Page 137 of Grave Situation

I sputter for a good ten seconds. “I am an adult! I’m a mage, and a professor, and theleaderof this group, and I can decide when I’m okay to talk!”

“Of course you can,” he assures me earnestly, and I get the distinct feeling of being humored. “Was that what you wanted to tell me?”

This isn’t an argument I’m going to win. “No,” I mutter gracelessly. “What did you and Peiris talk about? Did they say where their camp is?”

He shakes his head. “Nope. Now that I think of it, I even asked, but they never answered. Mostly I talked—I told them about Leicht and Tia.”

Jaimin looks up, his eyes intent. “Did you mention that Talon can communicate with Leicht?”

“No, but they’ll find out anyway, won’t they? I think they were curious about that, but they’re too polite to ask.”

I snort. “They’re not that polite. It’s more likely that they didn’t want to say anything that might make you stop talking.”

“It’s been a while,” Jaimin says. “Do you think they’ve just left?”

“No,” I say, even as Coryn shakes his head again. “I think they’ll want to see the stone.”

“Yeah,” Coryn agrees. “That was the one question they did ask—though they called it something else. It took us a few minutes to understand each other.”

“What did they call it?” Jaimin asks.

Coryn shrugs. “The wellspring,” I answer. “I’m almost positive that they’re from the Baswich Empire. Which raises a lot of questions.”

“The Baswich Empire?” Coryn’s eyes widen. “But that’s on the other side of the world! I didn’t think the people there were human.”

How Jaimin keeps a straight face, I have no idea. My jaw drops so fast, I’m surprised it stays attached. “Why—? What?—?”

“They’re human,” Jaimin says patiently. “And that would explain the accent. It’s a long way to travel, though. I wonder if this means the zombie threat is already more widespread than we’d guessed?”

“I wonder why someone from the other side of the world knows where we need to go next while we don’t,” I counter. “I don’t mind sailing, but I’ve never been interested in crossing whole oceans.” Not to mention that will delay my return to my studies indefinitely.

“Oceans are big,” Coryn comments. “And horses don’t like boats that much.”

Even though I’ve been keeping an eye out for the opportunity to get rid of Sweetie, suddenly the idea of leaving her behind isn’t so appealing. What if we get to the Empire and my horse there hates me too? Only I won’t have the history with it that I have with Sweetie. She might be a pain in the ass, but as least I know I can trust her when things go badly. “We’ll just have to hope we’re staying on the continent, then.”

“And wait for Peiris to come back and answer our questions,” Jaimin adds before patting my shoulder. “I’m done with you. Go put some clothes on before you catch a cold.”

Startled, I realize the odd numbness in my arm is gone, and it feels as good as new. “Thank you!” I jump to my feet and catch his face between my hands, pulling him in for a kiss before he can protest. He’s a very private person, but Coryn and Arimen don’t count as public.

“Oh.”

We break apart and turn toward the main temple doors. Peiris is standing there, a pack dangling from one hand and a bedroll over the other shoulder.

“Welcome back,” I say smoothly. “Is something wrong?” I don’t care how good they are with that sword, if I have to dangle them upside down, I will.

They shake their head. “No, I was just surprised. Apologies—I didn’t intend to make things awkward.”

I let out a silent breath of relief, and beside me, Jaimin relaxes.

“Where’s your horse?” Coryn asks, and I actually see the moment Peiris decides whether to tell us the truth or not.

“I didn’t bring him,” they say finally, and dammit, that’s the perfect neutral answer.

“Why don’t you make yourself comfortable?” Jaimin suggests, moving toward the fire I lit under one of the skylight holes. “Arimen will finish making supper soon, but in the meantime, Talon can show you the… wellspring.”

“Just let me put on a shirt now that I’m all healed up,” I confirm, heading toward my pack. Peiris takes in our small camp and sets their things slightly off to one side, neatly unrolling their bedding close enough to the fire to take advantage of the warmth, but still apart from the rest of us.

I pull on a shirt and my coat, thankful I wasn’t wearing it or my cloak when the zombies attacked, because I don’t have spares, and then take the stone from the pouch around my neck. “Here it is.”

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