Page 45 of A Promise of Peridot
And somehow, reliving last night’s misery wasn’t even the worst part of my day.
“What are we waiting for?” Mari whined as she trudged past me through the uneven sand.
I couldn’t seem to place another foot forward, my eyes glued to the capital city as the sunset painted the sandstone and pearl.
Arwen was staying in Citrine.
I had hoped Dagan might convince her otherwise, but I hadn’t heard from either of them all day. And after what I’d done to Crawford... I couldn’t afford to stay in the city a minute longer. The royals would put the pieces together soon enough.
“Nothing,” I mumbled, though Mari was out of earshot.
I couldn’t blame Arwen. It was probably safer here. Though, I might argue she was always safer by my side than anywhere else on the continent. But her family was here, and I understood why she didn’t want to be anywhere near me. Let alone traverse enemy territory together hunting for a blade that was most likely already in Garnet hands.
I had asked Griffin to stay here and keep an eye on her. I trusted Dagan with my life, but he wasn’t Fae. With Lazarus after Arwen, I needed Griffin or myself with her at all times. Knowing that he would watch over her while I searched Reaper’s Cavern was a small mercy. One I probably didn’t deserve.
Griffin, though, was miserable about it, which was yet another reason for my splitting, acute headache. He claimed he didn’t want me to find the sword alone, to risk death and dismemberment—but I knew the truth. I had to take the witch with me, and it was ripping him apart to be away from her. Clearly, I knew the feeling.
But he’d never admit such things to me, so he just grumbled through the day in a foul mood that matched my own. The two of us sniping at each other like a crotchety old couple until Mari and I headed off.
Calm waves rocked slowly against the wooden dock behind me and the many ships it held, the sun setting but still high enough inthe sky to cast a warm glow against the back of my neck. Mari looked positively morose as she read over King Eryx’s parchment one more time before casting the breathing incantation on the both of us. She said the spell with so little energy, the magic barely kicked up the sand around her feet.
“Perhaps you need some hair of the dog?” I offered.
Her blistering eyes were like coal on mine. Not even a hint of a smile.
“Come now, witch.” I tried to salvage the mood for both of us. “We’ll be there and back in no time.”
“Will we pop out of the funnel back into the middle of the ocean?”
“Pretty much.”
“What if our ship is gone? Lost to pirates or battered by a storm?”
“It likely is,” I said as we walked toward the cavern. “But we won’t need a ship.” I leaned toward her conspiratorially. “Dragons can fly.”
Nothing. She just pursed her lips and stalked forward, mind elsewhere.
Arwen would have liked that. At one time, back in Shadowhold, had I been truthful with her, we might’ve laughed together over my beastly, winged side. I could have shown her the Shadow Woods from the clouds. My favorite view—
“Wait!”
Hope clouded my vision at that familiar voice, ringing through the quiet sunset-draped harbor. I twisted to see Arwen running down the dock onto the beach below, long chestnut hair swaying around her, dressed in her leathers and with a small pack at her side.
“Wait,” she repeated, sand kicking up at her heels, only a little out of breath as she caught up to us.
“Hello, bird.”
She regarded me thoughtfully, her gaze searing along my jaw, my lips. If she noticed I had shaved, she didn’t say so. “I’m coming with you.”
Mari’s entire mood shifted, as if the rain cloud above her head had transformed into sunshine with Arwen’s declaration. “Oh, thankthe Stones!” she said, throwing her arms around her friend. I wished I could do the same.
“And that means...” I didn’t even have to finish the sentence.
Griffin tramped onto the beach, deliberate as always, though his eyes held a subtle brightness. He had gone from a glorified babysitter stuck in a foreign city without his friend or his woman, to a man on an adventure with the only people in this world he even remotely liked. I would call this version of Griffin almost gleeful.
He gave me a single nod and I swiped a hand down my face to hide my grin. “And then there were four.” I glanced sidelong at Arwen. The setting sun was radiating off her rosy cheeks. “What changed your mind?”
“Dagan did. Ryder and Leigh will be safe here with him and Barney. I think Ryder wants to learn more about our war strategy, so I told him to stick close to Amelia and Eryx. It’s what’s best for them. And this is what’s best for me.”
