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Erix was right – my secrets were crushing me. If felt… freeing to share at least one with the three before me. Although, one look at Erix when I told them what I found under Duncan’s pillow, and I saw the colour drain from his face, replaced with the pallor of soul-eating worry.

“Not a minute can be spared without eyes on him,” Erix commanded when I was finished, his lips paled from tension, his gaze focused on an unimportant point on the wall. “Am I clear?”

“Yes,” the gryvern agreed in unison.

“Duncan Rackley will be kept in the best hands,” Erix confirmed, more to himself than the rest of us. “No harm will befall him, that I can assure you.”

I forced a smile. “Then we leave for Durmain before I change my mind.”

No one argued with that.

In the end, it wasn’t as hard to leave Imeria as I thought it would be. Knowing Duncan was left bound inside the castle walls, knowing what would happen if I failed on this mission for answers.

Whilst Eroan believed I left for a wedding, the truth was different.

The sooner we reached Lockinge, the sooner I could locate Rafaela, the better. Then I would come back and end this.

Ihadto end this. Once and for all.

CHAPTER 6

The day outside the castle ruins was clear, the skies blue. Although the harsh bite of winter winds coursed around us, there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Which turned out to be exactly what Erix was hoping for. Eroan had arranged for a convoy to follow, but with our time constraints and my desperation of answers from Rafaela, I had proposed a faster means of travel to reach Lockinge.

“Do you really think this is necessary?” Erix asked as we watched our carriage disappear in the distance. “It will shave off a day, if that, from our journey. But I can assure you that you’d be far more comfortable sitting on a velveteen seat than carried by me.”

I turned my attention from the convoy as it faded off up the road, back to Erix. “It’s important we waste no time. Eroan confirmed that Cassial is holding council in Lockinge before the wedding. If we want to make it with excess time to find and speak with Rafaela, this is our only option.”

Erix flexed his leathery wings; the sharp claw points at their tips caught the light. “Only if you are sure.”

I understood that Erix’s hesitation came from knowing that our dance of minimal physical contact was about to be left behind us, if he had to carry me all the way to our destination. “I’m very sure, I promise.”

Erix nodded hesitantly. “Eroan has confirmed that your belongings will be taken directly to Grove, where you will be staying after the wedding. Eroan has also sent your measurements by hawk directly to Lockinge Castle, so you’ll have something to wear in the city during our brief stay.”

The mention of the human town I’d grown up in made my stomach tighten in knots.

“Rather organised,” I retorted.

“It was at the request of Cassial himself. He is arranging all the outfits needed for the wedding, something about matching an aesthetic.”

“Cassial really thinks of everything, doesn’t he?” I forced out.

“He has to. Since Cassial has headed the reorganisation of the humans after Aldrick’s downfall, he has proven himself to be meticulous. It is in his nature to be well prepared, and thank Altar he is. It is no small feat to lead an entire realm, but so far Cassial has produced nothing but success.”

I couldn’t argue with that.

There was well prepared, and there was also a person who was obsessed with control. Perhaps it was my lack of trust again, but I felt as though it was the latter when it came to the Nephilim. I’d only met Cassial the once when the Nephilim first revealed themselves, and he certainly wasn’t as welcoming as Rafaela and Gabrial had been.

Erix had not experienced thepleasureof conversing with the Creator’s Shield, as Cassial was previously known as, but soon he would, and then he could make his own decision about him as a person.

“Are you ready then?” Erix asked, arms open for me. “Best go before the weather turns.”

I took in his body – garbed in black leathers, armoured shoulder pads and arm braces that looked like scales. A sword was at his hip, extra knives and daggers strapped around his chest. He looked ready for war, not travel.

“Are you sure you can manage?” I asked again. “Lockinge is a long way away.”

“Just shy of two days by horse, but I think I can reach the city by sundown if we make haste.”

I nodded, knowing the haste was my own doing. Daveed, the human teleporter we met in Aurelia, had stayed there after Aldrick died. To request his assistance would mean more waiting, wasting precious time I didn’t have.