Page 37

ASTRA POPPY

T he stars twinkled over the meadow. Chalky smudges from the moon dusted the tall, dancing grass and reeds. Shades of deep purple and inky blue painted the spaces in between. A symphony of chirping insects rippled through the field, pausing as we passed, only to hum behind us when the turf settled.

“So, my father is a disgusting excuse for a human, huh? I suppose that isn’t a surprise. I’m so sorry about Hestia.” The crickets silenced abruptly at the sound of my voice.

“Thank you, but it was long ago.” He moved efficiently, his steps never faltering as they whooshed past the long blades of dry grass. “I’m sorry that Gideon is part of the Somneia. Though it’ll offer Letti some protection before you can get back to her.”

I sighed, worry buzzing in the back of my mind. “Where is Kaden, and why are we going to … to the Bogs?”

He stopped, turning to face me and shifting his pack on his shoulder. “You aren’t the only one who dreams, Little Star.”

A rush of air flit atop my chuckle. “Everyone dreams.”

“No, they don’t, or if they do, it’s rare. Do you recall anyone talking about a dream they’ve had lately?”

“That’s a ridic—” My words fizzled as I bit my bottom lip, head tilting in thought. This gave a whole new meaning to Kaden’s favorite idiom. He always said he wouldn’t dream of this or that. And, well, I suppose he wasn’t.

The moonbeams skimmed Gavrel’s forehead, one raised eyebrow peeking out of the shadows. “Exactly. People might mention a dream, but they’re often describing some bizarre fever dream or a nightmare—mild or otherwise.”

I sucked in a breath, my heart speeding. “But … I’ve dreamed over the turns. Especially while in Surrelia.”

“Indeed. But they’re different, aren’t they? Like the voice in the dungeon … a call from the aether. And always during a full moon. It makes sense. Ember is at its most potent during the full moon. Portals between realms at their weakest.”

My eyebrows rose, eyes crinkling before I nodded slowly. My scar tapped eagerly, but I ignored it. Any trust I had in my power had deteriorated, my nerves still raw after the Winnowing.

Gavrel ran his hand through his dark strands, his words spilling freely. “After searching the village unsuccessfully for Kaden, I rested before coming for you. Visions of your father with Akridais plagued me. A reflection trapped within his eyes of my mother’s body exploding into ash. And your image in her place. Your body tearing apart.”

My shoulders contracted into a cringe, and a replay of my dream invaded my mind—the Larkin brothers tumbling into the void beyond the Reverie Weald.

His forehead crumpled as he continued, “I saw Kaden screaming and drowning in the swamp.” Dipping his head, he moved forward again, and I walked briskly beside him. “I’ve often suspected Gideon, doubting his whereabouts and absence from Surrelia during the Dormancy. Over the last several turns, I’ve learned to trust premonitions.”

“You think the Oneiroi are sending us messages?”

“Yes. Them, or perhaps the Fates.”

My mouth dropped, a snort of disbelief falling at my feet. “Well, aren’t we special—dream Ancients taking notice of us. Fates even.”

He shrugged, his scabbard groaning against his spine. “The warning helped us tonight, didn’t it? And after everything you’ve been through and now can recollect, is it so bizarre?”

My cheeks flushed, and I was grateful for the night cloaking my face. He cleared his throat. “I’m sure they’ve helped you before. You know they have. That’s why we’re going to the Bogs. Kaden is either there, or the information we need is. And I wasn’t about to leave another person I care about to be culled.” He rumbled deep within his chest, fists clenching. “Never again.”

My pulse hammered, and I swallowed, my mouth parched and wordless. I couldn’t argue with his logic. Because we were operating in a surreal reality, weren’t we? And everything he said was true. The whims of Ancients and Fates ruled our paths, coated in ember and blood.

“You know, maybe I preferred it when you didn’t tell me things.”

He smirked. “I know better than to say I told you so. But as long as you remember saying it, I’ll be content.”

A snapping twig echoed behind us. Gavrel grabbed me by the waist and tossed us to the parched moss, his back breaking our impact. A wall of tall catbane stalks shielded us. My face pressed against his muscled chest, the scent of timber and an earthy, rich spice swept into my next inhale, heat racing over my chest and belly.

My eyelids fluttered, memories of his warm embrace seeping into the crevices of my brain. I gritted my molars, trying to expel them.

We’d been something once. Something that had started to bloom two summers ago. But it didn’t matter now. He’d torn it out by the roots and discarded it. Discarded me .

Too many jumbled moments and emotions spun together, but it was glaringly clear that I had once felt something more than friendship for Gavrel. For longer than I’d like to admit. Well before he stomped on my heart a couple of turns ago.

My palm pushed against his sternum, his heart bumping against it rapidly. His arm tightened around me, his words tickling my cheek as he whispered, “Don’t. Be still and let them pass.”

For a moment, I thought he meant my memories until heavy footfalls trudged along the border of the field, the female from earlier grumbling, “We’ll never find the damned dirtling at this rate. These bloody trees go on forever.” A glimpse of a flapping pewter cape gleamed through the reeds as they marched past. Akridais. Melina had sent them for me. I sunk into Gavrel, his thumb rubbing gently against the fabric above my belt.

“Well, we can’t go back empty-handed. You know what she’ll do. We’ll search for a few more hours and then make camp. Pick it back up tomorrow.”

Their voices faded as they continued in the direction we had been heading.

“We should be good,” Gavrel murmured, his arm not lifting. My face tilted to his, my front teeth running over my bottom lip. His hips shifted, a soft breath whooshing from his parted lips.

An image of Kaden snapped through my mind, and a small sound of distress fell from me. My hands pushed against Gavrel as I rose, his thick arm slipping from me. “Uh, sorry. Which way should we go now?” He’d traveled all over Midst Fall, so I assumed he’d know several paths into the Perilous Bogs.

He stood, looking in the direction the elite enforcers went and then to the east. “I don’t want to risk crossing their path. We could head toward Haadra. I doubt they’d expect us to travel that direction. They’ll probably stay in this area and along the borderlands. I’m sure Melina told them to check the Bogs, considering that’s where your mother was from.”

A resigned inhalation swept into my chest. “I think you’re right. East it is.”

We moved like silent wraiths in the shadows of the night. We were nocturnal creatures. Both hunting and being hunted. I wasn’t ready to sift through my history with Gavrel. Or what Kaden and I had shared. Or my feelings connected to them both. For now, I’d concentrate on finding my best friend. On finding out who I was—so far from the woman I had been before.

The old Seryn was harvested and consumed like all crops were during the Autumn Equinox … but spring was here, and it was a time for planting seedlings.

For clinging to hope and believing that they would sprout. For taking the time to nurture them while they grew and flourished.

My shoulders pushed back, and my hands ran down the itchy fabric of my skirt, one rummaging through my pouch and taking out my stone.

The pebble’s etching stared back at me, humming with lingering energy. There was a reason my mother put this in my neck. I looked ahead, my eyes bright with determination as I tucked it away.

There were buried reasons for everything . And I was going to unearth them.

As we came to the edge of the meadow, a single crimson bloom beckoned to me. Its delicate stalk stretched out of a patch of crushed, desiccated reeds.

I knelt, stroking the pad of my finger down its silky, vibrant petals. It shivered as a cerise-colored aura glittered over it. My mouth curled at the astra poppy’s verve. The bloom’s absolute will to endure.

I rose, my spine mimicking the flower’s resilience.

I caught up to Gavrel, and we were once again surrounded by towering grymwoods, their bent branches sheltering us from the aether.

Without question, I now understood that a mortal could be shattered beyond recognition and still persist. Still fight.

My ember quivered at the back of my neck, humming down my vertebrae.

One step at a time.

We’d find Kaden.

We would dismantle Melina and her minions.

And I would exhume every dormant truth. One by one, until I understood this new version of myself and how to heal Midst Fall. If I had to shatter realms—and my soul—apart again and again, I’d do it.

I’d just have to make sure the pieces were sharp enough to carve through the nightmares.

NOT YET THE END …