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And he was back.

‘You’re not some sapling of ninety winters!’ Lyn cried out as I faltered in the doorway. ‘How hard would it have been towarnus before you ran off after those bloody traces, you slug-brained—’

‘Let’s not insult slugs here,’ Tared said reasonably, throwing me a quick grin over his cup of morning tea. ‘They’ve done nothing to deserve that.’

‘And what is Ylfreda thinking, allowing you out of bed at all in this state!’ Lyn spat, ignoring Tared entirely as she stomped back and forth between the table and the stove. ‘You should be sleeping and resting, not—’

‘First of all,’ Edored said, looking hurt, ‘I’m a grown male who can decide for himself whether he should be in bed, Lyn darling.’

‘Debatable,’ Tared mumbled.

Lyn just snorted. Quite to my relief, there were no tendrils of smoke this time, although she did still look more inflammable than usual.

‘Second of all,’ Edored continued in the same wounded tone, ‘I have a message for you, which is why—’

‘Oh, you’re back!’ Naxi said behind me, dancing into the kitchen in loose pink morning robes I suspected she’d nicked from some temple wardrobe. ‘I was wondering what all the fuss was about. How exciting! How very stupid! Are you here to hunt dragons?’

Lyn threw her a deadly glower and grumbled, ‘Don’t eventhinkabout it.’

‘Morning, Naxi,’ Edored said cheerfully, only now noticing me. ‘And morning, Noisy Death. Didn’t mean to wake you. Thought these two would be a little more understanding about—’

‘You were nearlydead!’ Lyn burst out.

‘Don’t die that easily.’ He grinned so broadly the burn wounds contorted to grisly scabs. ‘Ill weeds and all that. Now can I pass on my message, Lyn poppet, or were you planning to shout at me until those poor nymphs are dead and six feet under?’

The kitchen cooled to a wintry quiet within the blink of an eye.

‘See?’ Edored said contently, looking around our small, frozen circle. ‘Now I’ve got your—’

‘Nymphs,’ Tared interrupted, a steely bite to his voice, ‘aredying?’

‘Well, not yet, but—’

‘And you waited ten minutes to tell us that?’

‘Don’t blame me!’ An offended scoff. ‘You were the one who started telling me to go back to bed before I could get a word—’

‘Edored, what’s goingon?’

‘Really not very fair,’ Edored was still grumbling, ‘to pretend I’m the idiot here when you didn’t even ask—Ouch!’

He abruptly fell quiet, curling up against the cupboards with a kitten-like mewl.

Plague wounds? A spontaneous foot cramp? But it wasn’t his burned arms he was reaching for. Instead, his fingers had flown to the sharp line of his jaw, as if it had locked shut by itself.

Confused, I started, ‘Are you—’

‘Who?’ Naxi bit out, interrupting me with her fierce blue eyes aimed at Edored and her small hands balled into fists. ‘Who are dying?’

Only then did I understand – demon magic, the venom of it reflected in the gleam of her pearly white teeth.Nymphs.As little as she flaunted that part of her heritage … that was still her kind out there, threatened by whatever danger Edored had merrily forgotten to mention.

‘Tolya.’ He blurted out the word like a murder confession, shrinking as far away from her as the countertop would let him. ‘Fae. Threatening to burn the entire—Ow!’

‘When?’ she bit out. There was nothing melodious left in her voice; she’d gone cold and razor-sharp in her bright pink robes. ‘Andwhy?’

Edored whimpered again.

‘Naxi,’ Tared said calmly, rising from his bench with the caution of a male approaching a terrified animal. The glance he exchanged with Lyn didn’t escape me; that single look seemed to contain hours of careful deliberation. ‘You’ve made your point. Let him go. Torture is not going to speed this up.’