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My mind shifted from concern to understanding with a sensation strangely like emerging from ice-cold water.Oh.So that was the game he was playing – abduction, but of the pleasant kind this time, taking me where no unsympathetic ears could follow. Where we could talk, where I could safely figure out what game he had started playing.

Under the starry sky – arms around me, shoulders straining, wings slapping against the crisp autumn air.

Every nerve of my body drew tight at the thought, his tall silhouette in the firelight enough to send warm shivers down to the core of me. The perfect plan, except …

Except every single member of our audience would know I’d volunteered to spend hours snuggled up tight in the Silent Death’s muscular arms.

I didn’t dare to look at the others. What little I caught of Edored’s expression from the corner of my eye was enough of a warning.

‘No, thank you,’ I forced out, a careless chuckle thrown in for good measure. ‘Some of us do appreciate their night’s rest, you know.’

Something hardened in the lines around his lips, shutters slamming behind his eyes. But he nodded, whirled around swiftly and silently, and vanished between the trees without looking back, his footsteps inaudible on the plush moss. The shadows welcomed him like an old friend, swallowing his silhouette in the blink of an eye.

I stared at the spot where he’d disappeared for a moment too long. A faint nausea wormed its way up from my bursting stomach.

Should I have gone with him? But hell, he should haveknownI couldn’t – not right before Edored’s eyes, the alf who’d spread every piece of gossip like wildfire to the people we needed to win a war.

‘Unexpectedly wise,’ Tared said, and when I snapped around to face him, there was a wry amusement on his face that lay very close to relief. By the fire, Lyn’s expression was the polar opposite, concern and annoyance warring for dominance in her hazel eyes.

Naxi was icily quiet on the edge of my sight. I decided it might be best if I just didn’t look her way at all.

‘Sleep, then?’ Beyla said.

With nothing better to do, I followed her suggestion.

I tried to stay awake until Creon returned, just in case Beyla looked the other way every now and then during their shared vigil. But a second day of walking and worrying had exhausted me. Not even the memory of Creon’s cold gaze was enough to keep my eyes from falling shut in the drowsy warmth of Lyn’s fire, and sleep caught up with me within minutes.

I didn’t wake up until the early morning sunlight came seeping through the emerald leaves, turning the dewy clearing into a glittering little treasure cove. The shadows between the trees were gone, giving way to a slowly rising morning mist. No wolves to be seen behind the whirling silver, and no fugitive goddesses either.

Could be better. Could be much, much worse.

Tared and Naxi were still sleeping, but the others were up and awake. Edored rinsed our bowls in the creek near the clearing, his scowl suggesting that someone had forced him with threats of smoke and hellfire. Beyla and Lyn sat hunched over their maps by the fire, discussing travel plans for the day in hushed tones. Farthest away, leaning leisurely against a tree as thick as a small house, Creon stared into nothingness, long hair loose over his shoulders, hands tucked into gloves against the morning cold. From the blank expression on his face, I couldn’t tell how long he’d slept – if he’d even slept at all.

He didn’t look my way until I sat up. His nod came too late and too curt – a nod acknowledging my existence and very little else.

What little calm a full night of sleep had granted me scurried back into the shadows.

I scrambled to my feet, excruciatingly aware of the eyes following me as I mumbled some unthinking greetings at no one in particular and received some equally unthinking mumbles in return. Creon didn’t move, and it took all I had not to hurry towards him. Instead, I forced myself to leisurely stretch the cold from my limbs and gather my breakfast before I finally crossed the clearing to his side and sank down on the dewy grass next to him.

The two feet of air between us seemed chillier than even the most frigid of morning breezes. Creon’s gaze remained firmly on the whirling mist; his wings did not budge the slightest fraction towards me.

‘Did you find anything last night?’ I said, hoping with all my might that Beyla and Edored would forget to pay attention if the conversation appeared practical and sensible enough.

Found the temple, he signed, and his shrug didn’t betray that that single achievement was the culmination of weeks and weeks of desperate work.Seemed deserted. Which doesn’t have to mean anything, of course. I may just not be the first person Zera wants to see.

At home I would have joked about goddesses and poor taste. Would have climbed into his lap and held him until that stiffness melted from his limbs, would have muttered jabs at him under my breath until he took the challenge, fought back, and won.

With the piercing eyes on the edge of my sight, I said, ‘See your point.’

He did not react.

I tore off a piece of bread with trembling fingers, fighting the dangerous urge to blow up a few trees and sneak away in the chaos that would doubtfully ensue. ‘Creon?’

With the most minimal of sighs, he tilted his head a tenth of a turn towards me. His gloved hands remained motionless in his lap, as expressionless as the mask of his face.

For hell’s sake. I stuffed a small bite of bread into my mouth, hiding my words behind my palm as I muttered, ‘We need to talk.’

Yes.He lowered his hand with that throwaway gesture, half-hiding his signs behind his thigh. The words followed so fast even I had trouble following them; no alf with a poorer view and a single day of practice would manage.Which would be easier if you didn’t insist on prioritising Edored and his sorry opinions.