Page 29 of Shardless

“Stop it, Skye,” Taly whispered.

“No,” Skye growled in reply, taking a step towards her. He ignored the way his eyes began to sting, the way his breath caught in his throat, as he charged ahead, channeling all of his pent-up frustration into words. “Not until you tell me how you could just throw everything away without any regard for anyone’s feelings but your own. The girl that I knew—my Taly… she never would’ve done that. Sheneverwould’ve cut everyone that gave a damn about her right out of her life with no explanation whatsoever.”

“Skye—"

“Why did you leave, Taly?”

“I’ve already told you,” she said quietly. “I’m mortal. You’re not. That’s going to end up being a problem when we’re older.”

“That’s bullshit, and you and I both know it,” Skye replied, his voice equally quiet. “All the years that we’ve known each other—when has thatevermattered? Just tell me the truth, Tink. Please… just tell me something that’s true.”

Taly regarded him for a long moment. If he hadn’t been watching her so closely—reading every breath, every heartbeat—he might’ve missed the almost imperceptible shake of her head. “I’m sorry, Skye.” She tore her eyes away from his, wiping at her cheeks with her sleeve. “I’m sorry I hurt you. I… Ineverwanted to hurt you. But me leaving? It was for the best. And I know you want a better reason—adifferentreason. You want something that you can fix so that you can bring me home and we can go back to the way we were. But that’s just not going to happen, Em. I’m not coming back. You need to let me go.”

Skye wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but it hadn’t been that. His shoulders slumped forward. He had asked for something true, and she had given it to him. She had no intention of coming home. He could see it in her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to regain his composure. “Look, I messed this up today. I wasn’t paying attention to what I was saying while I was with Aimee, so that’s on me. But I can’t tell her not to come at this point. For the time being, we need to keep the little twit happy. Ivain is trying to get a loan from the Dawn Court so we can finally begin repairs on Tempris’ fast-travel system, and for whatever reason, House Thanos currently has the favor of the High Lady of Air. If Aimee goes home and whines to her family, Ivain likely won’t get the loan.”

Taly frowned. “Why can’t you endorse Ivain at the Dawn Court? Doesn’t your family have more political sway than House Thanos?”

“Yes,” Skye replied evenly. “Significantlymore. But I didn’t attend court last year, and the High Lady of Air decided to take that as a personal snub. As you can imagine, that puts House Ghislain at a bit of a disadvantage right now when it comes to currying personal favors from the Air Guild.”

“You skipped the court season?” Taly asked, her eyes widening in surprise. “Why? You always go to the Dawn Court in Arylaan when you visit the mainland.”

Skye rubbed the back of his neck. Taly’s departure was just one of many reasons he was in no rush to reminiscence on the events of the past summer. Deciding to ignore her question, he just shook his head and said, “Everything will be fine, Taly. I spoke with Ivain already, and even he didn’t see a problem with bringing Aimee along. He just quoted that mortal saying he likes so much: ‘there’s strength in numbers.’ You’re worrying too much.”

“And you’re not worrying enough.” Grabbing his arm as he moved past her, Taly whispered, “There’s been a lot of talk around the Swap this week. Some of the traders are saying that people are going missing. No one really knows why, but I’m starting to think it might be the beasts. Whatever the Gate Watchers are doing differently with the gate this cycle is making the magical beasts even more erratic than usual. I know this trip might seem routine, but we really should be careful.”

“And we will be, Tink,” he said, trying to sound reassuring. “I promise. But if worst comes to worst and something does happen, let’s not forget that Aimeeisa mage. She might be a twit, but she’s not completely defenseless. Who knows?She might even be useful.”

Taly sighed and pursed her lips, but she didn’t say anything else.

“I hope you’re not going to leave without me!” a deep baritone voice called from behind them.

Taly and Skye turned to find Aiden Bryer, Aimee’s older brother, approaching. Though not wearing armor, his clothes were sturdy and well-suited for riding, and he wore a leather baldric with a polished ebony short sword sheathed at his waist. His hair had been shorn off since the last time Skye saw him, and his eyes were the same exotic shade of blue as his sister—a trait they had inherited from their human mother.

Catching up with them, Aiden wrapped his arms around Taly’s waist and swung her off the ground. Laughing, he exclaimed, “I didn’t know if I was going to get to see you this year! Aimee told me you’d moved out.”

Taly let out a girlish squeal, and she was grinning when he set her back on the ground. Standing on her toes, she reached for his head and ran a hand over the closely cropped, red down. “When did this happen? You’re so fuzzy now!”

Skye felt a strange pang lance his chest when he saw the friendly, unguarded smile Taly gave Aiden. Stepping closer to her and standing up straighter, Skye said, “Aiden just finished his initiation into the Crystal Guard. He’s been assigned to the regiment in Faro where he’ll be protecting the High Lord of Water.”

“That’s fantastic! Just like your dad, huh?” Taly was still smiling, completely at ease.

Aiden grinned back. “Yup. And unfortunately, this haircut is mandatory for anyone with a burning desire to protect the Genesis Shards andtheir chosen—at least for the first five or so centuries while the Knights are still training the stupid out of their new recruits.”

Under normal circumstances, Skye would have no problem with Aiden and Taly’s friendship. But as he continued to watch the two of them chattering away just like old friends should, he frowned. Where he’d had to coax and cajole and coerce just to get a few words and a reluctant smile out of her, for Aiden… for Aiden, there was no awkwardness, no animosity—just friendly teasing and easy laughter.

Taly looked like she was going to say something else, but Skye cut her off. “What are you doing here, Aiden? I thought you’d be at the clinic today.”

Aiden’s sapphire eyes widened in surprise. Skye’s voice had come out a little gruffer than he intended. Recovering quickly, Aiden replied, “Not today, no. Apparently, there hasn’t been an earth mage coming through town in a while, and the clinic had more patients request healing services than they expected. The menders decided to use today to try to get a little more organized before bringing me in.”

“Lucky for us,” Taly quipped. “Your sister is being a pain in the ass.”

Aiden grinned, ducking down to look Taly in the eye. “That’s not surprising. And, as it so happens, that’s why I’m here. Ivain mentioned that Aimee managed to insert herself somewhere she didn’t need to be, so I thought I might tag along to keep an eye on her.”

“Or you could just escort her back to the manor,” Taly replied pointedly.

“Icoulddo that,” Aiden said with a shrug. Adevilish air crept into his expression. “But I’m just so worried about what Skye would do without me there to protect him.”

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