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He looked from me to the mother and son he was carrying, and let out a soft sigh. "Take better care of yourself, Little Thief," he rasped, scarred face solemn as his gaze swept over me. "For both our sakes."

And then he was gone — a hazy blur dashing into the forest. And as he left, the world around me resumed its normal pace.

A furious screech sounded from far away, and the monster burst into the sky from the forest where I'd left it, wings wide as it disappeared against the setting sun.

"What the fuck were you thinking?!" Tye ran towards me, golden eyes burning. "That thing could have killedyou! And how'd you get back so fast? I JUST saw you dash into the forest!"

"I —" Between Tye's sudden intensity and Lynk's appearance, I couldn't think.

Did he have some sort of time relic? Was time magic even a thing? I thought humans only manipulated body, mind, soul, and bonds … so what the fuck was he?

I stared in the direction he'd left, mind spinning.

"Kaiya —" Someone grabbed my arm, spinning me to face him.Liam.He had the same wide-eyed expression on his face as what I felt.

Had he somehow seen Lynk, too?

"First, you run off," Tye barked, stepping up beside us. "Then the woman and boy disappear …" He lifted his chin as if smelling something. "…and you're standing in their place looking shocked and covered with the scent of a stranger. What the FUCK happened out there? And who was that man?"

I stared at Tye, mind spinning. How the fuck hadheseen him? Never mind. It didn't matter. I had no idea how the time magic even worked.

I debated how to respond.

If I told him about Lynk and his possible time magic, he'd just turn around and report it to Frexin.Though, maybe she would go after Lynk instead, and …

"That man was a monster hunter I —weknew in Gleyma," I mumbled. "This is the first time I've seen him in over two years. And no. I don't know what he did or why he's here, so don't ask."

It was mostly true. He wasn't anyone important to me … not anymore. And I truly didn't know why he'd been here. But Ihadseen him more recently — or at least I'd heard him. But no one knew what had really happened in Karemi.

Tye narrowed his eyes at me. "Fine. I don't want to know. But what about Della and Rowan? Will he hurt them?"

"No." I shook my head vehemently. "He might actually be the boy's best chance at survival."

Liam nodded in agreement.

Lynk had always known more than he was willing to share. If anyone had a way to stave off corruption, it would be him.

"Then FUCK!" Tye said, face twisted in anger. "Not only did we lose time helping that woman, but we didn't even get the intel she'd promised in return!"

I winced.He was right. We had no intel for Frexin … AND the delays meant we'd be stuck traveling across the dangerous Isle in the dark.

At least there were fewer wraiths, though. I shuddered at the memory of the monster's tendrils wrapping themselves around me — consuming me …

"What if itwasn'tthat bad?" Liam asked, voice full of a false brevity.

Chapter 29

Kaiya

"What do you mean?" Tye rumbled, stepping closer to Liam, who held his hands up and stepped back a bit.

"I mean, what if wedidhave the intel?" He let out a nervous laugh. "Wouldn't that be — I don't know — funny, maybe? Like say if the woman told me the intel back at the Berserker Village while you two were arguing after Holden ran off. Just like … hypothetically."

Tye's chest rumbled with a low growl as he stepped forward.

"Youreckless prick!" he yelled, yellow eyes full of murderous rage. "You knew before we even set out?!"

"Hold on, big guy," I ground out, grabbing Tye's arm, as I tried — and failed — to hold him back from Liam.