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Nyx inhaled, holding the air in his lungs. His power darkened around him, and his wings shrouded his figure. “We need to go,”he said as the shift took him.

We launched without another word. Nyx flew out over the water, coming around to approach the cliffs. I did my best to use the sun already reflecting off the North Sea to hide our approach. It wasn’t something I’d explicitly been taught to do, but found I could manipulate light in ways that seem to just come naturally now. It worked fairly well.

We landed on the cliffside platform and listened. I handed Nyx a pair of pants. Once he was dressed, we both tied cloths around our mouths and noses. Emrys had spelled one for each of us to protect against Dragon’s Bane. They would only buy us a few moments if we were hit with it like we had been before, but we could use it to escape. I could not get four dragons out if they were taken down.

He opened the spelled door with his command. Those still worked. He’d told me it would be a good sign.

The halls were vacant. Not a sound anywhere in the outpost.

The outpost had an extensive underground portion built down into the bedrock. We searched room by room, and they were all empty.

“Could they have moved him?” I asked, using our bond so we were silent to enemy ears.

“It’s possible.” His hope slipped. “I don’t think they’d just abandon the post after taking two flights from it, though.”

“Is there somewhere they could fall back to?” I asked, opening a door that led to what looked like a cellar. I pointed, and he nodded.

“In the sea, maybe. But it wouldn’t be easy for them to climb the cliff face.”

I let him take the lead. I strained my eyes to see, but it was too dark. I put a hand on Nyx’s back, feeling every step with my toes before taking it. “I don’t like this.”

“Neither do I.” He stopped, and the only sound were our breaths. “Let me make some light.” Power gathered in his palm, and light sparked, spreading into the room.

Heavy shadows fell behind massive stores and barrels. Shelves and stacks of grain. The room was expansive, but we couldn’t see past the first few shelves.

“Let me climb one and get a better look.”

He hesitated, then nodded, lacing his fingers to give me a boost. I got to the top of the shelf and scanned the room to find rows of shelves and enough food for an army, which made sense.

“I don’t see any obvious signs. There are other rooms, and I think a weapons store in the back.”

“There should be some cells down here too. Maybe another floor down? This place is like a burrow; we are never going to get through it all before nightfall.”

“I’ll check the weapons store back there, and you find the cells. We can keep speaking mind to mind.”

“I don’t?—”

“Trust me. I can use my sword, and being mated to me doesn’t give you an excuse to not treat me like a ryder and an equal.”

He flexed his jaw and made a low, growling sound but said, “You’re right.”

I unsheathed his sword from my back, handing it to him. I grabbed his hand as he took it and squeezed it before taking part of the light he’d made and setting off at a jog, weaving through the stores.

He didn’t follow, and I was glad. We had to trust each other.

I got to the arms store and checked the locks. I uttered the words Nyx gave me to trigger the magical lock. It clicked open, and I held my breath as I pulled open the door.

“It’s empty,”I told Nyx.

I even checked behind the racks of swords.

I closed my eyes, willing the Goddess to help us find Kol.

I relocked the weapons room and scanned the back corner for anywhere else to search.

“I found the cells. I’m checking them one by one, but they seem empty.”

“Okay.”