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I reach back and clasp her hand, pulling it down and uniting it with my own.

“No. You didn’t. I just ... I think Elyon is teaching me something through you.” I manage a half-smile and a glance into her eyes.

She squeezes my arm with her other hand, and we continue through the streets of Utsanek in companionable silence.

As we approach the marketplace, however, things begin to change.? There is a frenzy of activity. People cart produce and merchandise all over the place, laughing as they bump into each other and hurry through the crowd. We enter cautiously, pressing even closer to each other.

“What’s happening?” Amyrah whispers into my ear. “It’s like there’s some sort of festival going on.”

I frown and glance around. She’s right. There is an unusual number of vendors, food stands, merchants, and even a few troubadours in the mix. It reminds me of—

“It’s exactly like the day the solas returned,” Amyrah says.

“Yes.” But what could be as important as the first renewal of Sola Vinari?

We push into the heart of the square, and Amyrah yanks me back.

“What?”

She shakes her head darkly. “Believe me. We’re better off if we avoid those guys.”

I look back. A circle of teenage boys, possibly under the influence of alcohol, are getting rowdy with each other. One of them looks our way, and his idiotic smile dies on his lips. I nod and let Amyrah lead us in the opposite direction.

We weave through the mass of people, but the unnerving sensation that we are being followed pricks at the back of my neck. I turn around multiple times, but there is only the incessant rumble of strangers preoccupied with their own pursuits. A frown plants itself on my brow. I pull Amyrah’s arm.

She spins around. “It’s getting crazy in here,” she almost shouts. “What do you say we forget about the market today?”

I bob my head and follow her as she cuts toward a side street. Maybe this worry will stop plaguing my mind if we can get out of here.? The quiet, dark alley is a welcome reprieve from the chaotic square. I glance over my shoulder at it, amazed so many people could be crammed into one place, and walk right into Amyrah.

“Oops. Sorry, I—”

The teenager from the market stands in front of us, wearing the most twisted grin I’ve ever seen.

“Thought you’d get away with insulting me the other day, didn’t you?”

Amyrah stays perfectly silent. My skin tingles with dread.

He snorts. “Turns out I’m not the only one that’s eager to see you get what’s coming to you.”

I grab a fistful of her dress and whisper into the back of her hair, “Amyrah, we need to move.”

But she remains still.

Two more shapes appear out of the darkness, but they aren’t wiry boys. They are tall and muscle-packed men, each like an apex predator.

The boy’s hideous cackle tears through the air. “I’m gonna be so stinking rich when the Foremost hears what I brought him.”

The men approach fast, but Amyrah won’t budge, no matter how much weight I sink into her limp arm. The man on the left makes a move toward her, and the other lunges at me, knocking the lantern from my hand. It puffs out. I swing at him with all my might, but my blows glance off. His deep laugh churns the pit of my stomach.

In my struggle against him, I lose track of Amyrah. I look around frantically to find her, only to see arms bulging with muscles dragging her into the darkness.

“No!”I scream. An explosion of pain bursts across my skull, and all goes black.

38. Teron

TÉRON

SOMETHING IS WRONG. Its gnawing presence grows within me like a thorn in my flesh.