Spirits, I truly had made a wise decision in appointing him, hadn’t I? Despite his initial doubts, Cypherion was truly stepping into this role and all it meant. Even if he would rather cross through the gates with us.
“Thank you,” I said with a nod, and for an unexplained reason—perhaps because we’d all come so fucking far since last spring and that growth was digging into my chest—my eyes stung.
Hearing the heavy weight behind my words, Cypherion said, “Of course, Revered.”
“I think I should go inside,” Vale said, loudly enough for us all to hear, but it was clearly intended for Cyph. Not asking for permission, but ensuring he was okay with that choice.
He was silent for a brief moment, swallowing as he searched her silver-tinted stare. “You should, Stargirl.” Then, he kissedher forehead, adding in a whisper I barely heard, “Remember—you belong to no one. Us against the Fates.”
“The least you could do is make the pretty Starsearcher stay, too,” Brystin interrupted.
Shooting him a glare sharper than his scythe, Cypherion tugged the rope around the fae’s wrists so he stumbled forward, grunting.
“I’m pretty enough to entertain you,” Cyph growled, watching where blood leaked from Brystin’s shoulder—cypher stake still intact—to the sand. “Look at her again and more than the ground will be stained red.”
Brystin had the sense not to respond, but an amused glint that I didn’t like entered his eye. One that had Malakai saying, “I can play guard, too.”
But I spoke up. “No, Malakai. I think you should come with us.” His brows pulled together. “You’re the only other one who can detect the emblems. I need you in case?—”
In my memory, cold, skeletal fingers curled around my throat. Air snapped from my lungs.
But Tolek’s arm wrapped around my waist, a silent reassurance.
I found my voice again. “I need you in there.”
That sense of purpose seemed to fall over Malakai like a well-suited pair of leathers. Like a sword’s grip worn perfectly to his hand, one he wrapped his fingers around and gave me a confirming nod.
“We’ll remain out here,” Barrett said, exchanging a glance with Dax and Celissia, and that sent a flutter of comfort through me. Though Cypherion was more than capable, at least he wouldn’t be outnumbered by the fae.
“Everyone else?” I asked. Tolek, Jezebel, Erista, Santorina, Lyria, and Mila.
They all nodded in turn, ready to enter the sanctity of history and legends of the Soulguiders.
Fear gathered behind my ribs, but I shoved it down.“Better not waste any more time, then.”
I made to turn back to the gates, but a hand locked around my wrist.
My eyes flicked up to find Tolek’s burning into me, and just like that, the rest of the world fell away. The hushed conversations of our friends melted into the desert winds.
“Yes?” I asked, my heart fluttering.
“Take a breath,” he reminded me. I did as he said, the crisp air filtering through my lungs as a soothing reminder. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.” We didn’t have time for me to feel any other way.
But Tolek only lowered his chin, waiting. I groaned, dropping my voice to ensure no one else heard. “I’m worried about what’s inside these walls. I’m afraid of…” I summoned a small bead of Angellight to my palm, dimming it before it flourished out of my control. “After tonight, I’m even more uncertain about what it can do or why.”
We hadn’t fully talked about what I did during the Rites. How much power I’d summoned or why it pushed back the storm.
“It can work miracles, Alabath.Youare pure power and strength.”
A lump formed in my throat at his words, but I swallowed past it.
“I’m tired of being strong without answers, though. The questions…they’re piling upon my shoulders, and I fear I may crumble.” Ire heated my voice as I added, “And I amsotired of having to be resilient. It’s exhausting getting back up every time I’m knocked down. Pretending it doesn’t hurt me or scare me.”
“Don’t pretend with me,apeagna,” Tol said, twining his fingers between mine. “I get why you put up a facade for everyone else—for yourself, sometimes. But not with me.”
I breathed in that thought and allowed his presence to be my infinite tether to the world.
