Page 140 of Ash and Feather

Later that evening,Karys surprised me when she appeared in the library, interrupting the tense conversation I’d been having with the rest of our court; I’d been too distracted to sense her coming.

Zachar had only just left my territory.

The Death God had arrived shortly after my last visit to Karys’s room. He’d sensed her waking, her magic rising, and had arrived with the intention of speaking to her—another spy sent by the God of the Shade, I assumed; if any of the Shade Court could be trusted to do our upper-god’s bidding without question, it would be Zachar.

But whatever this bidding was—whatever he intended to speak to Karys about—he refused to tell me.

Imighthave lost my temper with him over this.

The resulting surge of my fiery energy is likely what had roused Karys from her sleep and drawn her down into the library.

I regretted interrupting her rest, but I would be lying if I claimed I wasn’t glad to see her step through the doorway looking far more lively than she had when I left her hours ago. The ends of her hair were damp, and her skin shimmered faintly from the various floral powders and oils Rieta often added into her bathwater.

Seeing her standing there was like coming up for air. Like surfacing from what I thought might kill me, finding myself miraculously alive, yet still dizzy from holding my breath.

I’m alive.

She’s alive.

We haven’t drowned.

Mairu reached her first, wrapping her in a crushing hug that lasted for at least a full minute, letting go only because the God of Winter stole her away for himself.

Valas said something in a low voice reserved for the two of them—something that made Karys laugh. Despite the irritation I’d felt toward him throughout the past five tension-filled days, I’d never been more grateful for him than I was in that moment; the sound of her laughter was another breath injected into my half-drowned lungs.

Our gazes locked as Valas let her go. She stilled. Her mind was a jumbled mess of thoughts, but I could read her silence; her slightly clenched hands; her eyes, shining with the same emotions I felt; and the soft, relieved sigh that barely passed through her lips…

Dizzy.

Still breathless.

But alive.

She crossed the room to me, studying my face as she came. “You look terrible,” she informed me, cheerfully. “Like you haven’t closed your eyes in days.”

“He hasn’t,” Valas confirmed.

Moth, who had draped himself like a weighted blanket on the back of my chair, agreed with a chirp.

Karys’s teasing smile fell a bit in the corners.

“I’m fine,” I said hastily.

Moth rolled from the chair with all the grace of a newborn baby deer, hitting the floor with a loudthud. He righted himself and scampered to meet Karys, leaping into her arms, distracting her momentarily. But she continued to study me out of the corner of her vision even as she smoothed his ruffled feathers.

All the things I needed to tell her slammed into me all at once, like taking a sledgehammer to the stomach.

“But I could use some air,” I continued, calmly getting to my feet. “Step outside with me?”

She agreed, settling Moth into the empty space I’d left behind and giving him a few more loving pats before following me.

We walked together to the gardens that had become one of our favorite haunts over the past months. She picked fallen flower petals from the stone path while I studied our surroundings, all my senses on edge. I didn’t perceiveany threatening presence nearby, nor any eavesdroppers, yet the uneasy twisting in my gut didn’t subside.

“The God of Death has been here recently, hasn’t he?” Karys straightened, a pile of petals cupped in her hands. Her gaze drifted toward a distant spot on the other side of the low garden walls—the very spot I’d last confronted Zachar before he fled. “I can feel his lingering energy.”

“Yes. He wanted to speak to you.” I unsuccessfully attempted to roll away some of the tension tightening my neck. “I’m sure he’ll be back.”

“You two fought, didn’t you?”

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