Page 60 of The Dark Rises
Cormal’s hands wrap around both sides of my head. “Thank you.”
His hoarse voice is still tight with emotion, but the lines of his face are beginning to set in the expression I love most on him. Determination. The implacable will of someone who rules his world.
I nod at the sight. “Good. Are you ready to get up and start kicking some ass?”
He chuckles and produces his trusty notebook.
I roll my eyes. “After we plan, of course. I mean, it’s not like we can spontaneously jump into the abyss. Or ride off and kill someone.”
A knife clatters to the ground beside me, and I turn and glare at Madoc. “Good try. My shield is up.”
The surly Fae winks at me, and my jaw drops. “Cormal, you better call Kavi and make sure hell didn’t freeze over.”
Cormal waves his hand and sends the knife straight toward Madoc, who catches it with his bare hands.
Show off.
“Did you check with Arden while we were gone to see if the tracing spell is working?” Cormal says, standing with me in his arms. He lets my feet drop.
I peek at Rivan and silently urge him to say something.
“We were busy,” he replies with a huge grin that makes it obvious what we were doing.
Madoc spears him with a look that borders on murderous. “I checked with them.” Surprising all of us. “They are close. Should have a location for us within the next hour or two.”
“While you get the coordinates and plan the attack, I’m going to see Solandis,” I inform them.
In the light Fae world, I saw her almost every day. I miss her. And I need to see her before we go after Leandra to remind myself what real love is and how it feels.
Vargas opens the door, clothes wrinkled, and a surly expression on his face.
“What’s going on?” I murmur, stepping into their suite of rooms.
He merely extends his hand toward the couch.
Solandis is sitting on the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table, eating ice cream. Showing considerably more than she did a week ago. Her eyes are puffy, as if she’s been crying.
“What’s going on? Is it the baby?” I ask, starting to panic.
Solandis licks the spoon and gestures down to her growing stomach. “The doctor says everything is fine. I mean, Fae are born relatively quickly, although not usually this quick.” Tears begin to flow down her face, and Vargas curses.
“It’s okay,” I assure her. “You’ve got this. And us. We’ll help you through everything.”
She sniffs and points to the ice cream. “I can’t stop eating.”
I look at her bowl, then dart a glance at Vargas, who’s throwing his hands up in the air. “He or she must really love ice cream, and right now, they’re growing so fast, they need more of everything.”
She stops for a second to think about it. “Maybe. It was never like this with Callyx.”
Tilting my head, I stare at her in disbelief. “Really? I mean, he was pretty unique too, right? Son of a chaos demon and the Princess of the Light Fae. And he turned out great.”
She puts down her spoon and hands me the bowl. “You’re right. Maybe I wasn’t like this. All these years later, it feels different.”
Vargas comes over and sits down beside her. “All better?”
Solandis grips his hand tightly. “Definitely better, but my emotions are all over the place.” She raises an eyebrow and turns to me. “Tell me what’s been going on.”
It takes the better part of an hour, but I bring her up to date on everything.
