Page 128 of Duskbound

"Do you want to talk about it?" Effie asked gently.

I considered it for a moment, wondering if speaking the horror aloud would help me move past it. But the thought of describing those cold lips against my skin, of reliving the helplessness as they fed from me... Maybe I wasn't ready to move past it. Maybe I wanted to hold onto that anger for a while longer. Or maybe I just couldn't bear to say his name, to speak the wordDamphyreagain. It felt like giving them back some small piece of power, and they'd already taken enough from me.

I shook my head as fresh tears fell. They guided me to the bed, sitting on either side of me until the sobs that wracked my body finally began to quiet. Their presence felt like an anchor, keeping me from drifting too far into those dark memories.

Moments passed, I wasn't sure how many, but finally, my body stilled from the sobs that had been tearing through my chest. The tears became less and less.

After my breathing steadied, Effie broke the silence. "I have to be honest, Fia." She paused, and when I looked up, there was a familiar glint in her eye. "I'm rather offended that you never dreamed aboutme."

The laugh that burst from me surprised us all. It felt strange in my throat, almost foreign after everything that had happened, but also necessary—like breaking through ice to find air.

"I found it quite interesting..." Vexa said, and something in her tone made me tense. "The manner in which you dreamed of us. Or, more precisely, the fact you've been dreaming about Aether'seyes."

Heat rushed to my face as Effie let out an undignified snort. I hadn't expected them to focus on that detail, though maybe I should have. The memory of those dreams flooded back—how hisgolden eyes had haunted me long before I knew what they meant, who they belonged to.

"Quite the romantic, Fia." Effie's voice carried a teasing lilt that would have been annoying if it wasn't such a welcome distraction from darker thoughts.

I nudged Effie, trying to ignore how my stomach flipped at their implications. "It's not like that." But the words felt hollow, even to me. When had that changed?

"Don't think we haven't noticed how he acts around you," Effie said, and my stomach did an odd flip. I wasn't ready to examine what they might have noticed, what I myself had been trying desperately not to notice.

"At first, I had never seen him so irritated, never seen someone get under his skin like you did. Or get a reaction out of him at all, really." Vexa shrugged, but there was something knowing in her violet eyes. "He's always been more statue than man."

My mind flashed to days before, how he'd held me against him in that ice-filled cave, the way his shadows had danced beneath his skin when I'd given him more. The way his eyes had burned when he found me in Draxon.

And then there was last night. When he saved me from the ghosts plaguing my every thought. When he’d held me against his chest, our heartbeats echoing through each other.

"Yes, well,” I muttered, trying to hide the blush creeping across my cheeks, “we seem to have that effect on each other.”

"But it's different now." Vexa's voice carried a weight that had me pausing.

The silence seemed to stretch on, and I found myself unable to meet their eyes.Different.

"It's not," I said quickly, though my voice betrayed me. "We just learned how to work together."

"Whatever you say." Effie's tone dripped with suspicion, and I could feel the heat creeping up my neck.

Was I really that transparent?

We talked late into the night. The conversation drifted to lighter topics—Effie's perfume line she'd started before the drought began, Vexa's stories from her time in prison. Slowly, the weight in my chest began to ease. The cuts still stung, and I knew the memories would return, but for now, surrounded by their warmth and laughter, I felt almost whole again.

At some point, I drifted off to sleep, Aether's shirt still wrapped around me, their voices a gentle murmur in the background.

Although I could have sworn, sometime during the night, that I’d seen a pair of golden eyes peeking into the room.

Or perhaps I’d imagined it.

CHAPTER FORTY

Maps of Riftdremarwere sprawled across a table in the archives, their edges curling from age. I traced the faded lines with my finger, trying to memorize every detail, every path that might lead us to what we needed.

"Here." Raven tapped a spot near the Western border. "Old mining tunnels."

I leaned closer, studying the careful notations around the area. "You think they were harvesting the arcanite there?"

"The geological markers match." He shuffled through some loose papers. "And look at this—the Guard kept these sections heavily fortified, even after mining operations officially ceased."

"Why protect empty mines?"

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