.
“I have a million questions,” I whispered, beyond grateful for his patience. It was true: a hint of resistance sparked in me whenever things got too heated between us. Throughout my teenage years, I’d tended to ignore those thoughts, knowing a day would come when I’d want to sleep with someone… but then that day just hadn’t arrived. Not until the moment Navan entered my life. Angie had always called me a prude, but I didn’t care. I knew I would never do something with someone until I was truly ready, and it made me happy to know that Navan felt the same.
“I’m all ears,” Navan murmured, kissing my shoulder. I gave a playful yelp as he scooped me up in his arms and carried me over to the bed. He lay me down on the covers and snuggled in beside me.
I smiled sleepily. “I think the questions might have to wait for now.” I yawned, my eyelids growing heavier. “If I say another word, I’m pretty sure I’ll fall asleep on you.”
He chuckled, pulling me up onto his chest as he wrapped his arms around me. “I don’t mind you falling asleep on me,” he said, kissing the top of my head. As my eyes closed, he mumbled something else, but sleep claimed me before I could hear the words.
* * *
After grabbing a few hours of rest, Navan and I dragged ourselves out of the apartment and went to visit Bashrik and Angie. We had until the evening before training began again, and we figured we should spend our time wisely.
We found them standing to the side of a small hut that had been set out on a patch of sparse grass beside the building site for the new alchemy lab, which seemed to be coming along nicely. Naturally, they were in the middle of a spat, Angie jabbing her finger at a blueprint that Bashrik was holding out in front of him.
“If you put the load-bearing pillar there, then the whole thing will be unstable,” she said. “I thought you were supposed to be the architect?”
“Yes, but if we don’t put one here, then the building won’t be balanced. One side will slope down like a bloody avalanche!” he snapped back. “What I’m suggesting is, we put one here and one there, to stabilize the whole building.”
Angie rolled her eyes. “That’s what I’ve been saying all morning. Do you just not listen to a single word I say?”
They stopped bickering as we approached, though I couldn’t wipe the smirk off my face. I flashed Angie a knowing look, as it was beginning to dawn on me what was really going on here. She blushed, turning sharply away, pretending to look at something off in the distance. She couldn’t fool me, though. I knew this side of Angie. I had seen it enough times before to recognize when she was harboring a secret crush on someone. Most of the boys I’d seen her fall madly in love with had barely survived her preamble to dating.
“What’s it going to look like?” Navan asked, stepping up beside Bashrik to examine the blueprint.
“Here, I’ll show you,” he replied, gesturing for us all to come into the hut.
Dutifully, we all stepped inside. My jaw dropped as I saw the miniature model of the new alchemy lab. It rested on a table and had clearly been mocked up in a short amount of time, but the effect was no less impressive than if he had spent weeks on it. A towering, silvery behemoth of glittering spires shot up like shards of splintered glass, fracturing at the top and curving back under themselves like frozen ocean waves. In fact, the whole thing reminded me of a frozen ocean scene, with the translucent walls that glinted both blue and silver, depending on which way the light hit. At the top was a platform of hexagonal greenhouses, presumably where rare fruits and plants could be grown onsite, as well as several massive structures that looked like generators. To maintain a lab that size, I supposed they had to handle a lot of power.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured, ducking down so I could better see some of the details.
“Well, it is my magnum opus,” Bashrik replied proudly. “It better be the most beautiful thing anyone has seen.”
“Listen to him—‘magnum opus.’ Who do you think you are, Leonardo da Vinci?” Angie muttered.
“I don’t even know who that is, Angie,” Bashrik replied dryly. “You might think you’re hilarious, and where you come from, your jokes might get a polite clap, but they’re pointless on me.”
Angie grinned at me. “He’s just mad because I made fun of his magnum opus, and you must never do that.”
Navan put an arm around his brother’s shoulder. “Hey, um… I might need your help with something.”
Bashrik frowned. “What?”
“I’m about to get started on a concentrated serum from the poroporo fruit we picked up last night,” Navan began, only to be cut off by Angie.
“You went? You got it?” she said, her eyes wide. “Lauren said you might be going, but we didn’t hear anything from you, and Bashrik told me we couldn’t swing by to call on you this morning, though I’ve got no idea why,” she said, flashing Bashrik a look.
I smiled, my cheeks flushing pink at the memory of Bashrik walking in on us. I knew exactly why he hadn’t wanted to swing by, but I wasn’t about to say anything in front of him. “Yeah, we went, and we got it, and now we need to figure out a way of making it into a potent serum, strong enough to get Yorrek to tell us what we need to know,” I replied.
“You run into anything bad?” Bashrik asked, his voice tensing as he turned to his brother.
Navan shrugged. “The usual suspects, but nothing we couldn’t handle,” he said casually, sparing Bashrik’s nerves. He gave me a conspiratorial glance. “Anyway, I need to get my hands on a few things. A centrifuge, a Veracian extractor, and a black diamond compressor. I thought I might be able to get some of them at the market last night, but it was slim pickings where tech was concerned.”
“I think there are some things like those lying around, from the ruins of the old lab. Some of the underground storage chambers were relatively unharmed, so I should be able to get that stuff to you. I’ll do it as soon as I can,” Bashrik said. “Actually, I might
have to send you on an errand for them later,” he added, looking reluctantly at Angie.
“You know it’s anything for you, Bash,” she replied sweetly, giving him a saccharine smile.
He frowned. “You know, you look really creepy when you smile at me like that. Like you’re plotting my death or something.”
Angie’s smile widened.
“Has Yorrek been back at all?” I asked, distracting their attention away from one another. He was the most important piece of this puzzle.
Angie gave me a strange look that made me feel suddenly nervous. “About that… Yorrek used to come to the site every day, to check up on things and give us a daily earful about how slow and useless we are, but he hasn’t been around in a few days. Whether he’s decided to wait for information, or he’s just being lazy, we don’t know. What we do know is, he’s not going to be as easy to kidnap if he’s not around here to kidnap. You know what I mean?” Her expression turned apologetic, and she wrung her hands.
I almost swore out loud. The journey to the Fazar Mountains hadn’t exactly been a breeze, but I should’ve known all of this was going too smoothly. There had yet to be a real hiccup, but here it was, as imminent and expected as a bus not arriving when it was pouring down rain.
“It makes it harder, but not impossible,” Navan cut in. “If he’s not coming to us anymore, then we’ll have to scout out his house, in the village outside Nessun. There might be a reason he doesn’t want to come into town anymore, and if there is a reason, we should find out.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Bashrik said. “Plus, it might give us a better chance of discreetly snatching him, if we try to take him from his house later on. If you know the exits and entrances, and what the old man likes to do during the day, we’ll be in a better position once the serum is ready.”
After a momentary dip into optimism, I realized all wasn’t lost after all. It was a slight change in plans, but nothing too extreme. No, this was still going to work, I was sure of it. As soon as Navan had the hypnosis serum concocted, we’d be back on track.
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