Page 30

Chapter 30

Kaya

“ L eave her alone, Sio!” Tully whips out her wand and points it at him.

“Tully. No.” My voice is a whisper even though I’m trying to yell.

Laini bends down to put her face level with Sio’s. “What is it? I promise, she isn’t going to die from this.”

“You sure?” I rasp out.

“Positive,” Tully and Laini say in unison.

Argos is across the room, pushing his glasses higher on his nose. He’s making notes in that journal of his, his quill bobbing.

I roll to my side, and the effort makes me lightheaded. “Athanasios, what do you need? Can you speak again to help us understand?” I whisper.

Sio meows. “Follow me, witch,” he says. “We need to go to the ruins.”

We all trade looks of surprise.

“Why the ruins?” I ask.

But Sio doesn’t reply; he trots out of the room and I hear his paws padding down the steps.

Tully shrugs. “I guess I need to follow. Is that all right, Kaya? I doubt he is wasting our time. He’s a wise, if not completely annoying, familiar.”

I smile and lie back, shutting my eyes because it takes too much effort to keep them open.

“Go, Tully. Thank you.”

Argos eyes me from across the room. “What would Sio want at the ruins?”

Laini frowns. “No idea. Maybe there’s an herb that only grows there that can help Kaya. I’ll go ask Delixian.”

She leaves, and I fall into an uneasy sleep full of more Cyrus dreams. His hands on me. His breath on my skin. The connection I always feel when he is around.