جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 80

EMBER "Razan is one of the anchors," Athena said quietly. Azai's head lifted. It was a little frightening how quickly grief disappeared behind something colder. "Are you certain about that?" "I believe it." "That isn't the same thing." Athena nodded. "No. It isn't." There was no irritation in his voice, but I recognized what he was doing. A few weeks ago, perhaps Azai would have heard Razan's name, decided exactly what it meant, and started tearing the fortress apart until somebody gave him a throat to close his hands around. Now he wanted facts. "What makes you believe it?" he asked. Athena finally moved away from the door. "When I saw them beyond the Veil, I thought blood loss was making me hallucinate. Razan was dead. Teyan had been gone for decades. Seeing either of them would have been impossible. Seeing them together..." She trailed off. Azai's jaw tightened. "I followed anyway," she continued. "They reached the frozen ravine and stopped. Teyan went farther no

EMBER The voice didn't return. That should have made me feel better, but it didn't.For half an hour after Azai heard the man inside my head, neither of us slept. The guards searched the clearing twice, Athena strengthened the wards around the camp, and Azai walked the perimeter himself despite my objections. He came back smelling of cold air and pine, with nothing to report except that there was nobody close enough to explain what we'd heard.Eventually, there was nothing left to do except try to sleep. The temperature dropped sometime after midnight.At first, I ignored it and pulled the blanket higher, determined not to complain after spending most of the journey complaining about my poor abused body. Unfortunately, the cold seemed equally determined to find me. It crept beneath the blanket, found my feet, and crawled along my legs until I curled into myself."Azai," I whispered.A sleepy sound came from behind me."I'm cold."His arm tightened around my waist right away. "Co

AZAI Athena stood several feet away from me with Bart's message open between both hands. Taka was awake. I had known the news would affect her. I hadn't expected to see every bit of strength leave her at once. Ember had just finished getting dressed and was drying her hair with a towel, but the moment she saw her expression, she hurried towards us. "What happened?" Athena blinked as though she'd only just remembered we were there. "Taka woke up." Ember's eyes widened. "Oh...oh goddess. That is...that is great news." Athena looked down at the parchment again, and this time her fingers began to shake. "Can he move? Did the healers examine him? Does he remember what happened before he—" "Athena." Her eyes met mine, and I saw the panic fighting openly with hope. "I don't know anything else yet," I said more gently. "Bart sent the raven as soon as Taka awoke. We'll send it back and ask." Her throat moved. She nodded once, but she continued staring at the message. Ember

EMBER Azai's expression had become grim. He turned towards the guards. "Nobody crosses until we understand what's happening."The order travelled down the line.Athena moved towards the next boundary stone, and Azai followed her, leaving me several feet behind them. I should have followed. But I couldn't take my eyes off the Veil.Something about it bothered me.I had spent most of the journey north trying to understand the strange familiarity following me. It had started as nothing more than a feeling.Now, standing this close to the Veil, the sensation became almost unbearable. My skin prickled. And even the mark on my back grew warm.I rubbed the back of my neck and waited for Nivara to say something. She remained silent.I looked towards Azai. He was examining another stone with Athena. Then I looked back at the Veil.One silver thread moved differently from the others.My fingers tingled as I drew closer."Ember."I stopped. Azai was staring at me from a few feet away."I wa

EMBER Something wasn't right. The wound wasn’t right. I was strangely certain about it.The memory flickered.For one second I was still sitting over him in the frost, my hand wrapped around the knife under his ribs.Then the frost beneath us became stone. The knife vanished. And Azai was standing several feet away from me with a dagger buried in his chest.My breath hitched.There. That was where I'd stabbed him.Blood poured around the blade and soaked through his shirt. Azai looked down at it, then slowly raised his eyes to me. The shock on his face was worse than anger could have been."Ember?"I couldn't answer. My back was burning.Azai wrapped his hand around the dagger and ripped it free with a grunt. More blood immediately followed, and something inside me snapped.One moment I was staring at him. The next, I was moving.Azai barely caught me.We hit the floor hard enough to shake the furniture. My knees landed on either side of his hips, and my hand flew towards his ch