Page 95 of Death of the Glass Angel
“It is.” Felsin retorted. “My mother cannot hide things from me, Talon. Think.”
“But some of her memories almost seemed like they were missing-”
“And how would she have done that? She cannot lie. I would know. Everyone in our clan would know.”
Hostility rose in Felsin’s voice at the accusation, and Talon could hear it. He backed off. “It’s a possibility. I’m not accusing anyone yet.”
Felsin set his jaw and continued his pacing.
“Okay,” Valkyrie interjected, holding up her hands to diffuse the tension. “If not Heras, then who did they work for? They kept themselves as neutral as possible, avoiding giving out names or wearing revealing colors or sigils. That wasn’t for nothing. It was because they had an employer.”
“I guess,” Janus spoke up, though she felt out of her league. “It wouldn’t have to be someone from Altanbern. Anmarite can only be mined here, right? So anyone wanting to make use of it would come here.”
“Sure.” Talon conceded. “But it would be easier to set up closer to home and simply ship the materials over. And stormborn cefra can be found anywhere.”
“But,” Janus continued, “They wanted to know about Eros. Who would care besides someone from Thuatia?”
“I suppose that’s a possibility,” Talon said, but he did not seem convinced.
“We don’t know anything,” Valkyrie concluded. “If only the tunnel had not collapsed, maybe we could have found something.”
“I took something.” Janus pulled the diagram Des had snatched and unrolled it, offering it to the songbird.
Valkyrie scanned the diagram a few times. “What is this?”
“It looks like armor, to me.” Janus offered. “Maybe they’re trying to make anmarite armor?”
Felsin whistled. “That would be nigh impenetrable if the idea was even slightly feasible.”
“They’re not making armor.” Talon spat. “They didn’t chain me to a forge. Theyripped my arm apart.”
Standing, Janus peered back at the hatch. Dawn was coming, but darkness still clung to the pass. And if the tunnel had been collapsing, surely they would have heard it by now? Curious, Janus slowly approached the hatch.
Exasperated, Talon stood. “Where are you going?”
“To investigate the tunnels, see if they crumbled,” Janus answered, distracted.
“No. You can’t-”
Felsin pushed Talon back down. “You need to rest.” Joining Janus, he yanked the hatch open. “I’m earthborn. She’ll be safe with me.”
Talon ground his teeth together, but relented, leaning against the mountain.
Valkyrie’s red eyes flicked between them. “Be careful. If you catch wind of the other evoker, run.”
“Why are you encouraging them?” Talon demanded.
“We aren’t in charge of them, Talon. Technically, it’s the other way around. And I am curious if anyone else survived.”
Talon shot Felsin a pleading look.
“I’ve already saved her once, haven’t I?” Felsin smiled at Talon and hurried down the hatch.
Hand trembling, Janus descended the ladder and summoned the memory of a small lantern, avoiding looking too closely at the flame burning within, lest she imagine it burning against her skin.
Pain flared through her as she recalled the fire.
Shuddering, Janus swallowed her emotions, endeavoring to focus on the here and now.
