Page 42 of A ?Sky Beyond the Storm

“You do need a pet.” I settle my breath, which has gone a bit shallow, and circle him, considering. “Not a cat. Too solitary. Maybe a horse, though with your windwalking you would not have much use for one. An Ankanese jumping spider, perhaps? Or a ferret?”

“Ferret?” He looks almost offended. “A dog. A dog would be fine.”

“A small one.” I nod. “One that barks incessantly so that you have to pay attention to it.”

“No, no, a big one,” he says, “Strong. Loyal. A Tiborum shepherd dog, maybe, or a—”

He stops short, realizing that he is engaging in actual conversation. I smile at him. But he makes me pay for my victory, stepping into a windwalk and vanishing, muttering about seeing to the ghosts.

“Why?” I mutter to the trees hours later, unable to sleep. “Why did I have to fall in love first with a vengeance-obsessed fire creature, and then with a noble idiot who, who—”

Who gave up his freedom and future so Darin and I could live. Whochained himself to an eternity alone because of a vow he made.

“What do I do?” I mutter. “Darin—what would you do?”

“Why do you ask the night, child? The night will not answer.”

Rehmat’s voice is a whisper, its form a scant shadow limned in gold.

“I thought I’d imagined you.” I offer it a smile, for imperious as the creature is, its presence leavens my loneliness. “Where have you been?”

“Unimportant. You wish to speak to your brother. Yet you do not. Why?”

“He is hundreds of miles away.”

“You arekedim jadu. He iskedim jadu. And he is your blood. If you wish to speak to him, speak to him. Still your mind. Reach.”

“How—” I stop myself from asking and consider. Rehmat was right about my disappearing. Perhaps it is right about this too.

I close my eyes and imagine a deep, quiet lake. Pop did this with patients sometimes, children whose bellies ached for reasons we could not see, or men and women unable to sleep for days.Breathe in. Let the air nourish you. Breathe out. Expel your fears.

I sink into the stillness. Then I call out, imagining my voice stretching across the miles.

“Darin. Are you there?”

At first, there is only silence. I begin to feel foolish. Then—

Laia?

“Yes!” I nearly leap up in my excitement. “Yes, it’s me.”

Laia, what is this? Are you all right?

“I’m fine,” I say. “I—I am in the Waiting Place.”

Is Elias with you? Is he still being an idiot?

“He is not an idiot!”

Figured you’d say that. I wanted to make sure it was really you. Are you sure you’re all right? You sound—

Rehmat appears so suddenly that its glow blinds me. “Fey creatures! Approaching from the west. They must have heard you, Laia. Forgive me—I did not sense them. Arm yourself!”

The gold light fades as quickly as it appeared, and I am left alone in the inky murk. I scramble to my feet, dagger at the ready, my pulse pounding. A cricket chirps nearby and the wind whispers through the branches. The forest is quiet.

And then, in an instant, it is silent. Shapes flit between the trees, too fast to track. Jinn? Efrits?

I scuttle back, trying to use the night to my advantage.The darkness can feel like an enemy, the Blood Shrike said once, insisting I wear a blindfold while she trained me in hand-to-hand combat.Let it be a friend instead.

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