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And there they were.

The five of them scurryied around the courtyard like busy bees – gathering bags, burning waste, consulting maps, and whatever else one did to prepare for departure. Naxi looked sick with nervousness. Tared, Lyn, and Beyla looked grimly determined. Creon …

He’d raised his head when Lyn cried out my name, kneeling next to the bag he’d been tying shut. My gaze locked onto his, and for an everlasting moment, I saw nothing but those inscrutable dark eyes, nothing but the male I’d imagined frightened and desperate with worry for four days – looking perfectly tantalising and casually invincible as always, not a spark of relief in his look.

As if he hadn't missed me for a heartbeat.

I stared at him, feeling like a sleepwalker waking up in entirely the wrong spot, at entirely the wrong moment.

He hadn't missed me?

Four days. Four nights. Ihadbeen gone all that time, and yet …

‘Em?’ Lyn said, a whiff of concern to her voice now. ‘Are you alright?’

Creon slowly rose to his feet, eyes narrowing on my face as his demon senses became aware of my raging bewilderment. On the edges of my sight, I could see the others turning towards me, bags and maps lowering to the ground, and still I didn’t manage to pull my gaze away from him – from the unhurried looseness of his muscular shoulders, the nonchalant curve of his wings. From the flawless, gorgeouswrongnessof it.

Four nights.

Ithadbeen four nights, hadn't it?

‘How long …’ I staggered two measly steps forward, then thought better of it. The earth was swaying beneath my feet. ‘How long have I been gone for you?’

Lyn blinked at me as if I’d started speaking Faerie. ‘What?’

‘How long?’ My voice cracked. ‘Since I walked into the temple – how much time—’

‘Some twenty minutes.’ Lyn glanced at Tared, who shrugged with a slightly helpless grimace, as if to say he didn’t have anything more sensible to add, either. ‘What is it, Em? And where did you get yourself that wet, if—’

My knees buckled.

Creon shot forward before Lyn cried out her warning. Two slapping wingbeats and his calloused fingers wrapped around my elbow, hauling me upright before I could collapse completely – warm, strong fingers, a touch that radiated through my skin and into the marrow of my bones.

A touch I’d missed like hell during all those sleepless nights, and yet … twenty minutes. Like a fever dream. As if I’d fallen asleep below that tree and spun myself a story of goddesses and dragons, of spring skies and doves.

But my dress was still wet from the creek. The aftertaste of carrots and parsley lingered on my tongue. And my magic …

My magic.

Reflexively, I grabbed for Creon’s wing, barely registering the way he stiffened as the fingers of my left hand brushed over that sensitive velvet surface.Softness for movement.I may have gone mad, but magic didn’t lie. If I had made that oath, if I had moved that mug, shouldn’t I be able to repeat the trick?

Power tingled up my fingers. I swung my right hand without thought, aiming for the nearest bag that lay beside the path.

With a dull thud, the bag bounced ten feet away from me, then tumbled sideways into the grass.

Deafening silence greeted me.

‘It’s a different sort of colour,’ I breathed. My tongue seemed to move all on its own; the words poured out without rhyme or reason as my mind finally caved in. ‘It’s all about surfaces – it’s all about light – but she wouldn’t tell me at first. For four days. But the sky was all wrong, because time isn’t linear in the forest, and—’

Creon swept me into his arms without waiting for that scrambled sentence to end, striding to the side of the courtyard. The musky scent of his body rolled over me, and every last word abruptly dried up as my body recognised the unspoken reassurance of his hold –you’re safe. I’m here.I’ll die before I let anyone hurt you.

I slumped against his chest. I could no longer think of anything else to do.

‘Bey?’ Tared was saying, his voice too business-like for my crumbling mind. ‘Could you and Naxi go take a look on Tolya? We’ll follow as soon as possible. Let us know if the situation gets urgent.’

I didn’t hear a confirmation from either of them, but by the time Creon lowered me down onto the temple’s marble porch, they were both gone. I stammered an apology, or maybe another attempt at explanation. The words turned to meaningless mush on my lips.

Em. Creon knelt before me, dark eyes scanning my face with that razor-sharp focus of a soldier about to face battle.Breathe.