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In the shadowy thicket we watched branches break, heard quiet grunts sound — further away than before.

"We're clear," Tye growled. "Let's get moving."

Liam and I fell in behind him, the three of us moving out of the shadows and further into the moonlit road. My mind immediately went back to the topic I didn't want to think about, but couldn't let go of —Lynk.

He was here … and he saved me, again. But where had he found a fucking TIME relic — if that's even what it was?!

Even two years later, the thought of that summer together with him and Eli …Liam— made my heart ache.

A hand at my wrist startled me. "Just a second," Liam whispered.

I pulled my hand free and looked up at him.

His hand fell to his side. "I just wanna get a little gap between him and us," he said, inclining his head in Tye's direction. "So we can talk."

I nodded reluctantly and slowed my steps.

If he'd seen Lynk, it might be helpful to get on the same page about how we were going to handle it. And itwasn't as though we'd have time to talk once we got back to the stronghold …

Tye continued onward, uncaring that we'd slowed.

"Okay," I whispered once he was about a dozen yards away. "Talk."

"No way he can hear us from there, right?" Liam asked, peering at the shadow in the distance.

I squinted at Tye and shook my head. "Probably not."

"ThatwasLynk, wasn't it?" he asked, voice quiet, gaze still facing straight ahead at Tye's back. "He was the one who stopped time in that clearing? If he has some sort of time magic … could that be why he turned on us in Gleyma? Could he have known something?"

I swallowed and opened my mouth to respond, but he was already talking again.

"I mean, I've gone over it in my head dozens of times over the past two years, and nothing else makes sense! Those Ellingsworths were nothing but bad news, and he — he was one of us. Wetrustedhim. And we made a good team there for a while! I just can't believe that he —"

"I don't know, and I don't care," I snapped.

"But what if he knew something that —"

"Liam," I hissed. "He let them take me and my aunt into a fucking cave to be part of a fucking cult ceremony. She almost died. You — I thought you died, too."

"But did he?" He asked, green eyes wide. "I mean, he came to me and Jaiel and told us to come help you. Surely he wouldn't have done that if he wanted you harmed." Liamwaved his hand animatedly. "It just doesn't add up. He helped them … but he wasn't trying to kill anyone. It's like he was after something, and he needed your bond magic —"

"I don't fucking care," I snapped. "I grew up with a shard of that weird stone metal thing in my back. So how thefuckdid he know it was there AND to cut it out? Someone put it there to suppress my magic, andheknew about it. What explanation could there possibly be that doesn't involve him being bad?"

Liam said nothing for a long moment, and we walked in near-silence — the only sounds, the insects in the forest and Tye walking up ahead.

"Perhaps," he finally said. "But didn't that stone-thing keep you hidden from the Seekers? Maybe … it wasn't all bad."

I ground my teeth. "Fine. But Lynk cut it out of my fucking back in front of a room full of cultists, Liam! And then he left us to be killed by those same people. In what world could that possibly be okay?"

"True," Liam nodded. "But now you have your full powers. But didn't you force-bond him that day? That's pretty fucked up."

"Seriously?" I snapped. "You think those things make up for what he did?"

Liam threw his hands up. "Fine. I'm just saying that we don't have all the info, and Lynk, the asshole that he is, is here on the Isle. Maybe we could get answers for once …"

The truth of his words threatened to dredge up more than I could handle, and I bit my cheek to clear my mind.

"Well, I don't need answers, because I don't fucking care anymore. Ever since I've met him — and you for that matter — it's been nothing but pain and suffering for everyone I care about. No, thank you. I'll complete my deal with Frexin, then I'm going so far away that I never have to think of him, or anything related to the gods-forsaken Empire ever again."