Page 31 of Ecliptic

“What happened to him?” she asked, fighting the lump in her throat.

“Demil betrayed Erovos in the end. He helped me imprison the Dark Spirit within the crevice. Then, he gave me the time I needed to escape without becoming trapped myself.”

Still, she didn’t falter. “Do you think he is still alive?”

“I don’t know."

Dyani’s razor stare flickered down then returned to me with no less cut. “I’ve never liked you, but I am sorry for what he did. What he did to us all. He made comments about wanting you. He believed you should be his. I discouraged him at every turn. I thought I got through to him. Spirits know I tried beating it out of him.”

“Thank you, but it wasn’t your fault. I know he truly wanted to protect you all from Erovos.”

“Be that as it may, I would like to know if Demil is alive. Do you think the prisoner is working with Erovos? He might know what happened to my brother. I’ve tried talking to him, threatened him even, but he refuses to speak to me,” Dyani said, eyeing me in my runner’s stretch.

“I’m forbidden from seeing him. I’ve practically begged Nepta to let me talk to him.”

“The prisoner contains answers. He might know of Erovos’ plans.”

I let out a sigh. “I’ve tried to see him, but he is heavily guarded.”

Dyani transferred her weight onto her other foot, glancing around. “I can help you and Rowen get to him. I know the guards.”

“You would help me?” I asked, my eyebrows pulling together.

“I know how important answers are. Nepta has enough on her plate. She is a wise leader who sees so much, but in this, her judgement is clouded.”

“She believes it could be a trap,” I said, easing further into my stretch.

“If it is, then let us be ready for it,” she replied, her muscular arms flexing by her sides.

I smiled. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Don’t think this makes us friends.” She glared at me, her pinched face narrowing. “Go to the prisoner tomorrow just after high sun. I’ll make sure you get in.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t say anything. Literally,” she replied, her umber eyes glancing around the grounds warily. “No one can know I helped you. Find the answers you need and get out. We need to be prepared for what’s coming. I refuse to repeat what happened here at the Battle of the Breaking. I was just a youngling, but I remember the destruction it wreaked upon the village. Upon my mother. What it did to her when my father died. I swore to her that I would protect our family. I failed Demil, but I will not fail our mother.”

With that, she turned and walked away, her white ponytail cascading down her back.

I wanted to trust Dyani, but a fearful thought whispered through me. Could I trust her, or would she betray me just like her brother?

14

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Rowen asked the next day as we made our way to the prison.

“I’m sure,” I said, my strides echoing with determination. The intruder’s identity swirled in my mind like an annoying gnat, one I couldn’t bat away no matter how much Nepta or the Summit wanted me to. “I need to know who it is. Trap or not.”

“I’m right here if you need me,” he assured, and a wave of gratitude washed over me. Rowen had always been by my side, protecting and shielding me. Even when he’d been cursed from loving me, his priority had always been to keep me safe. Never knowing the greatest threat lay at the hollow of his sternum.

But he no longer wore the necklace Fou used to spy on him. He was finally free, and the thought of me facing the prisoner with him by my side sent a surge of courage up my spine.

“What did you do with your mother’s necklace?” I asked, realizing I hadn’t been there to support him as he gave up his last treasured possession.

“Caeryn may have snapped Fou’s neck, but her body was never recovered,” Rowen said, and it broke my heart that his eyes darted to the trees as if he feared she was still listening. “Ididn’t want to take any chances, so I buried it outside the village.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. That must have been hard,” I said, my gaze tilting to his exposed chest where his charcoal-grey shirt billowed open. He now only wore the beaded necklace made in Wyn fashion.

“It was like burying her all over again. And I prayed to the spirits that it wasn’t a funeral for two. Pleading I hadn’t lost you as well. It would take me days in the Hymma to find you, only for you to slip away.”

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