Page 52 of Tempest Rising

I grinned, still feeling the residual hum of magic along my skin. "Not bad for a librarian, huh?"

Kane's lips twitched, the closest thing to amusement I'd seen from him all day. He held my gaze for a beat longer than necessary.

"Not bad at all."

The rest of the afternoon passed in much the same way—walking while practicing my magic. My heart warmed watching them all, each in their own way taking care of our little group. Mason had been hovering close all day, his strong hands finding excuses to steady me when I stumbled, offering water before I even realized I was thirsty. The gentle giant routine shouldn't have been as appealing as it was, but my body definitely had other ideas.

Then there was Kane, patient despite his usual ice-prince demeanor, helping me channel my magic with precise instructions and those intense violet eyes that made concentrating... challenging.

Raze kept us all from drowning in the tension, his wild stories and infectious laugh a lifeline when things got too heavy.

Despite the exhaustion creeping into my limbs, a sense of companionship settled deep in my chest. We weren’t just a group thrown together by circumstance—we were becoming something more, a team, maybe even a family. But that didn’t mean I could rely on them to carry me through this. If I wanted to stand beside them, I had to earn it.

Through it all, Thalon's words from a recent lesson echoed quietly in my mind:Balance is not the absence of chaos, but the mastery of it.

Chapter 21

Tess

Beneath my boots, the once-muddy trail began to dry, though the persistent squelch reminded me it hadn’t fully forgiven the storm. I felt every ache in my body—my legs heavy from the uphill climb, my muscles protesting from the earlier battle, and my mind burdened by more than I had space to process.

As evening fell, we stumbled upon a cave as the forest thinned into rocky outcrops. The path leading up was steep but manageable, and the yawning, dark opening of the cave promised—at the very least—dry shelter. Raze immediately clapped his hands together.

“Alright, team! Base camp secured. Ten out of ten for ambiance. Maybe an eight for hospitality, I don’t know yet. Gotta check the menu first,” he quipped, gesturing to the empty black void inside.

“Congratulations,” Kane drawled, the faintest edge of sarcasm in his voice. “You’ve just volunteered to scout for wildlife threats.”

Raze gave him a mock bow. “Your icy majesty, I live to serve.” With a flourish, he disappeared into the darkness, leaving Kane scowling after him.

“Can he ever take anything seriously?” Kane muttered, as if talking to himself more than anyone else.

“Maybe he does,” I said, adjusting my glasses. “Just not in the way you'd prefer.”

Mason glanced back at us from the cave’s entrance. “It looks safe enough. No tracks or recent signs of use. We should grab what firewood we can before it gets too dark.”

“Impending rabbit stew on the horizon!” Raze’s disembodied voice called faintly from deeper inside the cave. “Scout reports no deadly monsters, just bad lighting. And no free snacks yet—tragic.”

Kane pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering something likely sharp and cutting, but I stepped past him, trying to mask my exhaustion under a layer of determined practicality.

I moved past him, steadying myself with a deep inhale. The fatigue clawing at my bones begged for rest, but I shoved it aside. One foot in front of the other—that’s what mattered right now.

The fire crackled as the shadows danced along the jagged cave walls. It didn’t take long for us to gather the dry branches and underbrush scattered around the area, and now the world outside had surrendered into darkness. Raze returned triumphantly, as promised, with two rabbits slung over his shoulder and a grin that stretched ear to ear.

“What can I say?” he began, tossing the rabbits onto the cloth Mason had spread out. “I’m a man of many talents. Ladies, gentlemen, and surly fae—you’re welcome.”

Mason, quiet and efficient, began skinning the rabbits without a word, his movements fluid and precise.

I helped Mason prepare the rabbits, retrieving herbs from my pack that I'd gathered during our journey. The familiar ritual of seasoning the meat steadied my hands, and soon the enticing aroma of roasting game filled the cave. We ate in comfortable silence, accompanied only by the crackling fire and the occasional drip of water from the cave ceiling. After Mason had carefully buried the bones outside and we'd finished the last morsels, Kane cleared his throat.

"We need a plan. We've got about four hours of walking left to reach the Guild."

Kane's gaze flicked my way, studying me with unsettling intensity. "We'll start early and finish the last leg with a few hours to spare. The forest isn't safe—last night's ambush proved that. We need a watch schedule. I propose ninety-minute shifts. Tess, you'll take the first watch since you're already awake and alert. Raze can take the second. Mason and I will cover the remaining hours before dawn."

I tilted my head at him. “What about you, Kane? Aren’t you tired?”

His sharp gaze flicked to me, and for a moment I thought he might actually give me a real answer. Instead, he said simply, “I’ll be fine. Fae require less rest.”

“Shocking,” Raze interjected, his smirk back in full force. “Does that mean you’ll spend your off-hours sitting stoically in the dark, perfecting your internal ‘strategic chessboard’ monologue?”

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