Page 66 of Acolyte (Tempris #2)

-From the personal notes of Azura Raine

I always find it amusing how many people still believe in destiny. As if it doesn’t have any help.

Skye stalked through the streets of Ryme.

He didn’t know how long he’d sat at that table, waiting for the world to make sense again. Anger had given way to shock, then awe, then fear, elation, sadness, fear again.

He’d been feeling too many things at once, so instead of succumbing to the urge to rage and scream and curse the malevolent deity that had decided to shatter every single Shards-forsaken thing he’d ever thought he’d known—he’d clung to his anger, pushing everything else aside.

Because anger—anger was easy. Anger he understood. It helped him find his feet. Gave him the strength to walk out of that bar without crumbling. It was a fire in his blood, a heat that wrapped around his very bones.

It kept him moving forward.

His breath steamed in the chill night air, and from the way people began scurrying out of his way, the look on his face must have been murderous.

She knew , he thought, the heavy wool fabric of his overcoat billowing out behind him as he turned another corner.

Taly had known how much danger she was in, but she hadn’t told him.

Not when the visions started. Not during the year she’d spent on her own.

Not when she was attacked by the harpy. Not even when they had found themselves under attack, holed up inside a compound with spies lurking within their ranks.

Every single time, she had just left him behind.

Skye bared his teeth and snarled, desperately clinging to that bright, burning anger.

He was going to throttle her when he found her—shake some sense into that empty head of hers.

And then he was going to yell at her for using her magic to come back and torment him in some damned tunnel.

That had obviously been some future version just getting in one final laugh.

Why else would she have said those things and worn that dress if not to mess with his mind?

To pick you back up , some small rational part of him said. He had been so close to giving up in those tunnels, and she had kept him moving forward.

Skye shook his head, trying to refocus his thoughts. The variables had changed. Again . Why did it seem like he was always working with an incomplete set of information?

Taly was a time mage, but it was worse than that.

She was a time mage on an island full of dimensional gates, and while they still didn’t know who they were fighting or why, with a time mage, their enemy would be unstoppable.

They could go anywhere. Do anything. They could infect countless worlds with nothing to stop them.

The third moon was already shining high above him by the time Skye found his way back to the townhome.

He kept his footsteps quiet as he came in the kitchen entrance, taking the servants’ stair back to his quarters on the top floor.

He packed a bag, then slipped out of his suit and into a plain shirt, trousers, and a comfortable pair of boots.

His armor was still downstairs, but he would grab it on his way to the workshop.

It was time to go. If Taly was a time mage—if that truly was the reason she had left him in Ebondrift—then he didn’t have time to wait around and see if Kato’s offer of help had been sincere. He needed to leave. Tonight.

Skye was halfway down the stairs when he heard his name being called from deeper inside the house. He debated ignoring the voice, but—

Shit . There it was again.

His feet started moving. Better to take care of this now than risk being followed.

The carpets muffled his steps as he found his way down to the third floor, to a small, sitting room he and Taly used to call the “Painted Room.” It was a circular space, flanked with ivory columns, every wall filled with art.

Sarina had always said the paintings were supposed to symbolize the soul bond, but, truthfully, he’d never really seen it, even if he had always nodded along with her explanations.

The doorway stood open, spilling light into the darkened hallway. As soon as he stepped inside, his stomach sank.

Ivain and Sarina were standing by the fireplace—both dressed in their usual black. But they weren’t the only ones waiting for him. Aiden and Kato were milling about the room as well, both dutifully avoiding his gaze.

It took half a second for Skye to realize he had just landed in deep shit.

“Skye.” Ivain waved him forward. The hardness in his eyes had softened since the last time they spoke. “Come inside. We need to talk.”

“I’m fine where I am,” Skye said carefully.

“This isn’t up for debate,” Sarina said, her voice calm but lethal. She didn’t turn to watch as he slowly stepped inside, already knowing that habit—and maybe a bit of childhood fear—would make him obey.

The door clicked closed behind him.

“Aiden,” Ivain began, glancing at the healer and then back to Skye, “has just told us something very troubling.”

“I can think of a lot of troubling things Aiden could’ve told you.” Skye gave Aiden a pointed look. He’d known this would be an issue, but he didn’t think anyone would try to confront him tonight.

“I had to tell them, Skye,” Aiden said in his defense.

“No, you didn’t,” Skye replied coldly. “We both know how good you are at keeping secrets.”

Aiden flinched at that.

Skye turned to go. “I’m leaving. Right now. But I assume you already knew that. Otherwise, all of you wouldn’t have assembled at such a late hour just to tell me goodbye.”

“You won’t get very far without a horse,” Ivain said, arms crossed as he leaned against a small writing desk. At Skye’s questioning glance, he added, “I’ve already instructed the stable hands to turn you away. With force, if necessary.”

Skye smiled grimly. “I don’t need a horse.” He could run faster, farther. A horse would just slow him down.

Ivain shared a look with Sarina, who still stood beside the mantle, stony and silent. “Boy,” he said, “I know you’re grieving. And I take full responsibility for not realizing just how much. For letting things get this bad. Hopefully, you haven’t done anything yet that can’t be undone.”

“What are you talking about?” Skye asked.

“They know about the books,” Kato said. He looked contrite, dragging his hands through his hair and shifting from foot to foot.

“Ivain came looking for you in the workshop and…” He hesitated, eyes pleading.

“I’m sorry, I just… I didn’t know what to tell them.

Those books were scent tagged—he sniffed them out immediately. ”

Skye shook his head. In a room full of friends and family, Kato was the only one on his side .

Maybe he really had gone mad.

“I’m leaving,” Skye said for the final time.

“I will throw you in a cell if that’s what it takes to stop this lunacy,” Ivain hissed.

“Then do it. Arrest me. Throw me behind bars if it makes you feel better about leaving her to die!” Ivain winced, but Skye couldn’t bring himself to regret the words. Not when that thread, that tether, perked awake.

Taly . Always there when he needed her .

A gentle tug in the darkness that would lead him home.

Ivain stalked across the room, cutting him off before he could reach for the door. “I will not allow you to throw your life away over dreams and hallucinations. I have already had to say goodbye to one child. I refuse to make it two.”

I’m not yours . Skye almost said it, but stopped himself. Ivain had been more of a father to him than his own sire, and he wasn’t that far gone. Not yet.

“I won’t leave her,” he said, reaching for that thread. “I don’t know how she’s doing it, but the dreams are real. She’s real.”

Something warm and fuzzy brushed against his mind.

And he let it in.

That thread pulled taut, wrapping around him, twisting and tightening its grip. “If you don’t believe me, just ask Aiden! He knows why she left last year. All this time, he knew —”

“Skye, please,” Sarina cut in. “Listen to yourself.”

“You’re not in your right mind,” Ivain added.

“I don’t care.” That thread tugged so hard it nearly jerked him forward. “I don’t care if it is madness, you can’t—”

“ Skylen .”

The raw command in the old man’s voice brought Skye up short.

“Enough of this!” Ivain continued. “We all want her back, but you have to accept the truth. She’s gone.”

“She’s not!” Skye nearly shouted. Because she couldn’t be. He wouldn’t allow it. “I’ve seen her. I see her every night. She’s not gone! ”

“Skye.” Sarina’s voice was full of pity. “I know how hard it is to accept the loss of a—”

“She’s not gone!” Skye bit out. He frantically searched the room, but his brother was the only one that would look him in the eye.

A moment later, he hung his head.

“She’s not gone,” Skye repeated, hating the way his voice began to crack. He grasped at the thread, but…

No.

No no no

It was fraying. Fluttering out of reach.

What had happened? While they had been standing here arguing, had she… Was it possible?

“Surely, you know what this looks like,” Ivain said, his tone a little gentler. “We’re worried about you.”

“What’s wrong?”

The voice was soft but unmistakable, and Skye’s head turned.

His body moved without thought.

The sound of footsteps followed him, along with a clatter of movement, a din of voices.

But he had stopped hearing. Stopped caring.

The world around him had faded, and all he could see was her .

Covered in blood. Slumped on the floor. Panting and holding her sides, obviously in pain but still completely and utterly alive.

Taly was alive.

A small, broken sound cracked out of him as he fell to his knees in front of her, reaching for her.

But his hands passed right through her shoulders.

“No,” he breathed. He tried again, but… Why couldn’t he feel her? Touch her? Why couldn’t he hear the sound of her heart beating? “No, no, no. ”

“Shards.” Ivain was on his knees beside him, eyes wide as he tried to assess the situation. “ How…? ”